James MacMillan (with Rutter and Taverner)

I love James MacMillans orchestral music, all that crashing percussion and grinding brass, I am less familiar with his Church music, I thought the music he wrote for Arcbishop Nichols' installation was incredibly moving. He is writing music for the Papal Visit, I am looking forward to that.
I discovered this on BBC iPlayer, it is the last of the series Sacred Music, he appears along with Rutter and Taverner. Enjoy it, it is really is wonderful stuff.

Why don't the Orthodox and Copts do it?

In a discussion earlier on this blog someone asked the question: why don't the Orthodox who broke from us in eleventh century to give Holy Communion in the hand and why don't the Copts who broke away in the first millenium give it in the hand either?

Why is it that only the Protestant groups who broke away in the 16th who do it?

What lead all the ancient Churches to abandon the reception of Communion in the hand?

Just asking!

Priests Open Letter in Support of Pope Benedict's Visit

We, priests of England and Wales, wish to express our joy at the forthcoming visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Britain.
We welcome the many wise things the Holy Father said to us through our Bishops on their ad limina visit earlier this year which are of particular significance to the health of the Church in England and Wales, such as "the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice" and the need "to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal".


More than ever, with the proximity of the Papal visit and anxious for its success we recognise especially the need "to draw on the considerable gifts of the lay faithful in England and Wales". Concerned for the Church's mission we to see a great need in England and Wales to ensure "that they [not only the lay faithful but we priests] are equipped to hand on the faith to new generations comprehensively, accurately, and with a keen awareness that in so doing they are playing their part in the Church’s mission". We also acknowledge the importance within our national context of what His Holiness said about the Magisterium, "In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free."


We wish to thank His Holiness for encouraging our Bishops to hold up to us "an example of dedication to prayer, pastoral sensitivity towards the needs of his flock, and passion for preaching the Gospel", and also for urging them to encourage the faithful "to avoid any temptation to view the clergy as mere functionaries but rather to rejoice in the gift of priestly ministry".
 
Fr Raymond Blake
Fr. Stephen Brown
Very Rev Fr Leon Pereira, O.P.
Fr. Francis Wadsworth
Fr Timothy Finigan
Fr J M Taylor Lanherne
Fr. John Abberton
Mgr Andrew Wadsworth
Fr John Boyle
Fr Francis Marsden VF
Fr Christopher Back
Fr. Gary Patrick Walsh S.S.S.
Fr David B Barrett
Fr William R Young
Fr Stephen Willis
Fr Paul Harrison
Fr Tim Edgar
Fr Ian O'Shea
Fr Tim Whiley
Fr John Osman
Fr Anthony Dykes
Fr John Cahil
Fr John Saward
Fr. David Evans
Fr Thomas Wood
Fr. Mark Naughton
Fr. Peter Charles Crowther
Fr Wilfrid Elkin
Fr Gary Dickson
Fr Hugh Somerville-Knapman OSB
Fr Jean-Claude Selvini
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Fr Seán Finnegan
Fr Seán Patrick Riley
Fr.Aidan Doyle O.S.B
Fr Francis Coveney
Fr Gerald Anders
Fr Michael Sellers
Fr Michael Hall
Fr Hugh Mackenzie
Fr Michael Clifton
Fr. Philip Egan
Fr.Pius Mathew CMI
Fr Martin Thompson
Fr Ian Farrell
Fr Mark Vickers
Fr Jonathan Hill
Fr Simon Henry
Fr Thomas Regan OSB
Fr Michael Brown
Fr Nigel Griffin




If you are a priest in England and Wales and you wish to sign this "open letter", enter your name and address in the comments box and once I have checked the Catholic Directory I will add it to the letter.
The quotes in the letter are the Pope's own words to our bishops.

Year of the Eucharist in Colombo

Archbishop Ranjith of Colombo, Sri Lanka who until last year was the number two at the Congregation for Worship in practical terms was the closest co-operator with Pope Benedict on matters liturgical.
A friend recently travelled to his diocese and was struck by the reverence of those who were at Mass. He also had a fifteen minute interview with the Archbishop which turned into an hour long chat ending with my friend, a doctor, being invited to return to Sri Lanka to address the Episcopal Conference on Justice and Health issues.
The two poles of the Archbishop's ministry are very definitely liturgy and justice. Rorate Caeli reports that the Archbishop has announced a Year of Liturgy, the article is entitled "We cannot tolerate liturgical errors." The exciting thing is that the Archbishop begins his letter by speaking of the liturgy in terms of a fount of charity and service.

