Desmond Gregory 1917 - 2010

Tomorrow we have the Requiem of another of our parishioners, those who knew him were very fond of him, he inspired kindness because he was kind. He taught history and Downside, was the author of this remarkable collection of books. No-one in the congregation seems to know much of his life before he came to Brighton. At ninety-three he seems to have outlived his contempories. He never spoke about receiving the surrender of Hamburg, as a young Major during the war which we discovered today, all he did speak about was the kindness of his friends, his delight in the young people who visited him, the goodness of those who cared for him. He bore the infirmities of old age with patience and resignation. Occassionally he would come out with a stream of amazing facts and deep insight, one example was a conversation with Sri Lankan member of our congregation, he knew everything about her village, its history, the politics of the region, its economy and even the shops in it; he had just happened to pass through on one of his trips.
He was a convert to the Faith, which caused a degree of estrangement from certain members of his family. The Church was the bulwark of his life, he desired the Eucharist with a passionate hunger and desired to receive it in a state of grace. He came to Mass when others would have given up and remained at home. He was a generous benefactor to our Restoration Appeal. He received Holy Communion fully aware of what it was: the Body and Blood of his Saviour.
Pray for his dear soul as his body rests before the altar in the Church this night.

Westminster Cathedral 100th Anniversary

I tend to think of Westminster Cathedral as our daughter Church, my predecessor as parish priest here, Mgr George Wallis, was the Master of Ceremonies for its consecration. Luke Coppen points to a very beautiful flickr set of photographs of the liturgy.
I must say the liturgy has improved no end since the arrival of Archbishop Nichols, I like the fact that they have got rid of the temporary altar, although if you are standing at the back of the cathedral it is a bit strange to see a torso gliding across the top of the mensa and stranger to see deacon's heads lying, John the Baptist-like on the altar surface but it looks good when when the action is taking place in front of the altar and you see whole bodies there.
I understand the Archbishop has stopped that ghastly illicit practice of the canons concelebrating whilst wearing choir dress.
I just wish the sacristan would put out some decent albs, polyester and Pugin don't mix!

Cry of "Freedom"

Asia News is first, as usual, with news of the "Palium" Mass", Piecing together the Popes's speech from their account the freedom of the Church seems to be the dominant theme, for us in Europe this poignant in the light of the Brussel's police raids.

"The communion with Peter and his successors, in fact, is the guarantee of freedom for the Church's Pastors and the Communities entrusted to them."
“Historically, union with the Apostolic See, ensures the particular Churches and Episcopal Conferences freedom with respect to local, national or supranational powers, that can sometimes hinder the mission of the ecclesial Church. Furthermore, and most essentially, the Petrine ministry is a guarantee of freedom in the sense of full adherence to truth and authentic tradition, so that the People of God may be preserved from mistakes concerning faith and morals. Hence the fact that each year the new Metropolitans come to Rome to receive the pallium from the hands of the Pope, must be understood in its proper meaning, as a gesture of communion, and the issue of freedom of the Church gives us a particularly important key for interpretation. This is evident in the case of churches marked by persecution, or subject to political interference or other hardships. But this is no less relevant in the case of communities that suffer the influence of misleading doctrines or ideological tendencies and practices contrary to the Gospel".

Schoenborn faction versus Sodano faction

An Italian priest friend of mine had to deliver something to the former Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, who although it took months to get him out of the Secretary of State's apartments, is still resident in the Vatican City. He was a little shocked to be directed to the appartments of the former Archbishop Marcinkus who was the president of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, the Vatican Bank, his former secretary took on that role, as part of Sodano's "retirement package".

Yesterday saw the unprecedented rebuke of Cardinal Schoenborn, I am fascinated by the fact that Cardinal Sodano was waiting in an office somewhere, presumably that of the Vatican Bank, waiting to receive Schoenborn's apology or at least to be "reconciled".

It is no secret that Sodano has opposed Pope Benedict's cleansing of the Vatican stable, his protection of Maciel and of Schoenborn's abusive predecessor, is certainly unwholesome. His use of the Pope's own words about "petty gossip" on Easter day, in his mouth saounded sacandalous. There are stories of renaissance nepotism, involving his architect nephew. As Dean of the College of Cardinals, Sodano is still a "mover and shaker" and part of that faction which protects and wishes to continue the ""Wojtyła legacy".

Schoenborn on the other hand has been increasingly placing himself on the left, his public questioning of  celibacy, his tentative championing of the gay lobby, remember those homo-erotic pictures in his cathedral, the high handed dealing with the bishop Mostar and his visit to Medjugorje have raised his profile above that of many of his European counterparts. Though it is highly unlikely that we will have a second German speaking Pope, it strikes me that Schoenborn is trying to position himself head of left leaning faction.

This is all about the next conclave, the Sodano gang is by its very nature dying off, and to some degree represents the hermeneutic of, recent, continuity. The Schoenberg group is much more worrying since it represents a broader group of modernisers, not exactly heretical, but certainly one which is centred on rupture.
Interesting that the Pope chooses to deal with this on the eve of Sts Peter and Paul.

Good Manners

Many thanks to Gloria TV for this reference, I am not sure I should be mentioned before the Pope but I am grateful for the hat-tip. Could someone from Gloria tell me how to download their videos.
I know I shouldn't but I get a bit miffed when other bloggers quote things from here, or other sources and don't put in a reference. I know I should get over it and it is not important but it is good manners.

Communication Breakdown

I thought I'd get in before Damaen Thompson and flag up this post from the excellent Splintered Sunrise, which deals with the problem of the Church's communication breakdown.

... I can’t be alone in reading the papers and seeing all sorts of material from, say, Christopher Hitchens or Johann Hari or Peter Tatchell that isn’t actually true, and wondering how on earth they get away with it. The answer to that, of course, is that they aren’t challenged. Then you had the episode during the passage of the Children, Schools and Families Bill, when Ed Balls went on the Today programme and not only said that Catholic schools should be required to provide information on accessing abortions, and in a non-judgemental way at that, but actually claimed that Archbishop Nichols agreed with him. In the absence of any rebuttal from the ABW, some silly people may have been misled into the thinking that +Vinnie actually did agree with Balls, as opposed to agreeing with the Pope.

It strikes me as being so odd that the very organisation commissioned by God himself to "communicate", is so bad at it!

Cardinal Daneels Dirty Little Book

Various people have sent me a link to a sex education textbook produced under and authorised and supported by Cardinal Daneels. I am shocked by the content. Some of the things it encourages certainly happen in UK "Catholic" schools but it goes further, much further.
I found it first on Rorate Caeli, I have been hesitant to link to it, as in my opinion it promotes paedophilia.