Bishop Campbell Takes Action on A Call To Action

I think this is a very important Catholic story at the moment, although perhaps not as important as you signing the letter supporting our loyal clergy! So if you haven't added your name yet, please do so now!!!!

So, basically, Bishop Michael Campbell of Lancaster has BLASTED the heretical group of pseudo-Catholics A Call To Action on his blog after a representative appeared on local radio accusing him of not wanting dialogue.

+Campbell nails it! He completely gets it and for the first time a bishop in the UK has come out and explicitly said it. If you want to know what ACTA are all about, type ACTA or A Call To Action in to the search bar at the top of my blog or start by reading this post from December 2012. A search of my blog will reveal the link between this mendacious organisation and disgraced ex-bishop Kieran Conry, which will come as no surprise.

In the radio interview which seems to have sparked all this, Alex Walker for ACTA says they are not listened to and not heard that there are other bishops around the country who are more than happy to enter into discussion with them

Walker says Bishop Campbell's said he doesn't want any dialogue with ACTA. He says that he wants Bishops to say ACTA are "a valuable resource" in the Church because they (i.e. ACTA) are going to forge the way ahead. What is the way ahead? Well, Walker gives a précis of the ACTA agenda which could be summed up as "gay, gay, gay, divorced and remarried, synod, gay, synod, Pope Francis, gay, smell of the sheep."

Walker says they've invited +Campbell to many meetings but the Bishop hasn't come to any which "flies in the face of canon law". Does it? Blimey, I've never read that bit of canon law that says if you invite the bishop to a meeting of heretics, he has to go!

The blinding ignorance of Mr. Walker is absolutely astounding! He doesn't understand the first thing about the Church it seems to me, even the interviewer takes Walker to task over his criticism of Bishop Campbell. Walker says Hexham & Newcastle (Bishop Seamus Cunningham) is onside with ACTA's heretical agenda, can we get a response from Bishop Cunningham on this?

In response, Bishop Campbell says that Walker's perspective is appalling and unworthy. Dialogue is not what ACTA want, they are only interested in bringing their agenda to the table (as I have pointed out before). Bishop Campbell points out that this agenda is not mainstream. He states that the Church is dealing with the issues Walker raises, that the Church is open and welcoming to people with same-sex-attraction, and he is absolutely spot on. +Campbell says the bishop has to hold a diocese together. The issues of parents with children who are SSA, for example, can be complicated and delicate, and the Bishop has many delicate pastoral issues to deal with.

Have ACTA over-played their hand here? It seems to be a direct attack on Bishop Campbell by Alex Walker which has prompted the Bishop to respond on the radio and to post on his blog.

Perhaps the most important paragraph on the blog is this one:

I need to make it clear here that in my judgement, as Diocesan Bishop, ACTA moves well beyond its self-described aim of ‘dialogue’ on controversial issues on its agenda and so does not provide an assured authentic forum or interpretation of sound Catholic teaching and sound pastoral practice in this Diocese. Accordingly great care is required here from priests and people.

This is what I have been waiting to hear from a bishop for a number of years on this issue. ACTA seeks to lead people away from authentic Catholic teaching, presenting a warped parody of Church teaching and belief. It distorts the image of Christ and confuses people.

ACTA is not about dialogue, it is not about progress, it's about going back to the sixties, it is about a false presentation of the Gospel which cannot serve any purpose but to wound the Body of Christ. They are careful to present themselves otherwise, but you would have to have a dodgy agenda yourself not to be able to discern that this is what they are really about very quickly. As Bishop Campbell notes at the end of his blog:

N.B. *Unfortunately, this group, has not – despite several requests – shown a willingness towards transparency and openness in terms of its own disclosure of local membership, and minutes of local meetings and, in fact, continues to restrict access to large areas of its national website to ‘members only’. Such a willingness would surely be a first step towards a genuine and respectful process prior to dialogue.

For this reason, and in all seriousness, I think the best thing for the growth and development of the Church our bishops can do, is follow suit with Bishop Campbell as soon and as vocally as possible.