No Bishops to be Appointed in Scotland, Pending Investigation by Rome

Some of my overseas readers may not be aware that there are three hierarchies in the United Kingdom: one for England and Wales; one for Scotland; and one which embraces the whole of Ireland including Northern Ireland.

I certainly feel for the travails of our neighbouring hierarchies, as I do for the troubles of England and Wales.

An interesting article has appeared on the website of the Scottish newspaper The Herald. I first read it on the Scottish Catholic blog, Spirit of Teuchtar II, and it has also been picked up by GloriaTV. Do read it. There are difficult and stressful times ahead, but it’s good to see that Rome is really getting to grips with the situation.

Just to show that our bishops south of the border have more than a few things to attend to, here is a link to the talk given by Cardinal Ouellet to the Bishops of England and Wales during their Low Week visit to Rome. This will provide a good opportunity for brushing up one’s skills in reading between the lines.

I am beginning to feel rather optimistic.

"How Did the Victim Die?"

Just a thought or two about abortion. 

You can hear the following question in every television detective series:  "How did the victim die?"  Here is a selection of answers:

Completely unable to fend for himself, he was left to die of cold.
She died of starvation (or thirst).*
He was stabbed in the heart.
She was poisoned.
He was dismembered.
She was crushed to death.
He was decapitated.

In the normal course of events, every pregnancy will be terminated, inevitably, whether by childbirth or by miscarriage.  The essential difference with abortion is that its purpose is to bring about the death of the gestating child.  Calling this "termination of pregnancy" is a euphemism to deceive the mind or lull the conscience.  But of course, as we know from the Gosnell case, some minds are perfectly clear, and some consciences are ... well, what they are, God only knows.

All abortionists know that the gestating child is alive. The more honest of them are willing to say as much. Everything an abortionist does to a gestating child to abort him, would be called a method of killing him if it were done to a person after birth.  This is evident from the list above.

I don't think I have anything more to say about it.


*In case some readers wonder why I have included starvation or dehydration, I am thinking in particular of the effect of abortifacient drugs or devices which prevent the implantation or terminate the life of the early embryo.  This, from Wikipedia, sheds some light on the subject:

In molecular biology, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a hormone produced by the fertilized egg after conception. Later during pregnancy it is made by the developing placenta , and later by the placental component syncytiotrophoblast. [.........] Human chorionic gonadotropin interacts with the LHCG receptor and promotes the maintenance of the corpus luteum during the beginning of pregnancy. This allows the corpus luteum to secrete the hormone progesterone during the first trimester. Progesterone enriches the uterus with a thick lining of blood vessels and capillaries so that it can sustain the growing fetus.

Aid to the Church in Need: A Plea for Syria

Just before Easter the following email arrived from Aid to the Church in Need, asking for an extra effort of giving to help the poor suffering people of Syria:

“If thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22)

Dear Friends,

A disaster of biblical proportions is unfolding in the Middle East.

Reports say two million Syrians are destitute in their own country. Another one million have fled their homeland, sparking a refugee crisis that neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan are struggling to cope with.

Amid this awful suffering, bishops in the region have turned once again to you for help. They are ashamed to ask again when you have been so generous, but they are also acutely aware of the urgent need to help their people now.

Thanks to you, we can continue to provide essential food, medicine, shelter and trauma counselling both for people trapped in Syria and those seeking sanctuary in Jordan and Lebanon.

The people are so grateful to you for helping them to carry their cross – and for walking the path that Pope Francis has pledged to walk, the path of brotherhood, love and faith in service of our suffering brothers and sisters. We can but echo their gratitude.

Thank you for all that you do – with your prayers and compassion.

With every blessing for a holy Easter Triduum,

Neville Kyrke-Smith
UK Director

Easter Morning and the Folded Cloth

A very happy Easter to my readers.  May we all experience the return of peace and joy.

If you would like to reflect upon the significance of the folded cloth in Christ’s tomb, a detail described very precisely in St John’s Gospel, please visit this marvellous post entitled Father Ignatius makes a discovery, on Victor Mubarak’s excellent blog, Time for Reflections. Perfect reading for Easter Sunday!