[W]e need to break ourselves for others, and be pressed and crushed for justice and peace simultaneously as we believe and celebrate this most holy Sacrament. Hence, I very earnestly request all priests, religious and the laity to combine devotion with animation to show our love for the poor and the less fortunate people in our society by engaging in works of corporal mercy. Let our love extend not only to the poor people, but also towards mother nature so that our Eucharistic spirituality would incorporate also an eco-spirituality.

In a society recovering from the dis-communion of an ethically based civil war, re-establishing the centrality of Christ and the Tradition of his Church to the prayer life of the Church seems very important.

Every Photograph of St Bernardette

I found this my Facebook wall, I don't normally "do" Facebook, my thanks to Philip Andrews.

I am having dinner with Bishop Athansius Schneider

I am having dinner with Bishop Athansius Schneider who is coming to the Latin Mass Society's course at Downside

LMS Press release:

LMS Residential Training Conference for Priests Wishing to Learn the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (Traditional Latin Mass) at Downside Abbey, Somerset.

Bishop Athanasius Schneider to attend Conference

The Latin Mass Society has announced that Bishop Athanasius Schneider ORC, Auxiliary Bishop of Karaganga in Kazakhstan, will be attending the forthcoming priests’ training conference to be held at Downside Abbey from Tuesday 10th to Friday 13th August. Bishop Schneider will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Extraordinary Form in the Abbey Church at Downside on Thursday 12th August at 11.00am. He will also deliver a lecture as part of the conference.

Around 30 priests are expected to attend the conference where tuition will be given in the celebration of Mass in the older form. Some will be beginners, and will be studying Low Mass; whilst others with more experience will be expanding their skills to include Missa Cantata and Missa Solemnis. Tuition will also be provided for altar servers.

Bishop Schneider is best known for his defence of the traditional practice of receiving Holy Communion on the tongue and kneeling. His book, Dominus Est, originally written in Italian but now available in English, deals with this subject in some detail.

The public will be able to attend the 11.00 am Mass in the Abbey Church each day of the conference, but will be particularly welcome at the Pontifical Mass on the Thursday.

There are a few last minute places available at the Downside conference. Priests and potential servers interested in attending should contact the Latin Mass Society by telephoning 020 7404 7284 for further information and an application form.

Does the Day for Life Collection go to fund abortions?

Today in England and Wales is "A Day for Life" and we are asked to take a second collection for "associated charities".
Does the "Day for Life" collection go to fund abortions? This is a question raised by Caritas in Veritate. Some of the money raised  apparently goes to the "non-values based" City Pregnancy Counselling and Psychotherapy. "Non-values based" generally is a euphemism for pro-abortion.
As Fr John says he is sure this is not at the behest of one of our bishops but someone at Eccleston Square but that raises a further questions: to what extent are those who work there sympathetic to the Catholic faith? Who is catechising them? Who will sack them? "A Day for Life" is I understand Archbishop Bernard Longley's brief.
It could well be the CPCP is pro-life but the contrary is suggested by their site and since the farce over the Papal visit I expect the worse from the Square.

An Open Letter in Support of Pope Benedict

I am sorry not to have posted anything on our patronesses feast day yesterday, I had Mass for our school, it also happened to be the beginning of their holiday. Then there was an evening Mass and party for our parishioners. I had a long conversation during the day with a BBC producer about what is mainstream Catholicism.
In the morning I had a phone call from a priest reader who was very concerned about the direction was taking in this country. I think quite a few of us concerned - the lukewarm approach to the Pope's visit intensifies that concern. He said we should start something like Australian Confraternity of Catholic Clergy. I agree with him we really do need something like it, the problem is: who would organise it?
I think maybe, following Professor Beatie's example an open letter might also help. I am more than a little concerned that the address of the Pope's address at the ad limina of our bishops seems to have been buried, so what do think of this? If you are a priest and you agree, add you name and address. All the quotes are from the Pope's address.

