Action: please respond to this call from Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, for prayers for our Bishops.
From PEEP (see here) We are praying that all the bishops of England and Wales will recognise this crisis and each take full responsibility for the proper teaching of the Faith in the schools, parishes and seminaries that he, and he alone, is answerable for in his diocese;
• that our bishops will maintain complete obedience to the Holy Father;
• that our bishops will exercise the powers of their office to defend their flocks against heretics, apostates, false prophets and teachers;
• that our bishops will use their authority to correct errors and false teaching;
• that our bishops will foster the spiritual lives of their flocks by word and example.
As failure to do this for the last forty years has caused the ‘genuine crisis' our Rosary crusade could be enough to resolve it, for as St Thomas of Canterbury wrote in a letter to the bishops of England and Wales in 1170,
“God gives no harvest unless what the bishop plants is the Faith of Peter and unless he himself assents to Peter's teaching” .
We suggest that everyone pledges ten Rosaries at least for this intention and those who can manage more, add all they can. We hope to set up a place on our web-site to record your pledges and of course pledges can be sent to us by post. We would like to present the Bishops of England and Wales with this Spiritual Bouquet when they meet next November so you have plenty of time to be really generous .
Tell PEEP of your pledge: proecclesia@hotmail.com
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
PEEP Rosary Crusade
Blessed Alexandrina of Portugal: new website
See the website here.
More Rolheiser dissent - now on suicide
Rolheiser's article, like the last one we commented on, simply has no point of contact with Catholic thinking, or for that matter common sense, about its subject. Since this is suicide, the article is more directly dangerous than usual. Rolheiser's repeated insistence that suicide is a 'disease' is simply half-witted (suicide is an act, or an event, not a state); his insistence that suicides will, regardless of their attitude before death, meet with with mercy from God after it, denies both the reality of free will and God's justice. Overall, the article misses both the Church's teaching and the social reality that suicide is frequently undertaken as a form of attention-seeking, in light of the celebrity status all too often accorded to young suicides by the press.
In an excellent earlier article in the same paper, Freddie Gray sums up (29/02/08): 'We have always understood that there are those who attempt suicide because they are of unsound mind. But for those who commit suicide on impulse, it is a terrible, evil thing to do; we should glamorise or romantise what they do, but neither should we excuse them. For as long as we withhold judgment on any act of self-destruction we'll be condemned to stand around wondering why the fire continues to spread.'
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says this:
2280: Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.
Monday, August 04, 2008
CEDAW committee calls for abortion in NI
Briefing: more from the notorious CEDAW committee at the UN, and more pressure for abortion in Northern Ireland.
From SPUC: A United Nations body is pressing the United Kingdom to extend Britain's liberal abortion law to Northern Ireland. The Committee for the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) calls for a consultation on the matter and urges the UK: "to give consideration to the amendment of the abortion law so as to remove punitive provisions imposed on women who undergo abortion." [Breaking News, 31 July] Mrs Betty Gibson of SPUC Northern Ireland said: "Repeated calls by the CEDAW committee to liberalise abortion in every country which has ratified the treaty only damage the UN's already-poor human rights record. Nowhere in the treaty is abortion mentioned. The UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child recognises that 'the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.' The law in Northern Ireland upholds internationally recognised human rights by providing legal protection for children before birth. The CEDAW committee has no
legitimate interest in abortion law and has no authority to demand that we end the legal protection of unborn children here. In doing so, CEDAW threatens genuine human rights."
Catholic Adoption Agency to give children to homosxual couples
Action: complaints, please, to the bishops involved, especially from Catholics in their dioceses: Archbishop MacDonald of Southwark, Bishop Conry of Arundel and Brighton, and Bishop Hollis of Portsmouth.
This is the worst option: whereas the Leeds agency is closing, the Westminster one is going to test the law in the courts, the Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth and Southwark agency is simply going to change its policy to comply with the law.
From The Catholic News Agency: The largest Catholic adoption agency in England and Wales has decided to implement an adoption policy that does not rule out same-sex couples in the face of new laws that forbid such screening. The change in its adoption policy was made with the full support of the bishops who oversee the agency.