Picture from hope-grace.com, via Google Images.

Revised Papal Coat of Arms

Messa in Latino reports that the Holy See has issued a revision of Pope Francis's coat of arms.  The star has been given eight points instead of the former five, to make it more Marian, and the flower no longer looks like a bunch of grapes.

I am unworthy of this honour ...

Thank you, Ttony of The Muniment Room, for naming me on this Liebster award thing. I am reluctant to print the illustration of the award, since I haven’t complied with all the requirements. In particular, I’m going to refrain from nominating other blogs, because I’m likely to double-nominate with others, and also perhaps nominate bloggers who would prefer not to join in, as happened the last time I did this. However, I thought I would have a go at doing the other things.


Here are a few of the less soporific facts  about myself (or perhaps you have nodded off already):

1. I’m not really Dorothy B.

2. I have a small family and live a very quiet life.

3. Only two or three people in my “real” life know I have a blog.

4. I’m delighted when people visit the blog, and am perfectly happy for them just to read it without commenting.

5. I enjoy doing family history research. I haven’t discovered any famous people, but I have been taken on a fascinating tour of England, Ireland and the Isle of Man, with glimpses of social and industrial life in times gone by.

6. I love Rome, but I don't look forward to going again, because EasyJet have changed the arrival airport for their flights from Bristol. Ciampino is smallish and friendly, and the approach took us low over Rome, with a heart-liftingly beautiful view of St Peter’s. Fiumicino is a nightmare, then a shuttle train, then another nightmare.

7. I dread asking a question in another language because I can hardly ever understand the answer.

8. I can see myself in the audience in this photograph taken at the Latin Mass Society’s excellent conference in London in June last year, but I’m not going to point myself out. Acknowledgments to Dr Shaw’s LMS Chairman’s blog.      

Questions asked by Ben Trovato, the Countercultural Father:

What inspired the title of your blog?
I started the blog at a time when some people (I don’t think they were contributors to the Catholic blogosphere) were talking of being “proud” to be a Catholic. I’ve always felt rather uncomfortable with that idea. It’s an honour – which is reason enough to hold our heads high - and it’s a responsibility.

Why should people read your blog?
Oh, no special reason. It’s only a micro-blog, really. I’m flattered to receive visits.

What is your personal favourite post on your blog?
I’m not sue I can pick a favourite. One of my most heartfelt posts was Forgiveness for the unrepentant, published in 2009.

What has been the most popular (most viewed) post on your blog?
It’s pretty obvious that some of the highest scorers are simply the result of surfers Googling particular keywords. But there is one which I think probably deserves to be here: Summorum Pontificum: Milanese seminarians speak out, dating from 2011.

Which post on your blog has attracted most comments?
My blog attracts hardly any comments, and that’s absolutely fine by me. However, all comments are interesting and welcome, whether short or long. Very few go into the spam box. The post A letter to my MP about SSM, written in January this year, drew some long comments. Not at all surprising, given the topic.

What other hobbies or interests (beyond blogging) are you prepared to admit to?
I’ve included some in the Facts section. I like sewing, and particularly enjoy adapting or mending things. I like to read, but some books bog me down a bit; I am nearing the end of Max Hastings’s Bomber Command, having started it some months ago. I have two internet addictions: Web Sudoku and TheJigsawPuzzles.com.

What are your hopes for the new pontificate?
The truth is illuminated by rays cast from various directions, as we have seen to wonderful effect in various pontificates and in many spiritual writings. Whether or not we are happy with some of Pope Francis’s decisions regarding the external signs of his office, I look forward to hearing the teaching of unchanging eternal truths from a man of his scientific background. It will certainly set out a challenge to those who think that religion and science are incompatible.

Where is your favourite place of pilgrimage, and why?
Rome, because I know it best. I have never been to Lourdes, and would like to go there one day.