......................................................................................................

We, priests of England and Wales, wish to express our joy at the forthcoming visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Britain.

We welcome the many wise things the Holy Father said to us through our Bishops on their ad limina visit earlier this year which are of particular significance to the health of the Church in England and Wales, such as "the Catholic community in your country needs to speak with a united voice" and the need "to be attentive to the promptings of the Spirit, who guides the whole Church into the truth, gathers her into unity and inspires her with missionary zeal".
More than ever, with the proximity of the Papal visit and anxious for its success we recognise especially the need "to draw on the considerable gifts of the lay faithful in England and Wales". Concerned for the Church's mission we to see a great need in England and Wales to ensure "that they [not only the lay faithful but we priests] are equipped to hand on the faith to new generations comprehensively, accurately, and with a keen awareness that in so doing they are playing their part in the Church’s mission". We also acknowledge the importance within our national context of what His Holiness said about the Magisterium, "In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free."
We wish to thank His Holiness for encouraging our Bishops to hold up to us "an example of dedication to prayer, pastoral sensitivity towards the needs of his flock, and passion for preaching the Gospel", and also for urging them encourage the faithful "to avoid any temptation to view the clergy as mere functionaries but rather to rejoice in the gift of priestly ministry".

THE FRIENDS OF JESUS: A NEW BOOK FOR CHILDREN BY THE POPE

(VIS) "The Friends of Jesus" is the title of a new book for children by Benedict XVI in which he recounts the story of the twelve Apostles and St. Paul.
The book, forty-eight pages long and illustrated by the Italian artist Franco Vignazia, has been published by the publishing house San Giuliano Milanese. It brings together a number of passages from the Pope's catecheses in his Wednesday general audiences, according to the "Osservatore Romano" newspaper.

The prologue is by the Spanish priest Fr. Julian Carron, president of the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation.

"One upon a time there was a small group of men who, one day two thousand years ago, met a young man who walked the roads of Galilee. Each had his own job and family but, in an instant, their lives changed. They were called Andrew and John, Peter, Matthew, Thomas, etc. They were twelve and we know them today as the 'Apostles'. ... In Jerusalem at that time everyone knew that they were Jesus' 'friends'. ... Later they were joined by St. Paul ... who from being a persecutor of Christians became the greatest witness to Jesus", writes Fr. Carron.

Fr. Carron likewise explains that in this work Benedict XVI "takes us by the hand and accompanies us as we discover who Jesus' first companions were, how they met Him and were conquered by Him to the point that they never abandoned Him".

UK Vatican Exhibition that won't happen

I am very pleased that the seven Raphael tapestries from the Sistine Chapel are going to be displayed at the Victoria and Albert Museum during the Pope's visit, to be displayed with the original cartoons that the V&A owns.

However Anna Arco reports there was going to be an even more spectacular exhibition of items from the Vatican Museum. Apparently the Pope was in favour, as was the Vatican Museum, the Royal Academy which would have hosted the event was over the moon, and then the plug was pulled - by someone. Anna doesn't suggest a name for the plug puller, we can only guess.

Am I becoming neurotic in thinking that some people, possibly even with the Church, are actually against this visit and doing everything they can to derail it? Maybe a Catholic Voice, I haven't heard anything of them lately, have you? might be able to explain. Certainly the men on the square in head office don't give the impression of excitement for the coming of "Christ's Vicar on earth" to our shores.

I was talking to a small group of parish priests recently they were quite angry with the bishop's, I think really they meant Ecclesdon Square's, rather ad hoc planning and the apparent lack of enthusiasm. Maybe Jack Valero needs to start spinning ad intra, lest PPs up and down the country start questioning publicly whether the Pope and the faithful are being well served.

Does he or doesn't he?

Sorry, haven't put anything up for a few days.
The Catholic Herald online is debating whether or not the Pope uses the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Bishop Fellay says he does, Fr Lombardi says he doesn't.
My Italian isn't very good but I suspect Fr Lombardi actually means he doesn't do so every day, but the how does Fr Lombardi know? I don't think he attends the Papal Mass and the Pope's staff who do are faithful and discreet, don't let on what happens in his household including his chapel. It is rightly private and I am sure the Pope is right to want to keep it private.

