De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Bishop John Keenan, Bishop of Paisley in Scotland is really stepping up to the mark lately thank God. Today I saw that he had published a letter sent to the Director of BBC Scotland, Donalda MacKinnon, outlining his concerns of the corporation’s treatment of Catholics in a recent short film titled ‘ Homophobia in 2018, Time for Love ’ which was posted all over social media. I even saw one of my old Confirmandi share it! The film, broadcast on the corporation’s digital platform, ‘ The Social ’, focuses on a gay person's perceived hatred--mostly people looking at him when he is kissing his boyfriend in a public place--and suggests Catholics are the root of the problem. The film contains detailed references to the teachings and liturgy of the Church with several deeply insulting and offensive representations, the video includes a clip in which the Sacrament of Holy Communion is described as something which ‘tastes like cardboard and smells like hate’. In his letter, dated 23 Apr...

Following the Bishops of England and Wales plenary meeting and as widely rumoured was going to happen, they issued a statement about gender. It is quite wet, but not as bad as it could have been (I have come to expect so little, I almost feel joy when they say something that isn't directly problematic). Here is the statement, what do you think? Today there is intense public debate about gender. It highlights not only the suffering and discomfort of some, but also raises profound questions about human nature, how we understand ourselves, relate to one another and our capacity for self-determination. We recognise that there are people who do not accept their biological sex. We are concerned about and committed to their pastoral care. Through listening to them we seek to understand their experience more deeply and want to accompany them with compassion, emphasising that they are loved by God and valued in their inherent God-given dignity. There is a place of welcome for everyon...

Yesterday it emerged that the Vatican had rejected the German Bishops’ Proposal for intercommunion for Protestant spouses (a.k.a. heresy). Sources confirmed that, with the Holy Father’s approval, the Vatican’s head of doctrine had thrown out the bishops’ pastoral guide allowing Holy Communion for some Protestant spouses, but the Pope wished the rejection letter to remain secret. (It seems even when he does something right, he messes it up). Now German bishops deny that Vatican has rejected Protestant Communion plan. The German Bishops’ Conference has now issued a statement saying the reports are “false”. They added that the Pope has agreed to meet Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conference’s president, in Rome. How interesting to note how Cadinal Marx gets instant access to the Pope to challenge decisions & try to force a change of outcome, but other Cardinals, Bishops and Priests can ask for meetings or write multiple letters and get no response on serious Doctrinal questions....

New Papal Exhortation "adds to the ambiguities" So Pope Francis has issued a new Apostolic Exhortation somewhat ironically entitled  Gaudete et Exsultate : Rejoice & be glad, probably the last thing the vast majority of thinking Catholics feel under this Pontificate. I didn't want to write a "hair trigger" response as soon as it was released, but instead waited for its content to sink in a bit and to have some sort of opportunity to ruminate on its contents. It is very difficult to not simply dismiss the document out of hand, given how disastrous and poorly written Pope Francis' other missives have been. Others may be charitable enough to point out how, despite the chaos that has ensued, there are some good bits in some of the documents, as Dan Hitchens is at pains to point out here , putting  Gaudete et Exsultate in context with Amoris Laetitia : My admiration for the document [ Amoris Laetitia ] prevented me from worrying too much about the ...

Alfie Evans is a 21-month-old with an unknown neurological degenerative condition -- and a British court has denied his parent’s appeal to save his life support! Top bioethics expert Wesley J. Smith breaks down his concerns with the U.K. case in this EWTN Pro-Life Weekly interview. The Archdiocese of Liverpool have been conspicuously quiet, although there is this downloadable summary which would appear to offer no support whatsoever to Alfie's family, who it incorrectly labels as non Catholics, and mainly deals with the care of staff at the hospital. This would seem somewhat in contrast to the Pope's public support for the toddler: It is my sincere hope that everything necessary may be done in order to continue compassionately accompanying little Alfie Evans, and that the deep suffering of his parents may be heard. I am praying for Alfie, for his family and for all who are involved. — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 4, 2018 Following the "statement...

Gavin Ashenden brings some much needed clarity to the culture wars raging in our society at the moment in this short interview. Lucidly joining the dots, he shows what is really behind the bizarre anti-family agendas that seem to have gained so much favour in our society so quickly. He also explains with great clarity, why this is such a problematic path for society to travel. Ashenden was an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen from 2008 until his resignation in 2017. He was ordained in the Church of England, but left it in 2017. That year was consecrated a missionary bishop by the Christian Episcopal Church , a continuing Anglican jurisdiction outside of the Anglican Communion . In the interview he explains how we begin by entertaining problematic prinicples out of valid compassion, however we must be careful of darker agendas being played out. Interestingly, we can see direct evidence of this in the wake, this weekend, of   a video posted on the Facebook page of...

On 24th March, the current president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life gave a warning that it is “dangerous” to speak of the family as a “little church” and the “domestic church”. “The Church, which is a familial Church, for me, it isn’t very clear, it’s dangerous, for example, to define the individual family as a little church...It’s very dangerous, because it can encourage an egoism of the family,”  Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia said to a group of clergy and laity gathered at the major seminary of the Mexican diocese of Queretaro. Paglia called the tendency to the “egoism of the family” a form of “familyism” and claimed that Jesus spoke against “familyism.” “In the Gospel we have the very beautiful words of Jesus against familyism, very beautiful!” Paglia said. These words are naturally jarring to faithful Catholics, who know that the Church has always referred to the family as the domestic Church. Lumen gentium , paragraph 11, states:  “The family is, ...

Today at 11.30am Canon Paul Swarbrick will be ordained as the seventh Bishop of Lancaster. Please remember him in your prayers from 11.30 onwards. Update:

Vaticanista Antonio Socci has reported that at least one non-Italian Cardinal (apparently representing a group), has approached Pope Francis to protest in the strongest possible terms over his interview with the Italian Atheist/ Marxist nonagenarian Eugenio Scalfari. This interview was published on the morning of 29th March. In it Scalfari directly quotes Pope Francis as saying — for example, that hell does not exist, and that the souls of sinners simply disappear. As the Catholic Herald pointed out regarding these remarks: They are all confusing. Some of them are, in the strict technical sense of the terms, heretical and scandalous. Socci's headline runs: "An uprising of cardinals has (for now) stopped the Bergoglian heresy on hell. The farcical denial and the impeachment risk" Blogger Vox cantoris  has a summary of Socci's post here . It is interesting to note that Socci comments on fact that, while the media around the world has reported on the intervie...