Who is your favourite spiritual author, and why?
Apart from the New Testament (a chapter a day) I am too much inclined to coast along on the strength of things I read some time ago. I don’t think I can identify a particular author, other than C S Lewis. I see things on the blogs sometimes, extracts from spiritual writings or from homilies, which go straight to my heart.

Which of these questions did you find it most difficult to answer?
The questions about my blog posts.

Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?
Naturally, I'm assuming that this is a joke.  Or did the question originate from an American blogger? I think British bloggers are possibly a bit more aware that the extreme Left has various faces. This is my opportunity to encourage my American readers to use the word Marxist, rather than Communist. The Marxist views and tactics of Trotskyism are, I think, far more influential than plain Communism.

Pope Francis and an Interesting Absence

Here is a link to Dominus mihi adjutor, the blog of Fr Hugh of Douai Abbey.  Highly recommended!

Specifically, the link takes you to his post of Tuesday 19th March, entitled Francis, the Pope of our Punishment?  The entire post is well worth reading. 

In passing, he draws our attention to an intriguing element - or rather, the lack of it - in Pope Francis's words during these early days .  He does not infer anything from it; but still, it is interesting:

And still no mention of Vatican II…

Tomorrow’s Papal Mass: Good news from Messa in Latino

The heading is in English: Mozzetta back again. A nice picture of Gammarelli’s shop window, as above. Here is my translation, rather rushed and a bit stilted:

A red mozzetta has just been sent to the Vatican, ordered in great haste only this morning, from the famous ecclesiastical tailors, Gammarelli of Rome.

Tomorrow is the date set for the Mass to mark the “beginning of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome” and in all likelihood (and it is only in this sense that the haste with which the ordinal was prepared can be understood) the one who is being inaugurated will use it, it is being kept for the ceremony in which he will receive the vows of obedience of a representative group of the cardinals.

We are getting excited over very little, some people will think, but on a more substantial level, it comforts us that Mgr Guido Marini has been confirmed in his functions for the ceremony of “inauguration”, coordinating the Franciscan friars of La Verna who have been called up for service at the altar.

The Mass, preceded by the Laudes Regiae, will be in Latin, except for the homily (in Italian), the readings, the responsorial psalm and the prayers of the faithful, all in assorted languages; while the Gospel will be chanted entirely in Greek rather than in the two sacred languages, as would be the custom in the more solemn papal ceremonies; this seems to spring from a desire to shorten the length of the ceremony. With the same intention of synthesis, the offertory procession will be abolished (and this is good, considering what masquerades that rite has given rise to in the past).

During the offertory there will be performed a motet by Palestrina for four voices, written, appropriately, for the coronation of Popes: Tu es pastor ovium.

Finally, the chanting of the Te Deum will close the liturgical part of the proceedings.

Hopeful signs concerning the inaugural Mass and Mgr Marini

After the concern expressed in my last post, I think there is reason to be more hopeful. Chant Café has posted a link to the booklet for the Holy Father’s inauguration Mass. The music has been decided upon, and no doubt rehearsed, well in advance of the occasion, and is of great dignity. Anything else which the Franciscan cerimonieri wish to introduce will, I assume, be additional to this.

It is also cheering to read the comment from Justin, which is worth pasting here in full:

Did anyone watch the Holy Mass this morning at St Ann's though? Mgr Marini and the Holy Father were sharing a joke after the Mass as he was greeting the crowds. 

The monsignor doesn't seem overly perturbed by what news reporters are saying about his and the Holy Father's fractious encounters. He's a professional and very excellent MC and has a doctorate in the psychology of communication - he's worked with prelates as diverse as Tettamanzi and Bertone and Papa Ratzinger; he's taken over a very well run office from Archbishop Marini and gained the loyalty of staff there. It's his *job* to gently guide the Holy Father in the appropriate liturgical actions - even Pope Benedict did not wear the fanon immediately, or carry the ferula immediately. Given time, I'm sure Mgr Marini can discreetly and gently persuade the Holy Father to do things he had probably never thought about before as well.

