De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Imagine a Christianity which stood up to the moral and theological challenges of today - that taught the beauty and power of Christian truth instead of the mediocre, please-all pseudo gospel of nice most of us hear regularly from the pulpit. As the Church of England moves further and further towards obscurity, can we see a situation where the Catholic Church steps up into the void left by the disappearing Anglicans? Harry & Megan virtue signal and whinge about their suffering at the hands of the Royals, but to what extent does it wash with their audience? Can we say that anyone criticising them is guilty of hate speech? Their approach is vaguely recognisable as virtue, but somehow twisted to subvert the truth and push an alternative agenda which facilitates an agenda which only seeks to dismantle established structures which are tried and tested moral norms. Does what we observe in our culture, which seems to broadly amount to a desire to deconstruct that culture, really mean we ha...

Just before Christmas, rumours abounded that Pope Francis was about to appoint a German radical to the head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, the prefect for the Doctrine of the Faith has been in post since the Summer of 2017, when Pope Francis removed Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former bishop of Regensburg. Mandates at the Roman Curia are for five years. On July 1, 2022, Ladaria's term expired. Since it was not renewed, it has been clear since then that Francis is looking for a successor. Reliable voices from the Vatican already stated that it was certain that Ladaria's successor would be the German bishop Heiner Wilmer of Hildesheim. Bishop Wilmer is also firmly within the consensus of the German episcopate that the radical reinvention of Catholicism being proposed by the German Synodal Way is necessary. Writing in Catholic World Report, George Weigel stated that such an appointment would seem a papal repudiation of the man Pope ...

Things being the way they are I often focus on problems in the Church especially with clergy. This is necessary. The only way to expunge the evil is to shine a light on it. But we must balance it with prayer and confirmation that we support good shepherds. Please pray for our priests and bishops.

Welcome to this busy episode where Katherine, Gavin & I discuss Pope Francis' revealing interview with America Magazine (find out more and read the interview here http://marklambert.blogspot.com/2022/... ) Archbishop Cordileone who was interviewed in the Pillar on preaching the truth on sex and gender in a hostile culture (see: https://www.pillarcatholic.com/preach... ) UK Ordinations continue to decline ( https://www.pillarcatholic.com/priest... ) and the new census shows Christians are a minority in the UK for the first time in nearly 1,500 years (what can possibly go wrong). You can read Gavin's excellent article on this here: https://catholicherald.co.uk/census-2... and my impolite blog post here: http://marklambert.blogspot.com/2022/... We also talked about the abuse scandal and a troubling new report which I recently broke from Rome in the Catholic Herald about a high profile Jesuit who appears to have been covered for by Pope Francis. Read my report here: https://ca...

  Over the weekend the story broke that Father Frank Pavone, a well-known pro-life activist, was dismissed from the clerical state for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” Pavone is the National Director of Priests for Life (PFL) and serves as the chairman and Pastoral Director of its project Rachel's Vineyard . He also is the President of the National Pro-Life Religious Council , an umbrella group of various anti-abortion Christian denominations, and serves as Pastoral Director of the Silent No More campaign. The news came in a letter to U.S. bishops dated 13th December from Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States. Archbishop Pierre wrote that the prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy issued the decision on the 9th of November and included the unusual dimension that there was “no possibility of appeal.” It did not, however, provide any examples of the “blasp...

On Dec 14th The Pillar published a report that Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Academy for Life diverted hundreds of thousands of euros allocated to support missionary and charitable works to finance building projects in Rome, including the renovation of his personal apartment. Paglia is widely seen as someone appointed to PAL to remove orthodox members and appoint people with agendas radically at odds with the Academy's purpose and mission, most recently a number of individuals who are vocal supporters of abortion. Paglia has defended his decision to appoint, on the grounds of dialogue . Paglia also recently remarked that either Pope Francis or his successor would overturn the Catholic moratorium on contraception. You can add this to a long list of deeply controversial and anti-Catholic statements made by Paglia who is perhaps best known for commissioning a homo-erotic mural in his cathedral  in which he himself features prominently. According to multip...

Still need to catch up with the Catholic Unscripted posts! In this packed episode we discuss some of the dramatic news around the Church over the last week. The controversial Vatican deal with the Chinese Communist Party seems to be under pressure as the Vatican released a bulletino at the weekend condemning China for breaching the terms of the deal. More at the Catholic Herald here .   While Gavin analysed the German Synodal Path: https://catholicherald.co.uk/the-synod-can-never-achieve-its-aim-of-being-catholic-in-a-different-way/   the Vatican held a meeting which delivered a firm smack down to the wayward German bishops, delivered by two leading Vatican officials https://catholicherald.co.uk/cardinals-ladaria-and-ouellet-condemn-german-synodal-path-in-vatican-report/   we discuss how this is very encouraging news for faithful Catholics! Gavin & I talk about the difference between the spooky spirit of Vatican II and the real teachings of the Council on t...

