Has Bishop Egan Lost it?

Above: The Marian Franciscans at last year's March4Life where I last met them.

Has Bishop Egan completely capitulated to progressivism?

Is he under pressure to conform to the establishment?

Is he trying to be "inclusive"?

Is he in the running for Westminster, perhaps?

I honestly never thought I would find myself concerned with the bishop of Portsmouth, Philip Egan. When discussing who Catholics can trust in the episcopacy, his name is always mentioned as a solid bishop.

Egan, 67, has been bishop of Portsmouth diocese since 2012 and has long been considered a safe pair of hands by faithful Catholics.

In a 2014 interview, he generated controversy for his views that MPs who voted for same-sex marriage should be banned from receiving communion. He also wrote to PM David Cameron regarding so called same sex marriage. He has a decent record of standing up for the faith, but something seems awry lately. For example, I hear whispers that there is a serious disregard for catechesis in his diocese which has been taken over by a managerial culture.

Now he has attacked - I do not use the word lightly - a priest in his diocese for standing up against the LGBTQI+ indoctrination rife in Catholic schools. This is something you would not be surprised if Bishop Egan had done himself, given his track record on the issue. So why the change of heart?

Back in 2013, it seemed the traditionalist Marian Franciscans were being supressed by Pope Francis, perhaps early signs of the trouble that lay ahead. In 2015, Bishop Egan welcomed them to his diocese, a move which, once again, drew controversy. Although it was seen as a sign of Bishop Egan's traditionalist leanings, I think it could just as easily be a symptom of a lack of vocations. Many dioceses, faced with a lack of clergy, are having to import priests or close parishes. I think it is more likely that this was what was behind +Egan's welcoming of the Marian Franciscans into his diocese.

You may recall one of the priests of this order gave an outstanding homily on LGBTQI+ indoctrination which I posted here.

This homily was embraced by many Catholics who found it incredibly refreshing to hear a priest speaking the truth against an insidious ideology which is clearly at odds with Catholic anthropology and belief about family and chastity and yet due to the inaction (in most cases) of our bishops, Catholic faithful appear powerless to stop. This fact meant the homily spread widely. I myself shared it with many clergy and all of them endorsed it as a courageous and truthful message - perhaps a few wished they had the courage to speak in a similar way about the issue - perhaps a few were actually encouraged to do so!

Perhaps it could be said that Fr. Rosario might have been more prudent in the way he spoke on this issue, given the enemies of the Marian Franciscans are known to be watching them like hawks. But there was absolutely nothing inaccurate about his statements.

This important story was broken by Jules Gomes who reports:

In a letter to his clergymen, bishop of Portsmouth Philip Egan denounced Fr. Rosario M. Ebanks for causing "great offense to many," after the friar's homily, preached at St. Mary's and St. Columba's Church, Gosport, triggered LGBTQ+ activists.

Bishop Egan sent his ad clerum to diocesan clerics after a local newspaper published extracts of the friar's 15-minute homily on Tuesday, branding it an "appalling" and "distressing" sermon from the "Stone Age."

Gomes' report continues:

the friar (who is of Afro-Caribbean origin) is facing racial abuse from pro-LGBTQ+ Catholics — including a blogger who attacked foreign priests for their poor English and "very heavy accents."

If you haven't seen Fr. Rosario's homily, you can watch it here for yourself and decide what you think.

Quoted in Dr. Gomes' article, Lancashire Deacon and Catholic author Nick Donnelly made these really pertinent comments:

Father Ebanks was absolutely right to warn families in his parish that a failure to properly condemn such "acts of grave depravity" puts innocent children at risk.

The silence from episcopal pulpits about the promotion of LGBT and gender ideology in Catholic schools is the real scandal.

I have managed to get hold of the whole text of the ad clerum - a letter from the bishop to all clergy in his diocese. The fact that I have managed to do that demonstrates how upset clergy in Egan's diocese are with his treatment of Fr. Rosario. This is the text:

"I was very sorry indeed to learn the details of a homily preached recently in one of our parishes that was critical of our Catholic leaders and the way in which schools approach relationships and sex education. This has caused great offence to many. Some of you may also be aware. We have done all we can to reduce people’s exposure to this homily although sadly it has been shared widely across the digital sphere and has been picked up by local and national media. I have taken action and there may be further consequences following an investigation of those involved. The incident is a reminder of our responsibility as leaders, pastors and shepherds to preach only with love and humility. You know this, but forgive me restating it: our homilies should be pastoral emphasising God’s mercy. A homily should express the kerygma, the joy of the Gospel of Christ and the love of our Saviour Jesus Christ. It should communicate Good News even when offering a challenge. I like very much what Sacrosanctum Concilium says:

“The ministry of preaching is to be fulfilled with exactitude and fidelity. The sermon .. should draw its content mainly from scriptural and liturgical sources, and its character should be that of a proclamation of God's wonderful works in the history of salvation, the mystery of Christ, ever made present and active within us, especially in the celebration of the liturgy” (35).

A homily is never a place for a preacher to air his own theories about the ills of the Church."

I do not agree that Fr. Rosario's homily was preached without love and humility. Indeed, I think Fr. Rosario is acting with selfless love and humility, putting himself in the firing line to protect the innocent children of the UK from the scourge of a pernicious and dangerous ideology being foisted on them without parental consent and in direct contradiction to the Catholic teaching they assume their little ones are receiving. This is not anecdotal, we know it is actually happening; see these examples!

The actions of the Catholic Education Service in these recent cases gives further cause for alarm and demonstrates that they are complicit in introducing this dangerous and insidious agenda into Catholic educational facilities.

"This has caused great offence to many" - I can't believe Bishop Egan would say such a banal thing! He represents Jesus' apostles and teaching and Jesus taught:

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Mt 10:34

Jesus is saying that the truth does cause offence and He Himself was a victim of this see: Luke 4:29  for example and indeed His Passion and death. 

As Thomas Hardy put it:

"If an offense come out of the truth, better is it that the offense come than that the truth be concealed."

I am lost with Bishop Egan's response here. This is a most grievous situation which desperately needs to be addressed by our bishops who remain largely silent and are clearly terrified. 

Certainly it seems really strange that Bishop Egan would turn on his priests in such an open way.

Please do support the Marian Franciscans, you can donate to them here.