Mueller out of the Tent

The Church never was a regiment of soldiers, or even of Jesuits marching in step, if it is faithful to Christ it is by nature diverse. To paraphrase St Paul: there are many gifts but only one giver.
The Church is a big tent as Benedict appreciated, he had a long difference with Cardinal Kasper but still kept him place, Benedict appointed non-Benedictines, recognising that this meant a healthy Church.

The dismissal and replacement of Cardinal Mueller represents a narrowing of the curial tent.
I rather admired Mueller's interpretation of Amoris Laetitia - whist Cardinal Burke, and others, were 'bigging-up' the document as a possible significant departure from Catholic  believe, Mueller was quietly signifying: this is not that important, it can only be interpreted in the light of the Tradition. In effect he was saying if we interpret it as Catholics it will, like many papal documents, disappear quickly from the Church's memory.

Now Mueller is no longer in the Papal tent, though it is not his temperament to criticise directly, he is is in Fr Z's phrase, "off the leash", with time and at his relatively young age with the energy to teach and write and do what all Cardinals do, lobby for the next Conclave.

Papal tents by their nature get smaller and smaller and with the Pope's statement to Mueller about Prefects of dicasteries being limited to five years this one is going to get wetter. I am sure one of the factors in Benedict's resignation was the thefts from his desk, and obvious lack of confidentiality that surrounded his office. His tent had shrunk considerably only to those who occupied the Apostolic Appartments with him, and even those couldn't be trusted fully. In effect his tent was reduced to him and Archbishop Ganswein. With JPII he had seen the damaging effect of a Pope literally unable to communicate to anyone and therefore unable to govern. JPII was totally dependant on Archbishop Stanisław Dziwisz who interpreted the Church to him and him to everyone else, when his speech had gone Dziwisz was the only one who understand him.

Pope Francis like most autocrats surrounds himself with men who will not oppose him, the more he does it means that more and more are outside the tent, which does bode well for his legacy or his succession.

Pastoring Pastors

I know this is mainly from ACP and therefore should treated with at least a bit of caution, it is an ACN report suicide among clergy in Ireland. It is based on eight suicides in ten years, though the number could be much, I suspect Irish coroners might be concerned for relatives and only record those deaths as suicides if there is no possibility of a priest's death being interpreted in other way.

What it does indicate is the low morale of the Irish clergy, as it is the ACP it is presumably especially acute among their members the more liberal and more elderly clergy. The picture is of old exhausted men doing their best to cope and at the same time coping with loneliness an isolation.

Ireland because of its recent history might be a little extreme but I suspect it reflects the situation in the rest of Europe and maybe the Americas too. One of my predecessors ended by losing his faith, in practice leaving the priesthood and the Church, he died in very suspicious circumstances, he left instruction that there should be no religious rites at his funeral, at least two other priests I know have left the same instruction.

Bishop Egan has spoken of his concern about the spiritual lives of retired priests who move out of their parish give up wearing clerical dress and often saying Mass. While I was ill I thought I might well have to retire it was a depressing prospect, my parishioners give me practical support, their demands for the sacraments: daily Mass and confession give structure to my life, and most importantly they give me friendship and pray for me. Retirement meant either a little house somewhere, with none of those supports  for someone becoming less and less able or a nursing home, I think I would have preferred death to both. Many priests,. I think put off retirement, simply because the prospect can be so lonely.

I have a young priest friend in what some might describe as a not very nice diocese, I suppose he is bit immature at times but he has no support at all from any priestly friends, there are few young clergy in his diocese, his seminary classmates are all different parts of the country, his parish priest is out of sympathy with him theologically, liturgically and just about every other, in the old days he would have been described as a 'curate breaker'. His bishop telephones him from time to time but never to encourage, or just to talk, always to complain or criticise or to reprimand.

