Netherhall News April 2013

perspectives on the new roman pontiff

also: univ 2013 once upon a time in uganda forgiving the unforgivable

habemus papam!

netherhall newsapril 2013

2 netherhall news

contents

CONTENT EDITOR Jonathan Parreño

MANAGING EDITOR, DESIGN & SETTING Luke Wilkinson

CONTRIBUTIONS AND ADVICE Peter Brown, Douglas Tatz, Luke Wilkin-son, Jonathan Parreño, Along Ying, Frank Pells,Pablo Hinojo, Alexis Guyot, Gautam BalaramVepika Kanjou, Liam O’Leary, Andy Taylor.

PHOTOGRAPHY Various

CIRCULATION Netherhall News is sent by e-mail to current and past residents of Nether-hall House. It is also available at http://www.nh.netherhall.org.uk/netherhall-magazine/

CONTACT US Would you like to be includ-ed in our mailing list, contribute to or express your opinion in Netherhall News? Write to:

LUKE WILKINSONC/O NETHERHALL NEWS, NETHERHALL HOUSE, NUTLEY TERRACE, LONDON, NW3 5SA, U.K.or E-MAIL: [email protected]

DISCLAIMER All opinions expressed in this magazine are those of the authors concerned and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of Netherhall News, Netherhall House, Netherhall Educational Association, or of Opus Dei.

regular features

Cover page: we reflect on the mo-mentous news of the past month from several different angles. on p8. & p.12 Fr joseph evans com-pares the theology of pope fran-cis and pope emeritus. on p.16 luke wilkinson explains why the new pontiff’s election excites him so much. and on p.24 pablo hinojo talks about the day he met pope benedict in person

director’s notes

editorialJonny parreño draws a line of continuity from one holy father to the next

4

6peter brown shares some of netherhall’s re-cent news...not just about the pope!

life of the house 36

desert island discs 41

passing through 42

netherhall news 3

univ 2013a picture tour of holy week in rome

20 34illuminating a problem in the theory of

quantum physics

freedom and freewill

32

you say tomato, i say tomatogetting to grips with english accents

28

24

26

30

38

the day i met the pope

forgiving the unforgivable

athlete’s foot

a state of mind

15

once upon a time in uganda

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A new pope does not mean a complete break with the past. Indeed to look at it this way misconstrues the role of the successor to the See of Peter, the next Bishop of Rome. Jonny parreño reports

editorial

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made the unexpected decision to step aside just over a month ago. He has done an admira-ble job despite such difficult circumstances during his eight

... year reign. There was much fanfare over the revolutionary symbolism of Benedict’s reign and final act as Pope; as has been oft stated, he is, amongst other things, the first pope to have re-signed since Gregory XII in 1415 and the first pope to have done so of his own volition since Celestine V in 1294.

Equally unexpected was election of Cardinal Bergoglio. His Ho-liness Pope Francis is the first pope to take the name Francis, the first pope since Pope Lando (reigned 913-914) to take a name not used by a predecessor, the first Jesuit pope, the first pope from the Americas, the first pope from the Southern Hemi-sphere. But the attention-grabbing labels of ‘firsts’ – truly unique or in recent history – can too often imply a closing of the final chapter in one book and the prologue of an entirely new book. Together with the media obsession with ‘conservative’ and ‘lib-eral’ papabile which has become the norm in modern times, it forms the image of two incompatible camps led by a candidate, striving against each other, thus creating a ‘make or break’ men-tality in public opinion. This is a false understanding of the role of the pope and it draws our eyes away from a key aspect of what a pope is: a successor to a long, unbroken line of guardians, lead-ers and servants of the Faith and of the Church. I don’t want to go into the historical, theological, or technical details of Petrine succession. I simply wish to offer the viewpoint that each pope cannot simply be understood as entirely disconnected from any other of his predecessors or their missions.

On the contrary, each pope echoes the words of their predecessors, complementing their continued works with their own unique per-sonalities, one signal of this being their papal name. Before a pope even appears upon the balcony, his chosen name is announced. It is highly significant and it hints at the particular emphasis the new pope wishes to focus on. John Paul II took the names of two of the original 12 Apostles, and also gave homage to his immediate predecessor, who in turn took his name from Popes John XXIII (who called for the Second Vatican Council) and Paul VI (who resumed the council, which was suspended after the death of John XXIII). It showed a wish continue the reforms put into motion by these two popes. By drawing upon the name of St Benedict, patron saint of Europe, Benedict XVI proclaimed his strong desire to re-evangelise the West. Now Francis has signalled his love for the saint of simplicity and fierce devotion to fight corruption both within the Church and the wider world.

“each pope cannot simply be un-derstood as entirely disconnected from any other of his predeces-

sors or their missions. On the contrary, they echo the works of their predecessors, complement-

ing these works with their own unique personalities”

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Even if Benedict chose not to be Pope John Paul III, he did not forget the significance of that great figure. As Fr Joe writes in one of his two articles this issue: ‘In a message given the day after his election, [Benedict] affirmed both how present his predeces-sor was in his thought and his “determination to continue to put the Second Vatican Council into practice”’. And again, Pope Francis in his first Urbi et Orbi said: “first of all, I would like to offer a prayer for our Bishop Emeritus, Benedict XVI. Let us pray together for him, that the Lord may bless him and that Our Lady may keep him.” His later symbolic meeting with Ben-edict evinced recognition and acceptance not only of the latter’s decision to step down, but also the shared knowledge of what it means to bear the weight of over a billion souls.

Every serving pope as both Bishop of Rome and head of a global Church speaks Urbi et Orbi, to the city and to the world – their

message is not meant for the Catholic Church alone. There is always the call for world peace, the denunciation of unbri-dled greed or pride, each with its own particular contempo-rary example; and then there is always the exhortation to rise above sinfulness and the invocation of the Apostolic Blessing. A pope is a living reminder that human nature is both physi-cal and spiritual, that clearly looking to the past and we must understand this and decisively act upon our understanding in the present so that we can create a better future. John Paul II emphasised this in his philosophy; Benedict XVI in his theol-ogy; and I believe that Pope Francis will show this in his reach-ing out to every man, woman and child, of every nation, every social class, and of every faith. For him, it seems that he prefers to speak through actions more than words.

Above: John Paul II with Cardinal Ratzinger in 1979

Below: Pope Francis is greeted by Pope Emeritus Benedict last month

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director’s notespeter brown shares some of netherhall’s recent news...not just about the pope!

The main Netherhall news of the last two months is that less than an hour after the election of

Pope Francis, Andrew Hegarty (di-rector of Netherhall 1983-88) suf-fered a heart attack. He was some-where around Chancery Lane when it happened but the details are still somewhat unclear. From Chancery Lane Andrew was taken by the emer-gency services to the Intensive Care Unit at St Thomas’s hospital facing parliament on the opposite bank of the Thames and that is where he re-mains.

Andrew had been in Netherhall that very morning. He was work-ing in the Thomas More Institute and had rushed through Netherhall just before lunch distributing bits of paper and issuing instructions, as is his way. As you can imagine, the news brought a sudden halt to the celebrations underway in Netherh-all to mark the Pope’s election. One minute we were celebrating, the next we were doing our best to gather as many people as we could into the oratory to pray for a rapid and full recovery. In the days that followed, people from all around the country and from all over the world have called and emailed asking for news and promising prayers for Andrew’s full recovery. It’s probably only in situations like this that one begins to get an idea of the great number of people Andrew has helped over the years.

“andrew was complaining about the incom-petence of some organisation or other and rounded off his condemnation with a smile and the words ‘just like Netherhall’. I took that as a clear sign of recovery”

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The good news is that a week or so after the heart attack Andrew began to ‘come around’ and each day since then he has taken a small step toward recovery. When I saw him last (on 4th April) he was sitting in a chair beside his hospital bed, still confused but very much better. He was complaining about the incompetence of some organisation or other and rounded off his condemnation with a smile and the words ‘just like Netherhall’. I took that as a clear sign of recovery.

On April 1st we appointed Nacho Laco as our new ‘Office Man-ager’, the new title for the expanded Bursar role. Nacho follows in the steps of some illustrious Bursars including the late Val Morrisey, Adam Walker, Alan Thomas, Signore Claudio, Charles Blishen, Juan Villalobos, Chris Griffiths, Michael Millington, Eoin McCarthy, Aaron Taylor, and Arnil Paras. It’s great to have Nacho aboard. Finally an item of news that doesn’t directly affect Netherhall but I’m sure many alumni will be pleased to hear: in September 2013 the Cedars school will be opening in South Croydon. The Cedars is an independent school for boys from 11-18 years old. The chaplain of the new school will be a priest of Opus Dei. thecedarsschool.org.uk

Left: Andrew Hegarty delivering a talk at UNIV a couple of years ago Above: Robert Teague, Headmaster of the newly founded Cedars School in Croydon

Below: Nacho Laco, Netherhall’s new Office Manager

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the pope of surprisesfr joseph evans finds consolation in the early teachings of the new pontiff

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Pope Francis will be a pope of sur-prises, focusing on the joy and con-solation of faith but insisting on

... the demands and decisions it involves. This, at least, is what Jorge Mario Ber-goglio’s track record as Archbishop of Buenos Aires suggests.

What stands out from his official biog-raphy and his published homilies is that

this is a man with a radical vision of Christian life, mission and priesthood: faith leads to joy, its rejection to sadness, and it involves a real spiritual battle.

