De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  In this video Trent addresses the comments of Cardinal Hollerich recently who, during an interview with the German Catholic news agency KNA, stated that Church teaching related to homosexuality “is false,” because the “sociological-scientific foundation of this teaching is no longer correct.” See this report in the Register for more on that. Trent argues that the argument for homosexuality in the Church is born of a basic universalism: the pernicious idea that everyone goes to heaven. Once you dispense with hell, the Church becomes about making people "happy" and instigating social welfare programmes. Personally I think the main problem is that so few Catholics understand what the Church teaches - the fact that the Church asks no more from homosexual persons than it does for everyone else. Also how the teaching is rooted in the dignity of the human person as opposed to ideology which seeks to supplant the imago Dei with sexual desire as the central tenet of our humanity....

"Bring your desire for holiness and everything else will take care of itself"... Well worth watching this video about confession from Fr Casey. It is a gentle, useful reminder on how to approach the sacrament. This needs discussion more often as well because you have to remember that our experience of confession as a lay person is extremely subjective. We have no idea how anyone else does it, what they confess or how they confess. Therefore an objective, experienced guide like this is very useful in my opinion. I also recognised myself in all the examples Father gives!  Enjoy!

 Some great news from the FSSP: Fribourg, February 21, 2022 On Friday, February 4, 2022, two members of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, Superior of the District of France, and Fr. Vincent Ribeton, Rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad, were received in private audience by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for nearly an hour. During the very cordial meeting, they recalled the origins of the Fraternity in 1988, the Pope expressed that he was very impressed by the approach taken by its founders, their desire to remain faithful to the Roman Pontiff and their trust in the Church. He said that this gesture should be “preserved, protected and encouraged”. In the course of the audience, the Pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are not affected by the general provisions of the Motu Proprio  Traditionis Custodes , since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in t...

Ever since the beginning of the Catholic Church, there have been periods of extreme trial and difficulties that have tested the faith of Christians. Yet, in the midst of such dark times, God always provides saints, holy men and women who help the Church remain on course. As St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans, “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). This should give us hope, recognizing the providence of God and how he does not leave us as orphans, but continues to guide the members of his Church to truth, beauty and goodness. When you look at the Counter Reformation, for example, you find examples of extraordinary men & women who single-handedly re-invigorated the faith. For example, St Ignatius Loyola founded the Jesuits with the aim of proclaiming the Gospel in charity and truth, placing an emphasis on interior renewal. St Philip Neri had a knack for starting up conversations and leading his listeners to consider a new and better way of life, the...

  Speculation is growing that diminutive Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna is soon to be appointed prelate for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , the oldest among the nine congregations of the Roman Curia. Edward Pentin has provided an exhaustive analysis of this which you can read here . In it, Pentin details the positive things about Scicluna, but also how he seems to have changed dramatically under this papacy and has said and done some deeply problematic things. Scicluna held positions in the Roman Curia from 1995 to 2012, when he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Malta. Both as a curial official and since becoming a bishop he has conducted investigations into sexual abuse by clergy on behalf of the Holy See and led a board that reviews such cases. He has been called "the Vatican's most respected sex crimes expert" by the Washington Post . Scicluna obtained a doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rom...

In interview this evening on Italian television, Pope Francis: “The biggest crisis facing the Church today is a worldly spirituality, which causes clericalism and a rigidity, an ideological rigidity which is opposed to the Gospel” pic.twitter.com/R0kmSxtOob — Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) February 6, 2022 If there were a single word to sum up the papacy of Jorge Bergoglio for me it would be this one word: "Rigid". He doesn't seem to be able to leave it out of a single address and, as the quote above seems to suggest, he appears to see this as "the biggest crisis facing the Church today". What do you say to that apart from "Mental!" - It's just mental! Mental to engage in internal naval gazing and exacerbate divisions within the Church when we have so many challenges to the Gospel from the secular culture. Relativism & the cult of self-idolatry and self-worship is pushing in on Christianity from every angle and all the Catholic Church seems to do...

From the Parish website of Our Lady of Lourdes & St Joseph, Leigh-on-Sea a message from Mgsr Kevin Hale, Vicar General of Brentwood Diocese : Dear friends in Christ The Gospel of this Sixth Sunday of the Year comes from the teachings of Jesus that form the heart of our Christian ethics. However, Christianity is not simply a way of living well on earth; everything is directed to the higher goal of the supernatural life and our eternal destiny. Without this dimension Christianity would simply be a moral code—a high one indeed—but nothing more than a philosophy of life. To live the demands of what Jesus taught in His Sermon on the Mount—especially the Beatitudes—we need the assistance of grace. St Augustine once remarked that:  Love without knowledge goes astray; knowledge without love puffs up; knowledge with love builds up.  We live in a world, we coexist with others, who have their own unique and individualistic codes for living. Most people who might describe themselves ...