Obituary: Professor Alfred Marnau

From the Latin Mass Society Newsletter, August 1999

With the death of Alfred Marnau, the traditional movement in this country and, indeed, the Catholic Church has lost a great servant and a powerful advocate.

Alfred first came to prominence in the late 1960s when the Church seemed to be on the road to self-destruction, and disobedience, dissent and wholesale change was the order of the day. Like many he was appalled at the upheaval that was being forced upon us but, unlike the majority, he decided to do something practical about it. He joined the Latin Mass Society in late 1969 and, as members will have read in the February issue of the Newsletter, he was directly responsible for the appeal to Pope Paul VI that resulted in the English Indult of 1971. This indult, which was particular only to England and Wales, allowed the old Mass to continue in our parish churches and was the forerunner to the international indult of Pope John Paul It in 1984. Therefore, not only those of us in England and Wales, but everyone worldwide owes an enormous debt of gratitude to Alfred Marnau that perhaps we may never adequately repay.

Alfred became Chairman of the Latin Mass Society in 1973. In 1981, the committee of the Society was becoming more and more aware of the errors in liturgical practice and catechetics that were being tolerated by the hierarchy. Unauthorised changes in the reception of Holy Communion were producing a new and unheard of irreverence for the Blessed Sacrament. Alfred, as Chairman of the Society, felt he was not able to make any satisfactory representation to the hierarchy without jeopardising the unique opportunity that had been won for English and Welsh Catholics by Cardinal Heenan (i.e. The ‘English Indult’) and, therefore, he resigned as Chairman in 1982. He and Sue Coote then started a new organisation whose remit would be to defend the magisterial teaching of the Church in the fields of liturgy, catechetics and morals. This organisation, which was named Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, was put together during 1981 and included such figures as Fr. Paul Crane and Sir John Biggs-Davidson. Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice found in him an able exponent intolerant of cant. The title itself showed Alfred's conviction that without Peter there could be no Ecclesia. His great love of the faith and his knowledge of what was happening in other countries in Europe, brought a very valuable asset to the Committee.

Porchester Hall, Bayswater, on 20th February 1982 was the first of many meetings arranged on a scale not seen before for the purpose of highlighting the very serious errors to Catholics who were confused and concerned over the changes in the Church. Since then there have been many meetings around the country culminating now in the great meetings in the Central Hall, Westminster over the last four years. Many will remember a succession of rather battered but powerful vehicles that took him on many a zigzag course (rather frightening for his passengers) to his various destinations.

He was Chairman of Pro Ecclesia for many years until the illness of his wife Senta, when he resigned. His speeches at these meetings, as Chairman, were very inspiring to those who were only beginning to see that, in the wake of the Second Vatican Council there had somehow been unleashed a torrent of error and dissent and many in authority were abdicating their responsibilities. Alfred was active in fostering and supporting various movements, always with a strong blend of scepticism and testy humour.

By this time his beloved daughter Corinna had left the family home to embrace the Benedictine life as Sister Maximilian at St. Cecilia’s Abbey, Ryde, on the Isle of Wight. This choice reflected the love for the traditions of the immemorial liturgy which her father consistently supported at a time when topsy-turvey manifestations were the order of the day.

In July 1988 the committee of the Latin Mass Society unanimously agreed to invite Alfred Marnau to fill the vacancy of Vice President and thus was restored his link with this Society. From then on he played an active and valuable part in the improving fortunes of those who wished to attend the traditional Mass. In later days, the sometimes turbulent annual general meetings of the Society benefited by his wisdom as he gazed balefully at an assembly that had not known the early heroic days of combat, first for the Latin language and its liturgical expression and then for the crucial right to make the most of papal pronouncements and such localised support from our bishops as there might be.

The death of his wife Senta provided the opportunity for Alfred, who was already involved with the Knights of Malta, to become a Knight of Justice, vowing complete dedication. Of this, ‘Fra Alfred’ was very proud and he gave himself without stint to promoting the interests of the Knights and the institutions they served, not least the Hospital of St. John and St. Elizabeth.

Away from his life in the traditional movement Alfred Marnau was an Honorary Professor of Literature at the University of Vienna. He published a trilogy of novels under the titles: The Guest, Free Among the Dead, and Polycarp and Zirpelin. He also published three collections of poetry—The Wounds of the Apostles, The Death of the Cathedral, and New Poems. All this, of course, is only the public face of one who, to the very last, gave friendship to those over the years that had engaged his affection. May he rest in peace at the last, praying with us as he promised.

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This book, The Threefold Garland, written under the pseudonym of Severine Kirchhof, is available from all good bookshops at approximately £16.99. It is understood that a paperback version will be available next February.

[Reproduced with some corrections]