De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

 Watch this — at least the first section where the tenets are discussed. If you feel worried about the world or the way society is increasingly influenced by ideas we would have called crazy just a short while ago. Perhaps this helps us understand why? I watched this discussion and it struck me just how real this is. I am fighting this daily in my local Catholic School, in my diocese, with my friends, while the diocese seems to be obsessed with climate disaster and migrants. When you think about it, it really does seem like the perfect cover doesn't it? I mean, you have to wonder when the last time the bishops had a discussion about the reality of evil...Because you don't have to look far to see the very real effect of it in our world today. And, as this video shows, it is coming out of the darkness and showing itself in broad daylight now. Perhaps because our society is sufficiently corrupted: determined that our truth is defined by our sexual appetites, distracted from the re

The CBEW website has the news that Nafir Afzal has been appointed as the Chair of the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA). In terms of competence, one would have to say it would be difficult to find someone better qualified for this role. Afzal is a former Chief Crown Prosecutor, and is best known for tackling cases involving violence against women and the sexual exploitation of children; the New York Times called him "Britain’s go-to prosecutor" for these areas. Afzal is a practicing Muslim, served as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England from 2011-2015 and chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners from 2016-2017. He has prosecuted numerous high profile criminal cases and consulted on legal matters in areas including violence against women and girls, child sexual abuse, and so-called “honour” killings. “Mr Afzal brings to this role the freshness and vast experience required in order to make the establishment of the CSSA a t

We are, sadly, watching the latest round of aggression in the Middle East currently as Israel and Palestine exchange rockets night after night. I am deeply saddened by the loss of life and the ease with which those in charge seem to fall into such destruction. Of course the roots of the conflict are as old as historical record can recall. However, here in the UK, the BBC take an overtly pro-Palestinian position which I find disturbing. Part of the reasoning appears to be that Israel has better weapons so it is unfair for them to retaliate when Hamas fire rockets at civilian targets in Israel. I wonder if France was bombing London they would be suggesting we only respond with little guns so we don't kill the aggressors too much? I don't suppose many of those commenting can imagine living in a place where your civilisation is surrounded by enemies determined to exterminate you completely. But when you think about it, they really should, following 9/11 and the War on Terror, we sh

Almost a week ago I posted on the present situation in Germany where, following a correction from the CDF on the validity of blessing same sex relationships, there was a huge backlash with many bishops and priests openly flouting Church teaching and flying the "gay pride" flag. This is simply a symptom of the situation discussed in my post yesterday : as every parent knows well, if you don't teach and explain why something is wrong to your children, you can't be surprised when they go off in the wrong direction. Moreover, the Pope has been sending out strong pro-gay signals since he took office and has done nothing up to now to address the increasingly blatant flouting of this teaching throughout the Church (our own Cardinal has been at it for decades ). Pope Francis himself blessed a gay couple in July 2015 to later have Ciro Benedettini, the Vatican Spokesperson, asserting that in no way is the letter “meant to endorse behaviours and teachings unfit to the Gospel”.

  This Sunday, the Pope of Confusion led with a false dichotomy typical of his "teaching style": Pope Francis at Mass this morning: “Keeping the Truth does not mean defending ideas, becoming guardians of a system of doctrines and dogmas. It means remaining bound to Christ and being devoted to His Gospel. Truth is Christ Himself.” pic.twitter.com/0Y1R75hy4N — Catholic Sat (@CatholicSat) May 16, 2021 This really struck me because the Pope constantly seems to be trying to justify his lack of clarity even as the maelstrom of the confusion he has caused swirls around him. He regularly owns the chaos, trying to sell it as some kind of definite strategy and he seems to be constantly trying to explain why, contrary to all the evidence, this is actually a great idea. It's not. Clearly. By way of complete contrast, here's a quote from St John Henry Cardinal Newman (Apologia 1865, Chapter 2): "From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religio

Above: Pachamamma. The bishop of Brentwood Diocese Rt. Rev. Alan Williams recently wrote to all diocesan clergy explaining that “the Catholic Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland are issuing a Pastoral Letter about the role that the Catholic Church and our faith must play in our shared care for God’s gift of creation.” “...must play...” No doubt this was written at the bishops Low Week Meeting.  I found its contents really rather disturbing although it does present us with a really good indication of the disastrous state of affairs in the Catholic Church at the moment. Bishop Alan specifically asks that this is made available or read at Pentecost, here it is, nice and early for your delectation: It is accompanied by this awful “novena” which re-enforces the message in the Pastoral letter ad nauseam .   I won’t post any more to spare you.  But what a great shame they didn’t take this opportunity to give some real encouragement to the faithful and to their priests — especially as many

Fr Mark Goring speaks to Alexander Tschugguel ( who pitched Pachamamma into the Tiber ) about what's going on in Germany & Austria right now. Alexander provides some valuable insight into the comments of Cardinal Schönborn, which have encouraged those seeking to resist the teaching of the Church - quite extraordinary when you think about it! It does demonstrate how we've got to this place. These subversive strains of the Church have been facilitated and allowed to proliferate by men like Schönborn who clearly compromised in this area, despite being credited with the authorship of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Indeed, his involvement with that volume shows how well these men hide in high office and are quite prepared to say things completely at odds with the agenda they seek to promote, depending on who is in charge. The very same game has long been played by our own Cardinal, Vincent Nichols .

Louise & I were recently interviewed for the One of Nine YouTube channel I blogged about here . The motivation is threefold: Encourage priests and bishops by sharing that living a Catholic life is beautiful and totally possible. You don’t have to compromise and lots of us are just getting on with it even though many of us feel undermined and abandoned by the hierarchy. Build community and reach out in solidarity to other Catholic families, share our joys and our struggles to encourage and help each other when things are challenging. Share our story of love and hope in order that it might encourage others who are going through dark times in their lives, help them to realise that Jesus fills our lives with His goodness and presence even when life seems impossibly hard.