Andrew Lenox-Conyngham - In praise of St Jerome and against the Anglican cult of 'niceness'

Jerome was a highly controversial character in his lifetime and it is well known that he used his acerbic tongue against such contemporaries as Ambrose and Augustine.  His reputation, however, has steadily – and (this communication would argue) deservedly – increased with the passing of the centuries.  Erasmus was among the most prominent of his admirers.  There is greater interest in him today than probably at any time in the past.  The 2006 International Colloquy on Jerome held at Cardiff University, consisting of eighteen papers, is just one sign of the current recognition of the importance of this intellectual and, I would argue, spiritual giant.  Traditionally he is one of the four Latin Fathers of the Church, together with Ambrose, Augustine and Gregory.  However this increasingly international – and, indeed, ecumenical – recognition of his importance has paradoxically been accompanied by a liturgical downgrading of him in the Church of England.  This is clearly shown by the fact that his Feast Day on 30 September is no longer on the same level as such saints as his contemporaries, Ambrose and Augustine, but has been lowered to the third, and lowest, level.  This seemingly trivial matter is a clear representation of the general, and distorted, view of him in the Church of England today.  It is difficult to think of any reason for this other than the fact that Jerome does not satisfy the Anglican criterion of ‘niceness’, i.e. that because he was not, perhaps, a very pleasant character he is regarded as not deserving the honour which has always – even in the Church of England itself until recently – traditionally and rightly been due to him.  Niceness and sanctity, however, have nothing to do with each other and it will be argued that Jerome’s present lowly place in the Church of England calendar of saints gives a false and distorted impression of his true spiritual and intellectual greatness.