Fr. John Hunwicke, RIP

Today I heard the sad news that Fr. John Hunwicke had died on Tuesday, April 30th. He was a member of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

So many of us became acquainted with him on his blog Mutual Enrichment. An untiring champion of orthodoxy, Latinity and traditional culture, Fr Hunwicke offered a running commentary – now humorous, now acerbic and always erudite – on the (often disastrous) developments in Church and State. I would like to offer some personal reminiscences of Fr. Hunwicke.

In 2016 the Society of St. Hugh of Cluny had the pleasure of welcoming Fr. Hunwicke to the New York area. He spoke and celebrated mass at St. Mary’s, Norwalk; subsequently he spoke in the so-called “catacombs” of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I’m sure many fondly recall this visit!

In between his official program. I had the honor of showing Fr. Hunwicke around New York. We visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection, where he observed that Mr. Frick had had a simple plan for his collection, instructing his agents “just to buy the best, no matter what it is.” Fr. Hunwicke was very interested in Art Deco – what better place in the world to see it than New York City? Walking around Rockefeller Center (and later St Patrick’s Cathedral) he pointed out errors – sometimes egregious – in a coat of arms here, in a stained glass window there. A tour about town with Fr. Hunwicke was an amazing educational experience – for me!

Fr. Hunwicke later summarized his experiences in and around New York in his inimitable style:

I took the opportunity to avail myself of the very great privilege of celebrating and preaching in the fine church at Norwalk in Connecticut over which a fellow Oxonian, Dr Richard Cipolla of Cardinal College, a hospitable host, presides to such splendid effect. It is most impressive; the liturgy runs like the smoothest clockwork and the Music is in the charge of the mighty, impeccable, and infallible David Hughes. I had the unusual experience of being congratulated by no fewer than two of my hearers on preaching a sermon full of Ciceronian praeteritio. You don’t often get that class of comment on this side of the water.

For his full comments see Greetings from Father Hunwicke on this blog.

We stayed in touch. In 2019 the Society sponsored a Mass in thanksgiving for the canonization of Cardinal Newman at St. Catherine of Siena Church in New York. That Mass featured a new setting by Mr. David Hughes of a hymn written by Father Hunwicke, which begins:

Salve Fundator, Pater et Magister!

To set this hymn to music, Mr. Hughes had to enter into minor negotiations (supported by Fr. Hunwicke) with the Birmingham Oratory, which holds a copyright on it!

Fr. Hunwicke was a unique defender of the faith in our time. May he rest in peace!