His Argentinian homilies constantly present dramatic choices to his congre-gation, like Moses at the threshold of the Promised Land inviting the Israelites to choose between life and death, and re-

minding them of the respective blessings and curses their choice would entail. In his 2011 Easter Vigil homily, for exam-ple, the cardinal drew his people’s atten-tion to the stone the Jewish authorities had placed over Jesus’s tomb: ‘They had wanted to ‘assure’ death and – without knowing it or believing – they assured life for all humanity.’ And he asked: ‘What attracts us more: the sealed secu-rity of the tomb or this joyful insecurity of announcing Christ?’ Do we run after Life or like the guards prefer to take an ‘existential bribe’, closing as with a stone our hearts? ‘Do I prefer sadness or a simple paralysing contentment, or am I ready to follow the path of joy, this way of joy which is born from the conviction that my Redeemer lives?’

His own sense of priestly identity is very profound. When asked by his biogra-pher how he introduces himself to an unknown group, the then archbishop answered:

‘I am Jorge Bergoglio, priest. I like being a priest.’

Reading through his homilies, one dis-covers in them a striking depth and spir-itual insight. In his 2011 Chrism Mass homily, for example, he discussed what is clearly a theme close to his heart, or – better said – welling from it: joy.

‘It is not enough for our truth to be orthodox and our pastoral action to be effective,’ he insisted. ‘Without the joy

“His own sense of

priestly iden-tity is very profound: i

am jorge ber-goglio, priest”

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of beauty, truth becomes cold, and even merciless and proud, as we see happen-ing in the speech of many bitter fun-damentalists. It seems as if they chew ashes’. He encouraged his priests to de-velop ‘the joy of the present … the joy of poverty, of someone who is content with whatever the Lord gives him each day; fraternal joy, of one who rejoices in sharing what he has; patient joy, of sim-ple and hidden service; and hope-filled joy, of one who lets himself be led by the Lord in the Church of today’.

Evangelisation is a key objective at the forefront of his mind. In an interview with a journalist while still cardinal, he insisted: ‘We need to bring God close to man, but above all, bring man to God’. This is an idea which he has already re-turned to as Roman Pontiff. His call to the cardinals in his first audience to ‘seek new methods of evangelisation’ merely echoes ideas more extensively developed in Argentina. The Church, he said in his biography, has in many places got used to people coming to her. ‘But in the current situation the Church has to transform her structures and pasto-ral methods re-directing them to make them missionary. We cannot remain in a ‘client-based’ style which passively waits for the client, the parishioner, to come to us.’ We need to go to where people are and need us, he insists, towards those who will not approach structures and outdated forms which do not respond to their expectations. Parishes and Church institutions have to launch out creatively to reach all spheres of society. This will require us to ‘revise the Church’s inter-nal life to go out to God’s faithful peo-ple’, going from being a Church which ‘regulates faith’ to one which ‘transmits and facilitates it’.

For this evangelisation to happen, how-ever, Pope Francis understands that lay people must take on their full role in the Church’s life, a mission which goes far beyond parish or liturgical ‘ministries’. It is striking – and this could well signal a key direction his pontificate will take – that in his last interview in Argentina before heading off to Rome he talked of the great problem of the ‘clericalisation’ of the laity. ‘We priests tend to clericalise lay people. We don’t realise it but it’s like something we spread contagiously. And lay people – not all of them, but many –

“We need to go to where people are and need us, he insists, towards those who will not approach structures and outdated forms which do not respond to their expectations”beg us on their knees to clericalise them because it’s easier to be an altar server than protagonist of a lay path. We mustn’t fall into this trap, it’s sinful complicity. Nei-ther clericalise nor ask to be clericalised.’ Lay people, he insisted, have to be leaven in society, ‘to proclaim the faith, not from a pulpit but from their daily life’.

For all of his austerity, his suspicion of structures, his vision of Christian life as radical and all-embracing, another theme which comes up with surprising frequency in his Argentinian homilies is that of consolation. On various occa-sions he has taught his priests that the anointing they have received is to make

them meeker and more patient towards their people, to console them. The faith-ful ‘need consoled priests and who let themselves be consoled’ and so act with a mentality ‘not of complaint or anxiety but of praise and serenity’. The Church must offer our stressed and confused world divine consolation. Did not God say through Isaiah ‘console my peo-ple’? Pope Francis, with his Argentinian warmth, informality and wit, seems to have started to do just that. Fr Joseph Evans, a priest of Opus Dei, is Roman Catholic chaplain to King’s Col-lege London and the University of Lon-don’s Institute of Education

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pictorial papacy

“Oh that’s right, I checked in under a different name...”

Pope Francis returns to the hotel where he stayed before the Conclave to personally settle his bill

In a break with tradition, Pope Francis held his first

Maundy Thursday service in a juvenile detention centre and washed the feet of 12

inmates, including 2 women. One of the women was a

Muslim

Shunning the bullet-proof Popemobile that has been in service since John Paul II was shot in 1981, Pope Francis greets worshippers during one of the Easter services

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theology of lovefr joseph evans on the contribution benedict xvi has made to our understanding of God

Like many great minds before him, Benedict XVI’s thought has largely been dictated by the intellectual crises which have shaken the world he has been called to live in. Challenged by

our society’s crisis of faith, his theology has been a constant dia-logue with contemporary disbelief, offering it a way to rational faith and the discovery of God as love. In an age when God’s very right to exist, and certainly His right to speak and demand as-sent, has been contested as never before, Benedict, like the early Fathers, spoke not just to proclaim truth but to defend the very survival of the Church, and indeed, of faith itself.

Not surprisingly, therefore, Ratzinger as theologian has been principally a fundamental theologian, forced to grapple with the most basic questions posed by modern doubt: is there really a God who reveals Himself to man? If so, is it arrogance for any one body to claim to be the recipient of that Revelation? Or even more basically, is truth possible?

To analyse Benedict’s legacy as theologian and Pope, two ques-tions immediately present themselves: to what extent has his the-

ology been in continuity with that of John Paul II and how much has Benedict’s pontificate been an interpretation and implemen-tation of the Second Vatican Council? In a message given the day after his election, he affirmed both how present his predecessor was in his thought and his ‘determination to continue to put the Second Vatican Council into practice’. He has been true to his words but in a subtle way.

Regarding the Council he has gently re-directed the Church’s focus on herself to a greater ecclesial focus on Christ. It is known that his intervention in the conciliar deliberations led to the opening words of Lumen Gentium being changed from ‘cum sit ecclesia’ to the finally adopted ‘cum sit Christus’: Christ not the Church as the light of the Gentiles. And he has continued this approach as Pope. His ecclesiology has focused on the sanctity of the Church arising from Christ and particularly His presence in the Sacraments, what he described in Called to Communion as a ‘Eucharistic ecclesiology’. This sanctity is also shown in the saints, a theme he has often returned to. He has furthermore insisted on a hermeneutic of reform and continuity as opposed

netherhall news 13

to one of rupture: Church doctrine develops without contradict-ing itself.

Benedict has developed the key John Paul II insights of man as the way of the Church and Christ revealing man to Himself. Wo-jtyla’s humanism was totally Trinitarian and Christocentric and Benedict has taken this forward by his focus on love. What Christ reveals principally to man is love and if man is the Church’s way, man and the Church find their way in Christ.

On love, Benedict explains that man is made from and for divine love. If the Second Vatican Council taught that man finds himself in the gift of self – in other words, in love – Benedict saw that man is able to love because he is made from love, it is his ‘DNA’, born as he is of the creative love of God who is Himself love in His trinitar-ian life. In Introduction to Christianity Ratzinger describes Jesus as the one man who has been able to live completely ‘for’ – for God and for others, for love. In imitation of Jesus and living in Him, we too can love because in Him God’s love has taken on a human form and face. Benedict’s three Jesus of Nazareth books were both his own search for this face and a help to us on our journey towards it.

This notion of ‘love’ appears again and again in his writings and even in the titles of some of his major pontifical documents: Deus Cari-tas Est, Sacramentum Caritatis, and Caritas in Veritate. Benedict has given us a whole theology of love as the driving force of personal and social development. Even economic life, he taught, must be driven by the ‘logic of the gift’. Benedict also offers the beautiful insight that not only is love gift but we are gifted ourselves by loving.

Continued overleaf...

“This uncharismatic, some-what serious scholar seems to feel the need to express constantly the joy of belief. Thus, evangelisation for Ben-edict is primarily to share with others the joy of having encountered Christ oneself. But perhaps this is simply the other side of the coin of his theology of love”

Top: Pope Benedict XVI speaks to the German parliament in 2011Below: On his visit to the UK in 2010

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Another key coordinate of Benedict’s theol-ogy is his focus on the relationship between faith and reason. His whole career has been one big battle with bad reason. Again and again he has spoken out against a ‘form of rationality which totally excludes God from man’s vision’ and ‘the self-imposed limitation of reason’ which refuses to accept more than the scientifically demonstrable. His famous Regensberg speech, taken as an attack on Is-lam, was rather an attack on bad thinking, either in its fideistic form whereby God does not have to be reasonable, or its rationalis-tic form whereby religion is excluded a priori from the realm of reasonableness. True faith must embrace reason, as the Church has done from her very origins, and reason needs the insight of faith to transcend itself. And in this context he has consistently rejected in-tellectual and moral relativism and defended the reality and knowability of objective truth. His masterpiece speeches to the British par-liament and the German Bundestag showed how faith and reason must also meet in the political and social sphere.

But this profoundly rational thinker has never lost his sense of mystery and the tran-scendent, a fact that brings us to his liturgi-cal theology. From The Spirit of the Liturgy, through Sacramentum Caritatis and all his executive actions as Pope, a vision of wor-ship shines through which insists on God’s right, arising from His holiness, to demand the highest cultic standards; this, far from demeaning man, ennobles and elevates him. Benedict has fought hard against wrong in-terpretations of the Council which exagger-ate liturgy’s horizontal, communal dimen-sion. We are as communally one as we are vertically directed towards the Lord.

