De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  Hello and welcome to this short reflection on the recent Catholic Unscripted Chicago roadshow. Gavin, Katherine and I were all very fortunate to be invited to visit Chicago for a series of meetings, talks and interviews. When was the last time you heard anyone recommend Chicago, Illinois, for a Catholic retreat or pilgrimage?  I'm guessing the answer is never. Well, when my friends heard I was going to visit with my Catholic Unscripted friends Katherine and Gavin, I received quite a few troubled looks and messages of concern.  Perhaps this is because Chicago is, after all, somewhat synonymous with gun violence. It regularly attracts attention from the press, politicians, and, especially advocates on both sides of the firearms debate in the United States.  The New York Times recently ran a series of articles on shootings in the city where the Reverend Michael Pfleger, a prominent anti-violence activist and pastor on the city’s South Side, described Chicago as “the poster boy of

There's no doubt that Pope Francis has caused massive damage throughout the Catholic Church by spreading confusion, lies and misinformation, not to mention promoting seriously compromised and dangerous and abusive men to high office and facilitating liturgical travesties like the Pachamamma worship in the Vatican gardens. But by far the most unjust thing he has enacted is Traditiones custodes . Why? Well, because it singles out those who most want to love Christ, those most loyal to the papacy, and penalises them for their fidelity and faithfulness. Pope Francis has enacted a Trad exclusion programme. It seems now, for the first time, even lay people have started to make public their disquiet at the injustice of the situation. And what better place than Chicago, where Bergoglio's (once) favourite (the signs are that this is no longer the case...Which is why he is not in Rome) and McCarrick protégé Blaise Cupich has been swift and draconian in forcing restrictions on any parish

 An opportunity to discover the power and beauty of Catholic Marriage and partake in the greatest adventure of your life! If you have questions or simply want to celebrate all that is good about Catholic Marriage, come along to Cardinal Bourne Hall on 10th June for an exposition of this subject by Fr Matthew Bemand-Qureshi and GP wife Lucy.

The University of Birmingham Catholic Society share that the Archdiocese of Birmingham has decided to close Newman House Chaplaincy this summer.  Writing on Facebook, they state:  "Newman House has been the home or our society and the wider Catholic community ever since the building was opened in 1966. This news will be very upsetting to the generations of Catholic students who have found the faith, received the sacraments of initiation, and met lifelong friends - even spouses - at the chaplaincy. We are particularly disappointed that this news comes at such short notice at the busiest time of the academic year, and without any prior warning or consultation process between the Archdiocese and the student body. There has also as yet been no official communication from the Archdiocese to our society, or the house residents, regarding the closure or any possible alternative provision - leaving us in the dark for the new academic year. We are exploring our options and have written to

We start this episode by laying out some ideas we have had to develop Catholic Unscripted as we move forward. Given we are all agreed that the current culture war requires a profoundly Catholic response, we are branding ourselves as CR² - Gavin explains why. That leads us into a discussion of D.I.E. - Diversity - Inclusion - Equality and the Catholic response. We then talk about being Married to a non-Catholic and each of us gives our own experiences of relationships with non-Catholics and how to minister and evangelise in these, often quite tense situations.  

Peter D. Williams is promoting an open letter to the Bishops of England and Wales from Catholic laity which sets out some very compelling points and a litany of church safeguarding failings. Recently I was removed from a speaking event because the host was "concerned" my presence would upset the bishops in some way. Why the concern? Because I don't keep quiet about abuses of office the bishops are guilty of. Nor will I. It is childish and cowardly to consider that we must curtail honesty for some false show of unity when incredibly serious issues are at stake: this is just one example of the incredibly serious nature of the duty bishops accept. And their failure to properly execute that duty. There is a really worrying tendency among some Catholics, perhaps especially those who seem the bishops as a means to accelerating their own careers, seem perfectly willing to ignore the utter failure of the collective episcopate to perform any of their basic functions with even com