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.

Cagnacci's Penitent Magdalene

An interesting image of our holy patroness by Guido Cagnacci, I would find this too distracting as altarpiece but it is good meditation for the beginning of Lent.
Mary hears from Martha the Good News of Salvation, she repents and is willing to strip of the vanities of this world, 'Virtue' comes with power and vice flees. Martha and the Magdalen carrying her vase of unction then leave chiarascuro of house of bondage to enter the light of Christ.
This painting is at the National Gallery from 15 February – 21 May 2017, on loan from Pasedena's Norton Simon Museum

Who am I for?

"I am for Paul; and I for Apollos; and I for Cephas; and I for Christ" 1 Cor 1:12

The Church being divided into  partisan groups is what I fear if Pope Francis' papacy goes much further, it is the risk of be distanced from Christ that I dread and Francis and those of his faction seem to want me to take.

Over forty years ago I made the decision that the Catholic Church was true because it alone held fast to the teaching of Jesus on the permanence, until death. of those who it married. It taught this doctrine in cultures and periods of history that rejected it. It alone was willing to condemn kings a emperors because Jesus hmself had taught it. In England, even in the time of corrupt popes the Catholic Church was willing to lose nations and for its clergy and laity to suffer the most grievous tortures.


When I met Catholics, many were unable to receive Holy Communion because they knew what Jesus had taught and for love him abstained. Others in recognition of his Real Presence lived heroically as brother and sister. This is the Church I joined, the Church I have loved, the Church which I recognise as

True. Protestantism had its attractions, Orthodoxy had its beguiling beauty and with the friendship and spiritual depth and erudition of Metropolitan Anthony Bloom, it almost won me over, especially as Catholic Church post VII, post Humanae Vitae was at a pretty low ebb.

But it was the Catholic Church whose voice rang out as being true, its voice alone which rang out as being in accord with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It strikes me that under Francis we are being stripped of certainties which sustained our forefathers consciences even in prisons dark, The Catholic Church's role is to bring us to Christ, to live united in Communion with him, Schism does indeed beckon and we will all have to ask, "Who am I for?"

For many it will tear our hearts apart.

Putting up Walls

When history looks back on the Papacy, how will Francis be judged?
It could be that he is seen as 'The Great Reformer'* , turning his back on 2000 years of Church teaching and starting something new. Those who disparage this position are perhaps blind to the fact most of the baptised have already done this, perhaps the Pope is merely catching up with them and the rest of the world.
Maybe the role of the Pope is to become the leader of a World Council of Churches or even religions,

When people criticised JPII's Assisi events, I used to half-heartedly point out that no other religious leader other than the Pope could call together such a band of diverse religious leaders from the Dalai Lama to Animist priestesses. Obviously, as Pope St JPII did, one can read the Vatican Council's documents in this light. Perhaps the Church is destined to become another NGO led by liberal opinion rather than the teaching of Jesus Christ.

Benedict introduced, for good or ill, something new into the Papacy, the possibility of resignation, or of deposition, before that the only way of getting rid of a Pope was murder: smothering or poison, or the quack medicine that finally saw off the ailing Pius XII.

Something seems to be abroad at the moment, posters going up over Rome, fake copies of L'Osservatore or even satirical songs like 'That's Amoris' being circulated among Vatican staff, the response seems to be typical of South American dictators: getting the police in to investigate and clamping down on the perpetrators and treating something which really is school-boyish as a major incident. In response, it seems, even the Pope's Council of Cardinals have made a 'pledge of allegiance'. Today Cardinal Coccopalmerio cancelled a press release of his book on Amoris Laetitia, which some had seen as an answer to the 'dubia', one suspects to be briefed by the Pope and his advisers.
Francis.

Francis' legacy, whatever else, will be that rather than building bridges he has put up walls between Catholics. The next Conclave must choose whether to go along with course he has set or to draw back. For many liberals like the St Gall mafia the question must be whether they are confident Francis can push forward their agenda or whether he will destroy it and the Church.


*'Great Reformer' with Alexander Borgia was greeted at the beginning of his Papacy, he turned out to be something quite different.

Wounded Healers

I was struck by the claim of this piece: 3 Saints who may have had autism spectrum disorder, there seemed to be a correlation between the Holy Father's reported anxiety about religious orders that have lots of vocations, calls them 'rigourist', yet they attract vocations and others repel them and seem to have nothing to say to the young, either those who are thinking of a religious vocation or those who want to practice their faith.

As a priest myself and someone who has lived and worked among priests for over half my life I have a feeling that most priests I know are somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Is that alarming? It might be to some. To me it just seems normal, we are all damaged goods, wounded healers. It is after all 'by his wounds we are healed' and there is something about encountering Christ through our own needs. Most encounters in the Gospel result from people seeing their needs and turning to the Lord.
I would some priests I know are selfish or egoists but many are or become saintly.

Who is perfect? Who is unwounded? Who is without the scars of our own sins or often more and more significantly the scars of the sins of others?
I always think parents at a baptism who will bring up their child with as much love as possible but will probably leave that child marked, if not scarred, by their parenting. Parents do their best but often their best not perfect -only God is perfect- but is good enough.

Priests and religious choose an exceptional way of life, the norm, is marriage and a 9-5 job, if one probes there are bound to be reasons why God should chooses such men and women, if as seems to be the custom today one discounts the supernatural, then one is left with the individuals psychological needs. Part of the black propaganda going the rounds at the moment is that the Pope is on anti-psychotic medication, he has often spoken about his psychological needs, his reactions to most things seem to be 'psychological' rather than reasoned or rational. Post Freud, post Jung rather than accepting what is, we look for deeper motivation.

In an island where we have seen the dismissal of bishops even a Cardinal, who could hardly be described as 'rigourist', because of sexual predation other psychological problems are perhaps of less significance. The thing is, that as the Holy Father says the Church is a field hospital, but actually we are all patients, our role is to bring our wounded souls to heaven.
In the discernment of vocations - perhaps the most important things is: does this young man or woman desire goodness first and foremost, secondly I would ask are they humble enough to know they have nothing of their own to offer, only JESUS, I don't want people pushing their pet theories or ideologies down my throat, I want the to give the Lord.

Poison

"For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not
discerning the Lord's body." 1 Corinthians 11:29

No loving Pastor would want to give those he loved the poison of damnation, if he did he would be diabolic and not loving at all. St Paul goes on to say, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep" or as some translations have it "have died".

It seems to me that this passage separates shepherds from hired men. Obviously we do not see those unworthy to receive taking the Body of Christ dropping down dead  in front of the altar rail, and I don't think is what St Paul means. What we do see is not individuals but the Church community dying.

Little by little the relationship with Jesus of the whole local church becomes distanced, his moral teaching dies away, we see no reason to evangelise, no reason why any of the commandments or any other part of his teaching should have any effect in our lives, we see no reason for a Redeemer and the Fatherhood of God is diminished to a senile old grandfather and we are closed to the action of the Holy Spirit and the Life of Grace is closed to us.

Christian charity dies and effectively the Church is DEAD

Abp of Cracow celebrates his inaugural Mass 'ad orientem'

The Polish congregation who celebrate Mass here on a Sunday seem delighted by the new Archbishop of Cracow Mgr Marek Jędraszewski. His inaugural Mass was celebrated in the Wawel Cathedral on 29th January.

Interestingly he chose to celebrate Mass ad orientem, see from 1:28 on the video