Page 24 - The Portal magazine - March 2025

THE P RTAL March 2025 Page 24

Fr Len Black

Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane
mark his retirement

HEN THE Vatican announced the erection of the Ordinariates
Win the USA, Australia and the UK, we set about planning for a
magazine in the UK that would keep the laity of the Ordinariate informed,
and be of interest to Catholics and
Anglicans alike.

During the autumn of 2010 He has not only put the magazine
we counselled opinion among together, but collected almost 1,200
our leaders, sought advice from email addresses from people who
various sources and then travelled have each, individually, requested
to Scotland in order to consult to receive an email alert each
Fr Len Black about the format of month. He has been a pioneer, not
the magazine since he had been only of the magazine, but of the
previously involved in such projects. Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady
of Walsingham in Scotland and
We decided that an on-line further afield.
magazine would be best, and we
outlined our ideas to Fr Len during We shall miss him. We hope he will
T
he c
o
v
er of the first issue of
the evening. By the next morning The cover of the first issue of have a long and happy retirement.
y 2011
or
he P
tal - Januar
he had produced a mock-up of a T The Portal - January 2011 Thank you Fr Len.
magazine that looked exactly like our
mental image of the magazine. We could not believe it. Note from Fr Len
It was exactly as we had imagined it.
(Inserted without the knowledge
In the final months of 2010 we produced two mock- of the Editors!)
up magazines that never saw the light of day, but they Dear Jackie and Ronald,
did make sure we could produce the magazine on time
and with articles and pictures. Fr Len took charge of Thank you for these very kind words of
the IT side of the magazine. appreciation, but please be assured that it has been
a pleasure working with you both (most of the
Since then he has taken the articles that the team time!) and seeing The PorTal go from strength to
provided, putting them together on the website as the reach the 184th issue this month.
finished article. Sometimes this has meant working But really, we should all be saying thank you to
late, and right up to the publishing time. He has never both of you for the vision you had in late 2010 of
failed. He had coped with our ideas, reasonable and producing an on-line magazine for the about to
unreasonable, and been a staunch member of The start Ordinariate. Fourteen years is a long time to
PorTal Team. In the early years he served as a member maintain such a magazine and you both must have
of the Editorial Board. visited more Ordinariate groups throughout the
UK than anyone else to date ... including several
Together with the Editors, Editorial Board members, trips to Scotland, which were much appreciated by
and so many contributors, Fr Len took his place in a everyone here.
team of some twenty people working for the magazine, As you say, we have not missed the deadline of
most of whom received no remuneration. midnight on the last day of the month in all 184

issues, even though at times it has been by the skin
Sadly, he has decided to retire from this position, of our teeth, especially when peculiar technical
so this will be his final magazine. We want to put on issues have suddenly appeared.
record out heartfelt thanks to him for all his support,
hard work, and skill. For the first fourteen years of The So Thank You, Ronald and Jackie. May God
PorTal, Fr Len has been at the IT helm. bless you both.