Catholic Paterfamilias - 21.8.2011
http://catholicpaterfamilias.blogspot.com/2011/08/little-bit-more-of-jigsaw-or-should-i.html
Over on James Preece's blog things seem to have got a bit warm with Peter Jennings getting very excited about some photos.
A few interesting facts about Mr Jennings:
No public event of any note seems to take place without Peter getting a set of commemorative stamps issued somewhere in the world with endorsement from some bishop or another;
He likes to make his feelings about people very clear;
He's one of Vincent Nichols' boys; and
He was Press Secretary for the Newman Cause.
So, there we have it: an occasionally potty mouthed philatelist press secretary with a predilection for serving prelates.
Now I wonder what Peter knew about what was happening at the Birmingham Oratory when the troubles there began all those months ago and I wonder who he told?
Showing posts with label Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Archbishop Vincent Nichols. Show all posts
Tuesday, 23 August 2011
Saturday, 16 July 2011
What do Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Britney Spears have in common?
Catholic Paterfamilias blog - 15.7.2011
www.catholicpaterfamilias.blogspot.com
Well, first our man in purple did his "who knows what's down the road" routine and now he's topped it off by allowing Quest to use one of his gaffs for a get together.
What's that got to do with Britney Spears? Well, I just can't get this song title out of my mind when thinking of the good Archbishop.
Other news:
On a Nuchurch Deathstar, far far away in galaxy about which I know little I have heard that one of Lord Vader's trusty lieutenants has a weighty tome entitled "The case against Obi-Wan Kenobi."
May the Nuchurch farce not cause you to lose your sense of humour.....
www.catholicpaterfamilias.blogspot.com
Well, first our man in purple did his "who knows what's down the road" routine and now he's topped it off by allowing Quest to use one of his gaffs for a get together.
What's that got to do with Britney Spears? Well, I just can't get this song title out of my mind when thinking of the good Archbishop.
Other news:
On a Nuchurch Deathstar, far far away in galaxy about which I know little I have heard that one of Lord Vader's trusty lieutenants has a weighty tome entitled "The case against Obi-Wan Kenobi."
May the Nuchurch farce not cause you to lose your sense of humour.....
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Earthquake at the Birmingham Oratory?
As thousands of people evacuate Rome over fear of tomorrow's predicted 'big one', Free the B3: Justice for Fr Fenlon looks back (with the benefit of hindsight) at another earthquake...
"Earthquake at the Birmingham Oratory: Fr Chavasse steps down as Provost and 'Actor' of the Newman Cause" by Damian Thompson - Daily Telegraph blogs - 15.12.2009
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100019970/earthquake-at-the-birmingham-oratory-fr-chavasse-steps-down-as-provost-and-actor-of-the-newman-cause/
The article opens with the question "what on earth is going on at the Birmingham Oratory?" and it outlines the changes taking place at the Oratory as per the newsletter.
The second paragraph is interesting. "Rumours of trouble at the Oratory have been vigorously circulated for months, and it’s no secret that there was a furious falling-out between the Oratory and its former press officer, Peter Jennings, who was also press officer to the then Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols."
Peter Jennings, what this Peter Jennings?
Thompson goes on to ask two very pertinent questions followed by the remark "I'm sure Archbishop Nichols could tell us, though I don’t think he will."
Archbishop Nichols? Hang on, didn't Jack Valero tell us this was an internal matter?
As for the earthquake in Rome, well Raffaele Bendani's prediction for a quake in 1924 was 2 days out, so that would suggest tremors on 13th May...
"Earthquake at the Birmingham Oratory: Fr Chavasse steps down as Provost and 'Actor' of the Newman Cause" by Damian Thompson - Daily Telegraph blogs - 15.12.2009
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100019970/earthquake-at-the-birmingham-oratory-fr-chavasse-steps-down-as-provost-and-actor-of-the-newman-cause/
The article opens with the question "what on earth is going on at the Birmingham Oratory?" and it outlines the changes taking place at the Oratory as per the newsletter.
The second paragraph is interesting. "Rumours of trouble at the Oratory have been vigorously circulated for months, and it’s no secret that there was a furious falling-out between the Oratory and its former press officer, Peter Jennings, who was also press officer to the then Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols."
Peter Jennings, what this Peter Jennings?
Thompson goes on to ask two very pertinent questions followed by the remark "I'm sure Archbishop Nichols could tell us, though I don’t think he will."
