De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Over the weekend I read this article on the rise of secularism. It looks at the way that society in Britain is developing towards a secular majority which promotes a kind of equality & tolerance which accepts no dissenters -- I have to say that fear of this continues to grip my heart in a growing way. I find daily that even switching on breakfast TV or listening to Radio 4 projects a diet of pro-abortion, pro-homosexual, pro-transgender ideology directly into my home in a way that really is most disturbing. It is disturbing because it is radical, becoming normalised and is constantly promoted despite the fact that no one understands what potential consequence such radical changes in family norms will have on society. This new "tolerance" comes with a disturbing sub-text. Dr Sharon James, a social policy analyst at the Christian Institute (CI) says that “intolerant secularism” among a small but “hard core” group is gaining traction in the UK, with one of the main batt...

By Heinrich Hofmann - Riverside Church, New York, Public Domain, Link So last week we found out for sure that anyone who is trying to advance an orthodox interpretation of Amoris Laetitia is at odds with the Pope. Edward Pentin noted that ++Baldisseri has written on behalf of Pope Francis to thank Malta's bishops for their guidelines on Ch. 8 of Amoris Laetitia . Still think Pope Francis isn't trying to undermine Church teaching? Last week I had a discussion on Twitter with Scott Smith, an Australian Blogger and Fr Paul Keller , a Tanzanian Priest, who were both trying to convince me that a). The Pope does clearly want to change Church teaching and b). There is a legitimacy to his direction (in other words it can be accepted as an orthodox direction). This discussion was interesting because it differed from the usual conversations around criticism of Pope Francis in that the usual pro-Francis advocate argues that the Pope is not trying to change Church t...

Further to my comments yesterday regarding Prof. Tina Beattie's controversial and open dissent, I wanted to look deeper at the problem to illustrate that I am not just being rude about an individual, but rather, I feel, undertaking an important critique of an untenable Catholic position. The point is not to attack an individual, but to demonstrate that for such academic positions to remain unchallenged and unclarified by those who's duty it is to shepherd the faithful, constitutes the source of a great deal of our malaise in the Church. As I stated yesterday, at the most basic level it seems obvious that our unity is utterly dependent on our common profession of faith. When we compromise the integrity of that professed faith, unity ceases to be a reality. Theologians like Beattie have attempted to assimilate post-modern ideas into Catholic theology in an attempt to help the faithful feel more comfortable in the "real" world. The demonstrable reality is that ...