Great news! Subito santo! I'm sure that this cause has been progressing toward this point for years, but it somehow seems fitting that it should be under Benedict XVI's pontificate that it reaches success. He's always had a friendly regard for Anglican converts to Rome, and I suspect he appreciates Newman as an intellectual, too.
Don't feel bad; this cradle Catholic (I'm a professional classical musician) spent two years in graduate school at Cambridge (King's College) attending Choral Evensong whenever I could, and dropping in for Sung Eucharist nearly every Sunday before running to the church of Our Lady and the English Martyrs to hear Mass there. Imagine coming back to the states and finding that the suburban parish to which I geographically belong
–had wall-to-wall carpeting
–had a piano in the sanctuary
-had a "folk" choir (with a directress who couldn't read music)
–preferred guitars to any other accompaniment
-wouldn't be caught dead singing or praying in Latin
-never used incense
-had really bad polyester vestments
-used Crate & Barrel wine goblets instead of chalices,
and the list goes on and on. This after the splendor of King's chapel and the glory of its choir. It was depressing.
Still, given all that, I'll take Roman Catholicism without a second thought if for no reason other than the Real Presence and the incredible gift of the Eucharist. Crummy music, lousy architecture, poor preaching all pale beside them.
Still, it would be nice, given the depth of the Church's treasury of the arts, to see and hear some beauty now and then. It's almost like we're either ashamed of it or we've some awful case of aesthetic amnesia.
So, no; it's by no means perfect, but it is home, and it is where the ultimate Truth and Beauty are found. Welcome home! And God bless you!
P.S. It is getting better, slowly but surely, in some places...
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