Archbishop Nichols? Hang on, didn't Jack Valero tell us this was an internal matter?
As for the earthquake in Rome, well Raffaele Bendani's prediction for a quake in 1924 was 2 days out, so that would suggest tremors on 13th May...
Monday, 7 February 2011
Monday, 31 January 2011
Archbishop Vincent Nichols visits Monument to White Rose Movement
www.ccee.ch
Fr Dermot Fenlon, who has an interest in Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Movement, has spoken of the link between the movement and Cardinal John Henry Newman. In a speech given at the international symposium on Newman in Milan, March 2009, Fr Fenlon explained that Sophie, a Lutheran, was introduced to the works of Newman by a scholar called Theodor Haecker, who had written to the Birmingham Oratory in 1920 asking for copies of Newman's work, which he wanted to translate into German.
 |
Monument to the members of the Whilte Rose Movement |
His Excellency, Monsignor Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster has this weekend attended the CCEE European Congress on University Pastoral Care, presiding over the CCEE Committee Catechesis-School-University, which took place in Munich.
During the weekend, delegates watched the film Sophie Scholl - the Final Days. They also visited the Monument to the members of the White Rose Movement.
 |
Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl & Christoph Probst were executed by guillotine on 22nd February 1943 |
Fr Dermot Fenlon, who has an interest in Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Movement, has spoken of the link between the movement and Cardinal John Henry Newman. In a speech given at the international symposium on Newman in Milan, March 2009, Fr Fenlon explained that Sophie, a Lutheran, was introduced to the works of Newman by a scholar called Theodor Haecker, who had written to the Birmingham Oratory in 1920 asking for copies of Newman's work, which he wanted to translate into German.
 |
Monument in front of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christophe Probst distributed resistence leaflets. |
Sunday, 26 September 2010
'Mean-spirited'
Catholic Family News - 26.9.2010
http://www.cfnews.org.uk/
In his Telegraph blog, Damian Thompson has commented on Father Fenlon's article about Newman's burial, published by STANDPOINT.
'Not by coincidence, I think, no sooner has the Pope left Britain than Fr Dermot Fenlon, one of the "Birmingham Three" Oratorians mysteriously sent into exile, has broken his silence in an article for next month's Standpoint magazine. . . . It's about Newman's burial and, reading between the lines, I'm guessing that a bitter dispute about the mortal remains of Blessed John Henry Newman formed part of this controversy. What isn't clear is whether Fr Fenlon thinks the Church did the wrong thing in attempting to transfer Cardinal Newman's remains to the Oratory church . . .Is Fr Fenlon trying to send a message to the Catholic world? It's hard to conclude otherwise, given that set into the body of his text is a short article by his Cambridge contemporary and friend Ruth Dudley Edwards. She has written before about the mystery of the "Birmingham Three", but on this occasion I can't believe that Standpoint would have printed her piece next to Fenlon's without his permission. [Update: Daniel Johnson, Editor of Standpoint, says in the thread below that Fr Fenlon didn't read Ruth Dudley Edwards's piece before publication and wasn't involved in the decision to run it. I'm assuming he didn't object to it, though.]
According to Dudley Edwards, Dermot Fenlon "gave up a glittering academic career to be a priest" and lived at the Birmingham Oratory for 20 years before being "suddenly ejected [and] banned from the Newman beatification". She adds:
Officialdom continued the policy of silence and concealment even as the blogosphere came alive with speculation and protest: a spokesman spoke opaquely of disunity within the community. Yet Roman Catholic insiders suggest that it was the Birmingham Three's defence of traditional teachings on sexual morality, and their belief that Church should challenge State, that posed an unwelcome intellectual challenge to the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, during his time as Archbishop of Birmingham . . .
One Oratorian has been transported to South Africa; another has been sent abroad for three years to study; Dermot Fenlon, who is 68 and in frail health, is rumoured to have been banned from his home for five years . . . (G)iven that Fr Fenlon is a distinguished Newman scholar, long-standing member of the Birmingham Oratory and furthermore in frail health, it seems mean-spirited indeed to have excluded him from the beatification and the Holy Father's visit to his community'.
http://www.cfnews.org.uk/
In his Telegraph blog, Damian Thompson has commented on Father Fenlon's article about Newman's burial, published by STANDPOINT.
