If only it was a Catholic Church...

Ely Cathedral


Lincoln Cathedral


Westminster Abbey


St Bartholomew's Church, London Road, Brighton

I was sat on the grass, Providence Place, outside St Bartholomew's Church off London Road yesterday. You can lie on the grass and look up at the Ark like Church that towers over London Road. It is apparently, the tallest Church in Europe. It is a formidable and imposing structure. And then I had a thought...if only it were a Catholic Church! Then I thought of other Churches which are more imposing and beautiful, such as the ones pictured above. I thought...if only they were Catholic Churches! I don't know about St Bartholomews, but all the other ones were definitely nicked by Protestants during the reign of Henry VIII. Why didn't someone at the time say, "Oi! Get your filthy mitts off our Churches!"

I wasn't expecting a call from the Ecumenical Council of Churches anyway...

Oratorians

Oratre fratres!

I drove up to the Brompton Oratory for another fix of Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Sunday. I was right at the back of the very ornate and beautiful Church so I was unable to get an eyeful of the Sacred Vestments. Suffice to say however that they will have been splendid. It was, of course, the Feast of SS Peter and Paul. St Peter, enthroned, was dressed up to the hilt in red and gold.

The choir sang some wonderful polyphony and chant, but of course, due to the fact that the Oratory is so spacious, it is difficult for them to really fill the Church with sound. Not so much a problem, when we have a large choir, at St Mary Magdalen's Church, Brighton.

These are exciting times at BN1. Existing proposals for renovation of the building look like they will make a huge impact on an already beautiful Church. Hopefully the Church will be given the financial go-ahead to begin the work. Apparently, in the plans for the renovation, the gallery will be restored and the Choir will have its own place to sing our own Gregorian Chant, and hopefully, one day, polyphony at St Mary Magdalen's. If only more parish Churches took some leaves out of the Oratorians book on liturgy!

St Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians, was a very inspiring Saint. He established a lay order of Little Brothers of the Oratory and had many lay men deepening their faith and bringing the Faith of Christ to many others. Who knows, perhaps one day some of the Oratorian practices will be established in the heart of Brighton. With the apostolic and liturgical efforts of a handful of Sussex priests, it is a distinct possibility...The Brighton Oratory!

Kylie Considering Conversion to Catholic Faith

Kylie Minogue is considering conversion to the Catholic Faith...question is...will Jason follow?

Is this the greatest duet of all time?

Is this the best duet since the Song of Songs?

Are they talking about their love for each other or Christ's love for His Bride, the Church?

Yes, this song is littered with theological reference...

African Women with HIV 'Coerced into Sterilisation'

Courtesy of The Guardian

Women in Africa are being sterilised without their consent after being told the procedure is a routine treatment for Aids, a lawsuit will claim. Forty HIV-positive women in Namibia have been made infertile against their will, according to the International Community of Women Living with HIV/Aids (ICW). The group is preparing to sue the Namibian government over at least 15 cases.

Campaigners also report coerced sterilisation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and South Africa, where according to one report a 14-year-old girl was told she could have an abortion only on condition that she agreed to sacrifice her reproductive rights.

The ICW has documented cases in Namibia where HIV-positive women minutes from giving birth were encouraged to sign consent forms to prevent them from having more children. Jennifer Gatsi-Mallet, its co-ordinator in the country, said: "They were in pain, they were told to sign, they didn't know what it was. They thought that it was part of their HIV treatment. None of them knew what sterilisation was, including those from urban areas, because it was never explained to them.

"After six weeks they went to the family planning centre for birth control pills and were told that it's not necessary: they're sterile. Most of them were very upset. When they went back to the hospital and asked, 'Why did you do this to us?' the answer was: 'You've got HIV'."

Gatsi-Mallet said that some women were now afraid to go to hospital in case they are sterilised, and infertile women were often rejected by their husbands and communities: "In African culture, if you are not able to have children, you are ostracised. It's worse than having HIV."

African women aged between 20 and 34 have a higher prevalence of HIV than any other social group; in South Africa one in three is infected. On average an HIV-positive mother has a one in four risk of transmitting the virus to her child. With the latest antiretroviral drugs, the probability can be cut to less than one in 50. But such medical interventions are underfunded and inaccessible to millions of women across the continent.

The ICW accuses the Namibian government of encouraging state doctors to sterilise HIV-positive women as a means of preventing the spread of the virus. Its request to see the government's official guidelines has been refused. It hopes to bring 15 or more cases to court later this year.

A media report from Namibia last week highlighted the plight of Hilma Nendongo. A few weeks after giving birth, she was asked by a nurse: "Oh, did they tell you that you had been sterilised?" Nendongo, 30, who is HIV-positive, suddenly remembered that hospital staff had told her to sign some papers as she entered the operating room for a caesarean section. "It was a very big shock," she told Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper. "I was very emotional … I wanted a sister for my three boys, and now I can't have one."

In South Africa, cases are being referred to the Women's Legal Centre with a view to a possible action. Promise Mthembu, a researcher at Witwatersrand University, said coerced sterilisations were happening in "very large areas" of the country. Many patients were forced to undergo the operation as the only means of gaining access to medical services, Mthembu told the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

Alan Keyes Blog

Dr Alan Keyes is at the forefront of the Pro-Life movement in the US. He is a former Republican senator who is outspoken against Obama and his mafia of Planned Parenthood funded cronies. He has been arrested recently along with others at the Notre Dame protest. He vehemently defends the dignity of human life and is loyal to the Magisterium of the Church. He's the kind of politician of whom St Thomas More most surely is proud! He writes very well also.

"What's the difference between a conservative politician and a Republican? The conservative remembers his principles when he's in office. The Republican only acts as if he remembers when he needs our votes to put him there."~ Dr Alan Keyes from blog post, 'Conservative vs. Republican: What’s the difference?'

Click here to see his blog.

Spiritual Healing

I had a chat with someone of whom I am very, very fond yesterday. She told me that she was planning to go to a 'spiritual healing' event in Leicester Square and that she had been going for quite a while every now and then. She is a 'cradle' Catholic, but like quite a few Catholics is unconvinced by the teachings of the Church. As a convert, it always saddens me greatly when I talk to Catholic friends who feel so distant and removed from the life of the Church, who cannot believe even some of the most central tenets of the Faith and who, having been given the Faith in childhood reject it in the hope of discovering some other spirituality which will answer the core difficulties we face in life. It is common, of course, for people to wander away from the Catholic Faith, or even to still attend Mass but remain unconvinced of the truths revealed to the Church and to find other religions and philosophies more appealing.

At the same time, the popularity of 'new age' religions, which are often so vague as to answer a need for spirituality, while simultaneously offering no doctrine or truth of any depth is concerning, especially given that a few of my friends who are Catholic, as well as those who are not, dabble in it. As a convert, as I say, I find myself thinking, 'But you don't know what it is that you already have and how privileged you are to have been raised in the Catholic Church.' Yet somehow, this does not address a fundamental problem which doubtless will persist and especially if Priests and Bishops do not proclaim the core realities of the Catholic Faith to the Faithful and emphasise the unique and glorious wonder of the Catholic Faith.

With the increase in depression, mental illness and anxiety which mark a society riven by family breakdown and the destruction of the dignity of human life, 'new age' philosophies and practices such as belief in the power of crystals, auras and spiritual 'healing' can become very alluring. Yet at the same time, because these things are not Holy, but rather misleading pseudo-religions and charms, they cannot satisfy the needs of the human heart.



Only this can. At the centre of the Catholic Faith lies a Mystery so profound and breathtaking that it is indeed difficult to comprehend or to believe. The Most Holy Eucharist, that is the Real Presence of God under the guise of bread, is a Mystery so profound as to perplex believers and non-believers alike. The doctrine of the Real Presence is something that should fill us with awe, because the Almighty God, the same Almighty God Who for us became so small as to become for us a Babe, again, daily, becomes so small as to become for us Bread, even the Bread of Life Himself. The late, great, perhaps one day to be beatified, Cardinal Basil Hume wrote that those who suffered disbelief in the Real Presence should pray before the Blessed Sacrament and say, "I believe, Lord, help Thou my unbelief."

As Catholics we, like various 'new age' philosophies believe in a World 'seen and unseen'. For, it is safe to say that beliefs in energy and the like reveal a belief in a world hidden from our eyes and senses. Furthermore, the 'new age' practice of communication with your 'angel' is not something Catholics should be totally unfamiliar with, for even the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI himself, prays to his Guardian Angel, to St Michael the Archangel and to St Raphael as he recently mentioned, for protection.

While as GK Chesterton observed, it is true to say that, "When men cease to believe in God, they do not then believe in nothing, but anything", it is also true to say that the spiritualist beliefs in the power of crystals, tarot, auras, palm reading and energy fields - something which marks something so seemingly innocuous as 'reiki' and the more esoteric yoga practices - it is not as if the Catholic Faith does not contain within it a great Mysticism and Beauty, which is actually incredibly powerful and if meditated upon is utterly magnificent. But maybe, we do not hear enough about it...



If 'new age' beliefs and practices persist and belief in the 'healing power of crystals' or 'auras' persist, then why is it so difficult to believe that when a soul confesses before a Priest, that it is not the Priest himself who is really absolving and forgiving the soul and restoring that soul to purity and beauty, but Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself? Among Catholics, even, the idea that this is indeed truly happening is something difficult to believe. Yet it is a truth of the Holy Faith. It is a truth so sublime and majestic that it should leave us in total awe at God's goodness.



What is more, the Church firmly and with utter conviction believes in Life after Death. The Church firmly says, "Yes, it is true. Heaven does exist! There is a Heaven!" What could be more consoling to the afflicted than this truth!? The Sacrifice of Christ on Calvary has opened up for us the Gates of Heaven! This may not always be an easy life, but who knows how long this life shall last? Is there anything more that God could do for us than, by His unfathomable generosity and mercy, to present us with the Hope of Heaven? The path to Heaven may not be smooth. Indeed we may have to bear a Cross, and the purification of our souls may also take place in the life to come. Yet Heaven exists and is our Eternal Home!

Not only that, but, again, though it is hidden from our eyes and senses, Heaven is actually present at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and just like the unseen 'energies' espoused by the 'new age' religion, though Heaven is hidden from our eyes and senses, we believe that wherever the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is said, God, His Angels and His Saints are there, praying with us and for us! We may not be able to feel it, perhaps fortunate souls will, but it is happening and we are there in the Presence of God. The Catholic Faith can at times seem very dry, yet it is drenched in the love of God.



All of these truths of the Faith are made known to us by Holy Mother Church and because of our Baptism. It was this that removed from our souls the stain of Original Sin and made us adopted Sons and Daughters of God. All of these wondrous Sacraments are not only breathtaking, but true. Yet so often, we take them for granted.

This must be the reason why Pope Benedict XVI and some Priests and some Bishops loyal to him wish to see the sense of the Sacred, the Mystery and the Holy, returned to parish Churches across the globe. For without a sense of the Divine, without a sense of the sublime, and without a sense of awe that actually transcends our own understanding and sense of the cold and rational - what spirituality can the Church offer to a World crying out for Hope - a Hope which is not only of great consolation amidst suffering, but a Hope which is Eternal and True?

Seriously, if you can think of anything more rich in spirituality than the Catholic Faith, then I would like to hear of it...but I doubt very much that you can. It is because of these truths of the Holy Faith, that beliefs in 'new age' philosophies are to be treated with not contempt, nor derision, but yes suspicion, but also compassion for those who do. For in the light of what or Who it is that all of us are really searching for, whether we admit it or not, we are, all of us, yearning for God, because as St Augustine said, "You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." That is our condition and that is why 'new age' religions have appeal of any substance whatsoever. The only response to it is the Treasure of the Church - the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass...the Mystery of Faith.

Yes!