A less commented aspect of Ratzinger-Ben-edict theology is his stress on joy. This un-charismatic, somewhat serious scholar seems to feel the need to express constantly the joy of belief. Thus, evangelisation for Benedict is primarily to share with others the joy of hav-ing encountered Christ oneself. But perhaps this is simply the other side of the coin of his theology of love for which, together with his teaching about faith and reason, I think he will be most remembered.

Fr Joseph Evans, a priest of Opus Dei, is Roman Catholic chaplain to King’s College London and the University of London’s Institute of Education

At the beginning of the year I called Peter Brown to ask him if he knew of any work I could do at Netherhall while I looked for a full time job in London. He offered me the job of ‘summer boy’ (on

a frosty, January morning) for a while, and to help out at The Cedars school in Croydon. We agreed that I would look for other jobs while all this was being arranged. After a cold and discouraging day of giving out CVs in London (to break the monotony of looking for work online) I went to the Catholic Herald’s office in Islington to give my CV in person, thinking that of all places I would prefer to work there, and that if I had little time left in the day I should go there first. I did, and was told that the editor would be in touch.

To my surprise, he got in touch, and offered me a week’s work experi-ence. Two weeks later when I arrived and was just being shown what to do, the news started coming in that Pope Benedict had announced his resignation. We thought it was a joke at first, one that some Italian counterpart to The Daily Mail might have fallen for. We soon knew it wasn’t when not only did it appear on the BBC website, but news out-lets started calling us to find out what was going on! I was the one who had to take most of the incoming calls; luckily none came in when ITV turned up at our office with a film crew, and I found myself becom-ing a diplomat as well as a journalist. Some journalists started to ask me my opinions on why the Pope might have resigned and what this meant for the Church – all of which I knew could be attributable to the Catholic Herald where I had only started working that morning! I owe a big thanks to Jack Valero (a frequent visitor of Netherhall) of Catholic Voices for being willing to take so many media requests for me, which I know he dealt with brilliantly. Only on the way home did the signifi-cance of what I had been witnessing all day finally dawn on me.

The Catholic Herald went on to offer me an extra five weeks’ work as an assistant to the editorial team during what has been one of our busi-est periods since the Pope’s visit to the UK. After that, I was offered the chance to work in their media sales department full-time, with the chance to continue doing freelance journalism for them in my spare time – that was how I ended up getting not just a new job, but possibly a new career, out of the resignation of Pope Benedict!

theology of love cont...

Frank Pells (left) on his first day at the office

the day the pope resignedfrank pells on how pope benedict helped him a job

netherhall news 15

The idea of freedom has been grappled with throughout the philosophic tradition, its importance being intrinsi-cally linked to the realm of ethics and to our conception

of what it means to be a human being. And yet it also features in our daily lives as we frequently blurt out phrases such as, ‘It’s my choice,’ or, ‘It’s up to me.’ Why is freedom so impor-tant, both to the armchair philosopher and to the common man? Perhaps it is because at the centre of our intuitive under-standing of freedom lies the concept of a great power, a great will: the power to pick alternatives, the power to decide for ourselves. This was the suggestion of Professor Thomas Pink, from the Department of Philosophy, Kings College London, when he came to speak at Netherhall on the 25th of February.

Freedom of course is not only associated with free will. It is also associated with the concept of our right to freedom – our liberty, and also of a particular state of affairs, which has been given various labels throughout the philosophic tradition; en-lightenment (Kant), emancipation (Marx) and the ‘End of History’ (Hegel) as just a few of many examples. Much of our current literature has focused on the latter two definitions of freedom, perhaps because in the modern liberal era free will as a power has been relegated. It has come under assault from our growing understanding of the human mind and what some see as a deterministic universe. Thus philosophers now tend to conceptualise free will as an expression of reason or reason itself.

For Professor Pink, this new conceptualisation is the root of many problems in philosophy, precisely because it fails to account for the link between the aforementioned three definitions of freedom. To see free will as a power allows us to actually grasp why it is important to have the right to lib-erty and the state of liberation. These other definitions build upon the foundation of free will as a power as they are layers which protect and allow us to better exercise our power to choose alternatives.

We need the right to liberty, otherwise our power to pick al-ternatives would be interfered with or coerced. Liberty gives us the space to better use our power. Similarly, what lies behind liberation or emancipation is the possibility of achieving a state of affairs in which coercion, violence and ignorance no longer interfere with our power, and with our liberty. If we do not see free will as a true power to affect change, then our conceptu-alisations will fail to capture this interlinking system because it leads us to struggle with just why our right to autonomy or our drive towards liberation should be so important. We cannot justify or explain our actualisation of freedom if we abandon its abstract root.

freedom and free willAlong Ying grapples with an age-old question in the modern period

For Professor Pink, the purpose and usage of our power is ‘for the good’, and it is our reason therefore that allows us to evaluate and make the right choice. Seen in this light, free-dom is not an inherent good and may even be misused, and that it is reason which gives freedom its value. The paradoxi-cal conclusion of all this is that the ideal level of our free-dom is not necessarily unconditional or unbound, which is limited precisely because of its need to achieve its purpose.

Although reason clearly has a role to play in understanding will, we ought to beware of conflating the two concepts, and to look again at the idea of freedom as a power. The purpose is not so much to argue whether free will as a power truly exists or not, but to understand why such a definition is important in the wider scheme of philosophy and how it underpins our liberal projects. Without this understanding of free will as a power, we risk jettisoning the very founda-tions of our metaphysics.

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seeing through the white smokeas a non-Catholic christian, luke wilkinson explains why the new pope has given him much to be excited about

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Whatever your views on religion, it is hard to deny that the events of the past two months have been of

major significance, as the leadership of the church which is home to one sixth of the world’s population has changed hands in an almost unprecedented manner. This is evidenced not least by reactions of the 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide, but also

in the tangible political shockwaves gen-erated by the election of a non-European pope, the repercussions of which promise to be felt widely. But I would like to reflect on what Pope Francis means to me, and to offer a few thoughts on what I believe to be the spiritual significance of his election.

The reader must know from the outset

that I am not a Catholic. I grew up attend-ing a Baptist church with my family in South West London, where I was by and large very happy, and where I picked up what I now call a ‘Sunday School’ theol-ogy – the basic principles of the faith and a few Bible stories – but no great personal interaction with God. This is not to be-little the teaching and leadership of that church, but more a reflection of the age at which I stopped engaging. By the time I came to study at University College Lon-don, I had all but stopped attending, not due to any great apostasy; rather a gentle drifting away towards things I found more interesting to do on a Sunday morning, such as sport. I then spent the first two years of my degree living what I suppose could be called a ‘secular’ life – not neces-sarily rejecting my Christian upbringing, but without involving it in my day-to-day decision making. During the summer holidays before my third and final year, a series of events conspired to lead me back towards my childhood faith, perhaps the most significant of which was finding my-self a place to live in the Catholic student community of Netherhall House.

“my faith was not a neutral,

private matter; it had political and emotional

meaning to others”

It was in Netherhall that I first learned that I was a ‘Protestant’. When I moved in, I had described my religion on the ap-plication form as ‘Christian’, and I was grilled by the Director, Peter Brown, as to exactly what sort of Christian I considered myself. It didn’t take long to brush up on my sketchy memories of GCSE History and remember that the story of the Catho-

18 netherhall news

intends to conduct his papacy. I believe the church throughout the world is at a crossroads moment, and the greatest challenge facing us is not the scandal of child-abuse or the defence of tra-ditional marriage, though the former has caused much hurt to many people and the latter has generated great controversy, and both issues continue to need addressing. The biggest challenge Christians must face is the shocking level of poverty and injus-tice in our world, two things that God throughout the Bible and throughout history has mandated Christians with alleviating, though we have not been always taken this part of our faith very seriously. As a Jesuit, Francis has lived under a vow of poverty, where even as a high-ranking cardinal in Argentina he chose to live in a simple apartment, commuting by bus to his office every day and spending much time with the poor and outcast. This humility has clearly marked his walk with God so far, and shows all signs of continuing to do so. He set the tone for how he will lead the Catholic Church in his very first act as pontiff by asking the gathered crowds in St Peter’s Square to pray for him – that God would bless him in order that he might bless his people.

It is also remarkable that within the same week that Pope Francis was inaugurated, the Anglican Church welcomed its new Arch-bishop, Justin Welby. To have new leaders of the first and third largest Christian communions in the world at such a time as this is extraordinary, but their shared commitment to the poor is also very exciting. Welby too is a devotee of Ignatius Loyola, the found-er of the Jesuits, and has a Catholic spiritual advisor. The messages of welcome they sent each other as they took up their respective positions expressed their desire to continue building on the strong

“the one thing that I believe brings us to a point of unity - if not complete union - is an insistence on the divinity of Jesus, and

the corresponding drive to bring his love and healing into the

world”

lic Church in the UK is one of great pain. I had to accept for the first time that – whether I knew the history or not – my faith was not a neutral, private matter; it had political and emotional meaning to others.

