FFM - Parishes

From Bishop O'Donaghue's 'Fit For Mission? - Church'. The CTS printed version has some extra passages, one of which is this, a discussion of anti-Catholic prejudice and media bias. As he explains, the media appears to be convinced that distortions and vilification which would not be acceptable if directed to any other group can be directed towards the Catholic Church, Catholic teaching, and the Holy Father.

Anti-Catholicism is one expression of a more general Christianophobia which is spreading throughout the world. I agree whole heartedly with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary of the Secretariat of State, when he states that ‘discrimination against Christians is as equally unacceptable as anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and should be resisted with the same force.’ Christianophobia refers to acts of violence, persecution, intolerance and discrimination against Christians.

Archbishop Mamberti observes that, ‘In many countries Christians are victims of prejudice, stereotypes and intolerance, at times of a cultural nature. It’s a paradox not guarantee Christians the same freedoms granted to other religions, or to create a sort of hierarchy' of intolerances’.
What should be our response to this re-emergence of anti-Catholicism as an acceptable prejudice? Archbishop Charles Chaput offers penetrating analysis and recommendations:

We should not soften the Christian message – the cross, the call to holiness, the need for salvation from sin – just because ‘these truths aren’t considered respectful in a secular, pluralistic society’.

The danger is that to gain a public hearing, Catholics justify the church’s social teaching in practical, humanitarian terms, not explicitly founded on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Catholics must not allow the hostility of the secular world make us abridge the Gospel, cutting out the proclamation of Jesus Christ, the unique saviour of the world.

What needs to be done by Catholics today for their country? The answer is: Don’t lie. If we say we’re Catholic, we need to prove it.....public life needs people willing to stand alone, without apologies, for the truth of the Catholic faith and the common human values it defends. One person can make a difference – if that individual has a faith her or she is willing to suffer for; a faith that can say, as [St John] Fisher did in greeting his executioner,” I come to die for the faith of Christ and Christ’s Catholic Church.’ (Charles Chaput, Render unto Caesar, p. 197).

Read More...

Summary only...

'Fit for Mission? - Church: CTS edition available

H-T to Fr Tim Finnigan, who writes: The CTS are publishing Bishop O'Donoghue's Fit for Mission? Church, which I wrote about at the end of August and (again the other day) with reference to Archbishop Piacenza's praise for the document.

The CTS edition will be an expanded version, drawing on Pope Benedict XVI's addresses and homilies in 2008 at World Youth Day and during his apostolic journey to France; as well as the writings of John Henry Newman, and others.

104 pages, £8.95, available from 10 October 2008. Advance orders can be placed now at the CTS website.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 16

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 10.9.3, pp8of
So can a Catholic in good conscience vote and campaign for a political candidate who supports and promotes abortion and/ or euthanasia or promotes a cut in international aid? My personal answer to this question is: I can’t and I won’t. But I do know some serious Catholics — people whom I admire on a whole range of issues — who will vote and campaign for MPs who hold all kinds of positions that are against the teachings of the Church. I know that they do sincerely struggle with their party’s position on, say, abortion or stem-cell research, and it causes them real pain. More importantly: They don’t keep quiet about it! They re-double their efforts to bring about reform of their party’s position.
In my opinion, it is only in these very strict circumstances that it is permissible to support and vote for a Member of Parliament who holds positions against the teaching of the Church. It is never permissible to casually vote for a candidate without knowing their stance on these issues, or to vote for them and leave it at that.
• I earnestly call on all Catholics in my diocese to support politicians who are opposed to abortion, euthanasia, research on embryonic human beings, or promote an increase in international aid, the support of migrants or campaign for the UN Millennium Goals.
• If all the candidates are anti-life then consider voting for the candidate who is most in sympathy with Catholic social teaching, for example on the question of international aid. However, never tire of campaigning to change the candidates mind on these life issues.
• Above all follow your conscience, informed by the teaching of the Church. It may be that you cannot vote for any candidate.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 15

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

In this passage Bishop O'Donaghue talks about his experience bring grilled by a House of Commons committee, which we reported on here.

From section 10.9.2, p79f:
Reflecting on the encounter, I was disappointed at the basic lack of knowledge exhibited by some members of the committee about Catholic education, and the Catholic Church in general. There appeared to be an a priori suspicion and scepticism about the motives and practices of faith schools in general, and Catholic schools and the Church in particular. Any hint of evangelisation or catechesis, even within our Catholic schools, is increasingly viewed as intolerable indoctrination and proselytism.

