Written by Buckfast Abbey 11 July 2026
Jacintha Bowe, President and Barbara Cookson, Treasurer attended this event on behalf of the NBCW. The NBCW has had a relationship with the Catholic Union for many years. Jacintha and Barbara are both individual members but the NBCW is no longer a corporate member in line with our new constitution. Nevertheless, we remain interested in their activities and will cooperate with them as equals on matters relating to the public space, notably legislation.
It was a warm day and the surroundings of Buckfast Abbey were idyllic. The gathering was of about 80 people mainly of a mature age, though we did make contact with a local 28 year old trainee solicitor who was there with her mother. She qualified as the youngest person present by quite a margin. Catherine Peppinster was also present and wrote a piece for The Times mainly focused on the recent death of Ann Widdecombe, since she had been an MP and our mass in the Abbey remembered her. Bishop Nicholas Hudson, the local bishop honoured us by his presence together with a significant group of his own Diocesan parishioners from the local area.
You will also find a report on the Catholic Union website which highlights the introduction by the president who quoted Pope Leo on St Thomas More the patron of the Catholic Union:
‘St Thomas More was a man faithful to his civic responsibilities, a perfect servant of the state precisely because of his faith, which led him to view politics not as a profession but as a mission for the spread of truth and goodness’.
Hopefully for all women who involve themselves in politics, and to some extent that means all of us, we will follow his example bringing our faith into the public space.
It was noted that the Catholic Union has a diverse membership and was strong in Scotland and Bishop Nicholas confirmed that he was getting to know the Scottish bishops – a good sign as the NBCW also extend our invitation to individual members north of the border.
We had a presentation from the Bishop who gave us a resume of his career emphasising his grandparents roots of his in the local area. He also noted that, although his father had been born in India, he had returned to the south-west and remained a lifelong supporter of Plymouth Argyle. Amongst his varied career, the Bishop had spent 12 years as an auxiliary bishop in Westminster focused on 55 parishes of central and east London, and also taking an interest in international affairs for the Bishop’s conference merely, he said modestly, because he can speak French and Italian and possesses a French passport courtesy of his mother. He also highlighted his interest and support for the beleaguered West Bank Christians surrounded by illegal settlements. He a shared his role in the Synod on Synodality exercise in Westminster diocese noting, as do so many of our own members, that the Synod gave them one of the first opportunities to really to be heard. Unfortunately, he then went on to demonstrate that the previous arrangements in his Diocese meant that it was already synodal, which may mean that, as many women have experienced, no change is the biggest impact of the Synod so far at the local level.
After mass in the Abbey and a splendid lunch, we heard from Lord Lemos who was recently appointed by Sir Keir Starmer as Minister for Faith. He is a sociologist who has done extensive work in prisons. Gerard Lemos bought some copies of his book on Childhood and Contemporary Catholicism and kindly signed them for many attendees. From that we learned of his experience of abuse as a preteen altar server in the church. During his presentation, he was anxious to ensure that his comments would not be interpreted as government policy. He noted that he had been in the whips office during some of the assisted dying debates. Sanctity of life hardly ever came up as all of the amendments were focused on the deficiencies in the mechanics of the process and its potential impact on vulnerable people. He seemed sceptical about social media and considered that anti-Semitism was mediated on it. He was unaware that the Catholic Union still did use X as do many in the Catholic Church. He felt that the public space was a secular space, whereas Britain is a multifaith society. There was some strident questioning. Apparently individual choice is embedded in society and there is no going back.
Before we were released to attend the calming influence of a performance of works by Haydn and Fauré by the choristers and adults of Buckfast Abbey, the Abbot David Charlesworth came to give us some insights into the history of the Abbey and its present activities. He noted that although it could date its history back to 1018, as a result of the Reformation, it had only been rebuilt between 1906 and 1938. Our conference was taking place in facilities originally built for a school which closed in 1994 because of falling numbers. There are only 10 monks in residence today though it does employ 150 staff. Tonic wine and investments are the main source of income. After his comments on the chemical ingredients, purchases of tonic wine in the gift shop by attendees were perhaps modest.
If you are interested in the public space, it is worth signing up to the Catholic Union, although it is rather more expensive to join than the NBCW. Also consider joining the NBCW social responsibility committee to debate the response of Catholic women to the issues of the day.