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We Believe
The first privately published edition of We Believe appeared anonymously in 1983 and subsequently, to the author's great surprise, took a wider readership by storm, selling more than 15,000 copies before his death at the age of 97 in 1998. Alfred Gilbey was already a well-known priest, having been from 1932 to 1965 Chaplain to the Catholic Undergraduates of Cambridge University. The course of instructions he gave to enquirers into the Catholic Faith had, in A. N. Wilson's words, already "acquired a legendary status", and had been responsible for more than forty vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Devoted to the life of prayer, his Commentary on the Catechism of Christian Doctrine, as this work is sub-titled, is based on a lifetime's reflection on the truths of the Faith and, his many friends would wish to add, on the daily example he gave of the precepts of Faith, Hope and Charity. The late Basil Cardinal Hume OSB, OM, revealed at Mgr Gilbey's 90th birthday celebration that he had been the model of the Cardinal's own priesthood. Anyone who has read this book without having known the author will have been aware of the spirit of humility and integrity breathing through its pages. Mgr Gilbey was endowed with remarkable gifts which were both pastoral and expository, and We Believe is an enduring legacy of his life and thought. Above all, Alfred Gilbey was guided by a conviction that, contrary to the collectivist spirit of the age, our Creator made us to be not equal to one another but, in virtue of our relationship to Him, unique; as awe-inspiring a thought, whenever we allow it to come into focus, as the author fully intended it to be in the pages of his book.
- GenresCatholic
264 pages, Paperback
First published May 2, 2011
About the author
A.N. Gilbey
3 books1 followerAlfred Newman Gilbey (1901–1998) was a British Roman Catholic priest and monsignor. He was the longest-serving chaplain to the University of Cambridge, England. He has been described as the best-known Roman Catholic priest in England during the last quarter of the 20th century.
Gilbey was born at Mark Hall, near Harlow, Essex, on 13 July 1901, fifth son of Newman Gilbey, JP and María Victorina de Ysasi. Newman Gilbey's father, Alfred, of Wooburn House, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, had founded a successful wine business with his brother, Sir Walter Gilbey, 1st Baronet.[3][4] A maternal great-grandfather was Don Manuel María González y Angel, founder of a Spanish wine and sherry bodega González Byass. Educated by Jesuits at Beaumont College, he went on to study modern history at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1920, during which time he became chairman of the Fisher Society at the chaplaincy; he was also a member the University Pitt Club. He funded his own training as a priest at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome, being ordained "under his own patrimony" by Bishop Doubleday of Brentwood in 1929.
In 1932, Gilbey became Catholic chaplain to the University of Cambridge, residing at Fisher House. Gilbey exerted a quiet but considerable influence around the university, maintaining links with the colleges and overseeing many converts to Catholicism. He was instrumental in defending Fisher House, as from 1949 the Cambridge City Council planned to demolish the buildings in the area to make way for the Lion Yard development. After petitioning led by Gilbey, who maintained that the chaplaincy would be demolished "over his dead body", Fisher House was spared from the compulsory purchase order and remains standing to this day.
Gilbey retired from the chaplaincy in 1965, the final year of the Second Vatican Council. Unhappy with the Fisher Society's decision to admit women to the chaplaincy, who had been allowed to be full members of the university in 1947, Gilbey decided to leave rather than compromise his traditionalist beliefs. He took up permanent residence at the Travellers Club in London, remaining active into his nineties.[5] During this time he wrote the catechetical book, We Believe (1983), making a trip to the United States in 1995 to promote it.
In early 1998, Gilbey moved to Nazareth House in Hammersmith, London, a nursing home. He died two months later, on 26 March 1998. His funeral was held in the Brompton Oratory on 6 April with a Tridentine Solemn Mass. He is buried in the courtyard of Fisher House in Cambridge. A Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul is sung, again in the Tridentine form, annually at Trinity College.
Gilbey was born at Mark Hall, near Harlow, Essex, on 13 July 1901, fifth son of Newman Gilbey, JP and María Victorina de Ysasi. Newman Gilbey's father, Alfred, of Wooburn House, Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, had founded a successful wine business with his brother, Sir Walter Gilbey, 1st Baronet.[3][4] A maternal great-grandfather was Don Manuel María González y Angel, founder of a Spanish wine and sherry bodega González Byass. Educated by Jesuits at Beaumont College, he went on to study modern history at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1920, during which time he became chairman of the Fisher Society at the chaplaincy; he was also a member the University Pitt Club. He funded his own training as a priest at the Pontifical Beda College in Rome, being ordained "under his own patrimony" by Bishop Doubleday of Brentwood in 1929.