It was also in Netherhall that I was pleased to discover that I was not in fact a ‘Protestant’. During my two years living among, and growing to love, a group of deeply spiritual Catholic men, I dis-covered that many of the beliefs I had held about their church were hurtful prejudices. I also came to realise that it is detrimental both to my own faith, and to others around me, to define myself ‘in protest against’ the Catholic church, even if strictly speaking that is a part of my theological heritage. Through many late night dis-cussions with those I now consider my brothers, we found that al-though there are many important differences of opinion that merit respectful discussion, there are far more things about which we passionately agree. I’m aware this may seem unpalatable to some from both camps, but I have come to believe that the conservative wing of the Catholic church, and the ‘evangelical’ tradition I come from, come almost full circle and find common ground on many of the issues that each hold dear. For instance, both hold a firm belief in the power of God to intervene in the world through heal-ings and other miracles (though the language used to talk about this may differ dramatically), and both are vocal in society about their views on conventional Christian morality, two areas which the more liberal parts of the worldwide church have drifted away from. And above all this, the one thing that I believe brings us to a point of unity – if not complete union – is an insistence on the divinity of Jesus, and the corresponding drive to bring his love and healing into the world. What does any of this have to do with Pope Francis? Well, to my mind, it has everything to do with what the new pontiff repre-sents not just for the Roman Catholic church, but for Christian-ity worldwide. I now worship in an evangelical Church of Eng-land congregation, and am fully aware that the history these two ‘labels’ represent should make me at best ambivalent towards a new Bishop of Rome, and at worst have the potential to generate some ungodly venom within me (I am ashamed to say that it is not unheard of in evangelical circles to find the Pope referred to as the Antichrist, although it is easy to bash back at such Bible-bashers by referring them to 1 John 2:22 where the Antichrist is describes as ‘whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ’, which clearly the Pope does not).

And yet I was thrilled to celebrate with my Catholic brothers at the news. Why? Partly for the reasons I have described about the great deal of common ground we share, and also by wit-nessing the extraordinary humility with which Francis has taken up his tenure. I have been extremely impressed with the various ‘stunts’ he has played: slipping out of the Vatican to pay the bill for the hotel where he had stayed before the Conclave; holding the Maundy Thursday service at a youth prison and washing the feet of not only a Muslim, but also a woman; taking up residence in the humble guest house at the Vatican rather than the large papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace; personally calling his newsagent in Buenos Aires to cancel his subscriptions.

These acts impress me not only for their imagination, but more because they seem to be a ‘mission statement’ for how Francis

netherhall news 19

foundations their predecessors have laid for a new season of friend-ship and communication between the two churches. And both leaders have a vision to lead their churches out of ivory towers (or steeples) and serve the needs of poorest in our world.

Although the church bears many ugly scars, there is a real op-portunity to make a beautiful offering to God by serving the poor in unity. While there are many important lessons learnt and wounds suffered throughout the church’s history, is it naïve to hope that we can let them just ‘be history’ and to leave them like folded grave-clothes in an empty tomb? If, as I found living in Netherhall, we can grow not just to respect, but to love one another, then it is within this context of love that we can then discuss the things we may disagree about. We may never reach satisfactory compromises, but let us above all be united in love. Jesus is coming back, and he’s coming for a bride, not a harem.

I conclude with the final prayer from Pope Francis’ Easter hom-ily, which I echo as a prayer for unity in the Bride of Christ, and for a new vision of serving the poor, just as Jesus did: ‘May he open us to the newness that transforms. May he make us men and women capable of remembering all that he has done in our own lives and in the history of our world. May he help us to feel his presence as the one who is alive and at work in our midst. And may he teach us each day not to look among the dead for the Living One. Amen.’

Luke Wilkinson is a former resident. He now works as a church-based youth worker in Souh West London

“If, as I found living in Netherhall, we can grow not just to respect, but

to love one another, then it is within this

context of love that we can then discuss the

things we may disagree about...Jesus is coming back, and he’s coming

for a bride, not a harem”

20 netherhall news

univ 2013 dougie tatz walks us through holy week in rome

Sponsored by the Institute for University Cooperation (ICU) since 1968, UNIV is an interna-tional gathering of thousands of university students in Rome. Set during Holy Week, students are able to enjoy both the his-tory and profound spirituality of the city.

Top: One of the first things we did was to check out the Arch of Constantine and the Coliseum:

Left (from l-r): Pablo Hinojo, Andy Taylor, David Staples, Stephen Trafford, David Wyatt, Michael Strinati, Rodrigo Mun-daka, Dominic Roche-Saunders

Opposite top left: On Thursday we toured the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.

Right (from l-r): Karl Hohen-berg, Dominic, Danny Laje, David Wyatt, Unknown, Pablo Hinojo, Andy Taylor, David Sta-ples, Mike Strinati, Stephen Trafford, Quique Requero

netherhall news 21

dougie tatz walks us through holy week in rome

22 netherhall news

netherhall news 23

Above: On Tuesday, we went up to the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, which offers a great view of the city, perfect for motorbike-spotting

Opposite top: On Wednesday, we attended an audience with the Pope. In the past, UNIV has gotten private audience with the Pope, although obviously things are a bit busier than usual. Still, we had very good seats.

Left: Lads on tour. From left to right: Rodrigo Mundaka, David Wyatt, Andy Taylor, Pablo Hinojo, Michael Strinati, Stephen Trafford

Right: Even the spiritual highs of Holy Week can’t stop Pablo posing for a photo!

Below: We stayed at the beautiful Casa la Salle. Pictured here is the main church of the institute.

24 netherhall news

Shortly after arriving in London on the 10th of August 2005, I learned of an Argentinean named Rodrigo in Netherhall who wanted to meet Pope Benedict XVI at World Youth

Day (WYD), which was to be held in Cologne, on his upcom-ing 18th birthday. I did not think the birthday wishes of that Argentinean were insane. In fact I thought it would be fine if I just tagged along. Over the next few days even the Prelate of Opus Dei took an interest when he heard of our plan. The cru-cial point of contact came from one of the students attending the August International Summer Course in Netherhall, whose uncle was the then Vatican Secretary of State, Bishop (now Car-dinal) Sandri.

The days leading up to the WYD were filled with all sorts of emails to Bishop Sandri, and even phone calls from the Vatican to Netherhall. Rodrigo’s bizarre birthday wish was slowly taking shape. But boarding the plane to Cologne on the 19th of August, we still didn’t have a clear idea of when, if at all, we could meet the Pope. Rodrigo’s birthday came two days later, the 21st of Au-gust. In one of the many conversations with Bishop Sandri from my mobile phone we managed to arrange a meeting at the Papal sacristy before the concluding Mass of WYD.

We seemed to be able to get through all sorts of security controls until we eventually stumbled across a disbelieving officer. His delightfully clipped words were “Go back or be arrested”. There was no room for discussion or negotiation and we retraced our steps. Encouraged by Bishop Sandri, we tried different entries into the main sacristy; the bishop’s entrance, the priest’s entrance, even the Latino entrance; all of them unsuccessful. As the solemn hymns which preceded the start of the Mass were intoned we accepted defeat and thanked Bishop Sandri for all his efforts. At least, we thought, it would make an interesting story.

This was the first display on a global stage of how well this Pope engaged with young people. Coupled with his great gifts as a teacher and a deep love for the truth, he was able to put across difficult concepts in a youthful and affectionate manner. After-wards, as I stood on a bungalow to get a better view of the hun-dreds of thousands in the Marienfeld, my phone rang. It was Bishop Sandri asking whether Rodrigo was still in the camp. The question caught me by surprise. I just said, “Yeah, we are around,” to which he rapidly answered, “I am trying to see if I can get Rodrigo to meet the Pope in Cologne”. Stunned by his determination, I convinced him to let me join before passing the phone to Rodrigo. His secretary called shortly afterwards with instructions: be at the Archbishop’s House in Cologne at 4pm sharp.

the day I met pope benedictpablo hinojo on the fulfilment of a birthday wish

Transport that day was in complete chaos. A bus had had an acci-dent causing serious delays; the trains were running at full capacity. There was no way we could possibly get past over a million pilgrims heading into Cologne, in less than 2 hours (the rest of the Netherh-all group took over 5). We just ran towards the train station hoping for the best. At some point we decided to pray to Don Alvaro (Saint Josemaria’s first successor) to sort something out for us. We suddenly bumped into a taxi – the only one we would see that day. The driver was amused by our unique, almost mad request, but judging by the way he made use of the absence of speed limits on German roads, he clearly believed us. We were on time. As we approached the main entrance of the house, waves of pilgrims cheered us on. Our WYD pilgrim’s passes were checked by soldiers, and we were greeted by name as Bishop Sandri’s personal secretary ran towards us.

He took us to a sitting room where there were biscuits and tea. Anything seemed possible at this point so we even thought we might have tea with the Pope! Instead we did so with the Sec-retary of State. He gave us a present for Netherhall: the Missal (the liturgical book used to celebrate Mass) which the Pope had used during the main WYD Mass. With it he gave us a number of rosaries and medals blessed by the Pope. After an hour, he led us near the main entrance where the Pope was going to pass. The

netherhall news 25

stillness of the house was disturbed only by the occasional echo of a cardinal’s steps and the quiet personal butlers and security officers. After a few minutes, the small figure of Pope Benedict appeared. Overwhelmed by a sense of awe in seeing the Pope up close, we knelt down and kissed his hand. Rodrigo later joked that he thought I had somehow got stuck on the floor.

The Pope listened with great interest to Bishop Sandri’s introduc-tion. Rodrigo and I assured him of our prayers and affection, and we told him it was Rodrigo’s 18th birthday – the excuse which had got us that far. The attention he paid us made it feel as if our impromptu meeting was the most important thing he had to do at that moment. Indeed, the peace and serenity for which he has been praised was clearly palpable in our little encounter. It is often said that when one meets a person one admires it is hard to find the right words, and when I asked him to bless my small pocket crucifix, I started to shake like a leaf. Handing it back, the Pope placed himself between Rodrigo and I to immortalise the moment. He then slowly started to make a move for his meeting with the bishops.

