De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Come on in! The water's great! The estimable and erudite Fr. Hunwicke has written a rather stunning blog in which he appeals to those Anglicans not yet members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham to get aboard the Barque of Peter. In most generous and appropriate fashion, Fr. Hunwicke expresses the great need the Catholic Church has for these men, and the great celebration that would ensue, should they muster the courage (and make no mistake, such a trip requires great courage--and faith) to cross the Tiber. Men who have spent 50 years in the Sacred Priesthood, who are priests to their fingertips, must not be told that they are "too old" for the presbyterate of the Ordinariate; that never again can they expect to stand at an altar holding in their hands the Adorable Sacrifice, that vocation which in the Mind of the Eternal was theirs before the ages began. There must be no subtle (or unsubtle!) systems of discouragement. The spirit of Benedict's g...

Today Fr. Robert Barron’s excellent “Word on Fire” site carries Brandon Vogt's rather long & in depth  interview  with Toronto’s Cardinal Thomas Collins. The Cardinal considers the coming Synod on the Family and makes some rather encouraging remarks. For example, he cuts through the confusion with regard to the Church's teaching on marriage and explains that the Church's position is simply in consonance with Jesus' position: The Catholic Church simply teaches what Jesus teaches: marriage is an unbreakable covenant between a man and a woman, faithful in love and open to the gift of life. Divorce and remarriage is not allowed when it is a matter of a valid, sacramental, and consummated marriage. When Jesus was preaching in Galilee, divorce and remarriage was accepted in society. The law of Moses allowed for it (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). The teaching of Jesus that divorce and remarriage is not allowed was revolutionary. It was even an indication of his claim to divi...

The purported human rights hero Peter Tatchell was in The Guardian yesterday arguing about the age of consent. Errr, why? Why does Peter Tatchell want more sex education, for younger children, and a lower age of consent? The Guardian , a newspaper which has long been sympathetic to his position, provides a platform for him to make a rather nonsensical argument which really makes me feel uncomfortable. It seems to be about affirming & decriminalising our mistakes and errors. If something is wrong, you simply change the law to make it right. It's nothing about addressing the underlying issues which cause the problem. Baffling. Unless you look back a few years an check Peter Tatchell's long history on this issue. Having posted the Guardian link on my Facebook page, my friend the journalist Ruari McCallion, who has a considerable advantage on me both in terms of age and wisdom, supplied me with some interesting history which exposes Peter Tatchell's claim to ...

Check out this brilliant Pastoral Letter from His Excellency Most Reverend Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, Given at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield, Illinois, on June 22, the Solemnity of Corpus Christi and the Feast Day of Saints Sir Thomas More and John Cardinal Fisher, this year (2014). In it, he investigates the work of Vatican II in continuity with the Tradition of the Church, and sets out a plan for moving forward in an inspiring and attractive way. This is a mandate for growth! In it, Bishop Paprocki makes the following interesting observations: We must seek to be found fully aware of our actions in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament lest we fail to pay him the homage that is due him. This desire to come and adore the Lord must flow also into everything that pertains to the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist. (no. 12). The primary way to foster the participation of the People of God in the sacred rite is the ...

Wow! What a Mass!! Last night I had the extreme pleasure of experiencing a little bit of heaven on earth, when I attended Mass in thanksgiving for my Parish Priest, Father Kevin Hale's 30 year anniversary of priesthood (yes, you're right, he doesn't look old enough!). Here he is with his dear friend, the recently ordained Titular Bishop of Cuncacestre & auxiliary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, the Rt. Revd. Robert Byrne: The Mass was truly sublime; Music was astounding, Mass for Four Voices by William Byrd, the offertory motet was Beati Quorum Via by Charles Villiers Stanford. The voices filled the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Lourdes with such beautiful sound, I just had to close my eyes and soak it up...Every moment a prayer, raising our hearts and minds up to heaven, as if we could hear the angels themselves lifting their voices in praise to The Almighty. We were also joined by a number of Norbertines from the Priory of St. Philip in Chelmsfor...

