Rosary Crusade Saturday

The 25th Annual National Rosary Crusade of Reparation

Saturday 10th October 2009

“You have seen Hell where the Souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the World Devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say is done, many Souls will be saved and there will be peace”

Our Lady’s Words to Lucia 13th July 1917

Assemble by 1.45 pm outside Westminster Cathedral (Ambrosden Avenue)

Nearest Underground: Victoria

Procession to Brompton Oratory, Brompton Road, London SW7

Nearest Underground: South Kensington

Patron: His Grace Archbishop Vincent Nichols

Led by: Mgr. Emmanuel-Marie de St Jean, Abbot of Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse, France

Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

Procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima to Brompton Oratory praying the Rosary en- route Holy Mass is offered for benefactors every month

Scapular Enrolment

Solemn Pontifical Benediction

End about 5.00 pm (Anticipated Mass of Sunday at 6.00 pm)

Spiritual Director: the Revd Ronald Creighton-Jobe

For Information Contact:

Francis Carey (01494) 729223 – Mathias Menezes (020) 8764 0262

or by post 27 First Avenue, Amersham, Bucks., HP7 9BL

Read More...

Summary only...

Liturgical abuses: Pottery Chalices

Taking a (sadly) rare break from engaging in pointless arguments with Catholic Traditionalists, James Preece has put a very interesting post about the attitude of Bishop Terrence Drainey of Middlesbrough to pottery chalices (and ciboria, pattens etc.). As he points out, they are forbidden - illicit, ruled out, contrary to the laws of the Church, you get it? - by Redemptoris Sacramentum.

Reprobated, therefore, is any practice of using for the celebration of Mass common vessels, or others lacking in quality, or devoid of all artistic merit or which are mere containers, as also other vessels made from glass, earthenware, clay, or other materials that break easily. This norm is to be applied even as regards metals and other materials that easily rust or deteriorate.

[Redemptionis Sacramentum 117]

But here they are, being used by the Bishop himself. Note the clingfilm over them. A nice touch that. Presumably it is felt to be necessary because these ghastly objects are liable to fall over.

James points out that Bishop Drainey has actually criticised a parish for using them, but continues to use them himself. As Our Lord said,"The teachers of the law (the scribes) and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So, you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach" (Matt. 23:2-3)

Read More...

Summary only...

Focaccia

This has rendered Damian Thompson speechless and it has had the same effect on us. But focaccia was used as the host at a Mass in Linz, Austria, and under the appearance of focaccia the Blessed Sacrament was paraded around in this 'monstrance'. That's assuming focaccia is valid matter, which it probably is; it is certainly illicit.



Hat-tip to Cathcon.

As the little film indicates, this is a scandal with global implications. The Pope has done nothing. There is no reason to imagine, things being as they are, that the Pope will do anything. This fact is the backdrop to the problems of the clerical abuse of power faithful Catholics face all over the world.

Read More...

Summary only...

Clerical abuse and clericalism

Read James Preece's brilliant analysis of the clerical abuse scandals and Catholic culture. Here's the money quote:

As far as I can see, the position of the Bishops Conference of England and Wales including our own Bishop Terrence Drainey is currently "let us have a culture that tolerates and even encourages clerical abuse, in which priests and bishops are free to abuse their power and authority and laypeople are expected to be co-conspirators or else face accusations of disrespect and disloyalty but let us make an exception for the sort of abuse that the civil authorities take seriously, that is, the sort of abuse that costs money and looks bad in the papers".

This is like saying "stealing is okay, as long as you don't steal anything somebody will notice" or "lying is okay, as long as nobody finds out". Essentially, the Bishops are saying "it's okay with us if priests abuse their power, as long as they don't do anything illegal".

What concerns me most of all is this: As long as the culture remains in place, the potential for harm continues. As long as the culture remains in place, the potential for "[hiding] behind a clericalism which is prepared to protect vicious behaviour at the expense of defenceless innocents" remains in place.

This is simply unacceptable.

This is partly why this blog has never been shy about reporting clerical abuse stories - something which the aggressive liberals in the comments boxes have never been able to understand, and which has got us in trouble with conservative Catholics as well.

Clericalism and ultramontanism is not the answer to the problems of today. Yes, we have problems of disobedience of legitimate authority justly exercised, and in those cases the authority should be supported. But this is not the opposite problem as the sex abuse being covered up by bishops: it is another example of the same problem.

