I was rather impressed with a BBC Today Programme interview with Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Not only did he call for Catholics to be involved with the consultation on advertising condoms and abortions on television, he actually defended the Pope, and avoided being side tracked, he said existing condom adverts "demean" young people- splendid!
12 comments:
WOW!!!!! A most impressive performance!
Thank you so much for this link Fr Ray, it adds an extra helping of hope on this Good Friday morning and indeed you can feel a 'Springtime' is in the air. I listened to the interview and have to say that the good Archbishop was absolutely 'on the ball'. Every question was fielded with clarity and charity! He stood firm on Catholic Teaching on all the issues raised and defended the Holy Father despite the constant goading of the BBC interviewer to talk about nothing other than sex and condoms.
The Archbishop is calling all Catholics to the battlefront, to get involved in the worlds issues and not be afraid to stand up for Jesus in the public forum.
As a father of six children, four of them teenagers, I am especially thrilled to hear him talk about how our youngsters are always portrayed in the media as little better than something out of a gutter, only ever thinking of sex, drugs and alcohol and deserving of nothing more than handouts of free condoms!
Our youth is our most important resource! Our youngsters are our future! It is our responsibility as parents and adults to help them reach for the stars!! To become the great young men and women that God had always intended them to be.
I hope the Archbishop will take our Catholic Schools in hand and give them a clear mandate to teach authentic Catholic Truth on ALL issues no matter what government education departments may spew out as politically correct 'truths' for our children.
Please let's pray very hard for Archbishop Vincent Nichols, that when he takes on the role of Cardinal, Our Blessed Lord, His Mother Mary, St Joseph and all the Angels and Saints will give him the strength and courage to lead the Catholic Church in England and Wales through the storms ahead.
I do love the way he said he wanted to the build on what His Eminence has done!
Bravo Archbishop Nichols! Already proving himself worthy of the Westminster role!
That was fan-bloomin-tastic!
His Grace at his best!
"I think I will take my lead from Pope Benedict actually.."
says it all!
Woopee do! Canonisation next hey Fr Ray?
Does he still like sex education for 4 year olds?
It was impressive: strong and clear. The Archbishop also put Tony Blair back where he belongs, "a fine tuned politician" not a religious authority! "I'd rather listen to the Pope"!
Well done! It put a smile on my face!
Yes, I thought it was a very good interview too. The best thing about it was the Archbishop's clever dismissal of that self-important walking emetic Tony Blair. Let's have some more of the same Your Grace!
Well done indeed! Gentle and courteous but firm.
"I'll take my guide from Pope Benedict" will now be a quotable quote.
I do hope that the Holy Father soon gives him his Red Hat without waiting for Cardinal Murphy O'Connor to reach his 80th birthday. There's nothing in the rule book to stop him doing so - if even there is a rule book.
That was a lot better than what I saw on C4 the other night. He seemed to have thought out what he was going to do this time when the obvious questions came up on AIDS, condoms etc. I like the way he stood his ground and bulldozed the interviewer out of the way when she asked the question about AIDS/condoms. Sooner or later he'll have to think out an answer for that one but I like the way he handled himself with it - it showed he's got street sense. I can see why he has a reputation for being a bruiser now.
I also like the way he put the ball back firmly in the court of the pro-condom/sex-ed lobby by constantly referring to the "humanisation of sexuality" and the way the whole thing demeans people and teenagers in particular, the ads etc. That's a powerful challenge and they'll have to answer that now. They've had it too easy for too long. It was a great "soundbite" and a great slogan. Other Catholic spokesmen can get behind that now and we can use it to build some momentum. We need more slogans like that.
A well thought out interview I thought. Good plan, good strategy, good use of "soundbite" thinking. At last one of our Bishops is prepared to put the militant back into Catholic.
Splendid. And he put Tony Blair in his place!
Fr. Ray,
The new man in the driver's seat of the English Catholic Church is gripping the steering wheel firmly and even sounds like he knows where he's going.
At long last!
Thank you Father. The interview was most encouraging. A good way to bring these to your readers.
Happy Easter
Did anyone hear the Cdl Murphy-O'Connor interview on R4 this morning - I missed it. Comparisons between the interviewees would be odious - but I would be interested to know if the pitch and tone of the interviewer, and the subjects covered were as challenging.
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