Bruce Kent - Undiscovered Ends: An Autobiography

BRUCE KENT

Undiscovered Ends

Fount

An Imprint of HarperCollins

Fount Paperbacks is an imprint of HarperCollins Religious

Part of HarperCollins Publishers

77-85 Fulham Palace Road Hammersmith, London w6 8jb

First published in Great Britain in 1992 by HarperCollins Religious

This edition published in 1994 by Fount Paperbacks

135798642 Copyright 1992 Bruce Kent

Bruce Kent asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

isbn o 00 627621 0

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Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Printed and bound in Great Britain by HarperCollins Manufacturing, Glasgow

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

This book is dedicated to the three wise women without whose gifts it would not have been possible:

Joan Cavender, who can read my writing Jackie O'Driscoll OP, who can outwit computers

and Valerie Flessati, who can spell

BRUCE KENT

Feast of the Epiphany, 1992

From quiet homes and first beginnings Out to the undiscovered ends There's nothing worth the wear of winning But laughter and the love of friends.

HILAIRE BELLOC

My mother's parents, Thomas Marion and Mary Bonfield, on their wedding day.

My parents, Kenneth Kent and Molly Marion.

My father's parents, William George Kent and Margaret MacIver.

Bruce and George, Littlehampton 1930.

Learning to Drive, 1931.

An early threesome: Rosemary, Bruce and George.

Stonyhurst leavers, 1946. Paul Johnson is standing on the right.

Ending my French tour, 1947.

Newman Society term card, Michaelmas 1951.

Brasenose College, Second Torpid 1951: a doomed crew.

Brasenose Ball, 1952.

First year Philosophy, St Edmund's College, 1952.

Holiday with Belgian disabled group, 1957.

My lovely family, Christmas 1963. On left, Rosemary and Dick Meakins with children. On right, George and Ruth Kent with children. Kenneth and Molly seated.

Baptising Mark Grayson, 1968. (Jeremy Grayson)

On visitation with Cardinal Heenan.

The new chaplain with Pat Millen, subsequently secretary to the New Zealand Cabinet.

Biafra, 1969.

'Food not Guns' protest with hired armoured car.

British Council of Churches and Commission for Justice and Peace reception for Archbishop Helder Camara, London 1969. (Universal)

"Wrong loch monsignor!"
The Catholic Herald's cartoon comment by John Ryan.

The Faslane Exorcism, 1973. (Frank Mehin)

With Cardinal Alfrink and Brian Wicker, Pax Christi International Council Meeting, Dublin 1977. (Pax Christi)

CND Office, 1980. A space problem. (Radio Times)

"Now we know why priests wear a dog collar!"
Cartoon warfare from The Sun (News International)

"Monsignor Kent is out but he asked me to take a message"
... and The Star. (Star Newspapers Ltd)