'Not by coincidence, I think, no sooner has the Pope left Britain than Fr Dermot Fenlon, one of the "Birmingham Three" Oratorians mysteriously sent into exile, has broken his silence in an article for next month's Standpoint magazine. . . . It's about Newman's burial and, reading between the lines, I'm guessing that a bitter dispute about the mortal remains of Blessed John Henry Newman formed part of this controversy. What isn't clear is whether Fr Fenlon thinks the Church did the wrong thing in attempting to transfer Cardinal Newman's remains to the Oratory church . . .Is Fr Fenlon trying to send a message to the Catholic world? It's hard to conclude otherwise, given that set into the body of his text is a short article by his Cambridge contemporary and friend Ruth Dudley Edwards. She has written before about the mystery of the "Birmingham Three", but on this occasion I can't believe that Standpoint would have printed her piece next to Fenlon's without his permission. [Update: Daniel Johnson, Editor of Standpoint, says in the thread below that Fr Fenlon didn't read Ruth Dudley Edwards's piece before publication and wasn't involved in the decision to run it. I'm assuming he didn't object to it, though.]
According to Dudley Edwards, Dermot Fenlon "gave up a glittering academic career to be a priest" and lived at the Birmingham Oratory for 20 years before being "suddenly ejected [and] banned from the Newman beatification". She adds:
Officialdom continued the policy of silence and concealment even as the blogosphere came alive with speculation and protest: a spokesman spoke opaquely of disunity within the community. Yet Roman Catholic insiders suggest that it was the Birmingham Three's defence of traditional teachings on sexual morality, and their belief that Church should challenge State, that posed an unwelcome intellectual challenge to the Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, during his time as Archbishop of Birmingham . . .
One Oratorian has been transported to South Africa; another has been sent abroad for three years to study; Dermot Fenlon, who is 68 and in frail health, is rumoured to have been banned from his home for five years . . . (G)iven that Fr Fenlon is a distinguished Newman scholar, long-standing member of the Birmingham Oratory and furthermore in frail health, it seems mean-spirited indeed to have excluded him from the beatification and the Holy Father's visit to his community'.
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
Vatican newspaper helps Tony Blair steal Newman's legacy
John Smeaton's Blog - 15.9.2010
http://www.spuc-director.org.uk/
L'Osservatore Romano, the semi-official Vatican newspaper, has today published an article by Tony Blair entitled "The Pope and Newman". The "Whispers in the Loggia" blog has published its own English translation of the Italian edition. Here is the key content from the article:
"Politicians are obliged from time to time to conceal the full truth, to bend it and even distort it".
The truth is that Mr Blair is cleverly abusing the nuances of Newman's opinions on the primacy of conscience and on the development of doctrine. Mr Blair is trying to steal Newman's clothing in order to leverage a change to Catholic teaching on homosexuality (and no doubt on other pro-life/pro-family issues). In April last year Mr Blair told the gay magazine Attitude that the Catholic Church must change its "entrenched attitudes to homosexuality".
As Monsignor Michel Schooyans, one of the Vatican's leading scholars, has pointed out in a masterly analysis, Mr Blair, with an anti-life, anti-family agenda, is in fact seeking to undermine the Catholic faith and religion generally:
"The fresh 'convert' [Blair] does not hesitate to explain to the pope not only what he must do, but also what he must believe! ... So now we are back in the time of Hobbes, if not of Cromwell: it is civil power that defines what one must believe ... [T]he nanny state [which] has multiplied subjective 'rights' of attribution, for example in the areas of divorce, sexuality, the family, population, etc. ... Religious institutions must also be reformed to adapt them to the changes. Some religious figures must be taken hostage and made to approve the new secularized 'faith', that of the 'civil partnership' ... In the case of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation [JS: see my blog about it], this is also a matter of promoting one and only one religious confession, which a universal, global political power would impose on the entire world".
Mr Blair has been ably assisted in his assault upon Catholic teaching by his wife Cherie (pictured) and her vocal campaigns in favour of contraception and leading pro-abortion organisations.
I am disgusted by L'Osservatore Romano's decision to give such prominence to Mr Blair and his manipulative agenda.This is not the first time that the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has betrayed the pro-life movement. In September last year it published an effusive double-page spread interview with Mr Blair; and earlier in 2009 it published articles favourable to Barack Obama, with the editor even declaring that "Obama is not a pro-abortion president".