I came away concerned that a breach seems to be growing between the State and the Church, and the position of faith in general, which will harm the ability of both to help the citizens of our county to ‘fulfil their personal and social vocation.’ As Gaudium et Spes puts it, ‘the more they co-operate reasonably...the more effectively they will perform this service to everybody’s advantage.’ (GS 76).

Of one thing I am certain, this breach will not be mended though compromising the faith and morals of Catholic doctrine. What is needed is evangelisation of state power through ‘its confrontation with the abiding objectivity of the natural moral law, itself an expression of the divine Wisdom, and the measure of all positive law on earth.’ (Aidan Nichols, The Realm, p.147).

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 14

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 10.8.3, p76f:
Pope Benedict XVI makes it clear that the Church’s action for justice and love is quite distinctive. Our work for charity and social justice is done in the name and power of Jesus Christ. This is not the same as saying this work is done in the spirit of Gandhi or Martin Luther King, no matter how praiseworthy. When Christians work in the spirit of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we do it ‘in Christ’, so that He is present and active in ways beyond our comprehension.

Practical activity will always be insufficient, unless it visibly expresses a love for man, a love nourished by an encounter with Christ. My deep personal sharing in the needs and sufferings of others becomes a sharing of my very self with them: if my gift is not to prove a source of humiliation, I must give to others not only something that is my own, but my very self; I must be personally present in my gift. (Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 34).

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 13

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 10.7.4, p73:
I am convinced another cause of the wide-spread violence lies in the Abortion Act of 1967. For 41 years we’ve lived in a state-sponsored culture of death that has killed 5 million children, and we’re now surprised that some of the surviving children have turned out violent with no regard for the sanctity of life?
How many children know that their mothers have had an abortion? What effect will it have on them knowing that they have been deprived of a brother or sister through abortion?
If a society holds human life so cheaply is it any surprise that young people will also hold life cheaply and engage in violence?
I encourage all our schools and parishes to continue to take steps to protect our young people from cultures of death, that seek to corrupt and exploit them.

From 10.7.5, p73
At every opportunity proclaim the right to Life – the most fundamental human right that underpins authentic work for justice and peace (cf. Mission Priority of the Final Proposals of the Fit for Mission? Parish review).
Pray, Protest and Petition the institutions that promote the culture of death – Parliament, the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nurses, Brooke Advisory Centres, broadcasters, the tabloids and broadsheets.
I also ask all parishes to support Catholic organisations, such as Life groups, that provide counselling, advice, support and hospitality to women considering abortions.
Also consider actively supporting the following groups promoting the Gospel of Life: The Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child; Sisters of the Gospel of Life, Life and other pro-life organisations.
I ask all our parishes to support the work of Cenacolo as a way of challenging the culture of death spread by substance-abuse.
I also encourage our parishes to face the reality of suffering caused by alcohol abuse, through
promoting the work of their local Alcoholics Anonymous groups.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 12

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 10.6.2, p69:
These statistics reveal the shocking depth and extent of the suffering and impoverishment of so many families and children due to the separation of the unitive and procreative nature of sexual love, and the wide-spread practice of pre-marital sexual behaviour. I am convinced that there must be profoundly damaging consequences for the family in a country were contraception and abortion are so wide-spread. No wonder so many children are suffering depression and mental illness in a country that is such a hostile environment for human life. No wonder divorce is so prevalent when family life is so often characterised by a lack of generosity or self-giving love.

From 10.7.3, p71:
What do we mean when we use the phrase ‘Culture of Death’? There is the legalised, state-sponsored culture of death, facilitated by some medical professionals, scientists, politicians and journalists. And there is the illegal, criminally facilitated culture of death that, for example, pushes drugs, trafficking in women and children for the sex industry, and facilitates degrading activities. Both the legal and illegal cultures of death reinforce and sustain each other through spreading the general darkening of conscience in society.

