Prior Adminstrator appointed at Quarr Abbey

A Prior Administrator has been appointed to provide new leadership at Quarr Abbey, the Benedictine Monastery situated near Ryde, in the Isle of Wight. Dom Finbar Kealy, a former Abbot of Douai Abbey in England, has been appointed by Dom Philippe Dupont, Abbot President of the Solesmes Congregation, to which Quarr belongs. He is due to take up residence at Quarr on Wednesday 28 May. Dom Finbar Kealy succeeds Dom Cuthbert Johnson who, after 12 years in Office, retired last March. Meanwhile, Abbot Johnson, the first Catholic President of the Henry Bradshaw Society, presided at the recent 105th annual general meeting of the Society, founded in May 1890, to publish editions and facsimiles of rare liturgical texts. From its foundation the Society has always numbered among its members and supporters churchmen and scholars of liturgy from the Anglican, Catholic and other Christian Churches. The Society also counts among its members important libraries throughout the world and representatives of the major Universities including Oxford and Cambridge. Abbot Johnson, in his Presidential address, emphasised the important contribution that a learned Society can make to Christian churches and communities which have undergone considerable changes in their liturgical life. Abbot Johnson, a scholar of international repute, worked in the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship from 1983-1996 when he was elected About of Quarr Abbey. He is a member of the Vox Clara Commission on English liturgical texts. Among these attending the AGM was Mgr Tony Ward, Under Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.