De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

A phenomenon I find most interesting is the paradox between the "edifice" of the Catholic Church and what you might call "awake" Catholics. By the "edifice" of the Catholic Church I mean the bishops and the structures as well as the people who go to Mass on Sundays but don't engage with Catholic news. The Sunday Catholics or the cultural Catholics. Awake Catholics are the Catholics we all should really trying to be: Engaged with the process of Theosis; trying to be disciples. Catholics who pray at home with their children, Catholics who care passionately about the Blessed Sacrament as the source and summit of our faith. Catholics who read something other than The Tablet or the National Catholic Reporter .   Who engage with the faith as an antidote to the sickness we see in the secular culture. The edifice is crazy about Pope Francis in a way I've never seen with any previous Pope. If you look at their websites or Twitter feeds, they are drenched i...

Almost since the outset of this papacy Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle has been the man seen by many as Francis' dauphin. I'm not sure if the email I have been sent is actually from him, or an incredibly ignorant minion, but it is truly shocking in its' lack of catholicity: From: Caritas Internationalis [ mailto:donations@caritas.va ]  Sent: 30 November 2017 15:28 To:  Subject: Christmas Message from Cardinal Tagle Dear Friends, The bells ring during Advent not just in celebration, but also to wake us up from our slumber.  As we await the birth of Jesus, we are called to open our eyes and hearts to the possibility of hope. We are reminded that God is with us on our life's journey and that we too are called to accompany others on theirs. Jesus was born in a stable outside Bethlehem, on the "wrong side of the tracks", as they say nowadays. The Holy Family was a family of migrants. There was no welcome for his pregnant mother and tired father. Th...

What horrible news we are hearing about the tragedy of those persecuted in their own lands, by ISIS or Boko Haram, who then risk and often lose their lives in a desperate bid to escape the slaughter. For these brave individuals, the only option is to board a flimsy craft over-loaded with similarly desperate people trying to escape the carnage in their own countries. Carnage which, I find myself realising, we are largely responsible for in Britain. Especially with regards to Libya, from where the people are fleeing as a direct result of Britain & France's intervention and lack of any cohesive plan as to what to do once Colonel Gaddafi had been deposed. The current conflict in Syria has caused the worst humanitarian crisis this century. More than 3 million people have fled the country and many are making the perilous journey to seek safety overseas. A large number of those trying to get to Europe by boat are Syrians. Amnesty International has some of the individual storie...