During my illness I was so grateful to priests who phoned or visited and texted me. I am ashamed that I am not very good at doing that myself. In most diocese there is very little 'pastoring' of pastors. In Ireland as in England after the abuse crisis or other serious scandal very few bishops offered support to those priests who were often deeply wounded by the crimes of their brothers or their subsequently deposed bishops. I remember an old priest on his deathbed saying, "Ah, sure this might get the bishop out to see me but only when I am in my coffin". It was true the bishop hadn't seen him or contacted him in the five years since he retired but he did turn up for his funeral.

Another priest friend visited a retired priest and was a little horrified that said he hadn't be to Confession for five months because he hadn't seen a priest for that amount of time.

This is repeated in many diocese, perhaps some have a priest who might be appointed to care for the sick and elderly but it is not regarded as important.

In Ireland the suicide amongst clergy might be amount to less than one a year but amongst many spiritual suicide is not quite so rare, there seem to be a steady stream of younger priests leaving and perhaps equally worrying older priests staying despite having lost either faith because they have nowhere to go. For any bishop care of his spiritual sons, his co-workers should be a priority - for the majority it far down the list.

Without Faith

Feeling a lot better I hope I might return to this blog, apart from saying Mass and sleeping I haven't had the energy for the last six months even to type or think clearly.

However when the Son of Man returns will he find any faith on earth? Luke 18:8

I have always thought our greatest problem in the Church today is a lack of faith. I mean, for example, bishops and other ecclesiastic being appointed or promoted not because they had a fervent belief but because they belonged to a particular faction.

In Italy in diocese from North to South, even, possibly more so in Rome, the papers seem to contain news of clergy involved in orgies and other sexual scandals, which might be reason why there seems to be growing call for an end to celibacy.

In dioceses and parishes, in colleges and schools and other Church affiliated organisation professional competence, especially amongst lay Church employees outweigh a commitment to the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. Some people might be committed to externals, it is problem for both left and right, an enthusiasm for the cappa magna an other ecclesiastical ornaments on the one hand might be matched on the other hand by someone's enthusiasm for a particular pilgrimage site or branch of the Church's social teaching, or increasingly being a 'gay' or 'feminist' Catholic. There is no problem with any of these things in themselves, they add to the richness of the Church which because it is made up of individuals is always going to be diverse, the problem is that without faith in Jesus first and foremost all can become dangerous.

I hope I have a proper devotion to Our Lady, and in this centenary year to Our Lady of Fatima but I really get worried when someone is more concerned by the third secret, than the words of Holy Scripture.

As Pope Benedict said the new Cardinals, "In the end Christ will win", the problem is that without the centrality of Jesus everything goes out of balance most especially charity and mutual respect, without faith in him the Church becomes weak, powerless and will eventually disappear as is increasingly happening in its once European heartlands but where the Gospel is taken seriously like parts of Africa and South East Asia it grows and prospers.

Someone told me a story of Thomas Wilkes the Protestant composer, who seems to have lost his faith and taken to the bottle towards the end of his life, he became so disaffected he peed on the bishop of from the organ loft.

Without charity we are nothing but without faith charity itself becomes disordered to the point where killing someone or destroying their reputation becomes a sign of love.

Damien Ashby rip

Friday 14th July at 12 noon should be the Requiem Mass for my friend and parishioner Damien Ashby.

It will be the first time I have been able to celebrate in the Old Rite for almost six months, for me it is bit more of a strain, physically and mentally, more demanding than the Novus Ordo. I feel I will be fit enough to get through it without being propped up by servers.

Damien helped me to learn the Old Rite, and to love Low Mass. Like many of those who were attached to the Older form of Mass Damien suffered for it. For years he was alienated from his own parish Church which was just down the hill from his home, he went to Mass where he could find it either in the Old Rite in London or in the SSPX chapel here in Brighton or in an emergency some place where it was likely to be less of a problem than somewhere else., For him Summorum Pontificum was a liberating document and it was great joy when we were able to offer the Old Mass here, rather than being an oddity or even a threat he was able to be an ordinary parishioner and to become part of our parish, which was important to him and to me. When I was fit enough to offer an evening weekday Latin Mass he always came into the house afterwards for a drink and to eat my bananas, I never quite worked out why he never seemed to have his own.

