There was the fiasco of the Foreign.
There are also rumours of a battle over the Newman legacy within the Church.
There is all the stuff that has been on the net recently about the bishops wanting to do the Papal visit on the cheap, with minimal crowds and participation by the faithful.Then the Papal Nuncio has a stroke and is back in Spain confined to a wheel chair.
Now, Peter Tatchell, according to The Daily Telegraph has been asked to produce a documentary on the Pope by the Channel 4. Yes, that is Mr Tatchell a founder of "Protest the Pope", who had wanted to arrest him, who tries to disrupt worship at Westminster Cathedral.
So much for objectivity of the media, they are obviously gearing up to be anti-Pope during the visit. What I am increasingly finding is that the majority of priests and religious I meet don't seem to understand that this actually means being anti-Catholic, as if somehow Catholicism exists separate from the successor of Peter. Some how those who support the Holy Father's teaching have become seen as dissident and those who oppose or ignore his teaching are mainstream.
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Ralph Lee, head of specialist factual at Channel 4, said: “The Papal visit in September provides an ideal opportunity to examine the impact of Benedict XVI after five years in office. In keeping with Channel 4’s remit to provide a platform for diverse and alternative perspectives, equality campaigner Peter Tatchell will assess the effect of the current Pope’s teachings throughout the world and the conflict between some of his values and those held by modern Britain.”
I think that this means that Mr Tatchell's views are "those held by modern Britain" and that no "diverse or alternative perspective" such as those of you, Father, will be presented.
Or it could mean that your views are mainstream and this programme is to present an alternative view.
Either way I suspect that the programme will not seek to present accurately the views of the Pope still less to give a fair balance of views.
Interestingly the idea that modern Britain has a uniform set of values itself merits a challenge that is unlikely to be presented in this programme.
I suppose that's the trouble when everything is reduced to entertainment and the Pope is just a media personality for the viewing pleasure of a broad depoliticized society of self-authenticating ('remote' in hand) individuals. That so many of those of other than Papal standing in the church and the laity feel so immune is odd - as a theological Body the Church needs a head - unless it's planning on continuing on as a chicken. Whether its Fergie or the Catholic Church, media muggles have to have an ongoing population to string up as the next media piñata. Happily 'this too shall pass', and when it does it might simply be that the Body, having trimmed a little fat around the waste and there abouts, is in better shape. Hopefully.
An acquaintance told me he was a 'middle-of-the-road' Catholic. He does not hold to the Church's teaching on contraception, however. Tends to favour "pastoral solutions", if you know what I mean.
I, on the other hand, accept everything the Church teaches. I think the CDF oath of fidelity expresses it very well. I guess I am just one of those horrible 'right-wing' Catholics. Clearly, I must be lacking in "compassion" (is it compassionate to betray people into sin, I wonder?), but at least I won't get run over by standing in the middle of the road.
Better to be "outside the camp" with Christ than inside the camp with Peter Tatchell!
The best defense is a good offense.
Don't play defense when the pope is here but wear the label "CAtholic" loud and proud.
I tend to see things simply in black and white, not very good at shades of grey.
You are either Catholic or not. Peter Tatchell is not.
This production can do some harm with regards to PERCEPTION of the Church. But I fear MORE what is done inside The Church or in the name of the Church, particularly in these Isles.
I am sure our beloved Pope, whom I stand four square behind TRYING to be a faithful, good Catholic, will not be too worried by what is said about him on a personal level.
I agree with gemsoftheocean.
I have ordered a huge papal flag on ebay and look forward to hanging it outside my house come September.
Owing to the media interest I have found many opportunities to talk with my atheist/agnostic/CINO friends about my appreciation for the church and our Pope.
I was amused by this recent article in the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/30/opus-dei
In which the author tells us "the TRUTH about Opus Dei".
Like Peter Tatchell, she's not exactly giving us the inside track though, just an account of her impressions.
If i had time I'd blog about it, maybe I will later.
Why so many individuals who really don't give a toss about each other can find one thing to 'mutually' care about - erasing Catholicism - is probably because in trying to sublate Catholicism with secularism historical Godly authority would disappear in the West. Maybe the problem is that since Nietzsche and his disciples narcissism is most people's 'replacement' for God(Nietzsche: God is dead...God:Nietzsche (and most of his conscious followers) is dead). It's about authenticity and those who want to self-authenticate without any pesky ongoing twinge of awareness about their fascist fantasy for one. We'll go to great lengths to drown out the voice of the true shepherd and follow almost any sort of scandalous exploiter who refuses to 'enter through the door' because we want to remain 'free' to do the same. Media (that amorphous no mans' land of commodified 'sovereignty') detest any historic objective authority or authenticity as an affront to one's 'dignity'(read disintegration) as a 'citizen'(read clod) of the self-conceived and virtual. But all this still doesn't make God go away. They mocked and derided Christ and his authority and for those with any curiosity the terrible spectacle aroused a pity that led to something more - one thing's for sure - a whole new generation who've never even heard of Pope or Church may get the first whisper of Christ through these virtual lynchings - the spin-meisters forget sometimes that any publicity can be good publicity and the Church hasn't had to pay any pence towards this lot - the trick is how to turn the raised profile to the good before they catch on. Any ideas?
