Introduction to St. Bede’s Hall, Oxford, England
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Overview
For centuries, the world-renowned Oxford University has been a model of higher education. Many of America’s elite colleges mimic its curriculum, its traditions, even its architecture. America’s best students distinguish themselves as Rhodes Scholars to study at Oxford.
But for Catholic students seeking the coherence and commitment to spiritual growth that is found at a faithfully Catholic college or university, even an Oxford University education can be found lacking. One can look to the 19th century writings of one of Oxford’s greatest scholars, John Henry Cardinal Newman, for a thorough critique of the university’s secular approach to liberal education.
Fortunately, the new St. Bede’s Hall at Oxford offers Catholic students an opportunity to study in a thoroughly Catholic environment inspired by Cardinal Newman’s classic work Idea of a University, even while partaking of the rich intellectual life and resources of Oxford University. Whether for a summer, a semester or a full year or more, American college students can study abroad in the city of Newman and hundreds of the world’s most famous intellectuals.
Any student with an appreciation for history and the importance of European culture and politics will recognize this as a special opportunity. But there’s more: St. Bede’s is a faithfully Catholic institution in a society that has greatly secularized, and it offers a rare opportunity for American Catholics to partake in the new evangelization of Europe, one of Pope Benedict XVI’s highest priorities.
The college is affiliated with the Oxford Oratory, which is responsible for the spiritual life of the students. The Oratory is a community of seven priests founded in 1993 at the Church of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, which is the parish church for central Oxford. The community is part of the congregation established in the 16th century by St. Philip Neri and maintains a close relationship to the first English oratory in Birmingham, founded by Cardinal Newman. The Oratory Fathers are well-known for their high intellect and orthodoxy.
Although the college’s leaders hope to grant degrees sometime in the future, St. Bede’s is currently focused on educating undergraduate students from overseas, with academic credit available. The program is also suitable for students who plan to continue their studies at a British university. St. Bede’s is a new college, but many of the faculty are seasoned “tutors” at Oxford and were formerly associated with Greyfriars Hall, the largest Catholic college at Oxford which was suddenly closed by the Capuchin Friars in 2008.
An Oxford experience does not come cheaply: the flat rate for tuition and housing—not including meals, which are arranged separately through Oxford University or otherwise—is $38,000 (U.S. dollars) in 2009-2010. It is, however, one of the least expensive study abroad programs in Oxford or Cambridge, according to St. Bede’s. Limited bursaries (grants) are available based on need.
Governance
Fr. Sebastian Jones, a priest of the Birmingham Oratory, is chairman of the Board of Management of St. Bede’s Hall. The Board also includes the Archbishop of Birmingham (vacant since May 2009), Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, Dr. Penelope Cookson (who is also provost of the college), Fr. Tom Weinandy, O.F.M. Cap., and two other academics.
Father Jones leads the college, in a role similar to the president of an American institution. He has several years of experience as chaplain and governor of Catholics schools and colleges, including the famous Oratory School at Birmingham. Fr. Jones earned his licentiate degree in canon law from The Catholic University of America and remains a member of the Canon Law Society of America as well as its peer institution in the United Kingdom. He is completing his doctoral dissertation with the Canon Law Faculty of St. Pius X at the Studium Generale Marcianum in Venice.
Dr. Cookson, a Catholic, has a substantial background in secondary education at the senior management level. She was formerly a fellow at Greyfriars Hall and managed the college’s study abroad program.
Public Identity
The first public act of St. Bede’s in May 2009 was solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at the Church of St. Aloysius, where Newman once preached and where St. Bede’s students participate in Mass and the Sacraments.
St. Bede’s Hall was approved by decree of Archbishop Nichols as a “private association of Christ’s faithful” in March 2009, following a review of the college’s constitution and statutes. In his decree, Archbishop Nichols stated that the college’s purpose is to assist the Universal Church in creating a culture where “the Christian outlook should acquire a public, stable and universal influence in the whole process of the promotion of higher culture.”