The only time Mgr Marini looked mildly ruffled during the Mass was when the Holy Father offered him the sign of peace to him as well. In time the Holy Father won't even notice Mgr Marini's presence, and that too will be due to the professionalism on Mgr Marini's part.

Give the Holy Father time and the benefit of the doubt that he is not some vicious hostile dictator - not only is he the Vicar of Christ will all the graces that the Holy Spirit pours out upon him and his office, Jorge Bergoglio is human too, he will have been doing things a certain way for a number of years, and the last thing he wants in a new environment is to suddenly change the way he celebrates Mass - his source of consolation and joy.

If you don't have hope in the Holy Father (!!!), then at least trust Mgr Marini's expertise as an MC. He's a slick operator - he's not going to barge in there and tell the Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church that the way he's been celebrating Mass for 40 years has been all wrong! He's going to gently nudge the Holy Father in the right directions, and perhaps during the summer offer him some chant lessons, etc. That's how it's done in parishes all across the world, and that's how it'll be done in the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations as well.

Mgr Marini and his team not to be involved in Papal Inaugural Mass?

Messa in Latino reports today that Pope Francis has decided not to make use of the services of Mgr Guido Marini and his team of cerimonieri for his inaugural Mass on Tuesday 19th March. Instead, the Mass will be under the care of a secular Franciscan order, the Franciscans of La Verna.

I have no reason to doubt MiL, but I find this news rather startling. I don’t know if it has been confirmed by any other source.

Here is the original Italian text in MiL’s report:

Mons. Guido Marini e tutti i cerimonieri prescelti da Papa Benedetto XVI sono stati esonerati in tronco dai loro incarichi, in vista della cerimonia per la Messa di 'inaugurazione' del nuovo vescovo-di-Roma. Ne faranno le veci i francescani della Verna.

Update: Rorate Caeli are reporting this news too, sourced from the French news agency I.Media.

Prayer for our Holy Father

Some time ago there was a novena prayer for then-Pope Benedict, in one of those very difficult times he endured in his pontificate.  After the novena had ended I incorporated it in my daily prayers, continuing through the sede vacante period, and now into the pontificate of our new Holy Father.  It will, I am sure, be familiar to many of my readers.

Our Father; Three Hail Marys; Glory be to the Father.

Let us pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis.
May the Lord preserve him, give him long life, make him blessed upon the earth, and not hand him over to the power of his enemies.

"You are Peter;
And upon this Rock I will build My Church."

Let us pray:
God our Father, Shepherd and Guide, look with love on Your servant, Pope Francis, the Pastor of Your Church.  Grant that his word and example may inspire and guide the Church, and that he, and all those entrusted to his care, may come to the joy of everlasting life.  We ask this through Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

Mother of the Church, pray for us.
Saint Peter, pray for us.

Picking the Men for the Job

Continuing to pray for my adopted Cardinal Levada, that the Holy Spirit may guide him to choose well in the Conclave.  As a bonus, this adoption has reminded me on each occasion to extend my prayers to all the Cardinal-Electors, far more so than at previous Conclaves.

The cardinals have no doubt been focussing their thoughts on the various qualifications and personal qualities the new Pope needs.  The media and the blogs have also given a good deal of attention to it.  I don't recall seeing much on the subject of the team he will create: whom he will reappoint, at least for a time, as the heads of the Congregations, and whom he will immediately or eventually replace.

Please God, among all his other virtues, may he be a good chooser of men.

"Adopt a Cardinal" passes 300,000

Just thought I'd mention that Jugend 2000's Adopt a Cardinal website currently shows that the number of adoptions is now well over the 300,000 mark.  Staggering! 

Happy Centenary to the Monks of Prinknash Abbey

Went to the monthly 3 pm Traditional Latin Mass at Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire on Sunday. (They also have one every Saturday at 11 am.) The celebrant, Father Damian, told the congregation about a very special anniversary.