From 10.7.3, p72
As Bishop of Lancaster I have recently spoken out against a crime against life that the UK Government is enacting in the most degrading way – experimentation on embryonic human beings and the creation of human-animal hybrid. As I said in my Easter Vigil homily (2008):
‘The Prime Minister has made it clear that he wants Britain to be the world’s number one centre for genetic and stem cell research. He sees it as building up the hi-tech sector of British industry and contributing to economic growth. It is good to develop British industry and foster economic growth, but not through exploiting and destroying embryonic human persons’.
‘A society that seeks medical cures and economic development at the cost of human rights, human dignity and human life is ‘monstrous’. It is not the defenceless, human-animal embryo, that is ‘monstrous’; it is we ourselves who have become ‘monsters’ for allowing the exploitation of the unborn for our economic and medical gain’.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 11

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

This extract is of special importance for an understanding of the situation in the Church today: Bishops' Conferences are usurping the teaching role of bishops and making it harder for orthodox ones to speak out.

From section 9.9, p61
We must keep it clearly in mind that the Bishop is not the manager of his local branch of the Catholic Church, who reports to the board of the national Episcopal Conference. Rather the Bishop is ‘a visible source and foundation of the unity of the particular Church entrusted to his pastoral ministry’ (LG 23).
The presence of confident, courageous and prophetic bishops is vital for the well-being of the Church during this time of increasingly aggressive secularism. We need to remind ourselves of the authority and dignity of bishops:
Bishops preside in the place of God over the flock whose shepherds they are, as teachers of doctrine, priests of sacred worship and ministers of government.
By divine institution, Bishops have succeeded to the Apostles as Shepherds of the Church.
Bishops govern the particular churches entrusted to them as the vicars and ambassadors of Christ, by their counsel, exhortations and example, but also by their authority and sacred power. (Pope John Paul, Apostolos Suos, 19).

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 10

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

This extract is of special importance for an understanding of the situation in the Church today: Bishops' Conferences are usurping the teaching role of bishops and making it harder for orthodox ones to speak out.

From section 9.8, p60-61
The Extraordinary Synod (1985) went on to highlight an area of concern about the conferences, that they must keep in mind the ‘inalienable responsibility of each bishop in relation to the universal Church and the particular Church’. Pope John Paul II’s apostolic letter Apostolos Suos further sought to highlight the necessity of limiting the authority of national Episcopal conferences, along with conference committees, commissions, advisors and experts in favour of the authority of the individual bishop in his diocese and through the bishop’s direct and personal co-operation in a national conference.

I must admit that during my 15 years as a bishop I have increasingly come to share certain concerns about the relationship between individual bishops and the National Conference:

Due to the division of areas of responsibility among the bishops, such as education, liturgy, healthcare, migrants etc, there can often be reluctance among the rest of the bishops to speak out on these issues, as if somehow they had handed over their competence in these areas to the responsible bishop and his particular committee. For example, there seemed some surprise in some circles that I had issued my teaching document, Fit for Mission? Schools.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 9

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 8.8.4, p53
I would like to encourage a greater devotion to the martyrs of our diocese, because I am very much aware of the truth of that ancient saying, ‘The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church’. There is something deeply life-giving about the martyrs’ witness to the truth
that will benefit our witness to the truth.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 8

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 8.6, p47
As your bishop I am concerned that those in positions of responsibility pass on a full and complete exposition of Catholic doctrine. It is my duty to ensure that none of you are deprived of the right ‘to receive the message of the Church in its purity and integrity and not to be disturbed by a particular dangerous opinion’. (CDF, Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian; 37). Dei Verbum sets up a series of checks and balances that should be used by theologians in studying scripture and by the faithful to judge the authenticity of sensational claims and media-hyped speculations.

Firstly, the Bible is the Book of the Church. In order for the meaning of the sacred texts to be correctly brought to light, ‘the living tradition of the whole Church must be taken into account along with the harmony which exists between elements of the faith’. (DV 12).

Secondly, the Bible has been entrusted to the Church. The Church has final judgement over the interpretation of Scripture, ‘which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God’. (DV 12). As Pope John Paul II puts it, a Catholic does not take an individualistic approach to Scripture, based on the assumption that they can be better understood outside the community of believers. The opposite is true, Scripture has been entrusted to the Church, ‘in order to nourish faith and guide the life of charity.’ (His Holiness Pope John Paul II, Address on The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, 10).

Thirdly, the Bible cannot interpret itself. The deeper understanding of sacred Scripture is not to be undertaken solely through the historical critical method, but also through attention to the content and unity of the whole of Scripture (DV 12), and through the study of the Fathers of the Church and sacred liturgies (DV 23).