Full story here.
The decision, made by the Catholic Children’s Society of Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth and Southwark (A&BSP) means the society will not turn away any homosexual couples who present themselves as potential adopters.
Terry Connor, chief executive of the society, explained to The Universe that any changes would not start until January and were a direct result of the recent Sexual Orientation Regulations which enforced “rights” for same sex couples who wish to adopt.
Consecrated host stolen and descecrated
Action: please join the act of reparation being organised by the church concerned on the evening of 6th August - in spirit if not in person. The theft of a consecrated host is, unfortunately, not so uncommon, and is a powerful argument against permitting communion in the hand. In this case it has become widely known from being filmed and shown on YouTube. YouTube's hosting of this film is itself scandalous.
From Fr Julian Large of the London Oratory: EVENING OF REPARATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS IN RESPONSE TO THE RECENT DESECRATION OF THE SACRED HOST STOLEN FROM THE LONDON ORATORY
ADOREMUS IN AETERNUM SANCTISSIMUM SACRAMENTUM
Dear Friends,
A very disturbing film has appeared on the internet. It shows a young man taking Holy Communion in his hand at the London Oratory High Mass on Sunday 13th July. The second part of the film (probably made on the mobile telephone camera of an accomplice) shows the same person desecrating this Host at home. He claims to have taken the Blessed Sacrament “hostage” in protest at the Church’s doctrine on sexual morality. An “update” accompanying the film says that the Host was later sent to a notoriously aggressive atheist and science professor in America, who subjected the Blessed Sacrament to further desecration. Close observation of the film and of the facts seems to suggest that this is not an elaborate hoax, but depicts something that really occurred.
On Wednesday 6th August there will be an EVENING OF REPARATION IN THE PRESENCE OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. This will begin with Holy Mass in the Little Oratory at, 7pm followed by Adoration with prayers, litanies and silent meditation until 10pm.
We very much hope that you will be able to join us. I realise that many people will be out of town at this time of year, in which case please unite yourselves with us spiritually in your prayers. Meanwhile, we encourage everyone to make personal acts of reparation during the next days, for all of the outrages against the Blessed Sacrament around the world - Rosaries, visits to Catholic churches, and any sacrifices we can offer, are all suitable. Please also pray for the conversion of the culprits, that they will answer God’s call to repentance and open their hearts to receive His forgiveness. With prayers and good wishes,
Father Julian Large
Catholic Truth Scotland: new blog
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Adoption proposal condemned
Briefing: pro-lifers always, and rightly, prefer children to be given up by their mothers for adoption, than for them to be killed. It is important to bear in mind that this is a (legitimate) use of the 'lesser of two evils' argument. Where abortion is illegal, as in Ireland, the right of children to be brought up by their natural parents should be protected by law, at least when the parents are married.
From SPUC: The Crisis Pregnancy Agency in Ireland has suggested that the law should be changed to allow married couples to have unwanted children adopted. Ms Caroline Spillane was speaking to a parliamentary committee and also described her organisation's campaign to get young people to delay their first sexual intercourse. [Irish Times, 24 July] Patrick Buckley of European Life Network said of the adoption proposal: "This suggestion is completely unacceptable and should be resisted. It is contrary to both the Irish Constitution and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. If families are in financial difficulty, it would be more appropriate for the state to provide adequate assistance rather than breaking them up. Every child has a right to be raised in his or her family of origin."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Pope on clerical abuse
Briefing: the strength of the Pope's recent condemnation of clerical sex abuse at Sydney is worth noting. The UK is fare from free of these problems.
From Damian Thompson, in part (see his full post): It's true that the heyday of sexual assault by Catholic clergy was a long time ago, during the 1970s. But the heyday of the cover-ups was much more recent. Many bishops alive today were up to their necks in it; interestingly, liberal and conservative prelates were equally guilty.
Pope John Paul II did not respond adequately to the revelations that surfaced during his pontificate: in his confused old age, he even publicly honoured the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Fr Marcial Maciel, long after it was clear that the guy was a sexual predator. It was Benedict who finally took action against the disgusting old hypocrite.