Coming back down to Earth, my many phone calls to Bishop Sandri had resulted in astronomically high phone bill. Every penny was worth it. Indeed, we had succeeded in our adventure.

“The Pope listened with great interest to Bishop Sandri’s introduction. Ro-drigo and I assured him of our prayers and affec-tion...The attention he paid us made it feel as if our impromptu meeting was the most important thing he had to do at that mo-ment. Indeed, the peace and serenity for which he has been praised was clearly palpable”

26 netherhall news

forgiving the unforgivable Forgiveness, writes Along Ying, has taken on a new dimension in the globalised era.

netherhall news 27

The invocation of forgiveness has infiltrated every layer of soci-ety. We do not find it surprising, for instance, when the heads of banks apologise on behalf of their institutions’ role in the

credit crunch, nor do we bat an eyelid when Chris Huhne asks for forgiveness on the public stage. Indeed it often seems that we expect apologies in these circumstances.

In the modern era it could be said that the word ‘forgiveness’ has become commonplace in the geo-political sphere. By this I am re-ferring to what Derrida would call the ‘globalisation’ of forgiveness. The Abrahamic conception of forgiveness is no longer a religious or merely social act but has become, in the words of Derrida, ‘a uni-versal idiom of law, of politics, of the economy or of diplomacy…’

Yet it is important to question whether any of these acts truly constitute acts of forgiveness or whether they represent some-thing else. This is of course, a semantic issue, but for Derrida at least, there is a sense that forgiveness has become misappropri-ated when it is seen merely as transaction, diplomacy or even reconciliation. It is this devaluation of forgiveness through its functions in politics and law, more than illegitimacy of exchange per se, that is the strongest of Derrida’s arguments.

For Derrida, if forgiveness is to constitute true forgiveness, it must always have reference to the unconditional. By this he means two things. First, that true forgiveness is never given in exchange for something, it is never implicated in some sort of bargain; rather, it has to be a gift. The second point (which is really an exploration of the first), is that given the unconditional nature of forgiveness, it must not come with any requirements.

fundamentally meant forgiving that which was unforgivable. It is only then the full weight of its significance and meaning comes to bear. After all, there is always a sense that if a situation is for-givable, then it has not ever truly needed to be forgiven.

This paradox, or aporia, as Derrida would call it, is the idea that forgiveness has two poles that can never quite reach each other. That on the one hand, forgiveness must be unconditional, and on the other hand it must actually occur. If we are to then take Derrida seriously, it becomes quite apparent that true forgiveness is not actually possible, since the moment we undertake forgive-ness, it has become forgivable and thus loses its significance. At this point, Derrida’s conception of forgiveness no longer becomes practicable or intuitive.

Still, if there is anything to be learned from Derrida’s deconstruc-tion of forgiveness, it is this: that the idea of the unforgivable is abhorrent to the very concept of forgiveness. It is precisely when it becomes hard to forgive that forgiveness takes on its greatest significance and meaning. Thus, in response to the image of the death camps, we should not see forgiveness as having died, but forgiveness as having been raised. That perhaps the modern era too, in its reply to the atrocities of the 20th century, could do nothing but globalise forgiveness.

Along Ying is a law student in his second year at Kings College Lon-don. It is his first at Netherhall.

“the idea of the unforgivable is abhorrent to the very concept of forgiveness. It is precisely when it becomes hard to for-give that forgiveness takes on its greatest significance and meaning”

Here, he disagreed with Jankélévitch, who regarded forgiveness as always requiring a meaning, a meaning which must always relate to some sense of redemption or reparation. Faced then with the monstrous crimes committed during the Holocaust, it is no wonder that Jankélévitch once poignantly remarked that, ‘forgiveness died in the death camps.’ Yet for Derrida, those so-called unforgivable crimes – those crimes against humanity, were precisely the very situations in which forgiveness was meant to be invoked – moreover, what else could one do, but forgive? This was the paradox of forgiveness. That to forgive unconditionally

28 netherhall news

you say tomato, i say tomatoEnglish accents are a patch-work made from different peoples from different time periods. Alexis Guyot reports

In the very international atmosphere of Netherhall House , populated by Spaniards, Indians, Norwegians, and occasion-ally Britons, Peter McGee was invited to Netherhall House on

February the 4th to speak about the factors that influence the way we speak.

Firstly, he described the connection between history and the evolution of the language. Nations love to randomly invade one another owing to their appetite for ever increasing power. This process is responsible for an evolution of the languages of the oc-cupied territories and happened on many occasions to Britannia. Around 54 BC the Roman Empire made their first attempt at conquering Britannia, a painstaking task which was eventually completed around year 90 AD. During that period of time, parts of the British territory were generously granted to the invaders. One might view this as rather one-sided, but another view might be that the land was made in exchange for words. These so-called borrowed Latin words were added to the Germanic vocabulary of the local tribes, and surprisingly enough, were not returned even when the Romans decided they had had enough with the insular weather. Another set of invasions was carried out by the greatest travelers in history, the Vikings. Starting from the 8th century, these people were touring Europe and enjoyed some time in the north of France. When they got tired of their life there, they decided to visit the nearest island they could find, and thus conquered Britain. Along with them they brought their lan-guage, which had become the Norman dialect, as a warmhearted token of friendship and good will. Norman in turn evolved into Anglo-Norman due to the pressure of native populace and still continues to influence today’s English which continues to evolve,

with little influence from other insignificant dialects and patois such as French.

This history of the language has a direct influence on local vari-ations in dialects and accents. As an example, Novocastrians (those hailing from Newcastle) tend to speak the Geordie dialect, their very own version of English. This dialect tends to shorten the vowel ‘a’, and more interestingly, uses numerous borrowed Norwegian words. A direct consequence of this is that people from the south of England are often confused when they hear Newcastle locals speaking: they do not know if they are in front of one of their fellow Englishmen speaking Norwegian or contra-rily, to a Norwegian that speaks English. Likewise, if a Londoner visits the northern parts of the country, they will most certainly sound Greek to the ears of a native. To date, around 28 main English dialects have been counted inside the United Kingdom, although they frequently overlap. Nowadays, however, social mobility tends to attenuate these local variations. This is perhaps one reason why immigrants are particularly welcomed to Britain: they revive the diversity of the English language and prevent it from the steady and lengthy death it would face if no action were taken.

The way someone talks speaks much more than their regional background. Mr McGee described how language speech pat-terns are not only useful to distinguish between the aspirants to aristocracy and the commoners, but also how they help to differentiate non-native from native speakers. As a general rule, foreign speakers of English do not understand the subtleties of the language, if they understand any English at all. The most

netherhall news 29

basic way to spot aliens (foreigners) is to check whether they rightly pronounce basic usual words such as tomato (’tomahto’) or schedule (’sheduel’). Other tips include verifying whether they master ‘connected speech’ processes, such as the use of intrusive ‘r’ and altering the pronunciation of words depending on their positions inside a sentence. Another highly peculiar feature is the ‘schwa’ vowel, represented in linguistics by the symbol ‘ə’. It is the unstressed ‘urgh’ sound in words such as the ‘a’ in about [ə’baʊt], or ‘u’ in supply [sə’pʰlaɪ]. An easy way to remember how it sounds, according to Mr McGee is to think of the disgust expressed when faced with a poorly made cup of tea – ‘Urgh, this tea tastes horrid!’ Clearly some shugə (sugar) was needed.

“Novocastrians (those hailing from Newcastle) tend to speak the Geordie dialect, their very own version of English. This dialect tends to shorten the vowel ‘a’, and more interestingly, uses nu-merous borrowed Nor-wegian words”The way in which one speaks gives precious indications on their working environment, their education and their upbringing (so precious indeed, that it generally led UK agents to capturing German spies during the war when those said spies attempted to fake an English accent).

In fact, belonging to a certain social stratum can even expunge the regional variations of the language; people from higher classes, re-gardless of their geographical situation, often seem to be attempting to permanently imitate Her Majesty the Queen. To do so, they force themselves to adopt a particular accent called RP (Received Pronun-ciation). Among these people, the most popular methods used to pick up this form of speech are to frequent posh circles and then to spend whole days listening to the BBC. As a note of interest, the word ‘posh’ originates from an acronym describing the demands of Victorian holiday-makers on their voyages to America. In order to compensate for the dismal greyness that drove the Romans away, the Victorians would order cabins that were ‘portside outbound, starboard home’, the sides of the ship which faced the sun. Gener-ally these days, posh clubs are viewed as unreasonably elitist and expensive, plus people do not have time any more to listen to the radio simply to perfect their accents. The logical consequence is that only 2% of the UK population now speaks RP English. These select are rated more highly in terms of general competence, but according to several surveys what they gain in competence they lose in social attractiveness. Northern accents are considered to be the exact op-posite to this. Current trends are to disguise RP accents to avoid being seen as a member of the aristocracy (the reader is referred to the History of the French Revolution for further details on why being an aristocrat is not necessarily an asset).

“The most basic way to spot foreigners is to check whether they rightfully pro-nounce basic usual words such as tomato (tomahto) or schedule (sheduel)

30 netherhall news

once again kick-starting our sports column, gautam balaram rounds up some major recent sporting events

athlete’s foot

Premiership: Premier League serial winners Manchester United extend their lead to 15 points with 9 games to go. Kudos to West Brom, Swansea and Everton for punching above their weight. The race for the next Champion’s League places heats up with Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal all in for a mad dash to the finish. Player of the Season – Michu (Swansea) / Manager of the Season – David Moyes (Everton)

La Liga: Is there anyone to stop the Barcelona juggernaut? 24 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses is simply unbelievable. With the return of Abidal and return of Vilanova to the helm, Barcelona look to be peaking just at the right time. Real Madrid are out of the running in the Liga, but still look on course for an un-likely Cup double. They eliminated Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey with Varane as the star of the show. Player of the Season : The one the only Messi! / Manager of The season : Tempted to say Vilanova/Mourinho but my vote goes to Diego Simeone of Atletico Madrid.