To my mind it is no coincidence that Tony Blair's shameful attempted theft of Newman's legacy follows so soon after Fr Dermot Fenlon, one of the world's leading expert defenders of Newman's authentic legacy, has been sentenced to five years' exile from his home, Newman's Birmingham Oratory. Fr Fenlon, along with the other Birmingham Oratorians, were at the forefront of warning Catholics about the Blairs' agenda. As the Newman Cause blog said in November:
"Newman is indeed the great teacher of the rights and duties of conscience. It is of the greatest importance that his teaching is not used to make him the patron of Catholics, like Cherie Blair and others, who in the name of conscience practice dissent from the Church’s teaching ..."
And as the Newman cause blog said in October:
"Since becoming a Catholic, Mr Blair has refused every invitation [JS: see my blog about this] to disown and repent of [his anti-life/anti-family political record] ... [S]ome commentators, including Catholics, have sought to justify it by saying that Mr Blair’s silence is because his support for abortion, embryo experimentation, civil partnerships and gay adoption has always been for him, and remains now, a matter of conscience. Now this is the danger in The Tablet’s association of Newman and conscience with the case of Tony Blair. If as a Catholic Mr Blair thinks that his conscience directs him to support such positions, to invoke Newman in defence of his stance would be a travesty. For Newman, no Catholic can be in good conscience in supporting the positions Mr Blair espoused. The impossibility of conscience, enlightened by Faith, justifying adherence to evil is one of the most important of Newman’s lessons for our times."
Since the removal of Fr Fenlon and the Birmingham Three from the Oratory, the Newman Cause blog has had no substantial articles (in fact, the blog stopped altogether in July); and the posts on the Oratory website (12 March, 20 March) which so powerfully challenged episcopal policies on abortion and sex education have also stopped. The ending of these articles coincided with the parachuting in of Jack Valero by the Catholic bishops' conference of England and Wales to be press officer for the Newman Cause and who reports to Archbishop Nichols's press secretary.
Yesterday's edition of Zenit contains an extraordinary interview with Andrea Tornielli, a noted Vatican watcher. Here is a key extract:
Zenit: According to the Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste, there exists a parallel magisterium among ecclesiastics, professors of theology in the seminaries, priests and laypeople who "muffle Benedict XVI's teachings, do not read the documents of his magisterium, write and speak arguing exactly the opposite of what he says, launch pastoral and cultural initiatives, on the terrain of bioethics or in ecumenical dialogue, for example, in open divergence with what he teaches." Is this true or is Archbishop Crepaldi mistaken?
Tornielli: I believe that Archbishop Crepaldi is right. It is obvious -- just take a look at many parishes, participate at conferences, cultural gatherings, etc., and you will see how Benedict XVI's magisterium (but this happened before too, with other Popes) is not transmitted to the faithful, but is instead sometimes openly contradicted.
I wrote in June:
"Could it be that external forces [JS: outside the Birmingham Oratory but inside the Church] who want a Catholic Church which is inclusive of the Blairs' anti-life, anti-family positions are bringing pressures to bear in [the Birmingham Three] situation? How very convenient it would be, especially in the run-up to Pope Benedict's visit, if uncomfortable issues such as the teaching of the Church on contraception, abortion and on homosexuality were also safely hidden away?"
It seems to me that the Blairs, Archbishop Nichols and the Catholic bishops' conference of which he is president are key players in this "parallel magisterium". (Jack Valero, in his bishops' conference role, has even denied the very existence of such a "parallel magisterium"). Ownership of the interpretation of Newman is one of the "parallel magisterium's" key goals. It would suit the purposes of the "parallel magisterium" to move to divide and conquer at the Birmingham Oratory, especially targeting Fr Dermot Fenlon, the champion of the true Magisterium's authentic interpretation of Newman's legacy.
Concerned readers of this blog are therefore heartily urged to join the faithful Newman experts who are standing up for Fr Fenlon: Dr Roman Siebenrock of the German International Newman Society, and Jakob and Dr Stephanie Maria Knab.
http://www.spuc-director.org.uk/
- It's evident that for the life of the Church today, the reflections of Newman on the development of ideas have implications of no small significance."
- " ... Newman defined the consensus of the entire 'body of the faithful' on doctrinal questions as 'the voice of the infallible Church.' I ask myself if this voice is likewise taken seriously enough or if we have we have understood fully the implications of these ideas. The tendency of some religious leaders to insert a great number of differing ideas in one big package with the label of 'secularism' and then consider it as something of the Left creates divisions in pluralist societies. This precludes the Church from possibilities of new developments of thought."