The Pope's strongly worded apology in Australia is part and parcel of his reforms of the whole Church: it cannot be divorced from his determination to breathe new life into moribund structures. The Catholic Church is emphatically not a nest of paedophiles, as its enemies claim; but for years it has been saddled with lazy and smug prelates - not just liberals, I hasten to add - whose sense of their own moral superiority helped protect sexual predators.
Do the bishops of the world and the administrators of the Vatican really share the Pope's deep sense of shame at what happened? I'm still not convinced.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Anglicans have 'spiritual Alzheimers', says Cardinal
Briefing. This is hilarious, and a welcome hint that the Vatican might start giving the ramshakle ecclesiatical structure which is the Anglican Communion the attention it deserves: very little.
From Damian Thompson: A senior Vatican Cardinal visiting the Lambeth Conference has delivered an incredible rebuff to its 650 Anglican bishops, telling them they are heading towards "spiritual Alzheimer's" and "ecclesial Parkinson's".
The comments by Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for Evangelisation, must count as one of the rudest things a Vatican prelate has said to Anglicans since the dawn of the ecumenical era.
See the full post.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Internet porn not blocked
Briefing
From CFNews: Almost a million UK households could access websites known to host images of child sex abuse despite a government pledge made two years ago to stop access to paedophile sites.
On Saturday night a coalition of leading children's charities, including Barnardo's, the NSPCC and National Children's Homes, described the situation as 'completely unacceptable'. They have written to the Home Office minister in charge of crime reduction, Vernon Coaker, urging him to take immediate steps to ensure all telecom companies offering internet access block customers from being able to see images that in some cases show children as young as a year old being sexually abused.
Around 5 per cent of consumer broadband connections can access the images because their internet service providers (ISPs) chose not to subscribe to a scheme introduced by the Internet Watch Foundation to bar known paedophile websites.
The list is available to all ISPs and companies such as BT and Vodafone have signed up to take it. Updated twice daily, it contains between 800 and 1,200 live child-abuse websites at any one time. But the revelation that some internet companies are refusing to sign up to the list undermines a key government pledge to tackle paedophile material on the internet.
In May 2006, Coaker said he hoped all internet companies would sign up to the scheme and that, if there was not 100 per cent take-up by the end of last year, the government would look to compel the industry to 'face up to its responsibilities'.
In their letter to Coaker, the children's charities said it was now time for the government 'to draw a line under this issue' by getting 100 per cent compliance from the industry. [Observer]
Monday, July 28, 2008
Liverpool priests defy their bishop: and the Pope
Briefing. This is an attempt to spike the Pope's policy of liturgical renewal, and of welcoming various traditionalists, Anglicans and the Orthodox into full communion. These priests would rather vegetate in the crumbling ruins the liberals have made of the English Church.
From CFNews (H-t Damian Thompson): Last month, it emerged that the Archbishop of Liverpool, Patrick Kelly, was preparing to turn the ailing church of St Vincent de Paul, Toxteth - designed by Pugin - into Britain's first parish dedicated to the traditional Latin Mass. Not so fast. Archbishop Kelly has now told parishioners: 'On Tuesday, 15 July, the proposal was presented, as Canon Law requires, to the Council of Priests. I have decided not to go ahead with the change that I proposed. Thank you for your courtesy and understanding, Please pray for me.'
And that's it: the Archbishop's full explanation of why an exciting and imaginative scheme has been scrapped. The plan also met the request by the Vatican that centrally located churches should be found for people who have requested the ancient liturgy. But the 'Council of Priests', apparently, thought differently. [Damien Thompson, Daily Telegraph]
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Policeman faces charges of homophobia
Briefing.
From CWNews, via CFNews: A decorated British police officer has filed a complaint before a local employment tribunal, charging that he has been harassed by his superiors because of his Christian beliefs.
