De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  Many of you have suggested it would be useful to have a Catholic Youtube channel where we can build a community. Well, now we have. I am very pleased to announce that, along with Katherine Bennett of Choose Agape and Dr. Gavin Ashenden I will be involved in this new project, Catholic Unscripted, where we will meet weekly to discuss Catholic issues and the joy of the Catholic faith. English accents and informed discussion. Let me know if you have any comments/ suggestions or if there's anything particularly you would like to hear discussed. We will be recording our next episode tomorrow! Please do like and subscribe:

Steve delivering his Speech at the Southend-on-Sea Catenian meeting last week. As I reported on the 28th of June , Southend-on-Sea Catenians were fortunate to be joined by Steve Webb, director of BCCS who gave a truly inspirational speech linking together the themes of community, BCCS and the Catenian Association. Steve has been good enough to provide a transcript of his speech in order that I can share his wisdom with my readers. So here it is—enjoy!! SOUTHEND ON SEA CATENIANS 27TH June 2013 COMMUNITY—BCCS—Catenians. Groucho Marx famously claimed that he did not want to be a member of a club that would have him as a member, but that has never been my feeling. I have always been happy to be a part of something where people have common interests and can share experiences. Right from day one I was a member of my family and that served me very well for many years. Family has to be at the heart of everything. When I was 11 I joined the scouts and I got a woggle, lot...

Further to my post a couple of days ago which considered the state of Catholic Education, and what (if anything) to do about it, Michael Merrick has pointed me to some very interesting comments of his own on the subject. In his first post , he discusses a question which I have heard for some time now in Catholic circles: Is it right for our Mass-going population to continue to fund schools which are Catholic in name only? This question was bravely posited by the Rt. Rvd. Bishop Michael Campbell in a pastoral letter. Michael notes: It is worth saying that, until relatively recently, this question would simply not have been asked, or at any rate not framed in such terms. Indeed, the very use of the words ‘Catholic in name only’ (or CINO in shorthand) is itself provocative for those who have not and do not necessarily see the role of Catholic schools as being ‘Catholic’ at all, at least not with a capital ‘C’. That the Church should compromise its generous access and influence w...

Fr. Andrew Pinsent,  B.A.,  M.A.,  Ph.D.,  Ph.B.,  S.T.B.,  Ph.L.,  Ph.D.(again).    I want to expand on some thoughts concerning Catholic education . I am suggesting that there is some disconnect between Catholicity and our Catholic Schools. I think that in some schools, Catholicity has somehow evolved into a holistic "every child matters" approach to inclusive education rather than being about a seriously different approach to academic study. This is not to discount the excellent Catholic teachers who I know are out there battling away, but rather, knowing some of them, I would like to support, encourage and thank them for what they are doing. Why? I think this has happened as a result of a growing false understanding of the Christian ethic as being non-judgemental . Also, a lack of decent Catholic apologetics and a dearth of academic engagement with the more controversial aspects of Catholic doctrine. I wonder what a survey of Catho...