In 1932, Gilbey became Catholic chaplain to the University of Cambridge, residing at Fisher House. Gilbey exerted a quiet but considerable influence around the university, maintaining links with the colleges and overseeing many converts to Catholicism. He was instrumental in defending Fisher House, as from 1949 the Cambridge City Council planned to demolish the buildings in the area to make way for the Lion Yard development. After petitioning led by Gilbey, who maintained that the chaplaincy would be demolished "over his dead body", Fisher House was spared from the compulsory purchase order and remains standing to this day.
Gilbey retired from the chaplaincy in 1965, the final year of the Second Vatican Council. Unhappy with the Fisher Society's decision to admit women to the chaplaincy, who had been allowed to be full members of the university in 1947, Gilbey decided to leave rather than compromise his traditionalist beliefs. He took up permanent residence at the Travellers Club in London, remaining active into his nineties.[5] During this time he wrote the catechetical book, We Believe (1983), making a trip to the United States in 1995 to promote it.
In early 1998, Gilbey moved to Nazareth House in Hammersmith, London, a nursing home. He died two months later, on 26 March 1998. His funeral was held in the Brompton Oratory on 6 April with a Tridentine Solemn Mass. He is buried in the courtyard of Fisher House in Cambridge. A Requiem Mass for the repose of his soul is sung, again in the Tridentine form, annually at Trinity College.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 22, 2025
That Roger Scruton—High Church Anglican to the end, I believe—gave this book a favorable review is alone sufficient reason to read, ponder, and enjoy this highly estimable work. As a commentary on the Penny Catechism, it is an excellent summary of the essentials of the Catholic faith, or, perhaps more accurately, Fides, Spes, et Caritas. Largely transcribed from a series of talks given by the author to “enquirers”, it seems to be popular as a basis for RCIA instruction.
The book itself was first published in 1983, and one may guess that the talks upon which it is based were presumably delivered in 1981 or 82; after Vatican 2 but perhaps before the full import of ‘aggorniamento’ was appreciated. The author, Monsignor Gilbey (born 1901), was accordingly the product of a world that one might well describe as ‘gone with the wind’, but which he endeavors to preserve and transmit to future generations. That he does so while quoting documents from Vatican 2 itself is perhaps food for thought. As he says in the final chapter on ‘Fundamentals and Accidentals’: “The changes we have witnessed have come about not…by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit…They have come about simply because those who direct the policy of the Church are themselves the products of an egalitarian and collectivist age.”
I can see why he got the boot after 30 years (1932-64) as Catholic Chaplain at Cambridge, despite being recognized as “the best-known priest in England.”
He died in 1998.
As for the book itself, I have few quibbles with it. His analogies are sometimes suspect. (If Time is a circle about which we travel, and Eternity is the fixed point at the center for which all time is equally and simultaneously present, “you may see what we mean when we say that the whole of time is likewise equally and simultaneously present to God.” Page 6. Then what is the point of prayer?) This is, of course, a mystery.
Regarding rational arguments for the existence of God, I’ve always felt that the argument from contingent being is something of a tautology. (He is because He is.) I prefer the arguments from Intelligent Design. (He has to be because otherwise there’s Zero chance we’d be here.) I’m also a fan of Godel’s Theorem (Of necessity, some things can’t be proven from the inside) which, unfortunately, Monsignor Gilbey seems to exclude when he says, “…He is in and through everything that exists…He is not looking into his creation from outside. He is in and through it.” Maybe God is the only intelligence who knows if Schroedinger’s cat is dead or alive without having to look into the box. Another mystery to ponder.
My only serious criticism of the book is the chapter on Grace and Prayer. I’m not sure what happened but it almost seems like the compilers were working from two recordings of this lecture and that they failed to properly edit them into one well-constructed coherent non-repetitive whole. Furthermore, footnote 19 on page 170 (p 134 in some editions) seems to be the wrong footnote; it has nothing to do with the associated text. This is the kind of error that one often finds in books that are digitally stored and printed, but very sloppy editing seems to be the culprit to me.