I've just reconciled the St Mary Magdalen's bank accounts with the parish figures! Oh the emotional rollercoaster that is accountancy! The highs! The lows! The blood, the sweat and the tears! Oh happy day! Praise be to God! Oh, yes! Once I was blind! But now I see! Oh Lord! There is no obstacle that Your Grace cannot overcome!

Some Dignitas Patients Could Have 'Lived For Decades'

Dr Anne Turner: her son Edward (centre) has raised questions over assisted suicide.
Photograph: Johnny Green/PA

We can only assume that when this photo was taken, these doctors were not discussing assisted suicide, but then, hey, in their profession, I guess they need a sense of humour...

Today The Guardian pens a good article [shock!] about the concerns raised by several organisations about the way in which Dignitas operates. Dignitas, is, of course, the world-renowned 'clinic' where you can get bumped off at your own request and at a price that's high.

'Senior doctors will tomorow express concern over the number of Britons suffering from non fatal illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis and kidney disease who have used the Swiss suicide service, Dignitas.

Their fears were raised after the Guardian obtained a list drawn up by Dignitas which reveals the medical conditions which have driven 114 Britons to end their lives at the clinic.

The document shows that while many had terminal illnesses such as cancer and motor neurone disease, others had non-fatal conditions which doctors say some people can live with for decades.'

Click here for full article...

Today is the Feast of St Thomas More & St John Fisher

Pope John Paul II named St Thomas More as Patron of politicians. I think, in our country, they could do with his prayers, but then so could we all! St Thomas More, pray for our Government and parliamentarians that the honesty and integrity you showed in your career may be reflected in theirs!

The Telegraph today pens some amusing jokes at the MP's, err, well... expenses.

Why did the MP bang his head?

Because he'd blacked out all the light bulbs he bought on expenses.

Gordon Brown announced that no MP's will be able to claim furniture expenses from now on.

It was a cabinet decision.

Why did the MP cross the road?

So he could claim a second homes allowance.

Here's one of my own MP expense jokes I just made up...

A murderer, a bank robber and an MP are all sent to prison. In a cell the three exchange stories of how they came to be sentenced for their crimes. They ask each other, "What are you in for?"

When asked by the other two, the murderer replies, "Murder." When asked by the other two the bank robber says, "Armed robbery." "And you?", ask the other two criminals, "You're an MP, aren't you? What are you in for?"

The MP replies, "Whatever I can get."

Courtesy of Catholic Online

St. Thomas More was born at London in 1478. After a thorough grounding in religion and the classics, he entered Oxford to study law. Upon leaving the university he embarked on a legal career which took him to Parliament. In 1505, he married his beloved Jane Colt who bore him four children, andwhen she died at a young age, he married a widow, Alice Middleton, to be a mother for his young children. A wit and a reformer, this learned man numbered Bishops and scholars among his friends, and by 1516 wrote his world-famous book "Utopia". He attracted the attention of Henry VIII who appointed him to a succession of high posts and missions, and finally made him Lord Chancellor in 1529.

However, he resigned in 1532, at the height of his career and reputation, when Henry persisted in holding his own opinions regarding marriage and the supremacy of the Pope. The rest of his life was spent in writing mostly in defense of the Church. In 1534, with his close friend, St. John Fisher, he refused to render allegiance to the King as the Head of the Church of England and was confined to the Tower. Fifteen months later, and nine days after St. John Fisher's execution, he was tried and convicted of treason. He told the court that he could not go against his conscience and wished his judges that "we may yet hereafter in heaven merrily all meet together to everlasting salvation." And on the scaffold, he told the crowd of spectators that he was dying as "the King's good servant-but God's first." He was beheaded on July 6, 1535. His feast day is June 22nd.

Solemn High Mass at Our Lady of Consolation & St Francis

Today I drove Fr Ray Blake over to Our Lady of Consolation & St Francis in West Grinstead, for a very beautiful Solemn High Mass. Fr Matthew Goddard, recently ordained said Mass in the Extraordinary Form in a packed parish, with Fr Sean Finnegan as Deacon and Fr Seamus [forget the surname!] as Sub-Deacon. It is a Church etched into Catholic English History as a hiding place for priests and religious who arrived in Shoreham, during the Reformation under Henry VIII, when Catholicism went underground. How very apt it is that this should be a parish where the Latin Mass is being embraced so ardently, a place where Tyburn martyrs spent possibly some of their last days of freedom. It is also a shrine and site of pilgrimage.

I received a blessing from Fr Matthew, which I was told has some purgatorial escape potential for a grateful soul, which was given in Latin. I was even given the privilege of jumping the queue because of an urgent transportational need, and met, briefly the architect who hopes to restore St Mary Magdalen's to former glory!



Should I ever become a wealthy person by some Miracle of God, then I hope to be able to help out on that front. Anyway, I digress...

Hopefully I shall learn more about the Goddard family soon enough. It's the stuff of Catholic legend! It appears that they are quite a remarkable family! Fr David Goddard, Fr Matthew's father, was an Anglican minister. Fr Matthew converted to Catholicism at the age of 15 and his explanation of his conversion to the Faith and his love and faith in Christ and Holy Mother Church won over not just his father, but the entire family to the Catholic Faith! What is more, they are all in love with the Latin Mass and firmly rooted in Holy Tradition. How remarkable and splendid!



This is them...or at the very least two of them, Fr Matthew on the far left, Fr David in the middle.

The Mass liturgy was breathtaking and Our Lady of Consolation hired a choir who sang both chant and polyphony. The music was so rich and prayerful. The Mass was in honour of Our Lady. I think I saw someone film it. If so I will post a video link if or when it becomes available. I must say there is something very special going on in Sussex, with the Latin Mass and liturgical renewal. Hopefully, it will spread like that some fast-spreading herbacious perennial all across the country at a rate of knots. We can but pray that the Benedictine project, the liturgical renewal of Holy Mother Church and the embracing of Holy Tradition will become a nationwide, or perhaps worldwide movement as popular as say, the hippy movement of the 1960s.



Whether you're a traddie or not, you have to admit that is a sweet song! Hopefully the new 'people in motion' affecting a 'whole generation' will have Christ coursing through their veins, rather than a truck load of hallucinogenic drugs...

The SS Strike Again!

Presumably, another gay couple put in an adoption request with social services...

Courtesy of Daily Mail

A mother had her twin babies taken from her by social workers after she joked that their caesarean birth had ruined her body. She and her husband endured five rounds of IVF costing £38,000 to start a family, only to have social services take their children within weeks.

The parents insist social workers acted needlessly, but have been warned their six-month-old boy and girl could be put up for adoption following a secret Family Court hearing last week. The babies, who were born six weeks prematurely, were taken into care after hospital staff warned that the first-time parents were struggling to care for them.

Nurses reported that the mother appeared to feel ' bitter' towards her children after her joke about the caesarean's effect on her body. And when the desperate woman lost her temper at social workers who had taken her babies, officials said she had 'anger problems' and could pose a threat to her twins.

Full article click here.

The 'C' Word

Chastity, that is. It's the new taboo.

Not terribly interesting yet still quite interesting piece in The Guardian by someone who for a year decided to go chaste. The comments are a bit on the harsh side.

Click here for more. It appears in the 'Life and Style' section of their website. Bemusingly, the abortion debate always appears in the 'Life and Style' section of The Guardian website. I don't know. I understand abortion is an issue of 'Life', but quite what it has to do with 'Style' I have no idea.

The main thrust, ahem, of the article appears to be that the lady concerned was fed up with getting plenty of sex but no love, so gave it up for a year to see what would happen. The main result appears to be that in her self she was happier. What is also interesting is the opposition she got from friends about her choice. It is almost as if people find people practising chastity, for whatever reason, very threatening.

August

'Increasingly, my vow has been prompting concern. "Nearly there. Thank heavens - I've been worried about you!" a girlfriend fretted the other day. Everyone agrees that I must be longing for it to be over, and in some ways I am. I have craved sex, but the longer I hold out, the more I want it only in the right circumstances. I almost wish I had longer to go. My vow has become less of a nun's habit than a child's security blanket. It's something to cling to - a reason to say no.

During the course of this year, I have become attuned to other needs: the longing for true intimacy, the desire for a connection capable of enduring across distance and time. I have also let myself go. I've left my legs unwaxed and I haven't bothered to shave my armpits, and beneath it all, my relationship to my body has subtly changed - it feels more my own. In a strange way, it also feels, well, sexier. Possibly for the first time ever, I've no use for the validation of a stranger's appraising gaze. These triumphs make me all the warier of my vow's imminent expiration.'

The Ottaviani Intervention

I was just looking at the Fisheaters website and came across this fascinating letter from a prominent Cardinal Ottaviani to Pope Paul VI, which appears to be a prophetic warning on the content of the Novus Ordu.

Letter from Cardinals Ottaviani and Bacci to His Holiness Pope Paul VI
September 25th, 1969

Most Holy Father, Having carefully examined, and presented for the scrutiny of others, the Novus Ordo Missae prepared by the experts of the Consilium ad exequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia, and after lengthy prayer and reflection, we feel it to be our bounden duty in the sight of God and towards Your Holiness, to put before you the following considerations:

1. The accompanying critical study of the Novus Ordo Missae, the work of a group of theologians, liturgists and pastors of souls, shows quite clearly in spite of its brevity that if we consider the innovations implied or taken for granted which may of course be evaluated in different ways, the Novus Ordo represents, both as a whole and in its details, a striking departure from the Catholic theology of the Mass as it was formulated in Session XXII of the Council of Trent. The "canons" of the rite definitively fixed at that time provided an insurmountable barrier to any heresy directed against the integrity of the Mystery.

2. The pastoral reasons adduced to support such a grave break with tradition, even if such reasons could be regarded as holding good in the face of doctrinal considerations, do not seem to us sufficient. The innovations in the Novus Ordo and the fact that all that is of perennial value finds only a minor place, if it subsists at all, could well turn into a certainty the suspicions already prevalent, alas, in many circles, that truths which have always been believed by the Christian people, can be changed or ignored without infidelity to that sacred deposit of doctrine to which the Catholic faith is bound for ever. Recent reforms have amply demonstrated that fresh changes in the liturgy could lead to nothing but complete bewilderment on the part of the faithful who are already showing signs of restiveness and of an indubitable lessening of faith.

Amongst the best of the clergy the practical result is an agonising crisis of conscience of which innumerable instances come to our notice daily.

3. We are certain that these considerations, which can only reach Your Holiness by the living voice of both shepherds and flock, cannot but find an echo in Your paternal heart, always so profoundly solicitous for the spiritual needs of the children of the Church. It has always been the case that when a law meant for the good of subjects proves to be on the contrary harmful, those subjects have the right, nay the duty of asking with filial trust for the abrogation of that law.

Therefore we most earnestly beseech Your Holiness, at a time of such painful divisions and ever-increasing perils for the purity of the Faith and the unity of the church, lamented by You our common Father, not to deprive us of the possibility of continuing to have recourse to the fruitful integrity of that Missale Romanum of St. Pius V, so highly praised by Your Holiness and so deeply loved and venerated by the whole Catholic world.

A. Card. Ottaviani
A. Card. Bacci

For more on the fascinating exegesis on the outcomes of the Second Vatican Council click here.

Pope Benedict Explains St John Vianney's 'Virtuous Circle' Secret

Benedict XVI is urging priests to not become resigned to empty confessionals, but to help people rediscover the beauty of the sacrament by deepening their understanding of the Eucharist. The Pope stated this in a letter to the priests of the world, on the occasion of the Year for Priests, which begins Friday in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Mary Vianney, the Curé d'Ars.

The saint "taught his parishioners primarily by the witness of his life," the Pontiff affirmed. "It was from his example that they learned to pray, halting frequently before the tabernacle for a visit to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament." He taught them about the Eucharist, but it was "most effective when they saw him celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass," the Holy Father said.

He added that the saint "was convinced that the fervor of a priest's life depended entirely upon the Mass" and "was accustomed, when celebrating, also to offer his own life in sacrifice." This identification with the sacrifice of the Cross led him from the altar to the confessional, Benedict XVI affirmed.

He continued: "Priests ought never to be resigned to empty confessionals or the apparent indifference of the faithful to this sacrament. In France, at the time of the Cure of Ars, confession was no more easy or frequent than in our own day, since the upheaval caused by the revolution had long inhibited the practice of religion.

"Yet he sought in every way, by his preaching and his powers of persuasion, to help his parishioners to rediscover the meaning and beauty of the Sacrament of Penance, presenting it as an inherent demand of the Eucharistic presence. He thus created a 'virtuous' circle."

The Pope explained that St. John Mary spent long hours in church before the tabernacle, inspiring the faithful "to imitate him by coming to visit Jesus with the knowledge that their parish priest would be there, ready to listen and offer forgiveness." Over time, he said, penitents started coming from all over the country, and the priest would be in the confessional for up to 16 hours a day.

Thus, the Pontiff said, his parish became known as "a great hospital of souls." He quoted the saint who said: "It is not the sinner who returns to God to beg his forgiveness, but God himself who runs after the sinner and makes him return to him."

The Holy Father urged priests to learn from St. John Mary Vianney to "put our unfailing trust in the Sacrament of Penance, to set it once more at the center of our pastoral concerns, and to take up the 'dialogue of salvation,' which it entails."

He noted that "those who came to his confessional drawn by a deep and humble longing for God's forgiveness found in him the encouragement to plunge into the 'flood of divine mercy' which sweeps everything away by its vehemence. He awakened repentance in the hearts of the lukewarm by forcing them to see God's own pain at their sins reflected in the face of the priest who was their confessor," Benedict XVI stated.

He continued, "To those who, on the other hand, came to him already desirous of and suited to a deeper spiritual life, he flung open the abyss of God's love, explaining the untold beauty of living in union with him and dwelling in his presence."

The Pope affirmed: "In his time the Cure of Ars was able to transform the hearts and the lives of so many people because he enabled them to experience the Lord's merciful love. Our own time urgently needs a similar proclamation and witness to the truth of love."

He affirmed that the saint "sought to remain completely faithful to his own vocation and mission," lamenting that "a pastor can grow dangerously inured to the state of sin or of indifference in which so many of his flock are living."

The Pontiff noted the priest's sacrifices on behalf of the souls who came to him in confession, quoting his words to another confrere: "I will tell you my recipe: I give sinners a small penance and the rest I do in their place."

"Souls have been won at the price of Jesus' own blood," the Holy Father stated, "and a priest cannot devote himself to their salvation if he refuses to share personally in the 'precious cost' of redemption."

Campaign for Day of Discrimination

Join my Campaign for a UN International Day of Overt, Shameless and Blatant, Discrimination! For just one day people of all different creeds and colours, religions, sexualities, abilities and social nuances should have the opportunity to say, 'No', to whomever they please, on whatever basis they choose.

It is time to put aside our political correctness for just one day a year, in which we can say 'Yes!' to whomever we please, at our own liking, and 'No!' to whomever we please. Church community centres will be able to say to gaggle of cackling witches, who want to hire the hall, "No, I do not think that your group is entirely suitable for this space, please try somewhere else."

It would also mean that gay clubs would be able to say, to the straight couple who have an unnerving passion for Abba, Kylie and the Village People, "No, we can't stand seeing straights canoodle all evening, sorry, gays only. That kind of stuff you get up to is sick and unnatural and, like, so 1950s. Get with the programme, darlings!"

And yes, it means that for just one night only, the local Freemasons lodge can say, 'No', to whoever they please, on any basis they choose when locals try to enter to find out what the rituals are that actually go on at those places...They can even say, 'No' to black people and women if they want! That's right, for just one night only!

Also, for just one night only, bouncers at clubs will be able to say, 'No' to people who are homeless or vagrant on the doors of classy establishments and say, "Sorry, for just one night only we are saying 'No' to the homeless. You look rough and people might feel intimidated, so why not look elsewhere? There's a soup run down the road, try there."

For just one day, and one day a year, women who didn't want a child for a myriad reasons could say to their unborn child, "No! The time is really not good for me. I have plans to travel and a career to think of and, besides, you've probably got an abnormality anyway, so no, you cannot live."

Landlords at pubs will be able to say, 'No' and to discriminate against the smoking community and upon seeing someone try to get in with a cigarette, will be able to say, "Excuse me, but we're a non-smoking establishment because we're all health freaks consumed with nothing but our personal well-being. Behold, the temples of our bodies. Please leave your cigarette at the door else you can't come in."

It means that for just one day only, the local council, when employing someone will have their 'Equal Opportunities' forms on their desks when choosing a new recruit for a secretarial position, and, upon realising they haven't employed a disabled, asian, transgendered, ladyboy in the past few months will be able to say, 'No!' to the other non-disabled, non-asian, non-transgendered, woman for no other reason than to fill a 4.5% quota!

For just one day, doctors, nurses, and all health professionals who disagree with abortion, refuse to go against their sacred conscience and refuse to take part in it would be told by their employers, "No! If I were you, if I wanted to keep your job in this profession I would go along with the system and perform the abortions, otherwise your career is distinctly at risk."

For just one day, that's right, just one day, an air hostess who wears a crucifix will be able to be told, in no uncertain terms, "No! You cannot wear a crucifix publicly because it might offend someone on the plane who breaks into a sweat at the sight of Christ upon the Cross!"

And yes, just for one day, let's break out of the chains of political correctness and allow the Police and Community Police to say to the beggar with a can of lager in his hand, "No! You cannot drink that here because its a bye-law which forbids public drinking on every day of the year apart from Gay Pride day, because God knows, we can't offend the gays! But you don't look important so you are different. Come on, hand the drink over and I'll pour it away in front of your face."

And what is more, for just one day, men, women and entire families seeking asylum in the UK from war-torn countries, political and religious persecution, genocide and unjust imprisonment, could be told by the Home Office, "No! We understand that sending you back to your country of origin may result in your torturous death at the hands of extremists, but for just one day a year, we don't care! So sling your hook while we allow a coach of east-europeans to come in while you're crapping yourself for fear at the airport!"

It means that just for one day, an adoption agency, faced with the terrifying challenge of placing a young Christian boy in a loving home, will be able to say "No!" to the Christian, heterosexual couples who are on their register, and place him with an active gay couple instead, in order to fulfil that all important 4.5% quota! That's right! Just for one day!

That's right, discrimination for one day only! Oh what joy would that day bring! Yes, we'd all see on that day that we are all equal and all the same, wouldn't we?! Yes! We would see on that UN International Day of Overt, Shameless and Blatant Discrimination, just how far we have come as a society and that we have created a utopia in which nobody suffers discrimination at all...

You Don't Have to Look Like This to Be a Witch...

But it probably helps!

The Telegraph has reported that...

A coven of witches is accusing the Roman Catholic church of religious persecution after being banned from using a parish social centre for a Halloween gathering [Why that's All Hallow's Eve, surely?]. Sandra Davis, the "high priestess" of Crystal Cauldron [Let's see now. How many cliches can we fit into the title of just one witch coven?] group in Stockport, Greater Manchester, said she was shocked to be told that the pagan group was not considered to be compatible with the church's "ethos" [How shocking!].

Mrs Davis, 61, booked Our Lady's Social Club in Shaw Heath, Stockport, for the group's annual "Witches Ball" due to be held in October. She hoped to attract up to 150 people to the social evening offering a buffet dinner and music from an Abba tribute band and selected the hall because it had disabled access.

But when she went to pay for the booking she was told by the manager that the Diocese of Shrewsbury, which owns the centre, had refused permission for the group to use it.

"It makes you think that there is still a little bit of that attitude from the past of the Catholics wanting to burn witches," she said. "I thought we had made progress, that we could accept other people's religious paths." [Hmm...Yes, it is one thing renouncing the burning at the stake of witches. I suppose that if you really want to worship Satan, who are we to argue with you?! It is quite another to say, "Hey, you witches! Fancy practicing the occult with 150 other witches?! We're the Catholic Church! Come hire our hall space!"]

We've got Mrs Davis, who has 11 grandchildren, gave up her former job in a forklift truck company to set up the Crystal Cauldron, where she is known as "Amethyst Selmeselene" [Good grief!]. Based in a former post office, the 30-strong group runs a new age bookshop and sells cloaks, jewellery and medieval costumes on the internet as well as organising a children's group called "Little Crystals". [Uh-huh, New Age - Check! Ludicrous but in all likelihood slightly nefarious occult practices - Check! Handing all the sorcery nonsense down to the children - Check! Yep, enough here to be slightly wary of hiring the space to you guys!]

It also supports a local cat sanctuary [Black cats only!? Discrimination!] as its designated charity. Mrs Davis has since secured a new venue for the ball which she hopes will become an annual fixture in the town. "It is a full family thing and it is a posh do too," she said. "It is evening dress or fancy dress, last year most of us went in medieval costumes."

The Reverend John Joyce, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury, said that it was out of the question for a pagan group to use its facilities. "Parish centres under our auspices let their premises on the understanding users and their organisations are compatible with the ethos and teachings of the Catholic church," he said. "In this instance, we aren't satisfied such requirements are met."

[Well quite! The only problem, I guess, is that the court, should it come to that, will doubtless force the Diocese into submission on this one. The only sensible thing for the coven to do is to shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh well. Let's try a non-Catholic Church community hall, because let's face it there are tons in this town! Oh sod it, on second thoughts, let's go to the press and kick up a right witches brew of a fuss about it!"]

For those who are in any doubt as to the reason why such an event was rightly deemed unsuitable here is the Catechism of the Catholic Church on...

Divination and magic

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future.⁴⁸ Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

Does Anyone Think These Taser Police Are...

...a little heavy-handed? This was in Nottingham by the way.

How to Cash In on the Swine Flu

Yesterday I asked my parish priest what standard parishioner procedure should be in case of a Swine Flu outbreak in Brighton.

If one contracts Swine Flu and is on death's door should we...

a) Stay at home in quarantine and wait for the priest to come over to give us the Anointing of the Sick?

b) Stay at home in quarantine and wait for the priest to come over to give us the Anointing of the Sick, but keep waiting and die without the Last Rites because he doesn't, perfectly understandably, want to contract the Swine Flu?

c) Go to Church to die in the pews with a host of other Brightonians, having wailed to all and sundry about the End of the World and the need for repentance?

d) Spend our last few days on Earth cashing in on the outbreak by selling doctor's masks and cassocks with hats and odd sticks on Western Road at a bargain price of just £5.99, with the advertising hook of, 'Buy two beaks, get a third beak free'?

e) Simply offer it up for the conversion of sinners, the liberty and exaltation of our Holy Mother, the Church, and the poor souls in Purgatory?

f) Go onto Western Road and expound upon the Gospel in which Christ sends the legions of devils of a man possessed into a herd of swine and run off a cliff, making everyone take note of the fact that that Our Blessed Saviour has been given power and authority by His Heavenly Father to defeat evil and sin and now sits at His Right Hand in Glory, but that the swine had never forgotten about that incident and that this is now the time of the swine's revenge upon mankind and God, so fair enough for them, but that as a footnote, this Gospel passage proves that Christ was not a vegetarian or particularly passionate about animal rights...before dropping dead.

g) Go to hospital and receive an injection of Tamiflu TM?

Cutting Your Own Hair

I just cut my own hair. Is this a sign of...

a) Vanity?
b) Poverty?
c) Eccentricity?
d) Stupidity?

Answer: Mostly b. I can tell you one thing for nothing...I'm keeping my hat on! The hardest bit is the back of the head. My hair has been getting long and I've sure I have been causing scandal when altar serving. Also, it felt so heavy and was becoming very irritating, so it just had to go.

For those who want to try it. Here is a quick guide.

Step 1: Get some scissors.
Step 2: Find a mirror.
Step 3: Just snip away and see what looks good.
Step 4: Then once you think it looks reasonable, keep obsessively snipping and experiment. Remain unsatisfied and keep snipping until you look ridiculous, safe in the knowledge that even though you look silly, you've saved yourself ten bob and cannot blame the hairdresser.
Step 5: Get another mirror and show yourself the back of your head. Ask yourself whether you like it. Nod politely, because being English you'd never want to put yourself out of your way or cause offense or inconvenience.
Step 6: Keep going back to the mirror and regret having tried something so audacious repeatedly.
Step 7: Resolve never to try it again.
Step 8: Hoover up the hair on your bathroom floor.

Anyway, now a word from our sponsors, Flowbee, the Precision Home Hair Cutting Device...

The UK "Send Them Back" Home Office

I am taking a break from the Church accounts as it feels as if my head is being stewed in a casserole of assorted numbers, figures and decimal points. Still, irritating as getting the books to balance is, it is nothing in comparison to the deeply repugnant UK Home Office, who I was told this morning are sending a man, who has lived in the UK for 17 years with his wife and family, back to the Congo where his fate is far from assured to be safe.

It appears quite bizarre that the recent election results were so promising for the BNP, when, to all extents and purposes, the UK Government, under Labour, have quite a staggering track record for sending people who fled terror, persecution, political exile and violence, to seek asylum on our shores back to those countries, seemingly without a second thought. It also appears quite bizarre that under Labour, our borders have been relaxed for people who have decided to come here for economic reasons from within the EU, having been welcomed with open arms, yet those fleeing genuine persecution and probable death from war-torn regions of the World are sent packing to face the very same persecution and possible death.

Voices in Exile, who work with asylum seekers and refugees in the UK and in particular in this region, Brighton, do excellent work helping refugees and asylum seekers with practical necessities such as food and clothing, as well as campaigning on the behalf of men and women whose human rights are seldom recognised by the UK Government, in terms of benefits or the ability to work or live as a family.

I wonder when junior or senior ministers, or whoever it is who signs these orders for repatriation for people seeking asylum in the UK, from regimes who would have them dead, ever give a second thought as to the consequences of the swift movement of their pen? The very fact that these orders are so blithely executed reveals the lack of heart at the heart of Government. For a Government to send someone back to a country where their very life is at risk is grossly irresponsible, sick, cold-hearted and evil.

Say a prayer for Bobby Macasa, asylum seeker from the Congo, being deported on flight KQ101 to Nairobi from where a flight will leave for the Congo. He has lived in the UK since he was 8 years of age, when he was grated Indefinite Leave to Remain on the 6th November 1999. If his removal takes place he will be denied the right to a fair trial and the right to a family life. At best, his own assessment of his future is that he will end up homeless, without family, in a country whose language and cultre is foreign to him. The prospect of his departure has left his son and daughter who are psychologically traumatised by the UK Home Office decision, which is without doubt a scandal and a stain upon the conscience of the Government, the country and the values which the UK has so often promoted to be our own. Shame on this Government, if the decision is not repealed!

UPDATE...Decision by Home Office "deferred". Still hope for Bobby so keep him in your prayers.

Sextuplets Joy For Irish Couple

Courtesy of BBC News

The mother of Ireland's first ever set of sextuplets has told how she and her husband declined without hesitation the option of aborting some foetuses. Nuala Conway, 26, of Dunamore, County Tyrone, gave birth to four girls and two boys 14 weeks early last month.

She said that 14 weeks into the pregnancy, she and husband Austin were told about the risks of proceeding. "But we knew without discussion what we both wanted. These babies are a wonderful gift from God," she said.

"Whatever God laid out for our lives, we were taking it," she told the Sunday Express newspaper.

Abortions in Northern Ireland are still strictly limited and can go ahead only if it can be proven that the pregnancy would damage the physical or mental health of the woman. Mrs Conway's babies were delivered by a team of 30 people at the Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital in Belfast and all arrived within the space of five minutes. The babies, conceived without the aid of IVF, weighed between 1lb 7oz and 2lb 2oz.

For full story click here.

IVF Embryo Fiasco

Story from The Telegraph

A couple's last hopes of having another child have been shattered after a blunder at an NHS fertility clinic saw their final usable embryo implanted in another woman.

The error was made after a doctor at the clinic failed to carry out checks that require all fertility procedures to be witnessed and verified. The woman who mistakenly received the embryo was told of the mistake shortly after it occurred and had a termination.

The unnamed couple, who wanted to try for their second child, have spoken of their devastation and disbelief after winning a legal battle against the IVF Wales clinic, in Cardiff. Nine embryos had been created using IVF in 2000, and the woman, a 38-year-old hospital worker, subsequently gave birth to a son three years later.

The remaining embryos were stored until 2007 when she and her husband, a 40-year-old printing plant manager, decided to try for a second child. One of the embryos had survived and they travelled to the clinic for treatment only to be told the news. In a newspaper interview, the woman said: "In less than ten seconds our wonderful world was shattered when the senior embryologist stood in front of us and said, 'I'm very sorry to tell you, but there's been an accident in the lab. Your embryo has been destroyed'.

"We were both rooted to our seats. We were stunned and trembling. We held each other tightly, and sobbed and sobbed. "It was like water from a tap. I kept thinking, "They've killed our baby! Killed our baby!"

She said it was not until later they discovered the embryo had been implanted in another woman who elected to have a termination when she found out what had happened.

"We were shaking with shock and bursting with anger, especially as it was the one thing all IVF patients are told could never happen," the woman added. "What's more, it was the last of our embryos and, though they offered another round of IVF treatment for free, we turned it down, and made it plain that we would never trust them again."

She said the blunder had put a terrible strain on her relationship with her husband and that it was their son, now aged six, who kept them together. The case follows the revelation yesterday that a white couple in Northern Ireland have had a mixed race baby after another IVF mistake. The woman was fertilised with 'Caucasian cape coloured' donor sperm instead of the 'white Caucasian sperm which they had requested.

The Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust has admitted liability for the Welsh case and the couple have been paid an undisclosed sum of money. It said changes have been made in a bid to prevent such a mistake happening again.

Ian Lane, the Trust's Medical Director, said: "We apologise unreservedly for this mistake. This was a rare but extremely upsetting incident for everyone involved and we take full responsibility for the distress caused to both couples and their families. We have made a number of improvements to our systems and checks, in line with the recommendations made in the reports. We have strengthened our protocols and reduced our workload to relieve pressure on staffing levels."

The Government's fertility regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), said that it was a serious error. A spokeswoman said that because the IVF process involves microscopic materials it was impossible to eliminate all human error and clinics were encouraged to report any incidents.

She said IVF Wales reported the incident to them in December 2007 and an inspection was immediately carried out. "A report of that was then considered by a licence committee of the authority and they found that the clinic was taking the incident very seriously and had already made progress in following up the recommendations," the spokeswoman said.

The spokeswoman said IVF treatment was carried out 50,000 times a year in the UK and incidents or "near misses" arose in less that 0.5 per cent of those treatments. Around 12,000 IVF babies are now born in the UK every year, according to figures from the HFEA.

Giant Saint - Giant Picture

Today is the Feast of St Anthony of Padua. He helps you find stuff. Try it it works! He helped me find my gardening job today - literally - I didn't have a map. All I knew was it was, 'somewhere near the race course.' Said a prayer to St Anthony and there it was at the next turning. Job's a good 'un! Now I am off down the pub to blow my earnings in a way in which St Anthony would not be pleased. Thank God for the merits of the Saints I say...

Brightonian Born at 24 Weeks

This is one of two or three stories in The Argus I read with interest today. The other was the Guerilla Gardeners story and I read a horrifying piece about a homeless man whose was set alight while in his sleeping bag in New Road, in the town centre. Such things are not as rare as you would think, especially in Brighton. I believe some people consider it some kind of a sick blood-sport.

I read this story in The Argus today, however, which took my eye because of the fact that this little chap was born at 24 weeks. It is amazing the lengths that the medical profession will go to as long as a baby is considered 'wanted' or viable. At 24 weeks, the Government says that a baby is viable outside of the womb therefore that is the upper limit. Yet it is so arbitrary, really - there is no concrete reason other than 'viability' for why some unborn children should be given the assurance of medical care and protection and some could be aborted. I mean, at 23 weeks abortion is legal...but hang on...what if you waited another week? What then?

Story courtesy of The Argus

When he was born at 24 weeks, Stirling Wakeling weighed just over 1lb and his family feared he wouldn’t make it. In the first few months of his life he underwent open heart surgery and had to be resuscitated several times. In his short life he has also had to deal with chronic lung disease.

But now, four years on, the youngster is full of beans and constantly on the go at the family home in Hove. Stirling is now looking forward to starting school in September. And unlike many children in Hove he got into first choice, Goldstone Primary in Laburnum Avenue.

Proud mother Lucy Young, 34, said: “He is a little miracle and a real fighter. He has overcome every single hurdle. “He still needs help with asthma and was slow in his development at first. He took a while to learn how to talk but is now doing really well and going from strength to strength.

“He is almost on a level playing field with any other child his age. He has all his faculties and loves animals, riding his bike, cars and swimming. He is very active. There were many times when I thought he wouldn't make it and it was very difficult. I used to hold him when he was very small and he would stop breathing and needed to be resuscitated. It was hard but when you have children your love for them keeps you going. You just have to get on with it.”

Stirling has come a long way since needing extra oxygen to get him through the night. Doctors were even concerned he might have cerebral palsy, suffer brain damage and not be able to walk. Stirling spent the first four months of his life at the Trevor Mann baby unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Ms Young and her mother Trinity-Jayne Freedom, 48, from Saltdean, are now setting up a charity called Stirling's Donation, to raise as much money as possible for the unit and are expecting to get a website up and running soon. Ms Young said: “The Trevor Mann was absolutely brilliant and this is our way of saying thank you for everything they have done.”

Tridentine Mass Altar Serving Training

Tomorrow, altar server Extraordinare, Andrew, will be teaching me to serve at Mass in the Extraordinary Form. In preparation I was looking for something on YouTube, but it doesn't seem that there is a training video. Ah, well! Hopefully, I will get the hang of it tomorrow...Aha! Found one! Website looks good. Sancta Missa, it is called.

Eco-Anarchy in the UK

Those green fingered hippies are at it again!

Story from The Argus

Guerilla gardeners have broken back into the community green they created after it was chained off by a security firm. For the past month residents around Lewes Road, Brighton, have been enjoying the recreation space they carefully installed on the derelict site of a demolished Esso petrol station at the corner of Edinburgh Road.

They cleared rubble, laid a circular lawn, brought in benches, flower pots, sculptures and other decorations and planted flowers and shrubs into eyesore concrete blocks. The site had previously been disused for five years but since it was spruced up during a series of "guerilla gardening days" it has been well used by residents. They have taken responsibility for locking it each night and opening it in the morning. Their activities had gone unchecked by the site's owners until Tuesday, when they arrived to discover a security firm had chained up the access gate and installed a warning sign to deter intruders.

Duncan Blinkhorn, a spokesman for the group behind the "Lewes Road Community Garden", yesterday said: "The gardeners were not so easily defeated and immediately set about lifting the gate off its hinges to allow continued access to the site." The group also launched a petition which has been signed by more than 1,500 residents in two days.

It called for support to help keep the garden open and continue the good example of the community working together to beautify the area and create a facility from a derelict site. King Sturge, the London-based property group acting on behalf of the site's owners, yesterday said the relevant member of staff was unavailable so it could not comment on why the gates had been chained or what it intended to do in future.

Gabriel Wulff, one of the garden organisers, said: "The point is we are not doing anything harmful to anyone. We are just providing a space for people to come together. We don't know what they meant by locking the site. We are not squatters, we are just using the site while it is available and will be happy to move it all if it is needed for use again."

Full story here.

Corpus Christi Liturgical Splendour at St Mary Magdalen's

Rev. Dr Alcuin Reid (Deacon: left-wing), Fr Sean Finegan (Celebrant: centre-forward) and Fr Raymond Blake (Subdeacon: centre-back)

What do you call a Solemn Sung Mass with a Choir singing Byrd's Mass for Four Voices, interjected with Gregorian Chant, including a sequence composed by St Thomas Aquinas, adoration and procession of the Blessed Sacrament and three of the countries most revered priests celebrating the Tridentine Mass, with six altar servers in tow?

The answer? Corpus Christi at St Mary Magdalen's, last night. It was a stunner.

Click here for more pictures. Hopefully I will obtain a copy of Rev. Dr Alcuin Reid's homily which was very good indeed. The Altar was so beautifully decorated with flowers and as you can see, the Sacred Vestments looked sublime.

Lazarus Syndrome?

Story courtesy of The Telegraph

A 23-year-old man, Michael Wilkinson, came back to life half an hour after doctors declared him dead in a rare example of a phenomenon known as Lazarus Syndrome.

Mr Wilkinson was pronounced dead by staff at the Royal Preston Hospital on February 1. But 30 minutes after he was given the Last Rites doctors realised that his pulse had returned. He survived for two days before being pronounced dead a second time.

An inquest in the city heard that his return to life was known as Lazarus Syndrome - the spontaneous return of circulation once attempts at resuscitation have failed. The syndrome takes its name from the biblical story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by Jesus. There are only 38 recorded cases in the world.

For full story click here...

May he rest in peace.

Judgment and Mercy

Today is the Solemnity of Corpus Christi

My friend 'J' just popped over and gave me a pair of trousers he had been given, which didn't fit him. He told me yesterday that the judge yesterday made it explicit to him that he must not 'blow over' in morning tests for alcohol in order to attend his drug rehabilitation group and to get methadone.

He had to explain to the judge, "Your honour, I am trying but it is really hard because I am an alcoholic and so often 'blow over' in tests in the morning because I have had too much the night before." He has been very concerned that in failing the alcohol test that he would blow over so many times that he would get sent back to jail because the group do not allow you to join if you have alcohol in your system.

This seems rather unfair, given that so many of the people on this programme require treatment for drug addiction...yet so little leniency is shown to people who suffer the dual addiction of drug and alcohol depenency. He must now record a 0% test for alcohol 4 times in a week in order to be accepted on the Drug Rehabilitation Initiative (DRI). Yet, for him this is a great struggle. If he does not do this he will be sent into rehab proper. This may sound like a good thing, but at the same time, he feels as if he is on probation for alcohol addiction, rather than for drug addiction. He feels like he is being told, 'Achieve this, or else,' which is hard, given that he is not really given very much other support in order to overcome alcoholism.

He feels like he is walking a tightrope. He feels like the system is designed for him to fail and he is sick of failure. Of course, if he fails the DRI completely, or doesn't turn up, the threat of jail is lurking somewhere there for him. I find this method of 'rehabilitation' to be a little cold, harsh and judgmental. I am no expert in the field, but it seems to me very unChristian.

It is in stark contrast to the way in which God works with us. By a constant humbling of His own self - by an outstretched hand of Grace, the Blessed Trinity draws us deeper into His Divine Life. By His consoling, uncontrolling hand of Grace, Christ heals wounds and afflictions of the soul. Not through force, no. Not by threat of punishment. He does not hold His hand over us, in a threatening way. He does not punish our weakness. Instead, through the Sacraments of Holy Mother Church, He restores souls to God, to purity and wholeness. He is Strong, but Meek, even though He is the Lord of the weak and the strong.

He blesses us even when we are in sin, then He forgives us when we acknowledge our faults. In this He shows us His perfect love. Almighty, yet tender. What great and awesome responsibility then lays on the shoulders of judges, that they must reflect not only His Justice, but His mercy and His love also!

War is in Their Hearts...

"Yes, yes, pour it away! It's a bye-law...No alcohol!"

New York City Deputy Police Commissioner watches as Prohibition agents pour illegal liquor into a sewer in 1921.

On the seafront today I happened upon a man I know who was begging outside a Brighton hotel. As I approached from afar it was clear the hotel security were talking with him. As I got closer I noticed an unmarked, black car pull up and two fully uniformed policemen get out and walk over to him. The policemen and I arrived on the scene at the exact same time. It was odd timing. He had a beer in his hand and was begging. He was not causing a 'scene', just sat on the ground.

What next took place was not a surprise really, because all of the homeless and hostel chaps who beg near anywhere in Brighton come in for close attention from the police and the not-actual-police police, otherwise known as CSPOs. Obviously they were going to pour away his drink and ask him to move on.

The policeman who poured his drink away, I found particularly Goliath-like. He was tall, handsome, clean cut and strong, bolstered by his protective gear. I suppose he sees himself as some kind of 'Batman' figure. He looked like someone who would make a good 'protector' in the community. Unfortunately, he was far from it. The look of sheer contempt for the beggar on his face was cutting and severe. The beggar made no noise which would contradict what the policeman was asking, namely to move and was saying, "Just give me a minute." The policeman snatched his can of beer from his hand and poured some away on the floor before rather violently shaking the remains of the can near him, as if, in some way he was dealing with the worst criminal in the World. I was stunned not by his action but by his arrogance.

I understand the bye-law - I don't necessarily agree with it - but I understand that police and CSPOs do the job because the Council are worried about the appearance of Brighton and that is what they are employed to do. What I found disgraceful was the disregard the Officer had for just the mere fact that they beggar had bought that beer out of his pocket. Granted, he may have begged to get it, but it belonged to him. The beggar was still on the floor. The policeman towered over him like Goliath did David. The beggar was meek and the policemen walked away angrily and with great arrogance.

As I say I know the beggar, so I gave him a lift back to London Road. There are some good police and CSPOs, who, on arriving on a scene where public street-drinking is taking place give the 'offender' some time to drink up. Others are more genial but ask politely for the can and say, 'I'm sorry but I am going to have to remove that from you because it is the bye law.' But this policeman was different...I was reminded of the words of King David in the Psalm.

'The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.'

War is in their hearts, some of the police. Not compassion, not a desire to protect or defend human dignity, not even a just response to a public 'offence' measured with a desire not to offend the hotel owner. It just appeared as an act of violence or an act of war against a helpless and defenseless victim. My reaction...Well, these were real policemen, rather than CSPOs so I myself was intimidated by the officer. I wanted to say, 'This really is not on,' but out of cowardice did not. He appeared to be the type who would be quick to arrest facing challenge and I do not trust myself in that situation to remain calm. The man and I slagged off the officers for their loathsome injustice in the car on the way back instead.

It is, of course, instructive of a society that punishes the weak and elevates the proud and strong, the mighty and those in authority. It is the spirit of pride that motivates the policeman who is so blind to his own sin, his own weakness, that he wants to inflict humiliation and shame upon the poor man, who displays publicly some weakness. As Catholics we understand that this desire is a part of our fallen human nature - but it must be condemned always because it is a grave evil and injustice when perpetrated against the Poor, in whom Christ dwells in a special way.

Our Lord did not punish human weakness, nor those who offended polite society with public vices. Instead He, 'ate and drank with sinners'. He loved all sinners, indeed loved us sinners all unto death. It was this that offended the religious people of His time. It was with the poor, the despised and the abandoned that His message of forgiveness and mercy fell upon fertile soil. His message was, so often, lost on the powerful and strong and those who thought themselves virtuous. He said, 'It is not the healthy who need the physician, but the sick, and I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance'.

Without doubt, this is going on in every town in the land and I am sure many police see themselves as doing society a favour and perhaps polite society agrees. But even if nearly all society agreed, it would not make it any less shameful to abuse a poor man of Christ. Because after all, when it comes to David and Goliath, we all know who won that contest...

...in the end!

Great Catholic Quotes

A commenter has kindly informed me of this rather good Catholic Quote website called, err...'Quote Catholic'. Nice resource for Catholics. Thanks for that.

"Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt."

St. Francis of Assisi

"He who is the beginning and the end, the ruler of the angels, made Himself obedient to human creatures. The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant."

St. Anthony

"We were looking for a ‘good shepherd,’ and instead we got a German shepherd."

Pope Benedict XVI

Chickens in Uproar Over Griffin Egg Scandal

Chickens are said to be outraged by the egg attack on Nick Griffin, Leader of the British National Party.

One chicken, Mrs I. Peck Byrdfeed of West Grinstead said, "As a member of the chicken community I am appalled that what could potentially have been one of my eggs has been associated with the BNP. I am shocked and appalled. I mean, things are bad enough for us chickens as it is. Already we have our eggs nicked off us by farmers on a daily basis. Some of my mates live in the most appalling conditions already in battery pens where you couldn't swing a mouse, let alone a cat. So, we don't welcome news that those eggs are now being so inextricably linked to the leader of a neo-fascist brigade of Union Jack waving thugs."

Nick Griffin, who was the victim of the egg hurling incident outside Westminster, where he had been situated as part of an elaborate publicity stunt, said, "I was splattered. It's a very sad day for British democracy. It seems the ruling political parties who want this to carry on have lost sight of what democracy really is."

The National Society for the Rights of Chickens released a statement, "We do not wish to be associated with an extreme right-wing party who, upon election would doubtless launch a 'voluntary resettlement' programme on some of our most vulnerable feathered friends, who have migrated to this country, not for economic reasons, but because it is in their nature to do so. Also, it has to be remembered that they may face cold weather and possibly torture should they return at this season. The rights of chickens, fowl, game and all birds must be protected from enemies of democracy and freedom such as Nick Griffin and his ilk."

Another chicken from Aylesford, a member of one of a large contingent of ethnic minority chickens, spoke of his distress of this unsavoury incident and offered his thoughts on the current standing of the BNP in British politics, "I don't know. You have to ask the question, what came first? The renewed interest in the BNP or the social unrest caused by years of Labour abandoning its core voters in chasing the C1/C2 demographic, speaking up for everyone but their actual traditional support base who now live in even more poverty than they did before. I don't know...it's a chicken and egg situation, I guess."

Lauda Sion Salvatorem

Tonight the St Mary Magdalen's Choir were practising this Sequence for Corpus Christi on Thursday. Good, eh?

Courtesy of Thesaurus Precum Latinarum

When Pope Urban IV (1261-1264) first established the Feast of Corpus Christi, he requested St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) to compose hymns for it. This is one of the five beautiful hymns Aquinas composed in honor of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. In addition to Lauda Sion, St. Thomas wrote Adoro Te Devote, Pange Lingua, Sacris Sollemnis and Verbum Supernum. Lauda Sion is the Sequence before the Gospel on Corpus Christi. The last two verses comprise the well known Bone pastor, panis vere.

Meanwhile...for all you liturgical eye candy enthusiasts...check out Fr Ray Blake's blog for exclusive photography of the Sacred Vestments he's wearing on Corpus Christi on Thursday night. Look at the floral embroidery on that!

Does the Government Want to 'Re-Educate' Religious Children?

Chairman Mao's Little Red Book became a best-seller in China...Or was it the only seller in China?

Courtesy of The Telegraph

Pupils to be taught 'how to think' in GCSE-style course...

'They will be taught the difference between an argument and a rant and how to separate fact from opinion, it was disclosed. Topics covered in the new course - drawn up by one of Britain's biggest exam boards - will include debate over the existence of UFOs, a belief in the after life and arguments for and against euthanasia.

In the first move of its kind, the "Thinking and Reasoning Skills" qualification will be offered next year following claims from universities and employers that young people lack basic skills.

Last year, the Confederation of British Industry said an obsession with iPods, mobile phones and the internet meant many computer-savvy teenagers were unable to hold proper conversations and write essays. The OCR exam board said there was "massive" demand from schools for the new course.

But critics say the focus on skills detracts from traditional subjects, such as history, geography and science. Bernice McCabe, head of fee-paying North London Collegiate School, and director of a charity set up by the Prince of Wales to promote good teaching, said mainstream subjects were no longer "fashionable".

Nick Gibb, the Conservative shadow schools minister, said: "The problem with these skills-based subjects is that pupils can actually miss out on the basic subject knowledge that is particularly important pre-16."

OCR has already introduced an A-level in critical thinking. Under latest plans, a new "Level 2 qualification" will enable schoolchildren to gain the equivalent of an A* to C grade GCSE in the subject.

According to the course syllabus, the qualification will complement mainstream subjects, by allowing pupils to "develop a conscious, critical awareness of the full range of skills which together constitute higher forms of thinking".

Pupils are expected to develop an understanding of 10 "skills", said OCR, including evaluating evidence, decision making, problem solving and creative thinking. Under the heading of "understanding arguments", students will learn how to recognise "the difference between arguments and rants and lists of information and explanations", as well as "identifying indicator words which signal the presence of reasons and conclusions".

They will complete exercises based on a series of topical issues. Suggested subjects include the rise of teenage violence, drug and alcohol abuse, genetic engineering, euthanasia, global warming and animal experiments.

In one exercise - based on conspiracy theories - students will be asked to debate the existence of UFOs and alien abductions. The course, which is aimed at under-16s, involves around 60 hours of teaching. Students sit two, hour-long written exams and are awarded a distinction, merit or pass.

An OCR spokesman said: "There is increasing evidence that improving a learner's thinking and reasoning skills has a hugely beneficial effect for their learning in other subjects."

Of course, the Holy Father has spoken many times on the need for Faith and Reason to be unified, given that Faith without Reason becomes dangerous and Reason without Faith becomes unreasonable. While on the face of it this new course in 'thinking' sounds perfectly reasonable, the question is, will pupils who hold religious faith be deemed not to be exercising their 'critical faculties' enough? Will the course in 'thinking' and 'reason' deem religious faith to be an abberation or disorder of the human psyche? Will a school course in 'thinking' actually deride religious faith? Is perhaps one aim of this course to convince students of the power of reason only and that religious faith is a hinderance to reason?

Students have, of course, been 'thinking' for centuries - do they really need a course in it? It is a little different to, say, a course in 'debating' which is a great skill, needed to develop powerful and cogent arguments. But that is not the language being used - the disturbing language used is 'how to think', which, worryingly, means that there is one, uniform, standard way to 'think' and I would imagine that the way to think does not include 'thinking' about the great Mystery that is God.

The Priest with the £60,000 Bounty on His Head

Father Zakaria Botros is a Coptic Orthodox Priest who was named World Magazine's 2008 "Daniel of the Year" because of his courageous witness to the Christian faith in an extraordinarily hostile environment. Catholic Online presents for our worldwide readers an interview which Father Botros gave to FrontPage Magazine. We were granted permission to republish this startling interview by Robert Spencer,the Director of "Jihad Watch." This interview appeared in the June 4, 2009 FrontPage under the title of “The Strange Teachings of Muhammad.”

Interview with Father Zakaria Botros, “Radical Islam's Bane”

FrontPage Interview’s guest today is Coptic priest Fr. Zakaria Botros, who al Qaeda has called "one of the most wanted infidels in the world," issuing a 60 million dollar bounty on his head. Popular Arabic magazines also call him "Islam's public enemy #1". He hosts a television program, “Truth Talk,” on Life TV. His two sites are Islam-Christianity.net and FatherZakaria.net. He was recently awarded the Daniel of the Year award.

FP: Fr. Zakaria Botros, welcome to Frontpage Interview.

Botros: Thank you for inviting me.

FP: Let’s begin with your own personal story, in terms of Islam and Christianity.

Botros: I am a Copt. In my early 20s, I became a priest. Of course, in predominantly Muslim Egypt, Christians—priests or otherwise—do not talk about religion with Muslims. My older brother, a passionate Christian learned that lesson too late: after preaching to Muslims, he was eventually ambushed by Muslims who cut out his tongue and murdered him. Far from being deterred or hating Muslims, I eventually felt more compelled to share the Good News with them. Naturally, this created many problems: I was constantly harassed, threatened, and eventually imprisoned and tortured for one year, simply for preaching to Muslims. Egyptian officials charged me with abetting “apostasy,” that is, for being responsible for the conversion of Muslims to Christianity. Another time I was arrested while boarding a plane out of Egypt. Eventually, however, I managed to flee my native country and resided for a time in Australia and England. Anyway, my life-story with Christianity and Islam is very long and complicated. In fact, an entire book about it was recently published.

FP: I apologize for asking this, but what were some of the tortures you endured when you were imprisoned?

Botros: Due to my preaching the Gospel, Egyptian soldiers broke into my home putting their guns to my head. Without telling me why, they arrested me and placed me in an extremely small prison cell (1.8x1.5x1.8 meters, which was further problematic, since I am 1.83 meters tall), with other inmates, and in well over 100 degree temperatures, with little ventilation, no windows, and no light. No beds of course, we slept on the floor—in shifts, as there was not enough room for all of us to lie down. Due to the lack of oxygen, we used to also take shifts lying with our noses under the crack of the cell door to get air. As a result, I developed a kidney infection (receiving, of course, no medical attention). Mosquitoes plagued us. Food was delivered in buckets; we rarely even knew what the gruel was. The prison guards would often spit in the bucket in front of us, as well as fling their nose pickings in it.

FP: My heart goes out to you in terms of this terrible suffering you endured. What is your primary purpose in what you do?

Botros: Simple: the salvation of souls. As I always say, inasmuch as I may reject Islam, I love Muslims. Thus, to save the latter, I have no choice but to expose the former for the false religion it is. Christ commanded us to spread the Good News. There is no rule that says Christians should proselytize the world — except for Muslims! Of course, trying to convert the latter is more dangerous. But we cannot forsake them. This is more important considering that many Muslims are “religious” and truly seek to please God; yet are they misdirected. So I want to take their sincerity and piety and direct it to the True Light.

FP: In what way can you summarize for us why you think that Islam is a “false” religion?

Botros: Theologically, as I am a Christian priest, I believe that only Christianity offers the truth. Based on my faith in Christ, I reject all other religious systems as man-made and thus not reflective of divine truths. Moreover, one of the greatest crimes committed by Muhammad—a crime which he shall surely never be forgiven for—is that he denied the grace and mercy that Christ brought, and took humanity back to the age of the law.

But faith aside, common sense alone makes it clear that, of all the world’s major religions, Islam is most certainly false. After all, while I may not believe in, say, [...For full article click here at Catholic Online...]

Suffice to say that I only have a 52p Bounty on my head. Here it is.



So say a prayer for the brave priest who is witnessing to the Gospel at such risk to his personal safety.

Lord Falconer is an Assisted Suicide Advocate

Lord Charlie Falconer...Assisting Brown's suicide?

Lord Falconer is a former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He has written in The Times.

'The Labour Party is disunited. The events surrounding the Cabinet reshuffle over the past few days could not have illustrated that more graphically. As a result we are weakened and distracted, facing the twin crises of the economy and the reduction in public trust in our parliamentary system.

Unity comes, ultimately, from leadership; the party will follow. There will always be people who attack the leader, but the mainstream will follow a clear and decisive direction reflecting the values of the Labour Party.

My view is that the painful step of changing our leader, a leader who has given his life to the Labour Party and to public service, would be best for the party and the country. The choice is for the Prime Minister and the party. I believe that if we change, then we would go into the next election, whenever it was, so much stronger.'

This is the same Lord Falconer who is, according to the same publication, stating his support for...

'...tabling an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill, to be debated in the House of Lords this week, to remove the threat of prosecution to people who travel abroad to help terminally ill relatives commit suicide....

...The former lord chancellor and justice secretary has become the most high-profile Labour figure to call for a change in the law to ensure that families who accompany their loved ones overseas to euthanasia clinics do not risk prosecution.'

Publicly, at least, PM Gordon Brown has made clear his reticence to change any law on assisted suicide. Could there be a link between Lord Falconer's movement away from Brown and a keen desire to see a new leader installed with 'fresh ideas'...such as pro-euthanasia laws? Well you may say that but doubtless he couldn't possibly comment. Or maybe he's just peeved with Brown like so many other people. I'm sure that failing a successful 'voluntary resettlement' programme for asylum seekers and immigrants, the BNP might be up for a little bit of euthanasia now and then as well.

Anyway, you can lobby against this amendment here.

Obamawatch! Mrs Obama in House of Commons Mystery

Michelle Obama leaves the House of Commons in a motorcade during an unofficial visit to London. Photo: Getty Images

The Telegraph reports that...

During her visit on Monday, America's First Lady was pictured clutching a rather unusual souvenir – a publication bearing a picture of Michael Martin, the former Speaker of the Commons. Mr Martin was forced to resign last month following his mishandled response to the MPs' expenses scandal.

Quite why Mrs Obama was given the publication, which she was pictured holding as she was driven away from the Houses of Parliament, remains a mystery. The wife of President Obama was in London on a private visit with their daughters Malia, 10, and Sasha, eight.

They stayed on in Paris for sightseeing on Sunday, while the President returned to the US following his tour of Europe. It is thought they flew into London by private jet early on Monday morning, before paying a brief visit to Westminster in the afternoon.

Later, Mrs Obama visited The Audley pub in Mayfair, where regulars saw her disappear into an upstairs room before leaving with her daughters. On Saturday the whole family went sightseeing in Paris, visiting Notre Dame, the Pompidou Centre and a restaurant near the Eiffel Tower. Thousands gathered there to cheer on President Obama and his family.

Odd. Up to no good, no doubt! Was she been sent by 'the One' to plead to the Labour Party on behalf of the wounded incumbent of No.10, because the Leader of the Never-Again-to-be-Free World fears a UK prime minister more popular than Gordon Brown might take away some of his own airtime in the adoring gaze of the liberal mass media?

Dark Clouds Hang Over the Houses of Parliament

While the BNP made a rather nasty incision into the European Parliament at the elections, it is hopefully, for the time being at least, a localised outbreak of a racist virus which will not, hopefully, become a UK wide epidemic. But it is not a forgone conclusion...

It is hard to argue that the reason for their poisonous victories is merely down to the recession, or just the public outrage at the MP expenses scandal, or a lack of jobs or affordable housing in the North West. I expect that the root of the dramatic turn to the right is that many voters, of whatever class, can see quite clearly that the UK Government no longer stands for them, or their interests. The UK Government stands, it appears, for nobody's interests other than themselves, an intellectual elite of Polly Toynbee supporters and a few powerful lobby groups such as the LGBT organisations and ethnic minority issue pressure groups.

There can be no doubt left whatsoever, that something, somewhere went terribly wrong in our democracy and it has little to do with MPs fiddling the system in order to feather their nests. That is really the fruit of a sorrowful rupture that has occurred between the politicians and the people they claim to serve - the people who, more or less, kept on voting for them until they had had enough.

The blame lies solely at the door of the 'reformers' of the Labour Party, perhaps, even for the rather unimpressive display by the Conservative Party this week. Tony Blair, Peter Mandelson and Gordon Brown and many others all played their part in taking the Labour Party, persuading its core support of voters that they knew what they were doing and to trust them, and then turning it into a kind of militant, hardline Party of Guardian readers. Hell-bent on appeasing the powerful lobby groups such as Stonewall, feminist think-tanks and Islamic societies, the Labour Party became like one gigantic house party where anyone who said, "Yes, well, you know, I'm still feel a bit funny about this whole civil partnerships lark," was asked to get his coat and leave.

The Labour Party, over the past 5 or 10 years has gradually been spending so much time trying to re-educate the British public on what it means to be 'tolerant', that the British public have begun to find the Labour Party utterly intolerable. They have spent so long, so much time, so much energy and wasted money on initiatives designed to reinforce a kind of engineering of the public consciousness, that when the Party finally gets to a point when it is reliant on its core vote - the voters it abandoned in its thirst to obtain power - those voters have flung their arms in the air and said, "Why on earth should we vote for you!? You've done nothing nor even said anything for us or our interests?!"

The driving force of the Labour Party in the 21st century was not so much tolerance of ethnic and social 'minorities' as one gigantic piss up at Downing Street, inviting every PC think tank and liberal pressure group in to boogie with Blair at the bar, Mandelson on the DJ decks and Brown and Balls nursing private grievances in the spare room, plotting the downfall of the Prime Minister, while wrongly assuming that the raft of painfully patronising and largely suffocating equality legislation was going down a storm with the middle class, the working class and the upper class. The huge New Labour Leviathan, an ugly monolith of politically correct, utopian, political theorists lauded it over the British public so much on what a modern Britain should look like, that in the end, ordinary British voters who hadn't swallowed the ideology hook, line and sinker rejected the Party.

Meanwhile, because of the electoral success over the past 15 years, of the New Labour product, David Cameron has gone all 'soft' and 'wet' as well. Cameron too now speaks the same language as Tony Blair. The two major political parties don't do politics anymore. They do political correctness. Cameron too, is cosying up to the LGBT lobby and other single issue pressure groups. He uses the same language of 'rights', 'responsibilities' and 'modern compassionate Conservatism' which, in all truth, has been lifted out of the 'How to Get Elected: For Dummies by Tony Blair'. He has not realised that while Britain is indeed a tolerant nation, whole communities, and that is real communities rather than communities based on same sex attraction, are being decimated. He's going to put in an appearance on the Gay Pride March this year. He would do well to put in an appearance at some of the towns, cities and regions of the country which feel desperate in the face of a near unprecedented time of strife and unemployment.

Unfortunately, Cameron hasn't cottoned on that in a time of recession, the average, working class voter doesn't want a prospective leader to hang out with scantily clad men, ladies and ladymen, but to know what he is going to do to help him get a job, keep a roof over his family's head and somehow keep his head above water. He looks around and who is saying anything that actually resonates with his personal experience? That's right. It isn't the Conservative Party. It's the BNP who know full well that that the average working class, British chap needs a job and a house and can't get either. Meanwhile he perceives that people of a different colour are getting precedence over his family based solely on the colour of their skin, due to the Council's over-zealous enforcement of equality measures and understandably begins to feel resentful.

If Cameron (because we can assume that the Labour Party is dead in the water awaiting discovery on election night, floating, lifeless in the swimming pool of political correctness) does not get his act together and begin to appeal to core voters in the UK, instead of a few one issue obsessed pressure groups, his party too, will be joint victims in Labour's self-inflicted demise. If Cameron keeps talking about recycling, the rainforests, and equalities then the BNP will only grab more votes that in this unprecedented time, rightfully belong to the Conservative Party.

New Labour, aided by the Conservative Party have tried to legislate for people's speech and thought in equality legislation, terror legislation and a raft of race and religious hatred legislation. The trouble is that people are still thinking it. And because of the times, because of the breach of trust with the British people, people are starting to say it...and they're saying it at the ballot box. Very, very few people really like what Britain has become. Doubtless, the public will find anyone who has a vision of what Britain used to be very appealing indeed. Unfortunately for us, and really that is all of us, black, white and asian alike, the only Party appealing to a vision of what Britain used to be is the BNP.

Morrissey was widely ridiculed in the press relatively recently, before the surge in support for the British Nazi Party. I don't believe that he is a racist or an actual supporter of the BNP or National Front. I believe he may, having grown up in a Manchester housing estate, know that it was not entirely unpredictable that the issue of a future backlash against immigration was going to rear its ugly head sometime...Now it is happening. Say a prayer for David Cameron. I think he is our only hope...because if he doesn't take the leadership of this country at the next election and walk through the door of No.10 Downing Street, it is highly likely that somebody far more unpleasant will.

The Trinity is Love, Says Pope Benedict XVI

The Holy Father's Angelus homily on Trinity Sunday.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Following Eastertide, which culminates with the feast of Pentecost, the liturgy foresees these three solemnities of the Lord: today, the Most Holy Trinity; on Thursday, that of Corpus Domini, which, in many countries, Italy among them, is celebrated next Sunday; finally, on Friday in two weeks, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Each one of these liturgical observances manifests a perspective from which the whole mystery of the Christian faith is embraced: respectively, the reality of God one and three, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the divine-human center of the Person of Christ. They are in truth aspects of the one mystery of salvation, which, in a certain sense, summarize the whole path of the revelation of Jesus, from the incarnation to the death and resurrection to the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Today we contemplate the Most Holy Trinity as it was made know to us by Jesus. He revealed to us that God is love “not in the unity of a single person, but in the Trinity of a single substance” (Preface): the Trinity is Creator and merciful Father; Only Begotten Son, eternal Wisdom incarnate, dead and risen for us; it is finally the Holy Spirit, who moves everything, cosmos and history, toward the final recapitulation. Three Persons who are one God because the Father is love, the Son is love, the Spirit is love. God is love and only love, most pure, infinite and eternal love. The Trinity does not live in a splendid solitude, but is rather inexhaustible font of life that unceasingly gives itself and communicates itself.

We can in some way intuit this, whether we observe the macro-universe: our earth, the planets, the stars, the galaxies; or the micro-universe: cells, atoms, elementary particles. The “name” of the Most Holy Trinity is in a certain way impressed upon everything that exists, because everything that exists, down to the least particle, is a being in relation, and thus God-relation shines forth, ultimately creative Love shines forth. All comes from love, tends toward love, and is moved by love, naturally, according to different grades of consciousness and freedom. “O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous is your name over all the earth!” (Psalm 8:2) - the Psalmist exclaims. In speaking of the “name” the Bible indicates God himself, his truest identity; an identity that shines forth in the whole of creation, where every being, by the very fact of existing and by the “fabric” of which it is made, refers to a transcendent Principle, to eternal and infinite Life that gives itself, in a word: to Love. “In him,” St. Paul says, on the Areopagus in Athens, “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The strongest proof that we are made in the image of the Trinity is this: only love makes us happy, because we live in relation, and we live to love and be loved. Using an analogy suggested by biology, we could say the human “genome” is profoundly imprinted with the Trinity, of God-Love.

The Virgin Mary, in her docile humility, made herself the handmaid of divine Love: she accepted the will of the Father and conceived the Son by the work of the Holy Spirit. In her omnipotence made a temple worthy of himself, and made her the model and image of the Church, mystery and house of communion for all men. May Mary, mirror of the Most Holy Trinity, help us to grow in the faith of the Trinitarian mystery.

After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In English he said...

I extend cordial greetings to all the English-speaking pilgrims here today on this feast of the Most Holy Trinity, especially the members of the Holy Trinity Prayer Group from Texas. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, and with your families and loved ones at home. And may your stay in Rome strengthen your faith, fill you with hope in God’s promises and inflame your hearts with his love. God bless all of you!

Catholic Mother Fights Placement of Son with Gay Hotel Owners

The 'new consensus' on gay 'civil rights' is becoming more and more distasteful. Again it is an imposition upon the people of the UK, rather than a law which has widespread public approval or appeal. It all reminds me of a committee meeting in which there are several dissenters.

The Chair of the meeting says, "Right, so on gay adoption we are all agreed."

One man raises his voice and says, "I don't agree with this."

The Chair says, "In conclusion then, we are all agreed."

A woman says, "I'm not sure about this. Is this really in the best interest of a child?"

The Chair says, "So, we are all agreed, then."

Another man says, "In all truth, this is a scandal! I cannot accept this!"

The Chair says, "Meeting closed. Good. We are all agreed. Secretary, don't worry about the minutes. I'll handle that."

Courtesy of The Telegraph

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has told friends she is worried about the environment in which her son will grow up in, and would rather see him fostered by a man and a woman.

The child, who attends a faith school and is due to take his First Communion soon, is due to arrive tomorrow at his new foster home, a hotel in Brighton run by a middle-aged male couple. Described as "bright and lively", he was placed in care a year ago by Brighton and Hove Council after his mother had a mental breakdown, suffering from an abusive marriage.

The Thomas More Legal Centre, a Catholic legal charity, are representing the mother, who wants to see him placed with a family that reflects traditional Catholic values. Neil Addison, director of the centre, said: "We are advising her on her legal options and seeking to resolve the matter with the council by agreement

Apparently, a spokesman for the Council declined to comment, saying: "We will not comment on any issue relating to the welfare of a child in the care of the council." Read, there is to be no debate on the welfare of a child in the care of the council.

Jeff Buckley: Corpus Christi Carol

Didn't he have an beautiful voice. Corpus Christi on Thursday remember! I see that The Telegraph has published a survey of the 'dead' people Brits most would like most to meet.

The top ten celebrities we would like to bring back from the dead are:

1. Jesus Christ

2. Princess Diana

3. William Shakespeare

4. Albert Einstein

5. Marilyn Monroe

6. Leonardo da Vinci

7. Elvis Presley

8. Roald Dahl

9. Freddie Mercury

10. Martin Luther King

Astonishing. Suffice to say that Jesus Christ is still very much alive, was 'brought back from the dead' and raised by the Heavenly Father by the Power of the Holy Spirit and can be met in the Most Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament of Reconciliation, private prayer and in the persons of the Poor. Indeed, in the Poor, everybody, Catholic or not, has met Jesus, but not all have recognised Him. Finally, everybody will recognise Jesus when He returns in Glory at the End of Time with His Angels and His Saints, so the British people along with the rest of mankind shall have their wish come true, regardless. Do the British people really want to meet Jesus? If so, I suggest an RCIA course.

The Rise of the Far Right Thugs

Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP was today elected to the European parliament.

This is tangible proof, if ever it were needed, that this country is on the verge of an abyss. The poll result is not that surprising given that our own Prime Minister adulates the US President so much that he has rewritten history to declare that the fallen of World War 2 landed on 'Obama Beach'. Priceless!

The Poor Receive the Gospel Gladly

My friend 'J' introduced me to a young lady this evening who lost her boyfriend who died last week. She had asked 'J' to obtain for her a Rosary because she had seen his Rosary, which he wears around his neck, as I do. 'J' came around the front door this evening and we chatted a while. My neighbour, who lives downstairs complained that 'J' was round the area, mouthing off about how he was an alcoholic etc.

I have to leave my flat for a month or two until the flat I am to move into, thanks to the generosity of my parents, becomes available, mainly because my flatmate finds 'J' intimidating. She sought my reassurance that he would not show his face at the door again. But who am I to restrict his movements and tell him he is not allowed on Rose Hill Terrace? With the very poor, it seems, there is almost a guilt by association even though the poor are very often criminalised unjustly because the rich dare not embrace Christ, instead they mock Him and hound Him and persecute Him.

The young lady, who lost her boyfriend, homeless, last week, came around this evening to the street where I live. Behind my house lies a narrow passage termed locally as 'heroin alley'. Often if you walk past it you will find some old clothes and duvets in the passage where people have slept. Literally, often, Lazarus truly is at my gate.