When he was teaching me he would rather gently would make comments like, "I could be wrong, which I invariable am, your Reverence, [then would follow a longish story of him being wrong in the past] but most priests tend to say that prayer silently, but I could be wrong".

Though he long given up a bowler hat and a tightly furled umbrella of a post-war Civil Servant at the pensions department of the Ministry of Health, he always retained and rejoiced in his attention to detail, some might call it pedantry. Having dinner in his home was an experience, he would first boil the potatoes, and when they were done move on the next task and then the next, then the next, every thing done one at a time, and he would worry that it was done properly. For some years he had been secretary of the Latin Mass Society during its more turbulent times, after the excommunication of Lefebrvian bishops where careful and meticulous letters to bishops and members Damien's sense of order and detail were very important, it was a time when everything had to be kept in its proper place, the ancient Rite was one thing, the SSPX and their followers another.

His love of low Mass, probably was part of his sense of order, like his dinner preparations liturgy has its parts The Mass, then music and ceremonial but separate and with The Mass stripped to its bones taking priority. As with the Mass so with the rest of life, everything had its place, but separate, filed away in its proper place.

It will be interesting at his Requiem seeing how the various strands of his life come together, some meeting for the first time.

Pray for Damien who has moved on from one part of existence, his life on earth ended, now he stands before God himself pleading for a merciful judgement.

I am glad that he had in his meticulous way had instructed his cleaner on what to do in the event of death: call the priest to anoint him on his deathbed, I am glad I was that priest and was able to give the final absolution to one who I had nourished at the altar, and who had nourished me and given me joy in many ways.

"Brotherhood of Mankind"

Joe Shaw has an interesting piece on Hamish Fraser's conversion.  It reminds me of my own conversion from socialism to Catholicism.

Fraser discovered Leo XIII's social teaching, for me it was the discovery of the lived experience of Catholicism, formed in part by Leo's teaching. As a Socialist there was something beautiful about a 'brotherhood of mankind' but it seemed to exist nowhere.

When I became a Catholic in the 1974 the liturgical destruction had already occurred but so many of those things that Dr Shaw speaks or hints of remained intact, there was still a 'Catholic culture'. Catholics believed in Life, so many of those I came across were involved in the caring professions because they were Catholics, they were doctors, nurses, social workers and teachers, they had larger than average families because they were Catholics. Family prayer, giving generously to the missions, caring about education were still marks of their faith, and whether they were politically right or left their politics came out of their faith rather than being an adjunct to it. In my own town it was Catholics who set up the first shelter for the homeless, It was Catholics who were predominant in caring for the handicapped. The two best schools, after the ancient Grammar school, were staffed by priests and religious sisters. Though not that common it wasn't unusual to see the nuns in the streets. The first visit I ever made to hospital before I even went to school I remember impressed by a Vincentian nun in her highly impractical coif, presumably she was there training. At my secondary school we had for a few terms a retired Jesuit, all our teachers wore gowns if they had a degree, he wore a gown and a cassock.

It wasn't that Catholics were ghettoised as our now retired Cardinal so often used to suiggest but rather they came of a strong place to give vigour to our society. Dr Shaw hints at what I discovered, that in the Catholic Church, under the fatherhood of God a new social vision existed a real brotherhood of man.

Our loss is more than a liturgical tradition, it is a culture. Nowadays the great problem of the Church is not what we have lost but the fact that we have now very little to offer, the problem is not what has been taken but that which have freely given up and we have no alternative vision to offer.


It was in the chapel of these sisters, not in their mother house but in the chapel of their convent of their hospital a few miles away, I was received and made my first Holy Communion.