Bundesliga: Jitters creeping in? Bayern lead by 20 points with 8 games to go. They defeated Dortmund in the semis of the German cup and then trounced Arsenal in the away leg. The team looked set to march on and go one better than last year in the Champions until that insipid display against Arsenal at home. Dispatched Shakthar with conviction and faces Malaga in the quarters. Player of the season : Marco Reus (Dortmund) / Manager of the season: Jupp Hey-neckes (Bayern Munich)

Serie A: Juventus going strong under Conte, led by 9 points with 9 games to go. Sir Alex will be livid with the Pogba fiasco and Frenchman has put in some fine performances. Napoli are in free fall and have lost pace on the leaders. Milan have dug deep and are climbing up the table and now in third. Inter heartbreakingly lost out to Tottenham in the Europa league. Player of the Season: Stephen El Shaarawy / Manager of the Season: Massimiliano Allegri (Miracle Worker!!)

Ligue Une and Eredivisie: Currently PSG lead the chasing pack by 9 points with 9 games to go, should have sealed the title but keep shooting themselves in the foot with their poor defensive record. 3 points separate Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord and Vitesse in the Eredivisie and it’s all up for grabs with the last stretch in sight.

Champions League: It is the first time the league has been without Premier-ship clubs in the quarter finals since 1996. Pellegrini’s Malaga have innocu-ously slipped into the quarters of the CL having dispatched Porto and topped their group ahead of Milan. Barca doubters were made to swallow their words after 4-0 drubbing of Milan in the 2nd leg of the Champion’s League, next they face PSG. Dortmund has been the dark horse of the Champions, topping the ‘group of death’ ahead of Madrid and Man City. Real Madrid have ‘La Decima’ in sight as they dispatched Manchester United in arguably the great-est game of the season so far, and they next face Galatasaray.

Football

netherhall news 31

A new season and Vettel looks set to defend his crown with a 3rd place in Australia and 1st place in

Malaysia. Raikonnen shows nerves by holding onto the podium even with his tyres looking to fall off any minute to storm to victory in Australia. Lewis justifies his departure from McLaren with consistent performances and is a strong contender for the championship. Alonso and Webber are also in the running. Watch out for another great season in the making.

rugby Welsh dragons burn English grand slam hopes to a crisp with a 30-3 mauling in the finals of the Six Nations

cricket

formula 1

England avoided defeat to New Zealand. Alistair Cooks’ team looked hapless against Southee and Boult on the final day of the last test. Matt Prior stepped up to the plate and saved England. India whitewashed the Aussies and looks like men-tally England has the upper hand before the first ball has been bowled in the upcoming Ashes series.

Brazil as hosts of the 2014 WC gained automatic qualification to the finals. Argentina lead the pack by 4 points with a stellar attacking display boasting the likes Aguero, Messi, Di Maria

and Higuain. Tempered with self-belief the team banished the ghosts of La Paz to gain a precious point and strengthen its chances for qualification. Spain silenced its critics with an efficient display against a resurgent French side managed by Didier Deschamps. Pedro got the all-important strike just before the hour mark for the Spaniards. Meanwhile Italy dispatched Malta by means of 2 strikes by Balotelli. England thrashed San Marino 8-0 but stuttered against Montenegro and were held to a 1-1 draw. Portugal meanwhile trail group leaders Russia having played 2 more matches and collected 1 point less. Japan look set to acquire qualification as the AFC enters the final stages. Australia, Uzbekistan and South Korea look the part and are favourites to join the Blue Samurai.

world cup qualifiers

32 netherhall news

Far in Central East Africa there was once a bread basket nation in the landmass of Africa. It was a great homeland for the black, white and Asian children playing together in the parks.

Birds chirped happily in trees and progress was what defined this country, the nation of Uganda. Among the smiley people of this realm was a British Asian teenager, eloquent, six feet tall and with dreams to follow; John D’Souza was his name. This time of plenty John and his fellow countrymen relished for decades in the middle of Africa was not to last for long. The year was 1971, the 25th of January was the day, and John was visiting the neigh-bouring state of Kenya. Meanwhile, it was a sparkling spring day in Uganda when out of the blue the Ugandan Broadcasting Ra-dio Station announced that there had been a coup d’état and their new leader was now a tall and 280 pounds heavy general by the name of Idi Amin. This was the beginning of the end to the unison and tranquillity the nation had endured for ages.

The new era for Uganda was met by controversial and divisive de-cisions; legend has it that the ‘god’ of Idi Amin had told him in a

once upon a time in ugandaVepika Kanjou listens to a story of Idi Amin’s effects on Uganda

dream to expel the British Indians from Uganda and to let ‘Afri-can’ Ugandans enjoy the wealth of the nation for the first time in history. This in turn resulted in the exploitation of what I will call ‘Indophobia’ that existed before. He spread propaganda against the British Asians using the minority, John’s ethnic group in Uganda, as scapegoats. They were stereotyped as ‘only traders’ and ‘inbred’. John and his people were labelled as ‘dukawallas’ (an occupational term that degenerated into an anti-Indian slur during Amin’s time), and portrayed as ‘materialistic, conniving’, without any racial iden-tity or loyalty but ‘always cheating, conspiring and plotting’ to sub-vert Uganda. Amin used this propaganda to justify a campaign of ‘de-Indianization’, eventually resulting in the expulsion and ethnic cleansing of Uganda’s Indian minority.

During this expulsion, laws were passed over cups of coffee and bottles of whisky. Innocent people, women and children died in the process. John recalled that there was once a period when all the Indian University graduates were not allowed to leave, includ-ing himself – the country was now in chaos. Universities had no

netherhall news 33

professors, hospitals had no doctors and industries had no skilled personnel. It was hell. It took only 90 days for the manoeuvres of leadership to destroy a domicile that was once looked up to by other developing states. For John, leaving for unknown shores was the best he could hope for. With the help of an old friend who was now the leader of the Army, John narrowly found his way out of the country and his world changed forever.

This story pin-points the essence of leadership in a nation-state. Growing up in South Saharan Africa I managed to witness first-hand the principle of what leadership can do to a nation. The nation of Botswana where I am from was the third poorest country in the world when it got independence from Britain in 1966. We have managed to become the fastest growing economy in the world for the past 40 years and I won’t deny the fact that I am here today, able to attend the talk given by John on Tuesday the 19th of Febru-ary at Netherhall House, because of the prodigious leadership in Botswana. On the other hand, our neighbours, Zimbabwe (once Great Southern Rhodesia), was one of the richest countries in Africa

when they gained independence from Britain and within a period of 30 years it became one of the poorest states in the world. I am sure that even when you ask 5 year olds growing up in Sub-Saharan Africa they will tell you that the difference between Zimbabwe and Botswana is due to the presidency of Robert Mugabe and Sir Seretse Khama Ian Khama. I am not noting this to brag about the success of my country and I am not saying our leadership is perfect either. I am stating this to highlight what I consider the defining element when contrasting a successful and abortive realm.

Another thing we can take from John D’Souza‘s talk apart from the importance of leadership is that individuals can make a differ-ence. It all starts deep within an individual to believe that they can change some things for the better. In that aspect you tend to attract those who share similar values and together you can make change – as Margaret Mead once said, ‘Never underestimate the power of a small group of people to change the world. In fact, it is the only way it ever has.’

“legend has it that the

‘god’ of Idi Amin had

told him in a dream to

expel the British Indi-

ans from Uganda and

to let ‘African’ Ugan-

dans enjoy the wealth

of the nation for the

first time in history...

laws were passed

over cups of coffee

and bottles of whis-

ky. Innocent people,

women and children

died in the process”

Vepika Kanjou is in his first year studying Chemical Engineering at UCL. It is his first year at Netherhall.

34 netherhall news

illuminating a problem in the theory of quantum physics

dougie tatz puzzles over the nature of light’s wave-particle duality

While most other disciplines of science focus on obtaining precise results that can be reproduced with an experi-ment, quantum physics focuses upon theory as a means

to understand the sub-atomic world. On Monday, March 11th, Netherhall House had the pleasure of welcoming Peter Adams who gave fascinating insights into quantum physics, the study of physical phenomena at the microscopic and sub-atomic level. Mr Adams read Theoretical Physics at Oxford, has worked on the particle accelerator at the Rutherford Laboratory, and con-ducted research in the field of computer science at Queen Mary University, London; he also co-editor of Is Science Compatible With Free Will, to be published later this year by Springer, NY.

In 1905, Albert Einstein laid the foundation for the discipline we now call quantum physics. His first of five highly revolution-ary papers solved one of the problems plaguing physicists for decades: the nature of light. While scientists agreed that light was a wave, it exhibited puzzling characteristics of particles. The German physicist Max Planck suggested that radiation in the ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum can be ra-diated in the form of particles. Energy is described using the EM spectrum, which includes light perceptible to the human eye and the other forms of energy which aren’t, such as radio waves and ultraviolet rays.

netherhall news 35

“To the disbelief of nearly

all of his contemporar-

ies at the time, Einstein

took Planck’s suggestion

a step further, arguing

that light is always a par-

ticle. However, this idea

was later developed into

quantum theory, which

resolves the conflicting

views and explains that

light is both a wave and

a particle”

To the disbelief of nearly all of his contemporaries at the time, Einstein took Planck’s suggestion a step further, arguing that light is always a particle. However, this idea was later developed into quantum theory, which resolves the conflicting views and explains that light is both a wave and a particle. In his fourth and fifth paper Einstein resolved the contradiction between the views of mechanics and EM regarding absolute movement (according to Einstein, absolute movement does not exist) and introduced the equation E=mc2, which explains that energy has mass.