One hundred years ago today, on 5th March 1913, the Anglican monks of Caldey Island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire in Wales, were received into the Catholic Church. I have gathered the following details about that happy occasion. First, from the blog of Farnborough Abbey in Hampshire:

It was in 1913 that Abbot Cabrol of Farnborough and his friend Blessed Columba Marmion sailed to the Island of Caldey to welcome the Anglican monks there into what Newman called the ‘one true fold of the Redeemer’.

The website of Prinknash Abbey tells more of the story, which explains the link between Prinknash and Caldey:

The community began in the Anglican Church, but converted to the Catholic Church, while living on Caldey Island, near Tenby, Wales, on 5th March 1913—one hundred years ago.

- and this:

Our particular community began life in the Church of England when our founder, Abbot Aelred Carlyle set up a small community in the Isle of Dogs, London. After many wanderings, that community eventually settled permanently on Caldey Island off Tenby, South Wales, and became Roman Catholic in 1913. Financial pressure forced them to leave Caldey and come to Prinknash Park in December 1928, where they have been ever since. (Caldey Abbey was taken over by another branch of the Benedictine family, the Trappists). But the Prinknash community flourished in the mid-20th century, and was able to take over Saint Michael’s Abbey, Farnborough from the French in 1947, re-found Pluscarden Abbey Elgin, Moray, Scotland, in 1948 and, with Saint Augustine’s Abbey Ramsgate and Pluscarden, founded a small dependent house in Ghana, West Africa in 1989, known as Kristo Buase Monastery.

Many congratulations to the monks of Prinknash. Here is a picture (courtesy of their website) of the lovely mediaeval house to which the community returned a few years ago, from the modern building in the same grounds:

Picture of Caldey Island from visitpembrokeshire.com, via Google Images

Traditional Mass in Cheltenham for the Election of a Pope

The blog of the Latin Mass Society in the Diocese of Clifton has the following information:

On Wednesday 6th March, Low Mass will be celebrated at 6pm at St Gregory the Great, St James' Square, Cheltenham GL50 3PR. This Mass will be a Votive Mass Pro eligendo Summo Pontifice.

All welcome.

I've adopted Cardinal Levada!

Well, I didn't expect that when I went into the Adopt a Cardinal website which has been promoted by various bloggers.  Goodness me!  I shall certainly pray for him.

This feels like an empty time, and it's good to have useful things to busy ourselves with. And what better than prayer?

"If it's not of God, it's not going to happen."

Was delighted to see, in the BBC coverage of Pope Benedict's departure from the Vatican, an interview with Fr Bede Rowe, whose blog A Chaplain Abroad is always worth visiting.  He is from Middlesbrough but is a priest of Clifton diocese, and for a while he was assistant priest at St Gregory's in Cheltenham.  He is at present the chaplain of the Chavagnes International College.  He is very committed to the Traditional Latin Mass, and offered it at St Gregory's at the beginning of January.

Fr Rowe's manner was excellent throughout the interview: he struck exactly the right note. The interviewer raised the usual questions about women priests, and about moral issues such as contraception. The interview closed with his very straightforward answer that if these things were not of God, they would not happen.  Well said!

A strange day

Went to Cheltenham today, intending to spend half an hour at St Gregory's church before the Blessed Sacrament in Solemn Exposition, to pray especially for Pope Benedict and for a holy and lion-hearted successor.  They always have Solemn Exposition there on Thursdays, from 10 to 3, and had advertised it as usual in the parish newsletter.  But sadly, when I arrived, I found that there was no Exposition.  I don't know the reason; perhaps the clergy had all been called to Clifton Cathedral for the Mass being offered there this morning in thanksgiving for the Pope. 

Instead of my half-hour of contemplation, I prayed the Stations of the Cross. They are particularly fine in St Gregory's, and very moving.  I was strongly aware today that right to the end Our Lord Jesus was being abused and mocked.  And it seems to be that way too with the closing days of this pontificate.

The Catholic Herald is doing a live blog of this last day.  I will close with this little item, which I found very poignant:

11.58 Earlier this morning Pope Benedict XVI said farewell individually to cardinals, heads of various Vatican departments and Mgr Guido Marini, the papal master of ceremonies.