Holy Saturday Musings

For the first time in my priestly life celebrating the Holy Week liturgies have not be been a delight but thank God for my servers, who picked me up and stopped me wobbling or falling over during the Holy Thursday and Good Friday liturgies.
I suppose if I were my own confessor I would congratulate myself on being able to share physically in the passion but in reality it is just frustrating! Next year, well, either I will be better, or perhaps I won't be able to do it at all!

A liturgical thought - today for us is dies non, until sunset and the Easter Vigil, I used to try doing the Office of Readings but it never caught on, but for our Polish community it is the big day, even the lapsed turn up for 'basket blessing', even if they don't turn up for anything else, even Easter Mass.

It is obviously a vestige of the Old Easter Vigil which happened on Holy Saturday morning, when people brought the foods forbidden in Lent to be blessed with paschal water in order to end the Lenten fast and to visit the the dead in the cemetery. The Liturgy of the Hours is very much about the consequences of the Redemption of the Cross, the tearing of the Temple veil, the descent into Hell, the freeing of our first parents and the conquering of Satan, and the opening of Heaven to the Just. What was celebrated was not so much the corporal Resurrection of Jesus in the flesh but supernatural overcoming of evil and the establishment the Kingdom.

Few defend the notion of Easter 'Vigil' happening on the morning of Holy Saturday, yet it seems entirely sensible and logical to celebrate the 'hidden mysteries' of the Resurrection in a sparsely occupied Church rather than vacuum that the Pian reforms introduced as to, or for the Poles and other Eastern Europeans, a rather confused liturgical day, after sixty years of catechesis the Vigil though the most important of the Church's liturgical actions is still not, in many places, the best frequented.

Happy and Blessed Pasch

Fourth Anniversary

Congratulations to the Holy Father on the 4th Anniversary of his election.
The rumours are, based on a Marco Tosatti piece, that even Francis' electors have had second thoughts, that is probably, natural but  there are several reason this should happen.

1 He has 'bigged up the Papacy'
After JPII, who bestrode the world, lots of Cardinals and bishops were hoping for a smaller Papacy, in which the Pope was primarily the Bishop of Rome, and interfered less in other bishops diocese.
I am not sure that there was much of a cry for national Churches but simply less paperwork from the Holy See to give bishops more time to govern their diocese.

2 The divisive nature of Pope Francis
Wherever Jorge Bergoglio has been he has brought division, in the Society of Jesus, in his diocese of Buenos Aires, and now in the Universal Church.
I would think most bishops want the Church to be at peace, and riven with internal arguments that distract from its Mission. The Pontifex, the bridge maker, should be concerned about the internal unity and healing of the Church, practically every week, Francis introduces yet another controversial issue.

3 The rise of Ultramontanists
Few of his electors  would have foreseen that the Papacy  depend not on the Dominical foundation of the Church but on the sheer personality of the current office holder, which has force men like the Archbishop Scicluna of Malta to suggest, it is said, in a way totally irreconcilable with Christian doctrine, that to hear Jesus one must listen solely to the present pope, not to Benedict XVI or to John Paul II.
The foundation of Catholicism, and its future, cannot depend on the popularity, or media spin, of one man but on truth and authenticity. If I had been an elector, even if I had grown tired, or recognised the rejection by the secular world, of the Church's formulaic doctrinal responses of the past. I would be growing increasingly anxious about the anti-intellectualism of this Papacy, which speaks to first decades of the 21st century but is unlikely to have much to say beyond it.

4 Nepotism
Whether it is sexual abuse or the Order of Malta or the appointment of bishops (then of course there is China), much in the Francis Papacy depends on who are your friends, doctrine and the law of the Church seem unimportant.

4 The Future
The Conclave that elected Benedict's main concern was, I am told, who could possibly follow the highly singular Wojtyła, in a few years time the question will be even more intense: who could possibly follow Bergoglio, who has remade the Papacy in his own image. What would be disconcerting for the future of the Papacy and the Church is that no-one knows (or understands) where it should be going.