How so? The sex abusers were disobedient. Their bishops didn't approve of the abuse; they asked them to stop. The abusers were breaking canon law as well as the natural law. The abuse persisted because of a failure of legitimate authority. But it also persisted because of the false deference towards that failing authority.

Because no-one wanted to confront and denounce the bishops and religious superiors who were failing to exercise their authority, out of deference to that authority, they were enabled to go on not exercising their authority.

The clerical club which protected the abusers, without necessarily approving of them, is also tolerating priests who commit liturgical abuses, refuse to give the faithful communion kneeling, refuse to teach the whole gospel, and turn their parishes into centres for left-wing activism.

Read More...

Summary only...

CAFOD to use a pagan guru on pilgrimage

This really beggars belief, so let's hear it direct from the website of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. If you didn't have sufficient reason to stop supporting CAFOD before, you do now: they have arranged for a Catholic pilgrimage to be led, in part, by a pagan leader with a view to him imparting his spiritual wisdom to pilgrims. For the other reasons, see our dossier on CAFOD.

From the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle: A Brazilian of the Yanomami tribe will be the special guest at CAFOD's annual pilgrimage to Holy Island this year.

Davi Kopenawa Yanomami is a member of the Yanomami índios in Brazil, and a spokesman on tribal issues and Amazon Rainforest conservation. CAFOD supports Hutukara, an indigenous grassroots organisation of which Davi is president. He will be joining pilgrims for the day on June 13 to walk across the Pilgrims' Way from the main land to the island. Davi will also lead the reflection at key points along the way with reflections from his own tradition, focussing on how we live in harmony with God's creation.

CAFOD Hexham & Newcastle Diocesan Manager Anne-Marie Hanlon said: "This is a real honour for us, and we are thrilled to have Davi coming to Holy Island this year. He is an inspirational speaker and comes from a tradition where people are still fundamentally linked to their environment. It will be very interesting to hear what he has to say about climate change, and also to hear how his customs value the stories of his ancestors just as he will hear how we revere our Northern saints.”

Read More...

Summary only...

Say no to clapping at Mass

A note on a form of liturgical abuse from Fr Z.

"Wherever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment. " (Spirit of the Liturgy p. 198)

This message has been brought to you by Sober Inebriation Weblog.

If you should encounter applause during Mass in your parish do not panic. Immediately after Mass go out and get a copy of Pope Benedict’s book "The Spirit of the Liturgy" by Ignatius Press and give it to your pastor as a gift. Be sure to highlight the above passage on page 198. Yellow highlighter works really, really well.

Read More...

Summary only...

Thanks for the link, Damian!

Damian Thompson does us the favour of linking to our story 'Bread Worship in Cumbria' about the bizarre letter in The Tablet purporting to describe a spontaneous lay eucharistic celebration in a Catholic parish church. The Tablet has issued another 'clarificatioin' in its letters page:

"A letter from Michelle Street entitled 'Act of memory' was published in the Tablet on 11 April. It described a moment in a church where parishioners took over the celebration of the Eucharist when the priest was unable to attend to celebrate Mass. This letter caused great interest, as well as consternation, among some readers. We published the letter in good faith, but it has since emerged after lengthy enquiries that the address in Grasmere, Cumbria, given on the letter does not exist, which causes us to be concerned that the letter might not have been genuine. We therefore apologise to readers and assure them that there will be even greater vigilance in future to establish that correspondence is authentic."

We were just about to post on this when Damian T. beat us to it, linking to us too - which is particularly gentlemanly since, he says, we are 'not fans of mine or this blog, I should add'. It is of course worth linking to CAUK for the 'full story' because we are the only publicly accessible place on the internet which has the full text of the original letter: you have to be a Tablet subscriber to see it on their website.

It's true that we've criticised Damian Thompson on occasion, but we've also given him credit where it is due. Perhaps Damian, like many people who post comments on this blog, can't understand how anyone in the blogosphere should have a good word for someone when they do something good, and criticism when the same person does something bad. Our approach seems obvious to us but it seems that almost no provocation would get Catholic Truth to say something nice about the bishops, or the Hermeneutic of Continuity to recognise when Joanna Bogle had made a mistake. That's the Punch and Judy nature of the medium, perhaps.

Read More...

Summary only...

New Holy Days & Abortion ads petitions

Comment: while the Church removes the sacred still more from our daily lives, the Government inserts evil into our daily lives. These are two sides of the same coin. Please spend a couple of moments to register a protest.