- "Newman, like Pope Benedict, himself fierily opposed relativism. But the interreligious activity of my Faith Foundation produces the opposite of relativism, confirms people in their different faiths, and maintains respect and understanding for the faith of others."
"Politicians are obliged from time to time to conceal the full truth, to bend it and even distort it".
The truth is that Mr Blair is cleverly abusing the nuances of Newman's opinions on the primacy of conscience and on the development of doctrine. Mr Blair is trying to steal Newman's clothing in order to leverage a change to Catholic teaching on homosexuality (and no doubt on other pro-life/pro-family issues). In April last year Mr Blair told the gay magazine Attitude that the Catholic Church must change its "entrenched attitudes to homosexuality".
As Monsignor Michel Schooyans, one of the Vatican's leading scholars, has pointed out in a masterly analysis, Mr Blair, with an anti-life, anti-family agenda, is in fact seeking to undermine the Catholic faith and religion generally:
"The fresh 'convert' [Blair] does not hesitate to explain to the pope not only what he must do, but also what he must believe! ... So now we are back in the time of Hobbes, if not of Cromwell: it is civil power that defines what one must believe ... [T]he nanny state [which] has multiplied subjective 'rights' of attribution, for example in the areas of divorce, sexuality, the family, population, etc. ... Religious institutions must also be reformed to adapt them to the changes. Some religious figures must be taken hostage and made to approve the new secularized 'faith', that of the 'civil partnership' ... In the case of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation [JS: see my blog about it], this is also a matter of promoting one and only one religious confession, which a universal, global political power would impose on the entire world".
I am disgusted by L'Osservatore Romano's decision to give such prominence to Mr Blair and his manipulative agenda.This is not the first time that the newspaper L'Osservatore Romano has betrayed the pro-life movement. In September last year it published an effusive double-page spread interview with Mr Blair; and earlier in 2009 it published articles favourable to Barack Obama, with the editor even declaring that "Obama is not a pro-abortion president".
To my mind it is no coincidence that Tony Blair's shameful attempted theft of Newman's legacy follows so soon after Fr Dermot Fenlon, one of the world's leading expert defenders of Newman's authentic legacy, has been sentenced to five years' exile from his home, Newman's Birmingham Oratory. Fr Fenlon, along with the other Birmingham Oratorians, were at the forefront of warning Catholics about the Blairs' agenda. As the Newman Cause blog said in November:
"Newman is indeed the great teacher of the rights and duties of conscience. It is of the greatest importance that his teaching is not used to make him the patron of Catholics, like Cherie Blair and others, who in the name of conscience practice dissent from the Church’s teaching ..."
And as the Newman cause blog said in October:
"Since becoming a Catholic, Mr Blair has refused every invitation [JS: see my blog about this] to disown and repent of [his anti-life/anti-family political record] ... [S]ome commentators, including Catholics, have sought to justify it by saying that Mr Blair’s silence is because his support for abortion, embryo experimentation, civil partnerships and gay adoption has always been for him, and remains now, a matter of conscience. Now this is the danger in The Tablet’s association of Newman and conscience with the case of Tony Blair. If as a Catholic Mr Blair thinks that his conscience directs him to support such positions, to invoke Newman in defence of his stance would be a travesty. For Newman, no Catholic can be in good conscience in supporting the positions Mr Blair espoused. The impossibility of conscience, enlightened by Faith, justifying adherence to evil is one of the most important of Newman’s lessons for our times."
Since the removal of Fr Fenlon and the Birmingham Three from the Oratory, the Newman Cause blog has had no substantial articles (in fact, the blog stopped altogether in July); and the posts on the Oratory website (12 March, 20 March) which so powerfully challenged episcopal policies on abortion and sex education have also stopped. The ending of these articles coincided with the parachuting in of Jack Valero by the Catholic bishops' conference of England and Wales to be press officer for the Newman Cause and who reports to Archbishop Nichols's press secretary.
Yesterday's edition of Zenit contains an extraordinary interview with Andrea Tornielli, a noted Vatican watcher. Here is a key extract:
Zenit: According to the Archbishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste, there exists a parallel magisterium among ecclesiastics, professors of theology in the seminaries, priests and laypeople who "muffle Benedict XVI's teachings, do not read the documents of his magisterium, write and speak arguing exactly the opposite of what he says, launch pastoral and cultural initiatives, on the terrain of bioethics or in ecumenical dialogue, for example, in open divergence with what he teaches." Is this true or is Archbishop Crepaldi mistaken?