However I would be very surprised if the Pope doesn't celebrate Mass in both forms of the Roman Rite. Three years on from the publication of Summorum Pontificum it seems ludicrous that all bishops and priests aren't familiar with both forms. The Roman Rite since 7/7/07 plural is "both, and" not "either, or", except for that small number of religious whose "charism" is to use one particular form.

Establishment in rebellion

Professor Tina Beatie,  Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Roehampton University, is part of our English Catholic establishment; she is a Tablet board member! She also wrote that pro-abortion piece a few weeks ago that appeared in the establishments house paper.


Today she sends an open letter to the Pope expressing indignation at the recent clarification by the CDF on the ordination of women. She writes:

Today, I am ashamed to be Roman Catholic. It has become a Church blighted by ignorance, arrogance and the decadence of a dying regime mired in its own obsessive clinging to power.

Strong stuff eh?
There was recent interview somewhere by a senior cleric bewailing the Catholic Church being ...err Catholic. It is a bit strange that the "establishment" is in rebellion, forming a Church within a Church. The basis of Catholicism isn't proposiotional or clausal it is actually based on believing and professing "... all that the holy Catholic Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God".
You see, what some just don't get is that Catholic just isn't Anglican. The Catholic Church just doesn't have the authority to suddenly decide to change its teaching. The Professor might well be right that many Catholic women have actually left the Church and become Anglicans, the truth is they have really stopped believing that the revelation of God is at the Church's very heart. The problem she has, and many in the establishment have, is really one of authority: ultimately, did Jesus lie when he promised to be with the Church until the end of time?

New National Feasts in England

Just heard this, its from the good guys at the CDW, sent out to Westminster priests by their diocese:

The Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments has agreed to a request from the Bishops of England and Wales for four important changes to the Liturgical Calendar for England and Wales:

May 4th THE ENGLISH MARTYRS NATIONAL FEAST (from Memorial)
May 27th ST AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY NATIONAL FEAST (from Memorial)
September 3rd ST GREGORY THE GREAT NATIONAL FEAST (from Memorial)
December 29th ST THOMAS BECKET NATIONAL FEAST - PATRON OF THE PARISH CLERGY (from Optional Memorial)

These come in to operation with immediate effect (i.e. from September 3rd this year).

In Praise of Splinty, and him on The Tablet

I have never gambled, I have always had a great fear of becoming addicted to it, I have to confess I have been addicted Radio 4 for years, same with renaissance lute music. My latest addiction, here I want to thank Damian Thompson, is Splintered Sunrise, it is just about the best Catholic blog out there, it is balanced, amusing, well written, well informed. It is a bit gossipy, it seems to dislike the beige Catholic establishment as much as I do.
The latest post does a resume of the latest copy of the Tablet. It illustrates rather well the  incestuous nature of that liberal fanzine. It points out how self-serving and ridiculous it is.

Yes, it is a bit cruel about individuals at time: Cardinal Wingnut, Ma Pepsi, Elena Discourteous feature, last week he published a rather frightening picture of Austen Ivereigh with clones.

Talking of the Tablet Fr Tim author of the phrase "Tabula delenda est" after falling victim to Elena Discourteous reports a spat between it and Joe Shaw of the LMS.

By the way, last night I had supper with a former Tablet contributor, his conscience won't allow him to do it anymore, I think Bobby Mickens' hatefilled anti-BXVI sentiments had a lot to do with it.

Reason #56753 for the TLM

...and I had always thought Christ was at the centre of the celebration of the Mass
thanks to CM

Moat's last words

Just been thinking about Raoul Moat's last words:

'I've lost everything.'
'I've got no dad.'
'Nobody cares what happens to me.'

They seem poignantly to reflect the disconnection of western man.

Love Undefiled offers something which might go towards a  resolution.

Clarity on some liturgical abuses

Fr Michael Brown has just received his copy of Canon Law Abstracts, he draws attention to three dubia concerning liturgical abuses. The first concerns priests receiving communion at the same time as the people, I haven't seen or heard of that one for ages. The other two happen pretty frequently.