 A wonderful Advent message & a perfect reflection for Advent here from Fr James Mawdsley - enjoy!

I think this story speaks to some really important dynamics which are currently very much at the fore in society. To sum it up I would say it goes something like this: Religion is stupid and makes you hate people. Gay is good. Catholic leaders - who are mostly gay themselves, yet are supposed to teach the opposite (ie sex is only for the creation of life) - find themselves in a difficult position where they want to be pro-gay but not too pro-gay. No matter how pro gay Christians are, it will never be pro gay enough for gays. The “unmitigated tragedy” of a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub prompted “irresponsible” press coverage that wrongly scapegoated religious communities for their stands on sexual morality and identity, Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver has said . Given the fact that the Church as a body appears to be doing its level best to give very mixed messages about sexual morality and identity at the moment, I find it frustrating to hear a bishop, one of t...

  Some shocking news today that Robert Byrne, the Oratorian appointed to the See of Hexham & Newcastle in 2019 has resigned. In his letter of resignation to the diocese he states that he has discerned that he is no longer able to serve the people of the diocese in the way that he would wish. Bishop Byrne is someone I have met: He was appointed auxiliary of Birmingham in 2014, the first Oratorian bishop appointed in England since 1874, when Fr Edward Bagshawe of the London Oratory became Bishop of Nottingham. He is a good man and this is a real shame for the Church in England and Wales. I have no doubt this was an extremely difficult decision for Bishop Byrne, please keep him in your prayers as he discerns his next move.

  The Pillar has an interview with Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone in which he gives a beautiful exposition of Church teaching regarding many of the difficult issues we face in society today.  Would that we had such clarity from the Vatican!! Salvatore Cordileone is the Archbishop of San Francisco, without doubt the hub of homosexuality in the USA. He is someone I have had the privilege of meeting .  He has to walk a difficult line, especially given the demographic he works within. One could see how, even if he were a silent administrator, he would be hated just because he represents the Catholic Church. When I met him, he explained that you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. In this interview he defends Church teaching providing some much needed clarity. I want to say "bravely defends" but, lets face it, this is just what all bishops should be doing. He says: "the Church’s teachings on sexuality are profoundly protective, not punitive. Just look at th...

Stephen Cottrell is the man currently pretending to be the Archbishop of York. He is a Leigh boy like myself, but one who has risen to lofty heights by going along with whatever way the wind is blowing currently ( see this post from ten years ago ). He has written a piece in the Telegraph , which I had hoped would communicate something of the Gospel to the country as we enter the season of hope and anticipation which is Advent. This is what we got: Two thousand years ago, a family took part in a census. Over the coming weeks in schools, churches, high streets, and venues across this country, the Christmas story that began with Mary and Joseph’s journey for a census will be enjoyed and celebrated by millions of people. But of what story are we a part? What story do we want to tell about ourselves? The UK census gives us a particular and important snapshot of the identity of our nation, decade by decade. Interpreting the story of trends, values, perceptions, and identities that underli...

 I'm a bit behind with posting Catholic Unscripted so here is episode 9 if you haven't caught it already. In this episode we look at the battle lines that are being drawn in the synod in the light of a particularly egregious series of attacks this week by a group of Catholics who are notable and prominent supporters of Pope Francis every utterance on the Ordinariate: That is Catholics who have converted from the Church of England. We refer to an article in the Catholic Herald that Gavin has written and you can find that here   He has since written a further response which is posted here . I refer to Austen Ivereigh's criticism of Polish Catholics which you can read all about here .  And the full low down on Austen's previous attack on converts which was widely excoriated can be found here .

In a wide ranging interview with the Jesuit publication America Magazine , Pope Francis has spoken about some of the key issues and criticisms of his pontificate as well as offering his perspective on female ordination, the abuse crisis and racism. Well sort of. If you can make sense of some of his answers you're a brighter man/woman than me. But it is interesting in lots of ways; the assembled Jesuits don't hold back in terms of the questions they ask and the Holy Father does give some interesting responses. Asked about the growing political polarisation in the US, the pope warned of a divisive mentality suggesting that to be Catholic is to always harmonise differences. He explains that the way the Holy Spirit acts is first to cause disorder (giving the example of Pentecost) and then to bring about harmony. “The Holy Spirit in the church does not reduce everything to just one value; rather, it harmonises opposing differences. That is the Catholic spirit. The more harmony t...