Tornielli: I believe that Archbishop Crepaldi is right. It is obvious -- just take a look at many parishes, participate at conferences, cultural gatherings, etc., and you will see how Benedict XVI's magisterium (but this happened before too, with other Popes) is not transmitted to the faithful, but is instead sometimes openly contradicted.
I wrote in June:
"Could it be that external forces [JS: outside the Birmingham Oratory but inside the Church] who want a Catholic Church which is inclusive of the Blairs' anti-life, anti-family positions are bringing pressures to bear in [the Birmingham Three] situation? How very convenient it would be, especially in the run-up to Pope Benedict's visit, if uncomfortable issues such as the teaching of the Church on contraception, abortion and on homosexuality were also safely hidden away?"
It seems to me that the Blairs, Archbishop Nichols and the Catholic bishops' conference of which he is president are key players in this "parallel magisterium". (Jack Valero, in his bishops' conference role, has even denied the very existence of such a "parallel magisterium"). Ownership of the interpretation of Newman is one of the "parallel magisterium's" key goals. It would suit the purposes of the "parallel magisterium" to move to divide and conquer at the Birmingham Oratory, especially targeting Fr Dermot Fenlon, the champion of the true Magisterium's authentic interpretation of Newman's legacy.
Concerned readers of this blog are therefore heartily urged to join the faithful Newman experts who are standing up for Fr Fenlon: Dr Roman Siebenrock of the German International Newman Society, and Jakob and Dr Stephanie Maria Knab.
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Jack Valero uses Blair-style tactics on Birmingham Three crisis
http://www.spuc-director.blogspot.com/
I published a post earlier this week about The Journey, Tony Blair's memoirs, in which Blair admitted to:
"'bending and distorting' the truth as prime minister, but says a degree of manipulation and distortion are necessary to govern, and voters accept that. 'Politicians are obliged from time to time to conceal the full truth, to bend it and even distort it, where the interests of the bigger strategic goal demand it be done. Without operating with some subtlety at this level, the job would be well-nigh impossible.'"
Reading last week's Catholic Herald this morning I was struck by the mastery shown by Jack Valero (pictured), the spokesman for the Birmingham Oratory, of these Blair-style tactics in his article "The Birmingham Three protests harm the Church". Visitors will know that I have blogged a number of times about the Birmingham Oratory crisis caused by the sudden expulsion of three Oratorians from the Birmingham Oratory on the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of Fatima (May 13) this year.
Jack Valero says that the Birmingham Three campaign:
"has morphed into an attempt to drive a wedge between the so-called 'liberal' hierarchy and the 'orthodox' Oratorians by those who criticise the bishops for being too 'liberal'. As an orthodox Catholic I deplore this myth ... "
As a Catholic loyal to the magisterium of the Catholic church I deplore Jack Valero's shameful misrepresentation.
Catholic families in England and Wales are living under the yoke of a liberal hierarchy which pursues policies which are seriously harmful to the common good of Catholic families and non-Catholic families alike, for example:
- helping the government to promote abortion amongst schoolchildren under the age of consent, without parental knowledge or consent,
- the openness of Bishop Malcolm McMahon, the current Catholic Education Service chairman, to headteachers being in same-sex unions*
- Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster making clear his support for the prevailing government ideology on sex and relationships education, and defending the Catholic Education Service's appointment of Greg Pope, a former Labour MP with a lengthy anti-life/anti-family record
- and Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster failing to rule out the Catholic church sanctioning gay unions in the future
There's a lot more to say about Jack Valero's article but there's no hurry. After all the Birmingham Three won't be coming back to the Birmingham Oratory "soon" as Jack Valero said on BBC radio West Midlands two months ago. No, they "are travelling the world, working as priests in good standing ... praying in monasteries, studying, writing, taking holidays, visiting friends and deepening their formation ... " as Jack now tells us in his Blair-style piece in the Catholic Herald.
* The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught in paragraph 97 of his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae that it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.
Friday, 27 August 2010
The Birmingham Three protests harm the Church
The Catholic Herald - Jack Valero - 27.8.2010
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/
The Campaign to 'free' three Oratorians is based on bizarre conspiracy theories, says Jack Valero.
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/
The Campaign to 'free' three Oratorians is based on bizarre conspiracy theories, says Jack Valero.
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