Graham Cogman, a 15-year veteran of the Norfolk police force, says that he has been subjected to complaints and investigations because he strongly resisted a campaign to encourage support for 'Gay History Month' among the members of that force. Cogman has already been forced to pay a fine of £1,200 for alleged violations of department regulations, because he encouraged colleagues to resist the department's pro-homosexual campaign. He now faces further disciplinary hearings on charges that he has promoted 'homophobic' viewpoints.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Catholic Directory 2009
Action: letters to the General Secretary of the Bishops Conference (see below): the Catholic Directory, according to the Bishops themselves, should not have organisations in it which are not Catholic. Decisions on who is to be included in the new edition are made in August.
Most notable among non-Catholic organisations in the 2008 Directory are
Progressio: (listed among 'International/Third World Catholic Agencies', p680) it does not claim to be Catholic; it opposes Catholic teaching on condoms and AIDS; it supports pro-abortion groups in South America.
See our dossier, and several posts by John Smeaton, the National Director of SPUC
Marriage Care: wrongly called 'Catholic Marriage Care' in the heading on p652 of the Directory, where it has a section all to itself, it no longer calls itself Catholic. It opposes Catholic teaching on Civil Partnerships and homosexuality, seeing no difference between counselling homosexuals in an objectively immoral relationship and counselling a married couple. The Chairman, Terry Prendergast, is on record (in The Tablet) as being in favour of sex outside marriage.
See our dossier.
Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support (CAPS): (listed among 'Catholic Societies of England and Wales', p670) founded by Martin Pendergast, it is closely linked to the Roman Catholic Caucus of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement. The LGCM explicitly rejects Church teaching on sexuality. CAPS shared a stall with the RCCLGCM at the recent LondonPride 'gay pride' march. It will not subscribe to a declaration of Church teaching on homosexuality. Pendergast tell us "Our line, whether in CAPS or the Lesbian and Gay Caucus, is that in reaching moral decisions as Catholics you respect the tradition of the church and listen to what its leaders are saying, but at the end of the day you have to reach those decisions yourself." (see here).
See our dossier.
In 2001 the Bishops Conference published a short document called 'Criteria for entry into the Catholic Directory', available from this page of their website, as a pdf (here). This tells us that 'ecclesiastical recognition is given to organisations so that they may be publicly known as both Catholic and of national significance'. It goes on to specify as the first criterion for entry:
'A fundamental commitment to the teaching and practice of the Catholic Church, particularly as expressed by the documents of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church.'
This is explained in more detail: 'The word 'fundamental' relates to the key objectives of the organisation as formally written and as corporately pursued. It is tolerant of some variety of emphasis in expression and in operation, but not of deviation from ultimate loyalty to the Church, nationally or internationally.'
It is patently clear that Progressio and Marriage Care, which explicitly state that they are not (any longer) Catholic organisations on their websites, do not fulfil this criterion. It is equally clear that CAPS, whose work in based on the rejection (or at least the ignoring) of Church teaching on sexuality, does not either.
Please point this out to:
Mgr Andrew Summersgil, General Secretary,
Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
39 Eccleston Square
LONDON
SW1V 1BX
Friday, July 25, 2008
Newman smeared
Update: see the excellent post by Fr Tim Finnigan here.
Briefing (20/07/08): it is a well-known trick of homosexual activists to claim that any close friendship of a person in the past (who can't answer back) is evidence of homosexuality: David and Jonathan, Our Lord and St John, etc. etc.. This tired old tactic is never too boring or unconvincing to be tried again: now Cardinal Newman's great friendship with Ambrose St John (and - shock! - his celibacy) is being slyly suggested as evidence of his being subject to a disordered sexuality. The utter absurdity of this idea speaks for itself.
The very fact that the Telegraph should ask Martin Pendergast, the well-known dissident gay activitist and former Catholic priest, for a quote on this subject shows the damage done to the Church, and the insults heaped on her saints, by individuals and groups claiming to be Catholic who reject her teaching.
For the Telegraph article, see here. For more on Pendergast see here.
CAPS/Positive Catholics: Dossier
This switching between different front organisations is characteristic of the founder and usual spokesman of CAPS (and previously of Catholic AIDS Link), ex-Carmelite priest Martin Pendergast (officially the Executive Secretary of CAPS) who also has the 'Roman Catholic Caucus of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement' and the 'Soho Masses Pastoral Council' to look after. While not always holding the highest-ranking position within these groups, it is he who usually talks to the press.