The next considers whether it is correct for a bishop to act as a concelebrant at a priest`s jubilee Mass so that the jubilarian can be main celebrant. I must admit I`ve always been uneasy with bishops concelebrating at a Mass where the main celebrant is a priest. The comment is made: " Theologically the bishop must always preside, even if he does so in choir dress and presides over the Liturgy of the Word but does not concelebrate. This is provided in Caerimoniale Episcoporum no.18."
.... Caerimoniale no. 18 which says:
When a bishop presides at the eucharist but is not the celebrant, he does everything in the liturgy of the word that belongs to the celebrant and he concludes the Mass with the rite of dismissal, following the provisions given in nos 176-185.
176-185 say the bishop is to vest in alb, stole, cope and mitre so this seems to extend the possibility to him presiding over the liturgy of the Word in choir dress.

It has always struck me as being exceedingly odd for a bishop to pretend not to be a bishop, and just one of the lads but then I have met more than one or two bishops who just don't know how to say Mass, they have never read the rubrics. One young priest I know said, "I never look when concelebrating with my bishop". A real case for a Bishop learning both forms of his Rite!

The third response concerns whether it is correct for concelebrants to elevate chalices at the end of the Eucharistic prayer. This too is reprobated. The comment is : "The purpose of this elevation is not to show the consecrated elements to the people but to express the giving of glory to God. Only the celebrant with the assistance of a deacon for the chalice should do this."

I just hate that, "let's all show them the silverware" moment.

Newman and St John

As the parish priest of down town Brighton I have always felt that rather be embarrassed by Newmans deep friendship with Ambrose St John we ought to celebrate it.
The ubiquitous Jack Valero sent me a link to an article he wrote, The sad demise of celibate love in the Guardian, it is about Newman and St John, in the present climate I think he is being brave but he is saying something very important, rather sadly he ends:

Do we – can we – today applaud such friendship? Do we – can we – make room, now, for such "evidences of sweet brotherly love"? Men and women often have intense friendships with members of their own sex, friendships that have no sexual component; yet we are losing the vocabulary to speak about them, or we are embarrassed to do so. A "friend" is one you add to a social networking profile on the web; or it is a euphemism for a sexual partner outside marriage. Can a man nowadays own up with pride to having a dear and close friend, another man to whom he is devoted? Can he, without it being suspected as repressed homosexuality? I fear the answer to both may be "no". And it is hard to know which is the sadder.

I can't help thinking that part of recovering both our humanity and our sense of masculinity and feminity is about recovering this vocabulary of friendship.

Allegorical Christological Interpretation of the Good Samaritan

I am sure I have done something on this before but here goes...
Jerusalem = the City of the Most High, the footstall of God, the Holy Mountain - it is metaphorically the highest city on earth - it signifies Heaven
Jericho = the depths - it is actually one of the lowest places on earth - for the Jews it was a place to descend to - the descent from Jerusalem is steep
Man on a journey = us - we have no abiding city, we are between heaven and hell, life is a pilgrimage, we are travellers
set upon by robbers = we are damaged by sin left prostrate in the gutter, enfeebled and helpless by our injuries
priest passes by = the sacrifices of the Temple are ineffectual - he has nothing to offer
levite passes by = the Law is ineffectual - he has nothing to offer
Samaritan = the rejected one = the Lord who comes to heal us
oil - Christ is the annointed, oil represents the Holy Spirit and the sacramental life of the Church
wine = the blood of Christ
Placed him on his donkey = Christ raising up broken humanity
the inn = the Church
two denarii = the payment of our redemption
my return = 2nd Coming

'Hitler's Pope' saved thousands of Jewish lives

Nazi cartoon suggesting the closeness of Nuncio Pacelli to Jews

An interesting article by Simon Caldwell

Pope Pius, who was labelled “Hitler’s Pope” because of his silence during the Holocaust, may have arranged the exodus of about 200,000 Jews from Germany just three weeks after Kristallnacht, when thousands of Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

The claim was made by Dr Michael Hesemann, a German historian carrying out research in the Vatican archives for the Pave the Way Foundation, a US-based inter-faith group.