To the new Archbishop of Westminster,' to reinstate the celebration of Ascension, Corpus Christi and Epiphany to their correct days.'

Please sign.

To the Prime Minister, to stop abortion advertising on television. (deadline 14 October 2009)

Please sign.

Read More...

Summary only...

Cardinal of Bologna restricts communion in the hand

Briefing. In response to the abuse of the Blessed Sacrament, both deliberate and through carelessness, the Cardinal Archbishop of Bologna has banned communion in the hand from those churches where the abuses are most common - the largest, where the congregation is less well known to the priests and include tourists and the like.

Let us pray that other bishops around the world take this elementary step to protect the Blessed Sacrament, as the law of the Church indicates that they should. 

In the meantime, there have been reports of the cessation of giving communion under both kinds, or on the tongue, in response to Swine Flu. The sharing of the chalice is clearly a hygine issue; the giving of communion on the tongue is not so clear, at least if it is done properly. See the end of this post.

Hat-tip to New Liturgical Movement and Fr Z. Below is an extract fro Fr Z's post, which is the original story with his comments in bold.

In recent weeks, parish priests and rectors of churches in our diocese received a communique of the provisions issued by the Cardinal Archbishop, in the face of grave abuses that have been confirmed in this regard. In particular, the Cardinal has ordered that in the Cathedral of St. Peter, in the Basilica of San Petronio and in the Shrine of the Madonna di San Luca, Communion must be distributed to the faithful only on the tongue.

The possibility to receive the consecrated Host in the hand that was granted may, in fact, give rise to "grave abuses", because there are those "who take away the Sacred Species to keep them as souvenirs", "who sell them", or even worse "who take them way to desecrate them in Satanic rituals." [This is a real situation in Italy! Some areas of Italy have high occurances of activity by manifestly Satanic groups. They break into churches and desecrate cemetaries and other holy places.] Thus writes Provicar General, Msgr. Gabriele Cavina in the letter to the priests which accompanies the provisions of the Cardinal, citing a text of [Archbishop] Malcolm Ranjith, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

"We must take cognizance", Caffarra Cardinal writes,"that unfortunately there have been repeated cases of profanation of the Eucharist, taking advantage of the possibility to receive the consecrated Bread on the palm of the hand, above all, but not exclusively, on the occasion of large celebrations or in large churches subject to the passage of numerous faithful.

From the Swindon Advertiser: Holy Rood Church in Groundwell Road has stopped offering communion wine and has asked worshippers to take communion by hand.

The move has been taken in a bid to improve hygiene standards at the church following recent Government guidelines following the swine flu outbreak.

Although there have been no confirmed cases of the virus in Swindon or Wiltshire, Monsignor Richard Twomey, pictured, is taking no chances.

See the full story.

Read More...

Summary only...

Bishop Tartaglia of Paisley: desire for the Traditional Mass 'an affectation'

Comment: this is another story from the latest Catholic Truth newsletter. A Catholic asking for the Traditional Mass in Paisley diocese received an email from Bishop Tartaglia which attempts to misrepresent the Pope's intentions and the law of the Church.

Bishop Tartaglia claims: If there is to be Mass in the Extraordinary Form in this diocese, it will be according to the regulations of Summorum Pontificum. These regulations will have to be met before I agree to make provision for this kind of Mass. I think that Summorum Pontificum is more demanding than you imagine.

But there is no need for a bishop to 'agree to make provision'. Any priest can say the Mass; any Catholic can ask for it. There are no 'regulations' in the Motu Proprio; it simply notes that priests saying the Mass should know how to do so.

Referring to reports of the Pope's words on his flight to France, Bishop Tartaglia suggests that the Motu Proprio envisaged only the older generation, who had known the Mass before 1970, and those with an education in Latin, as the beneficiaries of the new legal provisions. Even if this report is true, it makes no difference to the law of the Church: the Motu Proprio makes no distinctions about who can ask for the Traditiional Mass, or attend it.

Bishop Tartaglia adds: Are you sure your request is not just an affectation? Think about it.

What a patronising suggestion. It would be as well for the Bishop to ask himself if his opposition to the Traditional Mass is not born of fear, the chilling idea that all the destruction he and his generation were a party to since 1970 was for no good purpose, and that a new generation of faithful Catholics wants to go back to the Traditional Mass they have been told has been consigned to history. Think about it, my lord.

Read the Motu Proprio; know your rights!

Read More...

Summary only...