The college says that it was established to “perpetuate the work of higher education characterized by the special tradition of excellence that imbued the ancient foundations of this City of Oxford”—a tradition “nowhere more in evidence than in the great flourishing and contribution of the religious orders of the 13th century to the City of Oxford,” according to Father Jones.
The college is centered around the Oxford Oratory and St. Aloysius Church, the parish church for central Oxford that has played an important role for Catholic students since it was consecrated in 1875. The parish is served by the Oratory, but for most of its history until the 1980s it was a Jesuit parish. Masses at St. Aloysius have been celebrated by leading priest-intellectuals including Newman and the poet Fr. Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., who converted from Anglicanism as a follower of Newman’s Oxford Movement.
Located at St. Aloysius Church is a collection of relics, including a relic of St. Philip Neri. A chapel is dedicated to the reportedly miraculous portrait of Mary, Mother of Mercy, popularly known as “Our Lady of Oxford.”
Academics
“St. Bede’s has become something of a flagship in academic circles,” says Father Jones, “as it is centered on the relationship between student and professor, both of whom have a responsibility to cooperate in the course of their studies whether as tutorial or small classes.”
The college’s relationship with Oxford University does not extend to classes, which are independently provided by St. Bede’s—although several of the tutors are currently teaching or have taught at Oxford for many years. Father Jones has worked to develop a constructive relationship with the university, while fully recognizing the significant differences in St. Bede’s approach to education: “Our vision of education is focused on learning as part of our vocation to ‘know, love and serve God’ and not the delivering of a commodity with ‘marketable target outcomes’ as set by recent governments.”
The study abroad program at St. Bede’s has no required courses, although a student’s home institution may arrange a particular program with the provost of St. Bede’s that imposes course requirements. More than 25 standard courses are planned in English (emphasizing British literature), history (again largely British), politics, Latin, canon law, theology and philosophy.
The summer program offers additional courses of special interest, ranging from studies of the Royal Navy to the “Literature and Architecture of Oxford” and “Painting in the Age of Revolution.”
As of August 2009, when this edition of The Newman Guide went to print, St. Bede’s had not yet established an ongoing relationship with an American institution for college credit, although it is actively pursuing such an arrangement to begin as soon as possible. Students considering study at St. Bede’s should consult with their home institution to ensure academic credit and plan an acceptable course of study.
Spiritual Life
Students have ample opportunity to become involved in the spiritual life of the Oxford Oratory and St. Aloysius Parish, including Mass in the Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms, confessions, the Rosary and seasonal devotions. The seven Oratorians are known among the students for their strong fidelity and reverent liturgy.
The parish offers one vigil Mass and four Masses (including one in the Extraordinary Form and a Solemn High Mass in the Ordinary Form) on Sundays, followed by Vespers and Benediction. There are three weekday Masses, with the Wednesday evening Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Confessions are heard before every Mass, on Saturdays and upon request.
The Oratory’s prayer life includes several devotions open to students, including veneration of St. Philip’s relic on Monday evenings, Saturday devotions to Our Lady of Oxford, and the Rosary on weekday mornings. Eucharistic Adoration is every Friday and Saturday evening.
There are opportunities for students to sing in the schola; volunteer for serving, reading and catechesis; and participate in social services.
The city of Oxford is home to several other Catholic chapels of various religious orders. Especially recommended are the Dominicans of Blackfriars Hall, who are known for their orthodoxy and excellent lectures and homilies. Opus Dei also has a house in Oxford. The Jesuit and Benedictine communities welcome students but are regarded as less traditional than the Oratory.
Student Activities
Students benefit from a range of social and cultural activities organized by St. Bede’s, such as orientation and four visits to places of historical and cultural importance outside Oxford per term.
Pilgrimages are envisioned to places like Tyburn (where St. Edmund Campion was hanged from the infamous “Tyburn Tree”), Walsingham (location of the historic Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham), the Tower of London (where many were imprisoned and/or executed, including St. Thomas More), Little-more (where Cardinal Newman was received into the Church) and the Birmingham Oratory (which houses Cardinal Newman’s private library and chapel). The college is also considering longer trips to Lourdes and Rome.