He said that Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli – the future Pius XII – wrote to Catholic archbishops around the world to urge them to apply for visas for “non-Aryan Catholics” and Jewish converts to Christianity who wanted to leave Germany.

Elliot Hershberg, the chairman of the Pave the Way Foundation, said:“ We believe that many Jews who were successful in leaving

Europe may not have had any idea that their visas and travel documents were obtained through these Vatican efforts.

“Everything we have found thus far seems to indicate

the known negative perception of Pope Pius XII is wrong.”

Pius XII was criticised for failing to denounce explicitly the Holocaust, the Nazi regime or to excommunicate Hitler.

Dr Hesemann says that additional evidence suggests that the visas would have been given to ordinary Jews desperate to escape persecution.

“The fact that this letter speaks of 'converted Jews’ and 'non-Aryan’ Catholics indeed seems to be a cover,” said Dr Hesemann.

“You couldn’t be sure that Nazi agents wouldn’t learn about this initiative,” he said.

“Pacelli had to make sure they didn’t misuse it for their propaganda, that they could not claim that the Church is an ally of the Jews.”

The appeal from Cardinal Pacelli, then the Vatican’s Secretary of State, was dated Nov 30, 1938 – 20 days after Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass”.

Cardinal Pacelli was able to ask for the visas because the 1933 concordat he signed with the Nazis specifically provided protection for Jews who converted to Christianity.

Dr Ed Kessler, the director of the Cambridge-based Woolf Institute of Abrahamic Faiths, said: “It is clear that Pius XII facilitated the saving of Roman Jews.”

In December, Pope Benedict XVI placed Pius one step closer to sainthood when he declared him “Venerable”, meaning that the Church believes he lived a life of “heroic virtue”.

Two miracles are needed to canonise him as a saint and the Vatican is investigating at least one apparently inexplicable healing.

Some Jewish groups want the process frozen until the Vatican is ready to open its secret wartime archives in 2014.

Sir Martin Gilbert, a British historian and the world’s leading expert on the Holocaust, has said that Pope Pius XII should be considered as a “Righteous Gentile” by Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust remembrance authority.

Invocations

I was sent this article by our diocesan vocations director about Invocations, the vocations festival at Oscott Seminary last weekend:

Invocation 2010 was an inaugural festival for young catholic adults who gathered to deepen their faith and hear God's call. They were offered advice, workshops, and time for prayer by the priests, religious sisters and brothers, nuns and monks who attended the event. Oscott College in Birmingham hosted the event in which over 400 attended. Keynote speakers were Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Fr Christopher Jamison, Dr Andrew O'Connell, and Sr Gabriel Davison.

A good number attended from our diocese including Andrew Penson and Rowena Grunwell who have written of their experience.

''Invocation was a marvellous event, with hundreds of clergy, religious, seminarians and young people gathered together for a time of discernment and prayer.. Holy Mass was celebrated by Archbishops Bernard Longley, Peter Smith and Vincent Nichols in the college's beautiful Chapel. The Pope sent a special apostolic blessing to all present, he was evidently aware of what a large scale and unique vocations event this was, and asked for our prayers for the success of his forthcoming visit. The weekend was a total success and enjoyed by all.'' (Andrew)

“Invocation was an eye-opening event, not just because I had never seen so many priests and religious but because of the energy and enthusiasm of all the young people there. I went to the festival to ask questions of people who had already chosen to dedicate their lives to God, and I was not disappointed! I found that everyone was eager to share their own experiences and listen to others in a comfortable, safe environment, and it was refreshing to see that a lot of young people today are searching for a greater meaning to life and taking their faith seriously. It was also so much fun that I would gladly go again if given the chance! “ (Rowena)

For more information about Invocation 2010 go to http://www.invocation.org.uk/

Brighton Greek Fire

Say a prayer for our local Greek Orthodox community,  I have just heard (thank you Sonia) that the Church of the Holy Trinity, Brighton's Greek Orthodox Church suffered some dreadful fire damage on Sunday.

There are more pictures here.
The local paper report here.
My commiserations to their clergy and congregation.