The point of having all these groups is that Pendergast and his friends can present different faces in different contexts. As a leading figure of the RCCLGCM, and its parent organisation, the LGCM, Pendergast was the one to read a statement, to be endorsed by their annual conference, condemning the Catholic bishops for their opposition to the Sexual Orientation Regulations; the conference banner described Pope Benedict as a homophobe (see our dossier on RCCLGCM/SMPC). The RCCLGCM could never get episcopal approval for Masses targeted at homosexual Catholics, but the same people calling themselves the SMPC have done exactly that. With CAPS they have gone a step further, being listed in the national Catholic Directory as a 'Catholic' organisation.
Pendergast is well known for his dissent from Catholic teaching. His long-term relationship with Julian Filochowski was formalised as a civil partnership in defiance of the Pope's condemnation of these, and his anniversary was celebrated by his friends with a book full of dissent from Church teaching; recently he has tried to claim Cardinal Newman was a homosexual. Wearing his CAPS hat, Pendergast makes little effort to hide his attitude to Church teaching. In the on-line newsletter 'Positive Nation', he was annoyed to read a letter reminding readers of Christian principles with regard to homosexuality:
I am not going to say my opinion, because the word of the Lord speaks for itself. When we live with a sin or are weak in an area, we should confess and admit our wrong and ask God for strength to forgo that issue. Having sex with the same sex is wrong in the eyes of the Lord, but we all have free will. I do not hate gays, we are all sinners that require God’s mercy and Grace.
All we need to do is pray that God removes us from our weakness. When God sees your willingness to be free from a sin, he will surely provide the strength and will forgive.
But please, gay people shouldn’t think it is Christians who impose this, it is in the word. And the word is our light. Pamela Murshore (see here).
He wrote in reply:
She appears to read the Bible as if it were a book of rules to cover every occasion. Yet the Bible is the collected stories and reflections of peoples moving out of oppression and slavery into ‘the freedom of the children of God.’ It reflects the common human struggle to become more fully human, rejoicing in all that we are, including our sexualities.
Out of the love, caring, respect and solidarity so evident in the gay community’s first responses to HIV (and not just to gay men), is it not possible God might be showing a heterosexually dominant world new patterns of human loving? Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support would strongly reject the false but no doubt sincere sentiments which Pamela seeks to dress up as biblical doctrine.
Martin Pendergast, Executive secretary - Catholics for Aids prevention and support.
The notion of 'rejoicing' in homosexuality is key to the attitude of the dissident Catholic circle to which CAPS belongs. It is obviously at odds with the teaching of the Church that homosexuality is 'objectively disordered' (see Catechism of the Catholic Church 2358). It is precisely 'rejoicing' in homosexuality, and more specifically the immoral gay subculture, which the LondonPride march is all about, and it is no surprise to see CAPS as an official participant, sharing a stall with RCCLGCM year after year (here's one report, here's another).
In an interview in Positive Nation, Pendergast tells us that Church teaching is optional as a guide: "Our line, whether in CAPS or the Lesbian and Gay Caucus, is that in reaching moral decisions as Catholics you respect the tradition of the church and listen to what its leaders are saying, but at the end of the day you have to reach those decisions yourself."
There are innumerable groups working with AIDS sufferers which have nothing but contempt for the teaching of the Church. CAPS/Positive Catholics is unusual in attempting to reassure Catholics, who might be in some doubt about it, that the immoral lifestyle which contributes to the spread of AIDS is not wrong even from a Catholic point of view. All of us, not least when we have the reminder of mortality provided by an incurable disease, need to examine ourselves in the light of the teaching of the Church, and to repent and go to confession, but CAPS is doing its best to cut some of the most vulnerable Catholics off from this. It is an appalling situation that their claim to be 'Catholic' is being supported by the Catholic Directory.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 'The Pastoral Care of the Homosexual Person', 1986, has this to say: (See here for the full text.17:'All support should be withdrawn from any organisations which seek to undermine the teaching of the Church, which are ambiguous about it, or which neglect it entirely.'