What a star Mgr Marini has been, in the best sense of the word!  Not flamboyant, but good, and anxious to give the greatest dignity to the papal liturgies. I hope he continues in his post in the next pontificate.

To quote The Most Sarcastic Priest in Ireland: "I'm reeelly enjoying this..."

Do you mind if I ramble a bit?  I can't really get my head round all the things that have been going on since the Holy Father announced his abdication.  Mulier Fortis says pretty well exactly what I am feeling. Father Blake has just published a heart-rending post about all the filth that has been bubbling up in the Church.  It has been going on for a long time, but I can't help thinking of Pope Benedict having pulled the plug on his pontificate, and instead of the water going down the plughole, all sorts of unmentionable and smelly stuff is welling up from the U-bend, requiring vigorous work with a plunger followed by strong disinfectant.  If only it were just a sweet little frog, instead of an ecclesiastical version of the plagues of Egypt.

I thought it a bit odd when it was reported that the Pope had directed the cardinals who had investigated and reported on the Vatileaks scandal to reveal its contents to the rest of the cardinals on 1st March. I read somewhere that the only copy of the report was to be locked in his safe, in his apartment.  But what if the Camerlengo seals the apartment, in accordance with custom, with the document still in the safe?    As to its being the only copy, surely thare is at least a memory stick or whatever they are called, or preferably more than one, secreted in suitable places?  You see how my mind is starting to show the strain ...

But back to my point. It occurred to me that the Pope did not seem to have given his request legal force. Since his pontificate will end on the evening of 28th February, how could his direction be insisted upon after that date?  Could the investigating cardinals decide not to do it?  Could the rest of the cardinals - or the most influential among them - refuse to have it revealed?

But since then we have learnt from Rorate Caeli and others that this communication to the cardinals will not now happen, and that the whole matter will be handed on to the new Pope.  Several bloggers have expressed the concern that as a result one of the culprits may end up being elected Pope.  As if it isn't already enough of a shambles!  Oh boy, lots of prayers going up from this corner of Gloucestershire ...

Natracalm is very good; also St John's wort*.  Just thought I'd mention that.

*Update:  Very good point from John-of-Hayling : "Careful with St John's wort - it is contraindicated with a number of prescription medicines!"

Courage and Frailty

Following my post about St Peter walking on the lake (Matthew Chapter 14), here are a few more thoughts on the weakness of this great soul.

In Chapter 2 of his Gospel, St John tells us that Jesus "never needed advice about any man; He could tell what a man had in him."  That is the Jerusalem Version.  In the RSV, it is written as "He knew all men and needed no one to bear witness of man; for He Himself knew what was in man."  Two vivid renderings.  Christ knows each of us better than we know ourselves.  He knew His adversaries, who prompted the words just quoted. He also knew Peter, and knew his weaknesses.

Peter's relations and fellow-workers had known him for much of their lives, and probably had a good idea of his temperament.  But never in their dreams could they have imagined such an illustration of that combination of inspired insight, courage, rashness, and sudden quailing and collapse, as was displayed by their friend when he challenged the Lord to bid him come to Him on the water.  If they had had a fairly good idea of him before, they had a far clearer knowledge of him after that hair-raising episode. 

It was after that incident, when Peter's fellow-disciples had had the opportunity of seeing Peter's flaws displayed in the most spectacular manner, that Christ chose to bestow on him, in their presence, the greatest commission imaginable.  In that light, we hear Jesus speaking, in Matthew Chapter 16:

He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon-Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

What varied personailities have held the office of Pope since St Peter!  And in our day, when we can learn so much more about each of our Popes, and their individual strengths and frailties, how conscious we are of these variations, and indeed these weaknesses.  Pope Benedict XVI, a Pope who has acted with great courage - for example, in promulgating Summorum Pontificum and Anglicanorum Coetibus -  is leaving us; that is, leaving the office of Peter.  He leaves on the grounds of his frailty.  We can guess at its nature, but we do not know for certain.  Perhaps we will learn more at some future date.  But whether we do or not, this thing is happening.