De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Following this recent story about Jason Evert having a number of talks cancelled in Ireland due to the counter-cultural nature of his message, and Ireland's head-long descent into hellish darkness, Jason himself has appeared on the Patrick Coffin show and spoken about the events. Initially I was quite critical of the fact that Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan had refused to speak to Irish media about the situation. It seemed to me that this was missing an opportunity to speak up for Catholic teaching in an area which is all too often ignored and where young people especially, desperately need information and guidance: a counter narrative to help them form a balanced perspective given all the brain washing that goes on about sexuality and the Church from the secular media. In my follow-up post , I considered what I had learned after speaking to some members of his diocese who seemed impressed with the bishop's commitment to the faith and his work to develop the diocese. Bisho...

In a recent post on Lifesite , Dr Joseph Shaw shares some incredibly important insights into the abuse crisis which has engulfed the Church and which continues to damage it. Catholic clerical sex abuse of minors has become a mainstream tenet of our society. A favourite "joke" for comedians like Ricky Gervais and Jimmy Carr, who seek to denigrate the faith. The perception for many outside the Church is that Catholicism is synonymous with abuse. How incredibly sad and damaging is that? I don't blame them, I blame the perpetrators and the men who allowed it to happen and still allow it to happen. In my personal experience, this is because, at best, they fear for what will happen to them if they tell the truth. They prefer not to cause a fuss and hope that it will all die down in time. In some instances they fear a witch hunt. At worst, they are complicit. In his blog , Dr Shaw distinguishes three layers to the problem: the cover-up; the refusal to face the sociological re...

Don't they look lovely, gentle, kindly old men? Don't be fooled. I found this truly terrifying & shocking. It really is unbelievable but the facts are incontrovertible and all in the public domain. Judge for yourself based on the facts. I know first-hand how priests, bishops and cardinals often wield "soft-power" in the Church. Passive-aggressive comments like "you are clearly very angry/ aggressive/ *insert pejorative here*" are common tools. Priests are accused of being mentally ill, needing therapy, being sent away "on retreat". But the questions raised by goings on in the diocese of Buffalo, New York, are far darker and more serious than even these clear abuses. To build some context for readers who are unaware, back in November 2018, Michael Voris of Church Militant was on his way back from the Bishop's Conference in Baltimore, when he noticed Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo was sitting near him in the airport. Malone had b...

You might recall this post from 17th January " Things just get darker for Catholic Ireland " where I noted the lack of support given for the excellent Jason Evert from the establishment in Ireland after he had some talks cancelled. The Tablet reported that when they contacted the diocese on the issue they were told that the usually vocal bishop of Waterford & Lismore did not want to comment, apparently a spokesman for the Diocese told The Tablet: “Bishop Cullinan does not wish to comment on this matter.” Bishop Cullinan has made numerous spirited defences of the faith which I noted in the post  and I wanted to follow up on that point, given that he has just released a New Year's Pastoral Letter which you can read in full for yourselves here . In it, he seems to echo the title of that blog post and, to his credit, takes direct aim at that dark, modern Irish society telling the people of his diocese that the culture of 2020 is trying to ‘undo the truths’ of...

Anyone who knows the history of the decline of the Church in this country knows much of the genesis of the present situation can be traced back to one man: Derek Worlock. Worlock was appointed private secretary to Cardinal Griffin, and assisted successive cardinal-archbishops of Westminster for almost two decades. He attended every session of the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965 when he was appointed Bishop of Portsmouth on 18 October. He was eventually appointed Archbishop of Liverpool in 1976 and by Christmas, Worlock had produced a master-plan for the Archdiocese which was not well received by many of the senior clergy, so Worlock launched a charm offensive on the younger clergy—and Fr. Vincent Nichols became his young protege alongside Fr. John Furnival who was ordained in 1976 and acted as his private secretary right up until his death in 1996.  Worlock instigated what became known as "The Magic Circle", a largely self-selecting small pool of...

Cardinal Robert Sarah has again made a public announcement in respect of his new book which caused so much controversy last week ( see my post here ). In a series of three tweets, the Prefect for the Congregation of Divine Worship lambasted those who have weaponised the book launch as engaging in "nauseating and deceptive controversies" I have translated his tweets from the original French and embedded the originals for your information here: Because of the incessant, nauseating and deceptive controversies that have never stopped since the beginning of the week, concerning the book From the Depths of Our Hearts , I met Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI this evening. With Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we have seen how there is no misunderstanding between us. I came out very happy, full of peace and courage from this beautiful interview. I call you to read and meditate From the Depths of Our Hearts . I warmly thank my editor, Nicolas Diat, as well as the house Fayard, for the tho...

Jason and Crystalina Evert, picture: Facebook Ireland, my ancestral homeland, has turned away from the light over the last decade or so and there's virtually no one to stand against the flow of darkness. As I have opined over a number of years now , the faith of the once proud land of saints and scholars, the tiny island that evangelised half the world, has been eroded until it is little more than superstition. This epidemic of agnosticism and apathy has been brought about by a lack of teaching, episcopal hypocrisy and an appalling record of abuse. The bishops in Ireland continue to be utterly useless, lording it up in massive domiciles surrounded by luxury and privilege while doing absolutely nothing to combat the tide of secularism drowning the country. For example the bishop who argued that St John Henry Newman wouldn't have converted if he lived today , or the bishop who's Facebook page trots out karmic Disney memes in place of anything even vaguely Cathol...

How extraordinary that something as simple as the publication of a book backing a Catholic position has caused such extraordinary controversy this week! The launch of the joint project between Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sarah left papolatrous "Team Francis" figures writhing in paroxysms of fury at the "intervention" which undermined Pope Francis. My first thoughts were to wonder how a book presenting a theological, academic argument for a position long held in the Church and which the Pope is presented as supporting was undermining anyone? More detail on what has happened here from Edward Pentin. Antonio Socci has an account of what went on behind the scenes. Apparently, when the quotes defending celibacy were published, pandemonium broke out in the Vatican as Pope Francis exploded rage. Despite his constant pronouncements in support of priestly celibacy, it is obvious from the agenda of the loaded Amazon Synod, Pope Francis intends to introduce married...