Bishop Drainey rejects kneeling for communion

Local complaints, please. You can quote Redemptionis Sacramentum, Section 91: it is not licit to deny Holy Communion to any of Christ’s faithful solely on the grounds, for example, that the person wishes to receive the Eucharist kneeling or standing.

Curial Office, 50a The Avenue, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6QT

Tel: 01642 850505 Fax: 01642 851404

E-mail: financialsecretary@dioceseofmiddlesbrough.co.uk

After ticking off a communicant for kneeling to receive Holy Communion, Bishop Drainey of Middlesbrough had the Chair of the Bishop's Council for Liturgy, Fr Gerard Robinson, write as follows: 'Approaching the altar, if one opts to kneel on receiving Holy Communion, rather than showing reverence by means of the communion procession, one is drawing attention to oneself rather than allowing all the attention and reverence be focused on the presence of our Blessed Lord in the Eucharist.'

He refers to the 'definite guidlines for receiving Holy Communion', about the 'Communion Procession' (see it here), from the Bishops of England and Wales website. But this says nothing about kneeling or standing for the reception of communion. Even if it mandated standing, it has been definitively established by Rome, such guidlines CANNOT take away the right of the faithful to receive kneeling. The bishops simply do not have the right to do that.

The individual involved has written to the Papal Nuncio.

Hat-tip to Catholic Truth; see their latest Newsletter. See Fr Z on this issue.

Read More...

Summary only...

Bread-worship in Cumbria

Update: The Tablet has issued a 'clarification': 'We wish to make it clear that the events described in the letter "An Act of Memory" (11 April) did not occur in the parish of Our lady of the Wayside, Grasmere, Cumbria.'

Well, did they happen anywhere else? And why was the letter published?

Update (13/04/09): see comments: the letter may be a hoax. That would indeed be bizarre.

Local action, please (12/04/09). No doubt this will come to the attention of Bishop Patrick O'Donaghue of Lancaster, which includes Cumbria, but Catholics of his diocese should express their concern. Email him: bishop@lancasterrcdiocese.org.uk

St Jean Viannay said that if a parish lacked a priest for 20 years, people would start worshiping animals. In Cumbria, they have done better. Lacking a priest, they have started worshiping bread.

It is not entirely clear what sacramental theology the writer of this letter has; no doubt it is very confused. At one point she seems to have a magical attitude: if you copy the priest's actions, or some of them, the trick will be done. But the underlying attitude is that you can have 'Holy Communion' without an ordained priest, by the exercise, no doubt, of the 'priesthood of the laity'. Why stop there? If you don't need a priest, why do you need a valid Eucharistic Prayer, valid matter (the hosts), or indeed any reference to Jesus Christ? At the moment all these things evoke certain 'feelings' in this congregation, but these will wear off in time.

This is an excellent illustration of the Holy Father's warning that the steps taken to deal with the shortage of priests are undermining the priesthood and leading to further falls in vocations. Leaving aside the appalling sacrilege and idolatry being committed in this Catholic church in Cumbria, this kind of thing is an attack on the very nature of the priesthood. It follows naturally from the institution of lay-led eucharistic services, and these really must stop.

Letter in The Tablet, 11/04/09: Just before our 10 a.m. Sunday Mass, John, one of our eucharistic ministers, explained that our priest had phoned to say that he had trouble with his car and would not be able to get to us. The priest had asked that John lead us in a Liturgy of the Word and then distribute Holy Communion from the tabernacle. Veronica, our other eucharistic minister, then came forward to say that she had taken Holy Communion to the housebound parishioners on Saturday and she thought that there was only one small consecrated host left in the tabernacle.

We had a brief discussion about what we could do. One gentleman said we should just listen to the readings and then go home. A lady suggested we place the one consecrated host on the altar and have a short period of exposition. Another gentleman suggested that we say the rosary. And then a lady spoke up and said “Jesus said, ‘Do this in memory of me’.” We asked her what she had in mind and she explained. And so we listened to the Sunday readings. The eucharistic ministers placed sufficient altar breads, the chalice with wine and a little water on the altar as we have so often seen done by the priest. Then, in unison, we read the second Eucharistic Prayer. We said the Lord’s Prayer, exchanged the sign of peace and shared in Holy Communion. The ministers cleaned the sacred vessels and we all prayed for God’s blessing on each other before leaving.

We have a midweek Mass on Wednesday – when we look forward to explaining to our priest what we felt able to do.