Be that as it may, as explanatory commentary on the catechism of the Catholic Church from the point-of-view of a Church traditionalist toward the end of the 20th century, “We Believe” is a good place to start. It provides much to ponder and enjoy.
The book itself was first published in 1983, and one may guess that the talks upon which it is based were presumably delivered in 1981 or 82; after Vatican 2 but perhaps before the full import of ‘aggorniamento’ was appreciated. The author, Monsignor Gilbey (born 1901), was accordingly the product of a world that one might well describe as ‘gone with the wind’, but which he endeavors to preserve and transmit to future generations. That he does so while quoting documents from Vatican 2 itself is perhaps food for thought. As he says in the final chapter on ‘Fundamentals and Accidentals’: “The changes we have witnessed have come about not…by direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit…They have come about simply because those who direct the policy of the Church are themselves the products of an egalitarian and collectivist age.”
I can see why he got the boot after 30 years (1932-64) as Catholic Chaplain at Cambridge, despite being recognized as “the best-known priest in England.”
He died in 1998.
As for the book itself, I have few quibbles with it. His analogies are sometimes suspect. (If Time is a circle about which we travel, and Eternity is the fixed point at the center for which all time is equally and simultaneously present, “you may see what we mean when we say that the whole of time is likewise equally and simultaneously present to God.” Page 6. Then what is the point of prayer?) This is, of course, a mystery.
Regarding rational arguments for the existence of God, I’ve always felt that the argument from contingent being is something of a tautology. (He is because He is.) I prefer the arguments from Intelligent Design. (He has to be because otherwise there’s Zero chance we’d be here.) I’m also a fan of Godel’s Theorem (Of necessity, some things can’t be proven from the inside) which, unfortunately, Monsignor Gilbey seems to exclude when he says, “…He is in and through everything that exists…He is not looking into his creation from outside. He is in and through it.” Maybe God is the only intelligence who knows if Schroedinger’s cat is dead or alive without having to look into the box. Another mystery to ponder.
My only serious criticism of the book is the chapter on Grace and Prayer. I’m not sure what happened but it almost seems like the compilers were working from two recordings of this lecture and that they failed to properly edit them into one well-constructed coherent non-repetitive whole. Furthermore, footnote 19 on page 170 (p 134 in some editions) seems to be the wrong footnote; it has nothing to do with the associated text. This is the kind of error that one often finds in books that are digitally stored and printed, but very sloppy editing seems to be the culprit to me.
Be that as it may, as explanatory commentary on the catechism of the Catholic Church from the point-of-view of a Church traditionalist toward the end of the 20th century, “We Believe” is a good place to start. It provides much to ponder and enjoy.
September 25, 2024
This is a helpful distillation of what Catholics believe and is infinitely faster and more enjoyable than reading the entire Catechism. The first chapter was either weak or oddly worded and I had trouble with it but thankfully the rest was very good. I agree with another reviewer this is best read if you already have a belief or faith in God and are now ready to learn the basics of Christian doctrine. My personal favorite takeaway was the teaching that we are indivisible beings body and soul operating on 2 planes, material and spiritual. Beautiful!
July 29, 2022
There is little to say for this book beyond it is a good introductory catechism to the Catholic faith. Was recommended to me by a good priest during RCIA. It does not delve deeply into theological subjects which is appropriate given that it is designed for catechists. There is no discussion of controversial social issues which modern Catholics may want to see discussed, but this could be too distracting to a theological introduction.
April 21, 2024
One of the best catechism books out there. It’s not a text book it’s a conversation, which is infinitely easier to read. Given during the crazies of the 70s, Gilbey speaks with an eye towards the times and most importantly how the Faith responds to it; with erudition and English whit, Faith and Reason.
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June 11, 2020I finished it! What a journey these last 6 months have been. I did not imagine I’d be where I am now. It’s pretty cool.
This book did its job- taught me basic catholic theology and provided a conversation starter for me and Fr. Christopher.
This book did its job- taught me basic catholic theology and provided a conversation starter for me and Fr. Christopher.
December 28, 2022
A good explication of the catechism, but I'm not sure how convincing I would find it if I was not already predisposed to believe. Probably not the book I'd recommend to someone looking to convert or if I was hoping to persuade someone that they should.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews