Like Sheep Without a Shepherd...

"Don't leave so soon! Come back! I was just getting started! Now, where was I? Ah yes, women priests! Now, what I think is..."

Fr Ray Blake has picked up on a wayward Bishop in a country of wayward Faith, Ireland. One Bishop Willie Walsh has been calling for the usual Catholic-Lite TM changes on Church teaching, such as the ordination of women priests, changes to Church teaching on divorce and remarriage and homosexuality in an effort, presumably, to refashion the Church in his own image and basically turn it into the Anglican communion.

When a lay person muses on these things, even if they are celebrities, such as Tony & Cherie, the damage is limited by the fact that they are a lay people and are therefore not taken too seriously. When a Priest says this it is seriously harmful. But, when a Bishop says this then it is very, very, very damaging to the Body of Christ.

When a Bishop or a Priest says, "I think we need to open up a debate on..." then you know they are about to inflict a blow upon Holy Mother Church. Unfortunately, the mass media, who are always all too willing to pick up on a juicy story to undermine the Catholic Faith and the Papacy, do not treat the words of such mavericks with the scorn they deserve and fan the flames of publicity.

Those charged with authority within the Church should say, "The Holy Father and I are on one accord on this subject matter. It is clear to me why this teaching must be so. The reasons for it are this teaching are threefold. Firstly, ___________ etc. The Holy Spirit has always guided the Church. God has spoken through His Church and the matter is therefore closed. Thank you for the interview and may God bless you."

Perhaps I could design some 'Bishop Media Response Cards' and send them to Bishops so that when they have interviews they can preach the Gospel rather than their personal, heretical and highly damaging opinions.

A lesser discussed aspect of the Sacrament of Penance is that our sins have not just offended God, imperiled our souls and caused injury to others, both spiritual and temporal, but that we have wounded the Body of Christ. A part of our penance is that we make satisfaction not just for offending God but for wounding the Body of Christ, that is, the Church. Like St Paul, who heard Christ say, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me", that it can be hard when you are 'kicking against the goads'.

Yet, with these renegade Bishops, and we know it is more than a couple, there is no sense of reflection on the damage they are doing, the seeds of confusion, dissention and heresy that they foster. Having been charged with such an awesome duty, such a High Office within the Church, the Judgement, surely, is harder on them, for they have in their care so many souls. There is nothing more damaging to the unity of our Holy Mother the Church than an heretical Bishop charged with the Office of being Shepherd to his Priests and to the Diocese.

The quinquennial visit ad limina apostolorum of the Bishops of England and Wales is approaching in January and if you are concerned that your Bishop is 'out of line', the time to write to Rome to alert the Vatican to his dissention is NOW!

Now, where is my Basildon Bond paper, fountain pen and ink well...