De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

The world is changing so we must find a way to reach an accommodation with the world. This seems to be the message I see pouring forth from my computer screen since the SCOTUS decision in America about Same Sex "Marriage". I feel deflated and suddenly very old at the way in which society seems to be moving in a direction I just do not understand, no matter how hard I try. This is a good example. It is an honest attempt to employ a different tone when approaching homosexuality, a tone which presents authentic teaching whilst demonstrating love rather than condemnation. The author believes that, as a Church, have failed to be true witnesses of life, chastity, marriage, love, and especially the Gospel. Thus, we have failed to help the world and we need to acknowledge our communal sins, repent, and do better. He believes that God can do something great in our humility. He can take our sins and, like Peter, make us into a nation of saints and evangelists, who do somethin...

Some bits of news - hot off the press. 1. Heythrop College is to close. T here is a full statement by the Principal, Michael Holman SJ here . The reasons for closure are stated as: "the College has had to provide for the costs of increased regulatory requirements without the economies of scale available to other colleges and universities. Expectations of all that makes up the “student experience” in addition to the quality of teaching and learning (for example, facilities, the technology infrastructure, internships and activities) have also increased and meeting these expectations has become more costly too. Meanwhile, government reforms have meant that the market for students has become more competitive and, specialising in just two subject areas as we do, the opportunities to diversify have been limited." The crux of it appears to be the fact that they have not attracted enough students. You may be aware that the College has attracted some scandal in recent yea...

The shocking case of Anne Lakey , a nationally acclaimed head teacher who had sex with two boys in her care, one fifteen, one just thirteen, seems to demonstrate just what is at stake if we fail to recognise the dangers of lust. I think this is an increasing problem in our society today, which accepts all forms of lust as part of our natural make up. In our post-Freudian culture, we are told to embrace our urges; they're natural! But this is clearly a lie. In reality, we must often curb our lusts and desires and temper our feelings with discernment and reasoning about the consequences of pursuing our fleshy desires for ourselves and for the object of our desire. This is certainly true if we suffer disordered urges, but applies to all of us to some extent. Indeed, this is what the Ninth Commandment is all about: You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anythi...

Falconer (left) & Marris Assisted Suicide, the right to die, is back in the news again. Labour MP Rob Marris  plans to introduce a Bill that that would legalise assisted suicide, in a move which essentially copies the law proposed by Lord Falconer in the House of Lords in the last Parliament.   There are many problems with the right to die. Of course, everyone will die anyway, so "right to die" is a total misnomer. In reality what we are talking about is the right to be killed. It is a sensitive subject, because many people feel that it is no one else's business; you should be allowed to end your life whenever you chose. However there are real effects which are extremely negative for society and can be clearly demonstrated. In countries and states that have adopted assisted suicide, palliative care (the medical specialism designed to relieve pain) is fundamentally undermined, vulnerable people can be pressured into assisted death, and that human life is deval...

On Saturday morning, Mike & I jumped on a train and headed into London to attend the first Mass of Fr. Ian Verrier FSSP . I asked Mike a couple of days ago if he fancied joining me and he jumped at the chance. Will had another commitment & Louise & I decided it would probably be more sensible to leave her back at the ranch with John & Mary. Mike was Confirmed in St. James' by Archbishop George Stack, about five years ago and he hasn't been back since. He loves the EF and was eager to have an opportunity to be at Mass and in a place with some history for him. Father Ian is a newly ordained Priest of the Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri — The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. They are a Clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical right, that is, a community of Roman Catholic priests who do not take religious vows, but who work together for a common mission in the world. The mission of the Fraternity is two-fold: first, the formation and...

Raymond Arroyo's extraordinary interview with Cardinal Walter Kasper has been a revelation which speaks to a change in attitude from Rome and a change in attitude from Cardinal Kasper as I remarked last week . The Cardinal tells EWTN journalist Arroyo that the Pope did not approve his proposal to allow divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion after a period of penance. Last October, the Cardinal had a very different tale to tell, explaining to Catholic News Service that allowing Communion for the remarried was "clearly what [the Pope] wants". Now Arroyo has released the second part of this interesting interview. In this installment, Cardinal Kasper tries to suggest that a shift in practice is somehow different to a change of doctrine says he does not enter into public controversy with other Cardinals expresses his pain at the opposition to his proposals, especially that there was no private discussion takes a curiously orthodox line on Ch...

Vatican Radio tells us how, on Sunday evening, in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis urged parents and families to stand up to "ideological colonisations that poison the soul." He was speaking to around 25,000 people from the dioceses of Rome, for the opening of the Diocese's annual Ecclesial Convention, dedicated this year to the theme of the family. Cardinal Vicar Agostino Vallini was present, together with many Catholic families and a high percentage of the 350 parish priests of Rome. During his address, Pope Francis touched on many issues including the need for a "spiritual rebirth" for the city of Rome which is currently shaken by a corruption scandal involving municipal authorities. But his focus was mostly on the family and on the Synod of Bishops on the Family to be held in the Vatican in October, and he appealed to the many parents present to safeguard their children from ideological attacks against the institution of the family and all that is...

Yesterday I saw a vocal attack on his Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke, by a self-confessed openly homosexual priest from Canada, Fr. Andre Sampson (Tue Jun 9, 2015 - 7:23 pm EST). "Cardinal Burke has expressed very negative views on homosexual persons. For instance, Cardinal Burke has stated that children should be kept out of the presence of homosexual persons. How can Cardinal Burke assert that the presence of homosexual persons could be detrimental to children? Is he in a position to quote scientific studies that would validate his hypothesis?” Fr. Andre Samson asked LifeSiteNews via email." Of course there is a detailed study into this, and even a perfunctory analysis of the John Jay Report , which anyone can do, reveals a clear statistical link between SSA and child abuse in Catholic priests. Someone at Life Site News obviously had the same idea and simultaneously published an article (on Wed Jun 10, 2015 - 7:46 pm EST) by Rick Fitzgibbons MD in which he writes: ...

Have you seen this yet? It's not for the squeamish! Cardinal Kasper furiously back-peddles from his confident assertions last year that he spoke for the Pope with regard to his proposals for communion for divorced & remarried Catholics. Instead, he asserts that he was merely commissioned with tabling the debate on the issue. He also says that he doesn't even want communion for all divorced and remarried Catholics, but rather a subjective approach which would consider each case by its individual circumstances. While one can see in the particular circumstances (very particular circumstances) that the Cardinal desires to provide Christ's mercy to those in pain, he does seem very, very vague and unclear about how this can actually work without contradicting (or reversing) what the Church has always held and taught to be true. Although he wants to provide an opportunity for mercy in the very specific circumstances he outlines, he does not want to hear about the mo...

I haven't blogged this week. It's not that there hasn't been lots going on in the Catholic world but just that I have been very busy, for one thing, but I was also quite deeply affected by some discussions which took place over last weekend. These discussions started in a reasonably good-natured manner. It seemed the protagonists were enjoying it initially, but unfortunately it deteriorated, first into sort of (at least perceived) petulance (I was boring or stupid), then into hurt and aggression, and ultimately it seemed, regret. I feel quite bad about this, because the conversation was with a couple of young priests who were blatantly pushing ideas at odds with Church teaching. When they were questioned about the justification for what they were saying, one said it was none of my business, the other immediately appealed to unity. Appeals to unity always set my alarm bells ringing. What I mean is, "unity" is the plaintiff cry heard from criticised theologi...