The photon, or the smallest unit of light, is central to the theory of quantum physics. Mr. Adams’ talk focused primarily on the complex nature of the photon. One of the many phenomena in the field is articulated by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which states that both the momentum and position of a photon cannot be known at the same time. Perhaps the most puzzling aspect is that it is impossible to know exactly why both factors of the photon cannot be known – for now it simply must be accepted that this is so. Any attempt to ascertain both factors disrupts the very qualities that define a photon. This has been demonstrated by several experiments that measure the final des-tinations of photons emitted from a light source. For example, in one experiment the light source was filtered to emit photons one-by-one then projected through two transparent slits in a piece of opaque glass. In effect, this allows the photon two options to pass through. If one were to attempt to measure the characteristics and direction of the photon in order to predict its final destina-tion, the process of measuring would change the photon, thus rendering unhelpful results.

However, the fact that it is impossible to know the final des-tination of the photon yields potentially useful applications. A single photon emitter yields perfectly random numbers, because by testing the photons, one destroys the inherently random qual-ity of their final location. As a result, this application could have important implications for information encryption.

Douglas Tatz studies Economics at International Relations in the States at Seton Hall University, New Jersey. He is here on exchange for one term, studying at the University of Westminster. It is his first year at Netherhall.

36 netherhall news

LifeOf The House

As if the regular Guest Speaker series of talks isn’t enough intellectual stimula-tion for us, there are always frequent

events to inject life into the house, truly giving that unique character and atmosphere that Neth-erhall is proud to boast of. Remember, most of these activities and other forthcoming activi-ties can be found on our online calendar. www.nh.netherhall.org.uk/events

The Idiot’s Guide to...Our weekly Thursday ‘Idiot’s Guide to...’ is a chance for residents to show off their knowledge or share their enthusiasm on a topic in an infor-mal evening presentation.

Our first offering was a master class by Chris-tian Valle on ‘How to Sing’ on February the 7th. Vepika Kanjou came next on the 14th with an explosive talk on ‘The Manhattan Project’. Andy Taylor explained the ups and downs of “Why Aeroplanes Fly” on the 21st. Alex Osborne was scheduled to delight us with his insights on the works of Evelyn Waugh; unfortunately (or per-haps fortunately!) this was postponed for a later date due to the election of Pope Francis on the 28th. March the 7th was a guided tour of India by Sachin Nehra, filled with colourful travel ads and a video showing the strong pride that our Indian community at Netherhall have for their country, their languages and their culture. Daniel Xia finished our bi-monthly list in his exploration of ‘Adult Stem Cells and Nerve Regeneration’ on the 21st.

Musical RecitalsThe auditorium is a great stage for the resident musicians and other visiting groups to practise or perform. Apart from impromptu recitals for the pleasure of the residents, Netherhall hosts per-formances open to the public at affordable prices, particularly for young people.

One public concert was held on 9 March, given by the Hieronymus Quartet in partnership with the Cavatina Chamber Music Trust. The Hiero-nymus quartet, whose members hail from Can-ada, South Korea, the United States and France, formed in 2011 at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where they receive regular coaching from Alasdair Tait and members of the Endellion and Belcea quartets.

A

The Hieronymus Quartet: Vladimir Waltham (cello), Jonathan Larson (viola), Yolanda Bruno

(violin 1), Hun Ouk Park (violin 2)

netherhall news 37

The quartet draws on the contrasted musi-cal backgrounds of its members as well as their wealth of experience in various other groups to bring to life the rich and complex string quartet repertoire in its own unique voice. In 2012 they were selected to represent the Guildhall at the Ca-vatina Intercollegiate String Quartet Prize, where they took both the main prize and the audience prize.Recent performances have included recit-als at the City of London Festival, the Charter House, and King’s Place.

Other EventsSometimes there are one-off or unique events in the Netherhall Calendar. Here are a few of the more prominent ones.

The Thomas More Institute (TMI) hosted a series of Saturday post-lunch talks on various topics. On 2 March, Javier Castañon (Architectural Associa-tion School of Architecture) spoke about ‘Archi-tectural Aesthetics and the Impact of Le Corbus-ier’. On 9 March Charlotte de Mille (Courtauld Institute, London) spoke on ‘Postmodernism’. On 16 March, Piers Tattersall (TMI) spoke on ‘Modernism: Styles and Philosophies’.

Kevin Kan, a resident currently working at the Fairtrade Foundation’s HQ in London, showed us the positive benefits both economic and social, of Fairtrade products.

Marcos Ayerza is an Argentinean rugby player who plays for the Leicester Tigers in the Aviva

Premiership Rugby league. He talked about his view on the game from the from the front row.

Editor’s Pick Without a doubt the most memorable event to my mind was the second leg of the Champion’s League quarter-final between Manchester United and Real Madrid on Tuesday the 5th of March. Its importance to so many of us at Netherhall was evidenced by the crowd that gathered in the dim room to watch the projected game. I’ll be frank here – it was a hugely deflating experience for the Red Devils (Man Utd) supporters. Not because the game was flat, on the contrary it was an incredible display of heroism from Man Utd after having gone down a man from a controver-sial (pace all!) red card against Nani’s dangerous tackle.

The atmosphere in the lounge was as good as any crowded pub, since the massive contingent of Los Merengues (Madrid) fans and temporary supporters was bolstered by the appearance of friends, more friends, friends of friends, and ex-residents. Spanish, of course. Manchester fans were outnumbered at least three to one. As the game went on the tension ratcheted up several notches. Eventually the room was resounding to hoarse yells, hugging, friendly jeers and off-tune chants by the Madrid contingent, and shakes of the head from the other side of the room. No grand event here would be complete without the traditional trip to that wonderful watering hole, the North Star pub down the road.

Two of four new paintings by Eigil Nordstrom commissioned for the Netherhall laptop room. An exhibition of Eigil’s work is taking

place at Burgh House, New End Place, NW3 1LT from 24-28 April

38 netherhall news

Everyone used to die young. Thankfully, medical advances of the twentieth century have kicked infectious diseases in the teeth, and prevented sufferings of the ever-growing glo-

bal population. Soon I’m sure there will be so many old people around that ‘post-50s’ may be the ‘new teenager’. But does living so long come at a cost to the brain through non-infectious dis-eases? We at Netherhall received a well-attended talk introducing this idea—in the context of elderly illness—by Baroness Susan Greenfield on February the 11th.

Baroness Greenfield is a business founder, Oxford professor and researcher, spokesperson and writer for neuroscience research. Enthusiasm doesn’t come much clearer than that! She works on preventing the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, a neurodegen-erative disorder that causes long-term memory loss, and even-tually death, in the elderly. An increasing rate of an incurable, terminal disease in the global population surely deserves more media coverage relative to the many temporary political affairs which often resolve themselves over time. And where this is per-haps most publically important is in the awareness and treatment of elderly mental health illness such as Alzheimer’s disease. Alzhe-imer’s usually renders one with only the cloudiest memories of childhood, as if life memories were on a tape deleting itself upon rewind. It is currently far from curable. Interestingly, this degen-eration of long-term memory occurs in recent to early memory direction, which opposed to theories of ‘normal forgetfulness’. In 2006, there were 26.6 million sufferers worldwide and it is the most common form of dementia.

But before I continue, I must insist that the disease must be un-derstood within the context of the brain. The brain is the most complex, yet one of the least understood organs of the human body, but thankfully the rapidly growing need for better under-standing is being matched by the amount of research being car-ried out. Professor David van Essen of the University of Wash-ington is the project leader of the Human Connectome Project, one which he hopes will be the neurological version of the Hu-man Genome Project in terms of its effects upon the field. He told BBC News that he was ‘optimistic that as the community delves in and begins working on these data sets, they will reveal new insights into the brain circuits of healthy adults’. So far the project has published the scans of 68 adults, but they plan to eventually scan 1,200. The results are all freely available to neu-roscientists around the world.

a state of mind

liam o’leary’s neural path-ways analyse the findings of

a recent guest speaker

As Baroness Greenfield stated, ‘Brain cells form physical connec-tions which represent a logical connection between two things… A pen doesn’t tell you to write with it; you choose to move it to inscribe readable words by using logical connections you learned as a child.’ Many of these connections—which define you, the you that thinks, feels and moves through the world—form dur-ing early human development. It is the amount of these con-nections between nerve cells which determine the capabilities of your brain, not its size. These connections become ‘untan-gled’ by Alzheimer’s disease; a loss of both memory (logical) and brain (physical) connections. Why does all this matter? Baroness Greenfield then persuaded us to think harder. If Alzheimer’s dis-ease increases excessively, will society be economically capable of supporting the affected? ‘With increased aging population from medical advance, there will be an increased level of Alzheimer’s disease,’ she argued. A report from the Lancet, one of the most respected medical journals in the world and especially in the field of neurology, says that deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s have soared from being the UK’s 24th biggest killer to the 10th in just two decades.