All St. Bede’s students are automatically enrolled as “Associate Members” of an Oxford University college, allowing them access to many benefits and facilities of the university. These include the Oxford meal service, which is available at relatively low cost. All students belong to the Oxford Union, which is the social arm of the university. It provides social events such as formal dinners and balls, sports facilities and activities, and debates and talks by a wide range of high-profile international speakers from all walks of life: politics, sports, literature, entertainment, science, business and music. The Union is well-known for its prestigious debate society, and St. Bede’s students can join in debating workshops.
Students also have access to the university library facilities including the Bodleian Library. Oxford’s libraries are among the most celebrated in the world, not only for their collections of books and manuscripts but also for their buildings, some of which have remained in continuous use since the Middle Ages.
Residential Life
A common distinction between European universities and their American counterparts is that the former do not offer the typical “campus life” that Americans are accustomed to, and that is generally true of St. Bede’s. Students are generally more independent and responsible for obtaining meals, planning their own “free time” outside of the classroom, and managing their residences.
Nevertheless, Father Jones points out that students in Oxford “benefit from a fraternal aspect of the City that is very much centered on the student.” This is clearly a “college town” with a stable community. On the one hand, St. Bede’s “will encourage the student to be independent as a mature expression of their growth,” says Father Jones—but on the other hand, “it would not be acceptable to me, were it an expectation of isolation or being in a foreign country fending for oneself.”
The St. Bede’s staff is fully committed to helping students with all aspects of their lives while in Oxford. The college has assigned a Welfare Officer to assist students with any problems with housing, as well as those of a personal or academic nature.
Student housing in central Oxford is provided by St. Bede’s. The housing is almost exclusively single-sex, and intervisiting is not allowed. Single or double bedrooms are available with shared washing and cooking facilities, enabling students to cook for themselves at least some of the time. All houses have Internet access. Accommodations in the homes of local Catholic families can also be arranged.
Alcohol is available to students in limited amounts at St. Bede’s social events.
Access to a medical practitioner is available at reduced cost. Students are advised to obtain adequate health insurance before coming to Oxford.
The Community
The City of Oxford is world-renowned for its tradition of academic pursuit. The contributions of the Catholic Church are essential to the history of Oxford, particularly the mendicant friars whose example of prayer, study and the common life resulted in what came to be understood as a university.
Cardinal Newman understood how the environment or “spirit of the place” for study was immensely important. He called this the locus genui and understood how it worked “slowly, unconsciously, not the work of any individual, but simply growing up as an invisible presence which could not be defined and which all acknowledged to be the soul of the life about them.” Newman proposed that the locus genui combined in itself “the power of discipline with the power of influence, for though its ways were indirect and personal, it had all the authority of law and all the consistency of a living idea” (Letter to Scratton, 1852).
In Oxford the educational experience is not confined to classes and tutorials, but engages the entire city through lectures, debates and events. The city’s bustling life is dictated by the academic terms.
Bottom Line
It is naturally difficult for The Cardinal Newman Society, which operates under the patronage of John Henry Cardinal Newman, to resist excitement at the prospect of studying on Newman’s turf in a college supported by the Oratory of St. Philip Neri.
But even were we to ignore that obvious attraction, St. Bede’s would be a welcome addition to The Newman Guide. The new college draws its inspiration and academic methodology from Oxford’s ancient academic traditions and Cardinal Newman’s notion of the Catholic university. Its fidelity to Catholic teaching and dedication to students’ spiritual development is apparent even as it welcomes its first students from overseas.
Study abroad is not for every student, and the required maturity and confidence to take advantage of all that Oxford University has to offer recommends this experience to students who have reached at least their third year of study. But study abroad options like this one—particularly for Catholic students— are quite rare and well worth considering. The students and faculty of St. Bede’s have the assurance, no doubt, of Cardinal Newman’s prayers for God’s blessings.
This item 9351 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