Ian Paisley is more Catholic than Tatchell.
I still think he ought to be locked up for his own good.If this is not conduct likely to bring about a breach of the Peace then I don't know what is.
At the Stewards Enquiry after something tragic befalls the poor demented soul every body will be saying "why was he allowed to do this".
Shutting that lunatic's mouth would be service to humanity.
Pray for Peter Tatchell's conversion. If he is seriously going to read the Popes writings then maybe a chink of light may break through for him. He's not getting any younger and surely he must be beginning to see things a little differently. Some of his remarks seem to indicate that he is beginning to awaken but it must be very difficult for him to break out of a lifetime of enslavement.
I take it that Brian Griffiths will be invited to make a documentary on Islam, Ken Livingstone one on Conservatism, and Richard Williamson one on the Shoah , all in the name of equality and diversity of course. Should the BBC take this advice their speakers would all like Peter Tatchell bring to their subjects the advantages of having no particular expertise in the subjects they examined.
However I cannot see the BBC being so enamoured of diversity as to allow a fair airing of any of these topics with a diversity of viewpoints. Only Christianity is in its view a proper target, and especially the Pope.
In the modern world anything is fair in the name of anti-catholicism or anti-semitism. The old horrors of the ninetenth century have resurfaced.
God has already given his opinion on "middle of the road Catholics".
"But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, not hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth." REV 3:16
This is just a publicity stunt by Channel 4. I't a minority station and its life blood is controversy. So the more people jump up & down about this the more it will suit them.
It does exactly the same sort of thing every Christmas by broadcasting an "alternastive" Christmas message - at the same time as The Queen's Christmas message is being broadcast.
One never knows how this could turn out. He could end up asking to be received into the Church. Such things happen.
I wonder if he will ask Cherie "I left my contraception kit at home" Blair to make a contribution...?
I tend to agree that if the Church does become smaller, but more faithful, that is by far the best thing.
Let us examine oursleves as a Church a little more closely before going into battle with Tatchell. Are the vews of the Pope mirrored in the Church in Britain? Do we see young people rushing to the altar to be married or just deciding to live together; do wee see the great majority of married couples spending a lifteime together or do they divorce at the same rate as the population? When we condemn sex before marriage is it obvious that our young people agree with this? If Tatchell attacks the Pope`s teachings on these subjects it will be very difficult for us to say "AS catholics we have a different view". On homosexuality what is our gripe? It is not enought to mumble about it being a sin. We must show why it is wrong? And were I to say "It is wrong because it is destructive of the health of the body" are there many catholics who could take this further? I think all Tatchell has to ask us to do is show us how our values are different from the rest of society? We are in a bad way.
I think Physiocrat is right. Peter Tatchell could be converted. Reading the conversion stories over at the Coming Home Network, I'd say many of the converts would have seemed anti-Catholic before their conversion, but something else was going on inside them.
Sinners and prostitutes are entering the kingdom before us, and many of those who say 'Lord, Lord" will not enter the kingdom of Heaven. A salutary warning.
To add to those last few comments, I'd say Peter Tatchell is much more of an honest seeker of the truth than an awful lot of us catholics in the UK (and Ireland).
Let us pray that he will convert. I believe he would be a great assett to the Catholic Church because he has a conscience and he stands up for what he believes no matter what the consequences are for him.
In any case let us remind ourselves that The Pope has said recently if I'm not mistaken that we should be thankful to those outside the Church who challenge us to live up to our beliefs, and that the enemy within is a much more worrying thing.
Will Peter Tatchell's Channel Four programme on the Pope mention Tatchell's campaign to lower the age of consent to 14, and his occasional public expressions of his true view, which is that the age of consent should be abolished altogether? Even Harriet Harman's Paedophile Information Exchange thought that it should be four. But that won't do for Tatchell.
Will Tatchell interview Stephen Fry about The Liar and The Hippopotamus? Will he interview Germaine Greer about The Boy? Will he interview Richard Dawkins about his having been sexually abused as a child, which he describes in The God Delusion as "an embarrassing but otherwise harmless experience"? Will he interview Philip Pullman about how is celebrated trilogy ends with sexual intercourse between two children aged about 12, and about his repeated bemoaning of the lack of sexual content in the Narnia novels?
Will Tatchell interview anyone from the numerous Social Services Departments that ran homes in which, at the same time as the Church was hushing up sex between men and teenage boys on the part of a small number of priests - and thus, however imperfectly, indicating disapproval of it - such behaviour was absolutely endemic, with major figures in that world publishing academic studies, used for many years in the training of social workers, which presented it as positively beneficial to both parties and therefore actively to be encouraged?
Will Tatchell interview anyone from the Police, who long ago stopped enforcing the age of consent from 13 upwards, perhaps even asking them to explain for exactly whose benefit they adopted the present approach, a question also hanging over their non-enforcement of the drugs laws?
And will Tatchell interview anyone from Channel Four, the dramatic output of which has waged, and continues to wage, a relentless campaign in favour of sex between men and teenage boys? Remember, we own Channel Four.
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