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 7

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 8.5, p47
Let me be clear, disagreement and debate between people of good-will about reformable ideas and practises are to be encouraged in the Church. However, when such disagreement and debate becomes public dissent through organised opposition, lobbying and campaigns, there is a danger to the unity and well being of the Church.
I’ve also observed that Catholics who privately dissent from certain doctrines and disciplines of the Church are often prey to growing anger and disillusionment with the Church in general. What starts out as a doubt or scepticism due to some piece of historical-critical research, taken in isolation, becomes a type of creeping doubt about the certainty of doctrine. Doubting the historical authenticity of a saying or deed of Christ in the Gospel, they can eventually come to doubt the truth of the Church. Such doubts can lead to discontent with the Church, often focused against the person of the reigning Pope and the local bishop. It is common for bishops to receive letters and emails angrily demanding the Church change a doctrine of faith or morals, such as the Church’s opposition to contraception or homosexual life-styles, or the discipline of priestly celibacy, as if we are politicians who can be pressured to change
a political policy!
Let me be clear here, Church teaching is not the opinion of the Pope and bishops that can be changed by lobbying or through the succession of a new Pope or Bishop, but the teaching of Jesus Christ, Son of God, safe-guarded and preserved by the teaching office of the Church.
My heart goes out to all those who have become trapped in this unhappy state of doubt and discontent, to which we can all become vulnerable at one time or another. I pray for their enlightenment by the Spirit of truth and love.
I, like many others, am aware of the enormous socio-cultural pressures, exerted through the media, culture and politics, that propagate secularism and relativism which fuel dissent and indifferentism within the Church. As the people of God we must develop strategies and counter-measures to protect ourselves from forces that are destructive of faith.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 6

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 8.4, p45
The [Second Vatican] Council clearly presents the Catholic understanding of the place and role of Scripture in the life of the Church and individual.
Dei Verbum starts from the premise that revelation is founded not only on the word Christ preached but also in the whole living experience of His person: ‘the Apostles, who by their oral preaching, by example and by observances handed on what they had received from the lips of Christ, from living with Him and from what He did, or what they had learned through the promptings of the Holy Spirit ‘(DV 7). We can conclude from this that the Word of God includes and also transcends the written word of Scripture.
The Council places Scripture within the framework of Tradition, with the objective content of Tradition – the teaching of the Church, the life of the Church and the worship of the Church – including and surpassing that of Scripture. Dei Verbum 8 states that Scripture is the inspired and privileged expression of the pre-existing apostolic Tradition, and is not an independent or separate norm. Therefore, the Tradition of the Church takes a logical precedence over Scripture.
As Karl Rahner puts it, it was a historical necessity that the apostolic preaching took concrete form as Scripture, but by ‘becoming a book it does not become an independent herald and norm of the faith’. Post –biblical Tradition is also necessary to transmit, interpret and explain the preaching expressed as Scripture. (Karl Rahner, Encyclopaedia of Theology, p.1550).

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 5

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 7.4.3, p40
Pope John Paul II identified a loss of a sense of sin as a major problem within the Church and society in general, which he saw as an expression of a wider denial of God.
One of the influences behind the disappearance of the sense of sin can be traced to a catechetical approach that wrongly identifies a sense of sin with a morbid feeling of guilt or with the mere transgression of legal norms or cultural conditions (Pope John Paul II, Post synod exhortation, Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, 18).
This erroneous catechetical approach has its origins in the uncritical adoption of psychological and sociological models, such as the so called ‘person-centred theory’ of counselling with its criticism of moral judgement as judgementalism’.
We must never forget our capacity for self-deception as well as our readiness to reduce conscience to an ‘excuse mechanism’ (Ratzinger). As it is expressed in Psalm 19: 12, ‘Who can detect his own failings? Wash out my hidden faults.’ The absence of any sense of guilt could be a sign of profound spiritual desolation. Guilt is to spiritual health what pain is to physical health: a warning that something is wrong and so needs to be healed (Robert Spaemann). God’s mercy makes no sense without it.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 4

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 7.4.2, p38.
Over the years I have observed in some of our parishes an over-emphasis on the community dimension of Mass that has at times eclipsed reverence and adoration of the divine. Of course, the role of the community is essential, but at times there are diversions and distractions, such as:
Performances within the Mass;
Noisy celebrations not conducive to prayer;
Concert pieces;
Extended signs of peace;
Endless commentaries and
Prayers of the Faithful that become collects or mini-homilies.