“deaths from dementia and Alzheimer’s have soared from being the UK’s 24th biggest killer to the 10th in just two decades”

netherhall news 39

If there is one thing I cannot understand in this world, it is that so many people (or brains, if you think about it) go through life without questioning the physical matter they themselves constitute, so I was pleased to hear inklings of materialism from Greenfield despite this recent statement from her interview in the Tablet: ‘The subjective feeling you have does not trump or invalidate what’s going on physically in the body’. But it would be simplistic to equate intellect to neuronal connection number, as each varies in strength and purpose. You could memorise that ‘1 + 1 = 3’ and still form strong connections in the mathematical region of the brain (parietal cortex), but this means nothing for your intelligence or worldly understanding! Thus, connections in certain brain regions perform specific cognitive functions. ‘Con-nections lost in a tiny brain region called the hippocampus oc-cur in Alzheimer’s, and the extent of this loss corresponds to the extent of memory loss’. This suggests that this brain region allows humans to form memories.

Baroness Greenfield raised an interesting premise in her talk. Does increasing human age, by improving treatments for life-threaten-ing illnesses, only increase the likelihood of mental health disor-ders within the population? There appear to be biological, as well as moral, issues with increasing human life expectancy. Will this shift political views on treatment of the elderly or euthanasia? Do we put a monetary price on life expectancy? B u t , being a neuroscience student, I couldn’t hold off a debate: what about remedying this ageing brain by increas-ing and

s t rength-ening hip- pocampal connections, rather than slowing its rate of death, with medical drugs? Regardless of its ethical prob-lems, UK students are well in- formed about cases of modnafil misuse to ‘boost memory’ for exams. Just imagine what would happen if people could selectively increase their memory! Despite the use of modnafil to alleviate memory being strongly supported by research results, Baroness Greenfield replied: ‘Drugs like modnafil are likely to induce psy-chosis and are unreliable for treatment in the elderly’.

She also made a brief final comment on her infamous Internet

Addiction Disorder (IAD) hypoth-esis on the effects of the internet on

mental health disorders: ‘There seems something unnatural about social networking like Facebook, where anyone can say something and others can put a thumbs up or down like the Romans did!’ Perhaps, she suggested, this affects brain

connections related to social disorders like autism. If this were

true, maybe social networking may change the psychosocial characteristics

of future generations of the elderly. Audience interaction and reliance on anecdotal evidence, as

demonstrated in this talk, is Baroness Greenfield’s strong-est point and puts her at ease with the public and slight unease with some scientists. Thankfully this talk contained interesting predictions about the health of the future generation which we will form, with which I saw no rebukes or slippery slopes.

Although science is not for everyone, everyone is made of sci-ence! I would argue that one of the most horrifying earthly events is the conscious loss of memory. More research of this disease would be merciful for mankind.

Liam O’Leary is studying at University College London in the sec-ond year of a Master’s degree in Neuroscience. It is his first year in Netherhall

40 netherhall news

world youth day 2013calling all young people!

Brazil has been in the spotlight of global media in recent years. The good news is that, unlike in the past, current news highlights its political and socio-economic achieve-

ments. Perhaps as a result of this, Brazil was awarded with hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016. We can only expect Brazil to get more and more media coverage and world attention. The world will be looking west towards Brazil and so will Catholics.

Brazil has the largest Catholic population in the world. It is not a surprise then that the Holy Father has invited all young people to meet him in Rio de Janeiro in July 2013 for World Youth Day (WYD).

‘Before all else, I invite you once more to take part in this impor-tant event. The celebrated statue of Christ the Redeemer overlook-ing that beautiful Brazilian city will be an eloquent symbol for us. Christ’s open arms are a sign of his willingness to embrace all those who come to him, and his heart represents his immense love for everyone and for each of you. Let yourselves be drawn to Christ! Experience this encounter along with all the other young people who will converge on Rio for the next World Youth Day! Accept Christ’s love and you will be the witnesses so needed by our world.’ (Message of his Holiness Benedict XVI to young Catholics)

Netherhall House will be echoing the Pope’s call and we will be taking a group to join him and thousands of other young Catholics from all over the world. But before doing that, we will be doing our bit to help and improve the quality of life of some of the host nation’s less fortunate people.

Madrid was able to share with the young Catholics of the world some of its historical traditions such as the different ‘pasos’ (Christian imagery used during the Holy Easter processions), old churches including ‘La Almudena’, newer ones like Ma-drid’s Cathedral, and a 15th century gold monstrance that was displayed during the prayer of vigil. Brazil may not have the centuries of Catholic traditions that Spain has accumulated, but it still has something equally Christian to share, the desire to care for the poor and deprived.

Volunteering project in Campo Alegre

As Professor Pereira mentioned in his talk at Netherhall last December (see the Netherhall News December 2012 issue, pages 10-12), Brazil has made encouraging progress in tackling poverty, where emphasis has been placed on improving social inequality. However, as Professor Pereira stressed, there is still a very long way to go, as Brazil is still quite high on the interna-tional index for income inequality.

The organisers of WYD are coordinating volunteering projects all over Brazil and inviting some groups to join them in helping those more in need. Students from Netherhall House will be joining others from Brazil, Mexico and Spain in helping people in Campo Alegre, located nearly 600 km from Brasilia, Brazil’s capital. Campo Alegre’s population of 700 people needs sup-port in areas such as health, nutrition, education, hygiene and other basic conditions.

We are looking especially for medicine and dentistry students who can help in providing health treatment for the local popu-lation as well as healthcare orientation for families. We also want any other students to help refurbish the local day care centre, teach English to children and to deliver essential goods for families.

If you would like to take part in the project or to sponsor one of our students going to the WYD and the social project please contact Alvaro Tintore, [email protected]

netherhall news 41

Desert Island Discs continues to entertain the House every Sunday evening. Based on the well-known BBC Radio 4 show, residents are interviewed about their lives and also asked to select three pieces of music to play. Finally, the interviewee has the choice of a book along with the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare.

Jorge Valero interviewed the Chelsea loving, Lion King humming, ‘peaceful trouble-maker’ (a literal translation of his name) Vepika Kandjou. Hailing from the village of Maun, Botswanian Veps is currently studying chemical engineering at UCL and dreams of opening a department of chemical engineering at the University of Bot-swana. Rumours persist that he is the son of the Botswanian president, or perhaps even royalty, but he vehemently denies it (awaiting official state confirmation).

Just before returning to his home land, Arnil Paras, interviewed by Eigil Nordstrom, told us all about his love for the Philippines and his future plans. Currently ‘work-ing hard’ on his PhD on International Development, he flies back to Manila with long term plans to turn one of the departments of the South Asia and the Pacific University into a Government Politics school. He left us all a piece of advice: instead of asking yourself ‘was it worth it?’ at the age of 40, ask yourself ‘is it worth it now?’

We got a taste of Ohio listening to the adventures of Dougie Tatz, who comes from a family of 11 (not counting his parents) in the outskirts of Columbus. After a childhood spent exploring the deepest forests in Maine on holidays, he moved to New Jersey to study International relations. As part of the degree he lived in Morocco for a period, where he learned to surf and to deal with people who had ‘a different sense of time’. To counteract the effect he is now in London studying hard and learning to box, as he tries to survive (and not to get arrested) while cycling around the city.

A French-Argentinian who lives in London and hangs a Basque Country flag in his room was interviewed by Pablo Hinojo. Edouard de Saizieu told us about his adventures with the French scouts, and his several trips to Argentina. The influ-ence from the South American country is noticeable in his love for horses, which he learned to breed and ride at a young age. Now he is in London working for a French food distribution company and preparing for the GMAT exams. If he was stranded on a desert island he would take an anthology of French poetry.

Ken Tsan Yuo told us all about his adventures around the world on Sunday when interviewed by Andy Taylor. During his first years at university in Taiwan, he joined an orchestra and won several prizes without ever playing a single instru-ment: he was just the ‘logistics guy’. Just before that, however, he spent 10 months doing the Taiwanese military service (who would have guessed Ken was a trained soldier...) His love for travelling has taken him all over Europe, including Newcas-tle of all places, where he spent a year in school. Now he is finishing his master’s degree at LSE, without very definite long term plans.

Desert Island Discs took a Norwegian turn when Eigil Nordstrom interviewed Ragnar Hovd. They both come from the cosmopolitan town of Trondheim, in the wild depths of Norway. Ragnar studies viola at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. His reason for playing the viola is that someone had to do it for a string quartet, and it fell to him (quite standard around viola players apparently). After a deep consideration, he told us, ‘if I had to be a tree, I’d be a good old oak’.

desert island discsanother sunday, another interview...reporting by gautam balaram & andy taylor

“Oh I just can’t wait to be King!” Ru-mours surrounding Vepika’s royal her-

itage spread when residents overheard him singing to himself in the shower

Arnil was in for an icy surprise after boarding the plane for his easily-confused home-town

Attempts to dislodge

Dougie from his room

each morn-ing fail to

take account of his Moroc-

can time-keeping

Edouard enthuses to his learned steed

on the merits of French poetry

Be careful what you wish for:

viola-play-ing Ragnar

Hovd wakes up on a

particularly bad hair day

During his time in the Taiwanese army, Ken was driven to extreme lengths to sustain his passion for orchestral music and military logistics

42 netherhall news

passing through news from former netherhall residents

Right: Prof. Raymund Donnelly was a resident back in

the 1950s. He has just published a

small book, With Jesus to Calvary. which is intended

as a Lenten companion to the

stations of the cross.

All proceeds go to Reachout (a

youth charity run from Greygarth, (the Netherhall

of Manchester). reachoutuk.org

The book is avail-able for £4.95 on

Amazon.

Left: João Bettencourt (2006-12)visited us in February.

Above: Congratulations to Eric Blomquist (2009-10) and his wife Mercedes on the birth of their daughter Isabel on 5 February.

Right: Claudio Signore (1995-

99) and his wife Beatrice have

welcomed a fourth child into

their family.