De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  From the earliest days of Christianity teaching was unmistakably clear. We have the Fifth Commandment and later the most primitive Christian teaching, The Didache states: “You shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born.” This is not a later doctrinal development but part of the Church’s foundational moral witness. Which makes our present moment all the more revealing: we now have leaders of Christian Churches who do not oppose abortion in principle, but merely argue that certain forms of it “go too far.” That may pretend to be nuance but it is not. It is clearly a huge rupture. You cannot claim the moral authority of the Church while abandoning the principles that gave that authority meaning. And this failure is not abstract. Law teaches. When legislation expands abortion, it teaches that some lives are negotiable; when Church leaders fail to oppose it clearly, they reinforce that lesson. What we are witnessing is the pedagogy of the law in action, a feedbac...

  The announcement that the Society of St Pius X intends to consecrate new bishops on 1 July has provoked a predictable reaction. The word “schism” has been deployed quickly and confidently, often without any reference to canon law, Church history, or Rome’s own recent precedents. For many commentators, the case appears settled before it has even been examined. But Catholic theology has never operated on slogans. The question is not simply whether episcopal consecration without papal mandate is illicit. Everyone agrees that it ordinarily is. The real question is whether the Church still possesses the juridical and moral coherence required to condemn such an act unequivocally in the present circumstances. In my latest Substack essay, I argue that this moment cannot be understood without grappling seriously with three uncomfortable facts. First, the 1983 Code of Canon Law itself explicitly recognises situations of necessity that excuse or mitigate even the gravest canonical pena...

Bishop Richard Moth’s decade as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton has been characterised by solid administrative leadership, careful governance, and a sustained emphasis on social justice issues. Diocesan finances have remained broadly healthy, governance structures robust, and the diocese has avoided the kind of public crises that have so badly damaged trust elsewhere. In purely managerial terms, his tenure can reasonably be described as competent and stable. This steadiness, however, is inseparable from a particular ecclesial vision, one that has shaped Catholic leadership in England and Wales for over half a century. Moth’s most visible pastoral emphasis has been on criminal justice, prison ministry, and advocacy for the marginalised. This work is sincere, pastorally motivated, and rooted in genuine Catholic concern for human dignity. It also aligns very closely with the dominant priorities of the Francis era and, more broadly, with a social-justice-forward approach that emerged in t...

Peter D. Williams is promoting an open letter to the Bishops of England and Wales from Catholic laity which sets out some very compelling points and a litany of church safeguarding failings. Recently I was removed from a speaking event because the host was "concerned" my presence would upset the bishops in some way. Why the concern? Because I don't keep quiet about abuses of office the bishops are guilty of. Nor will I. It is childish and cowardly to consider that we must curtail honesty for some false show of unity when incredibly serious issues are at stake: this is just one example of the incredibly serious nature of the duty bishops accept. And their failure to properly execute that duty. There is a really worrying tendency among some Catholics, perhaps especially those who seem the bishops as a means to accelerating their own careers, seem perfectly willing to ignore the utter failure of the collective episcopate to perform any of their basic functions with even com...

I watched this video on Youtube a couple of days ago. It presents an intelligent and well constructed argument which starts out purporting to explain what a bishop is in the Catholic Church, but quickly turns into a rather convoluted apologia for Pope Francis confusing style of governance. I can't escape the impression that ultimately the whole video is a bit of a sales pitch to explain why Pope Francis is doing such a bad job as Pope. Given the way it ends, it presents an extremely circuitous narrative which takes as its starting point, the proper function of bishops but ultimately aims to explain and even justify/ edify why Pope Francis is failing to be clear and correct error. Its final assertion is that his lack of clear teaching is because he is leaving it to bishops to discern the way forward on any number of issues and, moreover, this is the proper method of governance for the Roman Pontiff. Despite the problems evident from any initial viewing, it is well put together and t...

Extraordinary events last Wednesday when USCCB conference president Archbishop Jose Gomez, issued a statement which took uncompromising positions on abortion, gender, and religious liberty, warning that the Biden administration’s policy agenda would advance “moral evils” on several fronts, which was then spiked. The statement was expected to be released at 9:00 am Jan. 20. The Pillar (a new Catholic news source founded by Canon Laywer Ed Condon and former editor of CNA J.D. Flynn) reported  that it was not released Wednesday morning, and bishops were informed by USCCB officials that it remained under embargo, even after one media outlet reported it had been released.  The Pillar reports : Sources in the Vatican Secretariat of State, others close to the U.S. bishops’ conference, and sources among the U.S. bishops have confirmed to The Pillar that the statement was spiked after intervention from the Vatican Secretariat of State, hours before it was due to be released. The sta...

To our bishops and cardinals -- we can't trust you! We want to trust you, but we can't. The only time we hear from you is when you want our money! We are Catholic -- does any of what we believe matter to you???

As the vote regarding Same Sex "Marriage" approaches Down Under, the Catholic Bishops of Australia have issued a Pastoral Letter to all Catholics regarding the debate. A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Australia to all Australians on the ‘Same-sex Marriage’ Debate Respect for all At this time in history there is much discussion about the meaning of marriage. Some suggest that it is unjustly discriminatory not to allow people with same-sex attraction to marry someone of the same sex. Others believe that marriage is an institution uniting a man and a woman. We wish by this pastoral letter to engage with this debate, present the Church’s teaching to the faithful, and explain the position of the Catholic faithful to the wider community. The Catholic tradition teaches that every human being is a unique and irreplaceable person, created in the image of God and loved by Him. Because of this, every man, woman and child has great dignity and worth which can ne...

Last Tuesday my post drew attention to the fruits issuing forth from Krakow with regard to vocation and certainly due to pastoral direction of the new Archbishop of Krakow, Marek Jedraszewki.   Today I would like to draw your attention to Archbishop Gadecki – the President of the Polish Episcopal Conference - who is good news too. Both he and Archbishop  Marek Jedraszewki are contemporaries –and (like most Bishops in Poland – but very few Bishops in the UK), hold Doctorates. Encouraging Polish priests to have Doctorates was part of the long term planning by St John Paul II when he was Archbishop of Krakow. I have heard that Fr. Rene Latourelle sj (one of the best Jesuits teaching at the Greg 40 years ago) said to a friend that Cardinal Woytila always used to visit him in his office at the Greg to chat about how the Krakow priests doing Doctorates at the Greg were getting on. Further good news is found in Polish ordination statistics. The Germans...