Such distortions can reflect the common Christological error of emphasising the humanity of Jesus, to the exclusions of any meaningful sense of His divinity.
I am certain that for liturgy to enable us to participate in the life of the Holy Trinity we must maintain a sensitive balance between human participation and reverence of the divine.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 3

Another of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 7.2.5, p35.

Where this hedonistic, consumerist mentality is present it reduces the liturgy to a form of entertainment. This shifts the priority of worship away from the adoration of God, to revolve around the personal likes and dislikes of the clergy and congregation.
I am sure many of you are familiar with the symptoms of this dysfunction in the life of the Church:
• The priest reduced to being almost an entertainer whose desire is to keep the interest of his
community;
• Members of the congregation who need constant novelty and stimulation;
• Laity who ‘shop around’ from one parish to the next until they find the ‘service’ that meets their particular tastes in liturgy.

All of these symptoms are manifestations of a deeper malady, which is a lack of true faith. Such shallow faith trivialises the liturgy to the proportions of man’s whims and caprices.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic, 2

A second extract from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group.

From section 4.5, p23
In my ministry as priest and bishop, I have come across the following attitudes that fail to understand the Catholic vision of sacramental life:
• Catholics who say they don’t need to participate at Mass on Sunday because they can just as well, or even better, pray at home.
• Catholics who protest that they don’t need to go to confession because they can gain God’s forgiveness in the privacy of their sitting room.
• Catholics who say a positive consequence of the decline in vocations to the priesthood is that soon we’ll be able to have parishes just run by lay people, at long last rid of clericalism!

Such attitudes betray a failure to grasp the Catholic understanding that sacraments – the only objective way of encountering Christ – can only be received, in ordinary circumstances, from a Catholic ordained minister, or in the case of marriage in the presence of an ordained minister.

Read More...

Summary only...

FFM Parishes: O'Donaghue on being Catholic

The first of our extracts from 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes' by Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster. Click on the 'label' FFM Parishes to see others. See the 'Fit for Mission?' website and download the full document. The previous title in the series, 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' is downloadable here (pdf). This generated a Facebook support group. Fr Tim Finnigan comments on it here.

From section 4, p20 (of the A4 edition):
Those who ignore their responsibility to God and neighbour forget they are Catholic.
Those who deliberately miss Sunday Mass forget they are Catholic.
Those who never pray forget they are Catholic.
Those who deny they are sinners and avoid confession forget they are Catholic.
Those who live oblivious to the suffering of the poor forget they are Catholic.
Those who dissent from the authority of the Church forget they are Catholic.
Those who use contraception, IVF and embryonic stem cell research forget they are Catholic.
Those who use pornography forget they are Catholic.
Those who have sex outside of marriage forget they are Catholic.
Those who commit homosexual acts forget they are Catholic.
Those who exploit their power and position forget they are Catholic.
Those who cheat on benefits or taxes forget they are Catholic.
Those employers who exploit their workforce forget they are Catholic.
Those who have racist, sexist or homophobic attitudes forget they are Catholic.

Read More...

Summary only...

Bishop O'Donaghue's 'Fit for Mission? - Parishes': preview

Briefing: Following 'Fit for Mission? - Schools' Bishop O'Donaghue of Lancaster has penned a booklet addressing parishes. It comes out on August 27th but here is a preview from Damian Thompson: some very interesting remarks on the way the Bishops' Conference makes it harder for orthodox bishops to speak out on the issues of the day.

We'll be publishing extracts as soon as the document is officially released.

From Damian Thompson (see his full post): [O'Donaghue] attacks the way the Bishops' Conference bureaucracy divides major issues into "areas of responsibility" for particular bishops, leaving other bishops "reluctant ... to speak out on these issues, as if somehow they had handed over their competence in these areas to the responsible bishops and his particular committee".

And he adds: "I must register, too, my disappointment that our Bishops' Conference recently could not agree a collegial response to the Government's legislation on same-sex adoption."

The Conference's statements, says Bishop O'Donoghue, tend to be "flat and safe at a time when we need passionate and courageous public statements that dare to speak the full truth in love".

Read More...

Summary only...