abc news reports today that The top legislative body of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. voted by large margins yesterday to recognise same-sex marriage as Christian in the church constitution, adding language that marriage can be the union of "two people," not just "a man and a woman." In a stunning break with more than 2,000 years of Christian Tradition, the amendment approved by the Presbyterian General Assembly requires approval from a majority of the 172 regional presbyteries, which will vote on the change over the next year. But in a separate policy change that takes effect at the end of this week's meeting, delegates voted to allow ministers to preside at gay weddings in states where the unions are legal and local congregational leaders approve. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia recognise same-sex marriage. The votes, during a national meeting in Detroit, were a sweeping victory for Presbyterian gay-rights advocates. The denom...

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here, ever this day, be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide. Shocking news yesterday that Doctors at Addenbrooke's Hospital, in Cambridge placed a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate order) on a patient's notes without her knowledge or consent. They then lied to her about involvement of her family in this decision. Dr Keith McNeil, CEO of Cambridge University Hospitals says; "Today's ruling hinges on a specific point of law. There was no criticism of our clinical care. It is a fact of life that every day people die in hospitals. From my own experience as a specialist hospital doctor, the most important thing is that these patients are treated with the utmost respect and dignity." How is making isolated and arbitrary decisions about whether they will live or die treating them with respect and dignity one wonders? Yes, these are always difficult situations, but the medical profession simply ...

Jn 11:35 Lifesite News has a report about that  on June 13, two self-described “ sextremists ” from the radical feminist group FEMEN chained themselves to the Cathedral of the Almudena in Madrid, Spain. The two women walked into the Cathedral at 9:30 a.m. and approached the main altar. After shedding their shirts, they chained themselves to the base of the crucifix and began chanting “abortion is sacred,” among other statements. On the back of one of the women was painted “Gallardón Inquisidor” in reference to Spain’s minister of justice, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Gallardón is seen as the prime mover of an attempt by the Spanish center right party, Partido Popular, to roll back Spain’s abortion-on-demand laws. The attack on the Cathedral was timed to take place during the final deliberations by the General Council of the Judiciary (GCJ). On Friday, the GCJ, Spain’s constitutional body that governs the judiciary, voted 10-8 (with three abstentions) in favor of moving ahead ...

I am listening to the debate which continues to rumble on about religion in schools subsequent to the Trojan Horse affair , this morning on Radio 4. The effect of the discovery of an extremist agenda within certain schools with a Muslim majority has led to a renewal of calls to remove all religion from schools and instead pursue a secular liberal agenda. The justification is that despite the reality of an established Church in the UK, organised religion is virtually a thing of the past, and more and more people are secular and liberal. Religion is no longer relevant for them. From a Catholic perspective of course, this is strange, given the broad success of Catholic Schools, and their tendency to be over-subscribed. If we don't want religious schools, how do we deal with this inherent dichotomy? From a secularist perspective, faith schools should be abolished and secularism enforced. The issue is a separation of private belief from the delivery of a public good. That is w...

In case you hadn't heard, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana, Kazakhstan has been visiting the UK. He is a hero to many British Catholics and especially popular for his work Dominus Est . Indeed,  Inside the Vatican Magazine online has named him as one of the “Top Ten” people of 2013 . Now, The Catholic Herald published an interview with Bishop Athanasius Schneider in its edition of 30 May 2014. The interview was conducted by freelance journalist Sarah Atkinson, who is also the editor of Mass of Ages . The interview published in the Catholic Herald was limited by space, but the full text of the interview, which has been approved by the bishop, has been published by the LMS here  and by Rorate Caeli here . It is so worthwhile, I am reproducing some of it here (with my own emphasis and comments). Please follow the link to the LMS site if you want to read the whole thing. One of the most important issues the Bi...