Pseudo-Catholic organisations gain power from their assumed identity as Catholic, and use it to cause scandal. They must be exposed for what they are.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Telegraph celebrates IVF
Briefing. The suffering - most often fruitless - of women undergoing IVF, and the health problems of IVF babies, should also be borne in mind, as well as the moral wrong of separating procreation from sex. See the Telegraph here.
From SPUC: A British national newspaper has published articles effectively celebrating the 30th anniversary of IVF. The Daily Telegraph describes the invention of IVF, the total number of children born by IVF, and how IVF has made genetic screening, donor conception, 'saviour siblings' and same-sex parenting possible. [Telegraph, 22 July] Anthony Ozimic, SPUC political secretary, commented: "The Telegraph says only in passing that there are ethical questions posed by IVF. We hope that the Telegraph will be fairer in the coming days and will consider the number of embryonic children who have been destroyed following IVF and its other damaging effects."
Another attempt to bring abortion to Norther Ireland
From SPUC: There is a proposal in the UK parliament to extend Britain's liberal abortion régime to Northern Ireland. Ms Diane Abbott, Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, England, and colleagues from other parties have tabled an amendment to the government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. All of the province's main parties oppose such a move, which may be debated in October. [BBC, 23 July] Mrs Betty Gibson, chairwoman of SPUC Northern Ireland, said: "This attempt to impose abortion on Northern Ireland is extremist, anti-democratic and arrogant. The leaders of all four major political parties and the four main Churches right across Northern Ireland's traditional divide have written to the government and all Westminster MPs calling on them to allow the issue of abortion law to be decided by the Province's devolved government." SPUC is offering free badges to people in Northern Ireland for them to wear to show their opposition to the proposal. [SPUC, 23 July]
Monday, July 21, 2008
BBC bias against Pope on WYD
Many people have noticed the remarkable feat achieved by the BBC: that the huge crowds of enthusiastic young Catholics praying and listening to the Pope have been largely ignored in favour of the sex abuse issue. The Pope's meeting with victims of sex abuse, and his courageous condemnation, and apology, for the abuse, have been taken by the BBC as an excuse to talk about almost nothing else - with the partial exception of noting a handful of homosexual activists handing out condoms.
As Fr Finnigan writes, Viewers relying on the BBC to find out what is happening in the world would gain the impression that the World Youth Day was an act of a defensive and beleaguered religious leader rather than a joyful celebration of youthful faith and Christian hope.
(And see here for how the BBC was criticised by an Australian newspaper for its coverage.)
Fr Ray Blake comments:I don't know what has appeared on the television but here the reporting on BBC Radio 4 has been appalling, one or two phrases of the Pope have been reported, but practically all the emphasis has been placed on the Pope's expression of shame for sexual abuse by clergy, when that has not been reported, there has been a great deal of emphasis on protesters against the Papal visit.
This summary - with accompanying pictures - by the BBC says it all. In between harping on about sex abuse and homosexual activists, it concedes that the event 'will be regarded as a resounding success by the Vatican'.
Regarded? By the Vatican? And what about by the BBC?
But the BBC's Nick Bryant, in Sydney, says that overall the event appeared spectacular, and the young people who attended appeared to have been energised by the Pope.
It appeared spectacular? What's the difference between appearing spectacular and being spectacular? The young people appeared energised? Why not ask them and find out whether they were really energised?
Blogger priests to be gagged?
Briefing and comment: this is just a rumour, but it is not surprising that the Bishops of England and Wales are considering this - these priestly blogs rarely advance the kind of liberal slush which we get from organs controlled by the Bishops - but a heavy-handed attempt at censorship is likely to be counter-productive. A light-handed attempt won't make any impact at all, except to make the bishops a laughing-stock.
Valle Adurni notes the control bishops are used to having over Catholic publications, a control which is in danger of becoming irrelevant. Even the more conservative ones (like the Catholic Herald) are careful to avoid too strident criticism, since parish churches are they main distribution channel. As it is the Catholic Herald is simply not to be found in the churches of less conservative priests - no surprise that the more liberal Universe vastly outsells it.
Hat-tip to Mulier Fortis.