Michelle Street
Lower Grasmere, Cumbria

Read More...

Summary only...

Commemoration of the destruction of Marian shrines

Comment: unfortunately, if the model is any guide, the statue will be hideous. Why did they choose Paul Day? His previous work ranges from mediocre realism to ugly weirdness, and the proposal in this case is completely misconceived. (Don't put walls round a statue. It's not clever and suggestive; it's just going to hide the thing.) Still, it's a nice idea. Here is the organisers' website.

From the Catholic Herald, in part: One of Britain's leading sculptors is to erect a statue of Our Lady and the Child Jesus on the site of London's medieval Marian shrine.

Paul Day will spend a year creating the work, called Mary Most Holy, outside the front entrance of the Church of Our Lady of Willesden, north London. It will commemorate the Marian shrines destroyed during the Reformation.

The sculpture was originally intended to stand on land alongside the River Thames at Chelsea where King Henry VIII ordered the statues taken from 64 Marian shrines to be burned on huge bonfires in 1538.

But Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council denied planning permission at the last minute, forcing the Art and Reconciliation Trust, the charity that commissioned the work, to look elsewhere.

Brent Borough Council has now formally approved the plans.

"As we couldn't have Chelsea the next obvious place was at Willesden," said Frances Scarr, chairwoman of the trust, which was set up to promote awareness of the negative effects iconoclasm can have on culture. "It is a medieval shrine dating back to 939," she said. "It is one of the original shrines. It was the only shrine to Our Lady in London at that time. It even pre-dates Walsingham.

"We now all agree actually that where it is going is more appropriate and will also foster a great deal more prayer. If it had been at Chelsea it would have been in a garden with a lot of other statues but now it is outside a church and a very active church at that."

She said that she was seeking £500,000 in donations to help to pay for the work. "If all goes to plan Paul Day will start on the memorial this September," she said.

See the full story.

Read More...

Summary only...

Islamic students have talk on Mohamed in Catholic chapel

Action: people in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, especially, should complain to Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who has already defended the event, which took place in a supposedly Catholic university, Newman College University, in Birmingham.

Here's his press release: In a statement issued today, Thursday 12 March, Peter Jennings, Press Secretary to the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Birmingham, and the Archdiocese of Birmingham, said: "The chapel at Newman University College, Birmingham, was properly prepared for this event which consisted of two talks and a discussion of an interfaith nature."

Mr Jennings added: "Christian/Muslin dialogue is an important part of the Catholic Church's agenda. College authorities were fully aware of what was taking place."

But Catholic chapels are not intended for use as venues where Islam can be promoted. The talks were described in an email promoting the event as celebrating Mohamed's birthday. They were organised by the Islamic Society of the University, with the approval, we assume, of the feral nun who has the title of 'Chaplain' there (contrary to canon law).

H-T to Holy Smoke: see the original post and the response to Archbishop Nichols' statement.

You can e-mail Peter Jennings, the Archbishop's spokesman, here: imc@peterjennings.co.uk

Or write to here:
Archbishop’s House
8 Shadwell Street
Birmingham
B4 6EY

Read More...

Summary only...

Contemplative nuns in Cornwall

Briefing: some good news for a change. These nuns have the Traditional Mass and the traditional Office and Rule.

From CFNews: A new congregation of Franciscan sisters who follow a strict contemplative rule have taken over a historic former Carmelite convent at Lanherne in Cornwall and are worshipping according to the 1962 Latin Missal.

The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate are congregations approved by Rome who live lives of dynamic poverty.

Their convent is housed in a former manor house that once belonged to the Arundell family. It became home for Carmelite nuns for about 200 years -- the oldest Carmel in England. About seven years ago the nuns decided to leave Lanherne and move to St Helens, b ut were determined to find a contemplative community who would make sure that Lanherne continued as a place of spirituality and prayer. Divine Providence provided an answer : the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate took up residence.

There are twelve sisters at present, most of them in their thirties and forties. The rule is strict. The nuns have been using the 1962 Mass Rite on a daily basis since June 2008. The Conventual Mass is sung daily - the Masses are open to the faithful. They are currently awaiting the publication and delivery of new Traditional breviaries when the Office will be recited according to the Roman Seraphic Breviary (i.e. Franciscan Rite 1962).

Please send your donations to the Reverend Mother, Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate, Lanherne, Newquay, Cornwall TR8 4ER. Cheques should be made payable to the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. All benefactors are prayed for daily and will be sent a copy of the brief history of Lanherne. Mass at Lanherne is offered daily at 8.00 am on all weekdays and at 10.00 am on Sundays and Holy Days. [Telegraph]

Read More...