Catholic Book Reviews

A three or four people have sent me books to read over or even review here, I've not done it. My apologies if you are one of them.
I feel even more embarassed that Fr Tim has done a review of a pamphlet by Dr Pravin Thevathasan on  abortion and mental health. Dr Pravin is now an eminent psychyatrist, I knew him when had just qualified.

I am pleased to report a new blog has appeared Catholic Book Reviews, it deals mainly with CTS books. |One of the things I miss about Tablet is its book reviews, maybe its scope could be broadened.

Ugh! Papal Visit - "Liturgical Entertainment"

I had an email from our diocesan visit coordinator, it had this terrifying sentence in, which I am sure originated not from her but some other source.

The Park [Hyde Park] will open from 2pm and liturgical entertainment will be running through the afternoon - dance acts, videos etc (it promises to be an enjoyable event). The Pope will arrive to conclude the prayer vigil and benediction and the whole event will be finished by 9.00pm. I am told that the Pope will be there for the latter half of the event.

If anything is so contrary to spirit of everything Pope Benedict has said or written about the liturgy it is this very phrase "liturgical entertainment". Again and again and again Pope Benedict has stressed liturgy isn't about us but about God! Outside of the liturgy, "dance acts, videos etc" don't present a problem but for this most liturgical of Popes, this is absurd. After the publication of "Heart Speaks Unto Heart", it strikes me that the writings of the Pope are a closed book to whoever is actually planning the visit. Depressing, isn't it? Is someone treating the Pope with contempt? I am beginning to think the answer is in the in the affirmative.

07/07/07

Third anniversary of Summorum Pontificum is today.
Last night I was speaking to a couple about their wedding, they asked to have a Traditional Mass, another couple from the parish who are being married by another priest also want the Traditional Rite. I find that worth reflecting on, because it is 20% of our marriages this year.

If, God forbid, the Holy Father should die, today the one thing that will endure from this pontificate is Summorum Pontificum, no subsequent Pontiff will be willing to take away from priests the rights it has granted, nor be able to gainsay the principles of plurallity and continuity it enshrines.

The BBC: why subsidise our enemy?

It is pretty obvious the BBC are going to be hostile during the Papal visit, already Peter Tatchell is going to do an "investigation" into the Church. Now the BBC are planning a drama called The Pope on Trial according to The Telegraph.
Isn't it about time someone in the Church in this country just said "Enough, let's not pay the license fees". Why should Catholics pay for public service broadcasting that does very little other than disparage the Catholic Church. Why subsidise our enemies? It is about time the Church joined the increasing number of politicians who are debating whether or not we need the BBC.

Mark Thompson, the BBC director-general, may be a devout Catholic, but the corporation is doing little to make Pope Benedict XVI feel welcome ahead of his first state visit to England and Scotland in September.
Mandrake can disclose that the BBC is planning a 90-minute drama which will take as its premise what would happen if the Pope were to go on trial for covering up sex abuse perpetrated by priests.

A BBC spokesman denied any knowledge of the project, but Paul Gilbert, who works in the corporation's drama department, admitted to me that he had for the past two weeks been involved with the "development" of a project with the working title of The Pope on Trial. He said it was "too early" to talk about casting or on what channel it was envisaged the drama would be broadcast. The Pope, who has pledged to rid his church of "filth", has already been subjected to an investigation by the Radio 4 programme The Report into allegations that he covered up abuse. The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, believes sections of the BBC are pursuing an anti-Catholic agenda. He had earlier been irked when the BBC had attempted to broadcast Popetown, a cartoon which mocked Pope John Paul II.

No Trousers!

A few days ago I was a bit saddened to hear that the new Lord Mayor of Leicester, Colin Hall, had stopped prayers at Council meetings, he had said something about them being "irrelevant".
Then I heard on the news some midlands had issue a public appology after a formal visit to the town library addressing a gathering of children from local schools - because his trousers had fallen down.
According to Red Maria they are the one and the same, Mr Colin Hall!

 RM's message "don't mess with God". Who said he hasn't got a sense of humour!

Vatican Necropolis

I found this link to a virtual  tour of the Necroplis under St Peter's Basillica on NLM, after the ancient tombs you are led to the tomb of the Apostle.

Click here to start.