De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

This is a picture of me outside Saint John Cantius Church in North Carpenter Street, Chicago with Fr. Ryan Brady. Brady has been ordained for just 2 years but that after discerning the priesthood for a long period of time. He joined the Seminary then left and worked in Catholic charities, before discerning the truth of his vocation and returning to finish his studies and was ordained on May 19th, 2021 at the 12:30 pm Mass celebrated by Cardinal Blase Cupich. His first Mass at St. Christina parish on the Southside took place on May 23rd, 2021.  We were introduced to Fr. Brady at another beautiful Chicago Church: St Mary of the Angels  and we were all struck by his charisma and also his knowledge and obvious love of Chicago, as well as, most importantly, the city's Catholic history and character. Something we had not really anticipated at all before arriving. Fr. Brady was one of a number of inspirational young priests we met. He demonstrated a deep knowledge and love of the pe...

From left to right: Dr Gavin Ashenden (former chaplain to the Queen), Fr Ryan Brady, Katherine Bennett, Fr Chris Landfried and me at St Mary of the Angels, Chicago. I'm just back from a week in Chicago, Illinois, where I had been invited to speak about the faith to various parishes along with my Catholic Unscripted friends. It was a wonderful experience and I am so happy to say I made loads of amazing friends. I have long been a fan of the US which is somewhat unusual among Brits who tend to have quite a cynical attitude to the States...Come to think of it, Brits are like that about pretty much everyone! Anyway...More on the USA later. I just wanted to check in with you all and say hi. I haven't written much on the blog because I had two weeks away and then this week I had a talk at St Bede's Church in Clapham Park on Marriage so I had to write a good talk for them! (if you want me or any of us (or all of us) to come and speak at your parish send me a message on Twitter @s...

Oxford scholar Fr. John Hunwicke has  picked up a huge mistake from Papal Preacher Raniero Cardinal Cantalamessa's Lenten preaching. Fr Hunwicke laments that during Lent or Easter, Cantalamessa should pursue polemical attacks on the Authentic Form of the Roman Rite. He states: "Clearly, for him and his like, there is no truce or surcease in their attacks on their fellow Catholics and upon Holy Tradition, even at the holiest times. But so be it.]" Fr Hunwicke continues: Cantalamessa, soon after the start of his 'Forth [sic] Lenten Sermon 2023', refers "the Traditio Apostolica of St Hippolytus". "We obtain a vision of the Mass that is certainly closer to the reformed one of today than to that of the centuries behind us. What happened? The answer is an awkward one which, however, we cannot avoid: clericalisation! In no other sphere was it more conspicuous than in the Liturgy." (1) Readers of this blog ... or even just of my last Friday's pos...

  We all know how bad John Arnold is as bishop of Salford. Endlessly focused on the environment, promoting ideologies at odds with Catholic teaching , closing down parishes & destroying Catholic communities in his diocese and chairman over a gradual secularisation of CAFOD . It is little wonder then to find a school in his diocese which has a Twitter basically dedicated to promoting dangerous transgender ideology. One of the books being promoted here is “Welcome to St Hell: My Trans Teen Misadventure.” A book that encourages body shame, hatred and anxiety.  From Mumsnet on this book we can glean what non-Catholic parents think about this book: After a wave of criticism, the first tweet (above) was deleted by the school, the second remains however (I've taken screenshots because of the likelihood of them being deleted). One immediately has to wonder why any school calling itself Catholic would be promoting a political ideology at odds with science and reason, let alone Cat...

  Anglican Ink reports that the "bishops" of the Church of England are facing a “Sophie’s choice” with no good options in the wake of General Synod’s February vote to permit same-sex blessings as part of the Living in Love and Faith process. A photo tweeted by one of the bishop’s present, shows the subject headings of the discussions held at the bishops’ table groups indicating they have no good options going forward. On 23 March 2023 the "bishops" met in private to discuss “proposals from the bishops which would enable same-sex couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationship such as a civil marriage or civil partnership to come to church to give thanks, offer prayers of dedication to God and to receive God’s blessing,” a statement from the Church of England Media Centre reported. The press release stated that at the London meeting the bishops reviewed concerns about the proposals and “considered how to approach the task of refining the Prayers of...

The Rt. Reverend Jean-Marc Micas, bishop of Lourdes, the town in the French Pyrenees which is the site of the apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous in 1858 and a huge centre of Marian devotion and pilgrimage, has announced he “cannot ignore” the “great distress” that mosaics commissioned from the workshop of disgraced Jesuit rapist and serial abuser Marko Rupnik cause. The mosaics illustrate the luminous mysteries of the Holy Rosary instituted in Rosarium Virginis Mariae , by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2002. The mosaics, located on the façade of the Rosary Basilica have been controversial since they were installed, as is acknowledged by the bishop in his statement, although, he says, on the whole they have been admired. Bishop Micas says he is concerned that the controversy surrounding the artist may cause victims, he considers this "cannot be ignored" and is therefore considering whether they should be taken down. The bishop has already met with the Rector of the Shrine, Fr....

 My latest article in the Catholic Herald, published here . Early this month, a colloquium was held at Boston College called  “The Way Forward: Pope Francis, Vatican II and Synodality” .  The gathering was the second meeting of this particular group of 80 participants to discuss synodality, the amorphous call by Pope Francis for the Church to “walk together”, to continue the reception of Vatican II.  In an  article   about this in  America Magazine,  the author captured my attention with this comment: “I confess that I was not as enthusiastic about the synod process as some of the participants when I first arrived…the concept of synodality is a bit confusing, even to seasoned Catholics, and the global synod process has struck me as unwieldy and ultimately not as representative of Catholic opinion as it is sometimes argued. One fact: Only 1 per cent of Catholics in the United States took part in the process.” This is the reality of a process which ...