Enough is Enough!

I know he is the chairman and not the delivery boy but I wrote to Sir Michael Quinlan at the Tablet telling him I could not in good conscience continue to be seen giving my support or that of my parishioners to the Tablet, therefore after selling it for a century at the back of the Church we would no longer do so. I asked to ensure it was no longer sent to us.

The reasons I cited were Robert Mickens' disrespectful treatment of the Holy Father, about which I have previously exchanged correspondence with the editor. I agreed then to give The Tablet a second chance, I must confess I enjoy their arts pages.

However with the shoddiness of Elena Curti's piece on Fr Tim and Blackfen, enough is enough.

I know of two other priests who have made the same decision today from my own diocese.

I think The Tablet might well begin to look at itself a little more critically after this weekend, especially if half the people who have commented on the blogosphere actually write to the Tablet.

We actually do need a good journal like The Tablet but it needs to be Catholic and have mainstreams orthodox Catholics on its editorial board and as contributors, the days of reactionary hippies are coming to their end and so must The Tablet in its present form. Its contributors are aging, as are its readers, if it is to survive it has to attract new readers, it will not without a clear Catholic identity.

Changing Words

How rapidly words change.

We were two priests, me post 50, another in his early 40s, a seminarian 30 this year.
Someone who I would have described as “a liberal”, the 40 year old described as “conservative”, whilst the semiarian described him as “a reactionary”, actually as “a reactionary old hippy”.

The Agony of Fr X

I have a friend who took over a many centred parish a few years ago, he is kind, he is gentle, he his mild. His liturgical and theological orientation is strictly "Benedictine", it is not because it is his personal taste but because he has read the documents and understands that that is the taste of the Church.

His parish had a succession of priests many of whom were nationally known for their avante guard opinions. Most of his parishioners, the vast majority welcomed him, a small handful were difficult at first but gradually, little by little, by returning kindness for rudeness he won them over.

Privately he would tell me about the pain he was going through, the sleepless nights, the feelings of nausea before parish meetings which were so often occasions for public acts of contempt, the venomous untruthful letters to the bishop, the snide suggestions, his visits to the doctor, the pills he was on etc. I suggested on several occasions he should simply say, "I am the parish priest, if you really don't like it, go elsewhere, I have had enough!"

He always replied, "But if they don't come here, they might not go anywhere and be lost".

Behind it all in his theology of priesthood, traditional Catholic theology; each and every "soul" is of supreme value, that souls could be saved or lost by a priest, the priest is there to gather in the lost sheep. Suffering is part of priesthood. The priest is the servant of Christ in the local Church, he is there to lead them to salvation rather than to an ideology of his personal choice.

When I was going through similar difficulties myself a more liberal priest than Fr X told me, "Tell them to ******* off, I would. When I came to St ___, a third of the congregation left, good riddance, I won't put up with trouble makers!"

"Revolting Attacks" against Christianity in Israel

(Zenit.org).- Leaders of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land are condemning the "revolting attacks" against Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, broadcast by Israel's Channel 10 television.

A joint communiqué issued Wednesday explains, "In these days, during a night show on Channel 10, a series of horrible offenses were launched against our faith and consequently against us, Christians."

The communiqué was signed by the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the Franciscan custos of the Holy Land, among others.

"The show directed its attacks to the holiest figures of our Christian belief in an attempt, as the director of the show himself specifically declared, to destroy Christianism," the communiqué stated.

"Channel 10 was used to desecrate the holiest figures of Christianism offending hundreds of thousands of Christian Israeli citizens and of many millions of Christians all over the world as well," the Catholic leaders lamented.

Channel 10 began its activities in 2002.

The Catholic leaders contended that the program was "a symptom of greater problems disturbing the society, such as intolerance, refusal to accept and respect the other and inherent hatred."

And they said that the program comes in a series of attacks on Christians in Israel over the years. They cited an occurrence from a few months ago, when "copies of the New Testament were publicly burned in the yard of a synagogue in Or Yehuda."

The statement expressed appreciation for the many Christians, Muslims and Jews who "were themselves shocked and appalled, and expressed their dismay and protest at this fact."

The leaders contended that "such programs have nothing to do with freedom of expression, art and entertainment. They can only work against national integration and harmony in our society."

400,000 Mourners at Cardinal Stephen Kim's funeral

A century after his grandfather died in a Korean prison for the crime of being a Catholic, the prelate who led the church into the mainstream on the peninsula -- Seoul's Cardinal Stephen Kim -- was mourned by weeping thousands at a state funeral earlier today in the South's capital.The first Korean cardinal, Kim -- who led the Seoul church for three decades, watching it grow sixfold in the process -- died Monday at 86. Including the country's current and former presidents, some 400,000 mourners of all faiths were said to have filed past his coffin over its four-day lying in state in the city's Myeongdong Cathedral.Hailed as a "true guiding light" and the last "reliable leader in Korean society" despite the church's minority status -- around 15% of South Korea's 38 million citizens are Catholic -- the outpouring of reaction at the cardinal's death moved one newspaper to lead its coverage with a headline asking "Have We Mourned Like This Before?"

Read more here

A Note on Charitable Trusts

I had a long chat with a Catholic lawyer the other day who specialises in Charity Law, with a strong interest in Libel Law too, which is where he makes his money. Interestingly, he told me there is a little group of Catholic barristers and solicitors who are interested in exploring whether certain Catholic charities are fulfilling the obligations of their status as a charitable trusts.

Not unconnected to this Ttony has this little post up:

I pointed out last November here that the Tablet is owned by a charitable trust, the aims of which are:

a) to advance the Christian religion
b) to promote, present, and disseminate the teachings of the Christian religion and to promote understanding of the Roman Catholic faith, value and principles
c) to advance the education of the public
d) to pursue such other charitable objectives as shall not be inconsistent with the objects hereunto before set out.

And two of the people who work for the Tablet, earn very large salaries (one over £80K, one over £90K), presumably because of their responsibility for delivering the aims of the Tablet Trust.

If you think that Ms Curti's article about Fr Tim does not meet the aims of the charitable trust, it might be worth writing to its Chairman, Sir Michael Quinlan, at its registered address:

1 King Street Cloisters
Clifton Walk
London
W6 0QZ

If you are going to write you might also mention Robert Mickens opposition and negative criticism of the Holy Father which does damage the advancement of the Christian religion, if one inderstands Catholicism as mainstream Christianity, which it is numerically and historically.

Feeling sorry for Dickey

There is a type of Cambridge academic, much emulated by English schoolmasters of my youth, whose powers of reasoning and logic, based of course on a rather exclusive selection of data, and a selective rejection of common sense leaves him locked in an Ivory Tower of his own making. I have always thought its connection with Cambridge had something to do with the Protestant miasma drifting in from those Low Countries: all that personalism and individual interpretation of scripture.

I think the description fits Bishop Williams very well. The tower grows in height and the door more firmly locked. I must say I am beginning to feel quite sorry for him.

It was announced today that he is being thrown out of Argentina, this follows his removal as seminary rector, his silencing on matters other than religion, there are rumours too that he might even be ejected from the SSPX. All this amid the clamour of the press. Bitter hubris!

We English have a feel for the underdog and the eccentric, Williamson is both, say a prayer for him, it must be very lonely for him as he is increasingly isolated in his pride.