Sunday, November 18, 2007

Ushaw course to de-Catholicise foreign priests

Briefing: it sounds absurd, but what other interpretation can be put on the course description on the website of the Bishops of England and Wales? It seems to have gone now, but here's a quotation preserved by Fr Ray Blake:

Students will look at issues affecting the Church in England and Wales in the third millennium – power, authority, the role of women, lay/diaconal ministry, ecumenism and much more. This is important preparation for future pastoral work and liturgical celebrations.

Fr Blake
comments:
I get a little worried when with special pleading for England and Wales, ever since Cardinal Hume said that the document "On the Unordained Faithful" did not apply in England and Wales. There is something unhealthy about the way in which the Church in England and Wales cuts itself off from mainstream Catholic culture especially when talking about power and authority. I have always assumed being a "good priest" in England was the same as being a good priest anywhere else.

It gets better. An article in the Anglican Journal quotes the President of Ushaw,
Monsignor Terence Patrick Drainey, as follows:

Some foreign priests working in Britain tend to be too dogmatic about the church’s moral rightness on just about everything, ... That’s not how we do things here. This course shows how we deal with a whole range of issues affecting Catholics, including the role of women, divorce, the lay ministry and homosexuality.

The course was the 'brainchild' of Bishop Crispian Hollis of Portsmouth. And guess who is to be the new Bishop of Middlesbrough? Monsignor Terence Patrick Drainey.

Hat-tip to Fr Ray Blake and Rorate Caeli.

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Pope Leo XIII's Prayer to St Michael

Holy Michael, Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust down to Hell Satan, and all wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen