De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

From Scottish Catholic Media Office : Pope Francis has today (Tuesday 29 April 2014 - the Feast of St Catherine of Siena) appointed Bishop Joseph Toal, as Bishop of Motherwell; he is currently Bishop of Argyll & the Isles and has been Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Motherwell which has been vacant since 31 May 2013, when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Joseph Devine. Reacting to the announcement, Bishop Toal said: “Over the past eleven months, I have come to know the Diocese of Motherwell and appreciate the warmth and generosity of the clergy and laity, I look forward to deepening that relationship with them. While I am sad to be leaving my home diocese of Argyll and the Isles, I know the deep faith of the people there will sustain them as they await a new Bishop and I ask them to pray for me as I prepare to translate to the Diocese of Motherwell.” Commenting on the appointment, the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, Archbish...

What was that you say? The Bishops standing up for Catholic teaching? Shock! Horror! Call the Police! The Fire Brigade! The Vatican even! But no, you heard me right. There is this brilliant bit in the Telegraph yesterday about Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell who has pointed out to the Prime Minister the obvious fact that he is clearly out of his depth. Certainly it is clear that David Cameron will not be able to exempt the Churches from a duty to offer marriages to homosexual couples, a specialist in religious discrimination law has said. Neil Addison, a barrister and the director of the Warrington-based Thomas More Legal Centre, said that the Prime Minister’s assurances to the Church that they would not be compelled to perform religious marriage for gay couples are worthless: see here . I was so happy to see the Bishop of Motherwell speaking out on this issue, especially as it seems what he has said needed so badly to be said. The he was joined by the brilliant Bishop of...