Summary only...

Go to confession!

H-t Fr Ray Blake.

Read More...

Summary only...

Good Counsel Network event

Please support this if you can.

From CFNews: Good Counsel Network : Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the Good Counsel Network Chapel, Marylebone, London, 

Monday 2nd March : Mass at 12 noon followed by Adoration until Benediction at 4pm. 

Tuesday 3rd March : Mass at 12 c noon followed by Adoration until Benediction at 5pm. 

Wednesday 4th March : Mass at 3pm followed by Adoration until Benediction at 5pm. 

Thursday 5th March : Mass at 12 noon. 

Friday 6th March : Mass at 5pm followed by Adoration until Benediction & 

Mass at 6am Saturday 7th March. 

(NB. You must book if you wish to attend for any part of the night and you must arrive before 10pm. We do hope to book another Benediction to fill the week, call 020 7723 1740 for details) Without Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, we cannot hope to end abortion. As Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said, 'If people spent an hour a week in Eucharistic Adoration, abortion would be ended.' If you are planning to come, please email us or ring 020 7723 1740 to let us know you are coming. If you have already visited our centre and are passing this e mail to friends, please do not give out our address, give our phone number and ask those who are interested to phone and book.

Read More...

Summary only...

Petition for Tablet apology to Fr Finnigan

Action: please sign the petition.

H-T Cathcon.

To:  The Tablet

The purpose of this petition is to demand an apology from Catherine Pepinster (Editor) and Elena Curti (Deputy Editor) to Fr Timothy Finigan for the article entitled, 'That was not my Mass' in the 21st February 2009 edition of your journal. The reason for this demand is the unethical journalism used by Ms Curti to publish the article. The apology can come in either a private letter to Fr Finigan or printed in the next edition of The Tablet.

Sincerely, [the undersigned]

Read More...

Summary only...

Ash Wednesday: fast to end abortion

Action: we heartily endorse this, from the Good Counsel Network.

Via email: Following on from last years National Days of Prayer & Fasting for Life, the Good Counsel Network will continue to promote these Days each month. Would you
therefore please pass the details onto friends or family via e-mail.

On Ash Wednesday 25th February please pray and fast for the end of abortion and
euthanasia.

With over 600 abortions each day in England & Wales please remember that Christ
said, This kind (of demon) can go out by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.(Gospel of Mark 9:29). Your prayer and fasting is urgently needed.

For information on the day of Prayer and Fasting contact:
The Good Counsel Network on 020 7723 1740

Read More...

Summary only...

Tablet attack on Fr Tim Finnigan

Comment: Catholic priest found in South London wearing a cassock! Shock! Traditional Mass provided to those who desire it without depriving anyone of the New Mass! Horror! Money spent on decent vestments as well the church roof, the floor, the heating, the PA system, and the parish hall kitchen! Who'd beleive it?

However it must be true because it is printed in The Tablet. It must be extremely unpleasant for Fr Finnigan and everyone in his parish, to have this vindictive rubbish about the parish spread accross the English-speaking world by the ghastly Elena Curti. Careful reading of the article, however, provides its own vindication of Fr Finnigan's extremely careful and pastorally sensitive approach. She can't accuse him of falling numbers; she can't accuse him of depriving anyone of the New Mass; she can't accuse him of any impropriety: it is all insinuation mixed with things which would only appear shocking to the most sheltered Tablet reader. I mean, he spends money on 'clerical garb'? That would be his own money, of course, but Curti is deeply scandalised simply by the idea of priest not in jeans and a t-shirt. He has asked Mass-goers to talk in the narthex and hall, not in the church, after Mass: this cuts right against her hatred of the concept of the sacred. So many people receive communion kneeling, that those who insist on standing fell self-conscious: now that is a deeply frightening image - that a groundswell of popular devotion could displace irreverence without the involvement of a 'parish liturgy committee' dominated by the shrillest liberal voices.

The Benedictine revolution has a very long way to go: Blackfen is a very unusual parish. But this is how it will go: Blackfen blazes the trail. The fact is that nine parishoners have complained about Fr Finnigan's approach, but 135 go to his Traditional Mass on a Sunday, which has been taking place only since the Motu Proprio came into effect. Do the maths.

See Fr Finnigan's own fisking of the article.

Read More...

Summary only...