De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Some really good news this week in that Fr Hugh Allan OPraem , Prior of Norbertine Commuinity of St Philip's Priory, Chelmsford, has been appointedcas the new Apostolic Administrator of the Prefecture of the Falkland Islands and Ecclesiastical Superior of the Missions sui iuris of the islands of Ascension, St Helena and Tristan da Cunha ad quinquennium (for a period of five years). Fr Hugh succeeds Monsignor Michael McPartland SMA who has been incumbent of this post since August 2002. Monsignor McPartland, having reached the canonical age of retirement, submitted his resignation so that a successor could be appointed. Fr Hugh now has canonical responsibility of the community on the Falkland Islands and the other territories and will continue to support Fr John Wisdom OPraem who lives on the Falkland Islands. Fr John has been in Stanley since August 2015 and has built good relations with the islanders and with the military community at RAF Mount Pleasant on East Falkla...

Following on from yesterday's news about the changes afoot in the Italian Diocese of Albenga-Imperia, we hear that the Pope has appointed 27 new members of the Congregation for Divine Worship. The Vatican announcement can be read here . A report from Catholic Culture here . A report from La Croix here . Catholic Culture suggests: The new appointments give a distinctly more liberal character—as well as a more international complexion—to the congregation. The changes seem likely to curtail the work of Cardinal Robert Sarah, the prefect of the Congregation, who has been a leading proponent of more reverent liturgy and of “the reform of the reform.” Which is rather disturbing if accurate. I note that one of the appointees is Bishop Alan Hopes of East Anglia, who is a promoter of good liturgy and a good bishop. Rorate Caeli has more detail and notes: Cardinal Robert Sarah remains the Prefect of the CDW. However, the new membership of his Congregation makes hi...

+Guglielmo Borghetti I was really shocked to read reports of the newly appointed bishop of the Italian Diocese of Albenga-Imperia, Guglielmo Borghetti, who has been appointed to replace Bishop Mario Oliveri. Given the well known sympathy in the diocese for the Traditions of the Church, Bishop Borghetti has said he intends to wipe-out East facing liturgy. He is reported as having condemned ‘false altars’ facing away from people as ‘nostalgia for the past’.  Interesting given Cardinal Sarah's call to say Mass orientated to the Lord and Pope Emeritus' Benedict XVI's recent affirmation of that call to re-orientation in L‘Osservatore Romano   (comments which were, perhaps, blown a little out of proportion by Lifesite News here , but are, nonetheless, accurately his thoughts on the matter). Of course, some other prelates disagree with this ...More on that further down. Bishop Borghetti has been Bishop Oliveri's Coadjutor Bishop since March 2015 . Borghetti...

During his Angelus address yesterday, Pope Francis held up St. Paul as the model of the missionary church: "The experience of the Apostle of the Gentiles reminds us that on the one hand, we must engage in pastoral and missionary activities as though the result depended on our efforts, with the spirit of sacrifice of an athlete who does not stop even when faced with defeat, and on the other, however, in the knowledge that the true success of our mission is a gift of grace,” the Pope told the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “Today is a time of mission and a time of courage,” the Pope added, as he explained: "We are required to have the courage to fight, not necessarily to win; to proclaim but not necessarily to convert. We are required to have the courage not to conform to the world, without however becoming polemical or aggressive. We are required to have the courage to be open to all, never to diminish the absolute and unique nature of Christ, sole Savior of all. ...

My dear brothers and sisters, we need to evangelise. The world needs the Gospel message today more than ever, and that message means more to people alienated from the reality and true nature of being by today's noisy, busy, atheistic world, than ever before. The world thinks it knows what that message is, but somehow it has twisted and confused the message so that it bears little relationship with the reality. So we need to be that reality and we need to have our conversations in the context of where people are and what their misgivings/ misunderstandings about the Christian proclamation are. Simply put, that message is that you are created, you are loved and you are redeemed by Jesus Christ. We need to assert the simple truth that followers of Christ follow because they believe in love, in truth, in honour & integrity. Being a Christian means standing for family, for society, for justice, and these are all things that bind us together in a positive way. So much of ...