'J' and I took to her the Rosary she for which she had asked and 'J' gave it to her along with the 3 'o' clock prayer to Our Lord in honour of His Divine Mercy. The poor are thirsty for Christ and Christ is thirsty for them. The World, however, searches for something else, some passing glamour that can never satisfy. As Our Lady said in the Magnificat, 'The hungry are filled with good things and the rich You have sent empty away.'

What strikes me is that the poor are very receptive to Our Lady and Our Blessed Lord in a way in which the rich are not. They understand. The young lady I met tonight but briefly is probably looked down upon by polite society because of whatever addictions she has. But she has been through the mill yet still stands and prays for the dead and the one she loves and has now left this World. May the Angels and Saints come to his aid and like Lazarus, once poor, may he now see the Beatific Vision for which he was created.

I told my neighbour, 'Don't worry, in a couple of weeks I will be gone' and 'J' will no longer be of your concern.' He replied, 'Yes, but where you go he will go and this will only upset people there.'

Amen, then. So be it. I guess for those not willing to receive it, the Gospel is very upsetting, indeed. The poor have been placed before us so that we may learn from them. Woe to us, if Lazarus is at our gate and we refuse him.

I mean, in this instance, just how intimidating is a beggar playing Bob Marley's 'One Love' strumming a ukelele he cannot really play anyway?

Te Deum

The St Mary Magdalen's Choir sang the Te Deum today for the first time. Lovely music...Happy Most Holy Trinity Sunday.

The Poor Widow

Today's Gospel reading:

In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.'

He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.'

What a strange and captivating Gospel reading it is today. I just noticed it on Catholic Online, an excellent Catholic resource website. Our Lord, it appears is not concerned so much as with how much or what we give, but how much it costs us. Real love, I guess, hurts.

Yet, how could so good a God, who would observe and show even cynicism to the pious religious men who even gave even much of their wealth to the treasury at the synagogue, approve of a poor widow giving everything she had to live on? Yet what she has given, humbly, without going noticed has touched His Sacred Heart, while all the respected religious men leave His heart unmoved. For would He not want her to keep that money for herself, given her poverty? He could have ran over and said, 'Listen, love, you don't have to do that.' But it appears He does not.

The spirituality and faith of the widow has made a deep impression on Our Lord's heart and He wishes the Apostles to take note. Our Lord is not so much interested in a worldly socialist model of wealth redistribution, or even assessing, or taking too much notice of how much the wealthier scirbes have given. He is looking at the hearts of men and women and their faith, their love.

The widow who has given everything, even though she had little, shows her abandonment to God's Providence and her gratitude, which is very real, to God. For the more wealthy scribes it is a religious duty, or a ritual - perhaps they even rival each other in their hearts over how much they give - because they have so much more perhaps. Yet this poor widow possesses now nothing, save for God.

If anyone has a reflection on this reading comment it and I'll post it up. What is Our Lord really trying to say?

The Abbot of Oulton Abbey says...

'Jesus warns us to beware of seeking prominence rather than selfless service: Saint Benedict in his Rule tells us that we are to seek what is good for another rather than for ourselves. The Lord warns us against the desire to seek recognition and esteem from others, Saint Benedict tells that rather than putting ourselves first we should aim to give one another precedence.

The following of Christ involves a reversing of the values of this world. Jesus taught this in a most powerful way when he declared that the poor widow with her two coins had given glory to God because she had put into the treasury everything she had. This is truly the image of Christian dedication: to give without counting the cost.

No matter how limited we might be in our resources, provided that all that we do springs from love of God and neighbour, we can make a rich contribution to furthering the kingdom of God. The currency of that kingdom is not silver and gold but love.'

Abbot Cuthbert Johnson
Liturgical and Monastic subjects from the Chaplain of Oulton Abbey.

Abortion Ads

Heavy bleeding for several weeks, high risk of infertility, medical link to breast cancer, tearing of the womb, injuring of the cervix, depression, self-harm, risk of suicide...All the medical research of the long-term, short term and medium term psychological, physical and biological effects of abortion suggest that if it were any other 'product' it would have been taken off the shelf long ago. If a yoghurt caused any of these symptoms I think there'd be a public outcry.

Watch out for these advertising slogans on when abortion industry companies start indoctrinating an impressionable and highly vulnerable target audience.

'I can't believe it's not safe...'

'Buy one abortion and get your next half-price.'

'57 varieties...of severe after effects.'

'Abortion: Probably the crumbliest, flakiest defense of infanticide in the world.'

'Marie Stopes don't do post-abortion counselling. But if we did, it would probably have to be the worst post-abortion counselling in the World.'

'If you get a friend to have an abortion we'll give you a discount off your next one.'

'A pram? £49.99. Nappies? £7.99. An abortion? £749.99. Bereavement after a clinic has taken your baby having killed it? Priceless...For all vulnerable mother things there's Planned Parenthood.'

'Take two unborn children out in the clinic? Not us, we just botch and go.'

'There's probably no such thing as a small and defenseless human being...so stop worrying and get on with your life.'

'Regret! The worst a woman can get!'

'The man from Del Monte he say, 'No. Really. Think about it!'

'Abortion: Eight out of ten women regret it very deeply and for the rest of their lives.'

Ave Verum Corpus, William Byrd

Beautiful Ave Verum Corpus which the St Mary Magdalen's Choir is learning for Corpus Christi.

I really think its time to leave the band and sing proper music, don't you?

Obama is 'Sort of God'

H/T Creative Minority Report

I see. So that's not, 'Son of God', that's 'sort of God'. Welcome to the new, Holy Roman Emperor-style, pseudo-divinity, celestial missionary, 'highly evolved leader', 'superman', phase of Obama's term in office. If he's 'sort of God', then how come The One hasn't managed to reduce the staggering rates of unemployment, murder, civil strife, marital breakdown, war, abortion, poverty, disease, social havoc and mass ranks of people losing their homes in the foreclosure crisis, while the economic cataclysm continues to engulf the World?

Or is Obama the 'sort of God' who doesn't actually end suffering in the World, or bring the peace he claims, but just to smile, say 'Yes we can!', look good in a suit and be devilishly charismatic while instituting policies which will ravage whole communities. Not sure he's the sacrificial Victim 'sort of God' either. Most importantly, is he the 'sort of God' who still allows us our actual God-given free will and dignity? I guess he is that 'sort of God'...but only for a short while. Usually men who become so influential with a gigantic cult of personality and a 'sort of God', semi-divine status bolstered by gratuitous fibbing and sycophancy in the media propaganda machine end up killing millions and then themselves. Worth remembering that next time Obama is given a ridiculous piece of, 'He's not a naughty boy, he's the Messiah!' spin in the liberal news media.

"Miss, What is a Rocket Man?"

This story from The Telegraph highlights the problem with sex education in UK schools. Schools are beginning to touch upon areas with which parents have great concerns. Yet, the understandable concerns of parents that children are being introduced to issues of such an adult theme, when they are already growing up in a highly sexualised culture, are blithely ignored by schools who clearly deem themselves to 'know better'. Children are not adults and it is unfair to expect children to react to adult issues about sexuality without confusion and a sense of bewilderment. It is a grave offence to cause scandal to children and upset their innocence even in a World in which the culture and lifestyle of homosexuality is embraced as a part of the norm. Society has a duty to shield children from the adult world. The new consensus that 'anything goes' even if widely held by secular society should not be the world view given to children who are still in their formative years.

As Fr Ray Blake intimated in his blog, the very fact that children are raised in such a highly sexualised culture, through the mass media, or through even walking down a shopping centre high street, means that ignoring the simple truth of the matter that children are exposed to sexual imagery aurally and visually everyday, will not be of great help, because it is everywhere. We cannot wrap children in cotton wool and lock them in the house. However, 'sex and relationships education', if it must be discussed in primary schools, to children younger than before, who in days gone by were more protected by a society far less overtly sexual, then it must be discussed with the utmost prudence, care, sensitivity, discretion, wisdom and aim to ensure that little children are not scandalised. Clearly in more or less promoting homosexuality, the school described below, has failed in that mission.

Courtesy of The Telegraph

Children as young as four were among the pupils told about same sex relationships as part of the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia. During the talk children at Bromstone Primary in Broadstairs, Kent, were played music by Elton John and told he was homosexual. A string of parents have since complained their children were left "confused" and "worried" by the assembly.

Gemma Martin, 28, whose daughter Chloe, seven, and Danny, four, are both pupils, went on: "It's meant a number of girls are worried about being friends with each other. Little girls often cuddle each other if one of them is crying or has fallen over, and now they are afraid to do that in case the others think they are gay. I think kids as young as four don't need to know about that and it should be left to their parents to tell them when they think they're ready."

Michelle Cosgrove, 33, of Westgate-on-Sea, said a number of parents had felt the school had not listened to their complaints about the assembly, and they were treated as homophobic just for asking why they were not consulted.

Lorna Meloy, 38, added: "My nine-year-old daughter Melissa told me there was a photo of two men lying down together with their feet intertwined. I think for the older children they could understand as they tend to know about things already. But for my younger daughter Keira I think it was quite confusing."

Nigel Utton, the headmaster, said the assembly was about bullying in general and only contained a section about homophobia. He said it was part of a county-wide initiative encouraged by Kent County Council, and many parents had congratulated the school in tackling the issue in such a sensitive way. In a statement sent out to schools by the council education officer Lynne Miller said: "Young children are exposed at a very early age to homophobic language. Pupils may call each other 'gay' without really understanding what it means, but learn that it means something negative, useless, and not positive. If such usage is not challenged it makes it much more difficult to address homophobic bullying in secondary schools. Schools are well placed to explore different lifestyles as they are able to reach all children and young people and do this in a professional and evidence-based way and within a safe learning environment."

It has to be said, it seems as if children nowadays are being, 're-educated' to accepting a plethora of sexual activity as norms, even at the age of 5 and 6 years old. Parents concerns too are being over-ridden. This re-education is coming direct from the State itself and parental worries are unjustly dismissed as 'prejudice' and 'discrimination', instead of being based in a concern for the development of the child. It is reckless and insensitive to children and to parents.

The Racism of the Founder of Planned Parenthood

Margaret Sanger, the US equivalent of Marie Stopes

Courtesy of Prison Planet

In a 1934 letter, Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, wrote to her financial sponsor, Clarence Gamble (the Proctor & Gamble heir) :

“We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don’t want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.”

Speaking before Rockefeller sponsored Planned Parenthood’s ‘Action fund’ banquet July 17th 2007, candidate Barack Obama made his public announcement that his ‘first act as President’ would be signing FOCA (”Freedom of Choice Act”) It was.

The “Freedom of Choice” act amounts to de-regulation of the abortion industry and provides free federally funded abortions on demand. Obama is that ‘colored minister with social-service background and engaging personality’ Sanger envisioned.

Planned Parenthood’s slogan last year — “Why should I be punished with a baby?”– was featured in television commercial campaigns. Obama mouthed this very slogan at a campaign speech in Johnstown PA:

"I have two daughters. If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby”.

Planned Parenthood operates the largest chain of abortion clinics in the US. It has more than 850 'Health Centers', 80% are in minority neighborhoods. The organization performed 22 percent of all abortions in 2005 (260,000 out of 1.2 million abortions.)

According to a Fox TV story, “Blacks do, indeed, have much higher rates of abortions than whites or other minority groups. In 2000, while blacks made up 17 percent of live births, they made up more than twice that share of abortions (36 percent). If those aborted children had been born, the number of blacks born would have been slightly over 50 percent greater than it was.

The comparison with whites and other minorities is striking. Whites made up 78 percent of live births, but only 57 percent of abortions. Non-black minorities had 7 percent of live births and 5 percent of abortions. Data from 1973 on indicate that black women’s share of abortions has consistently been at least twice their share of live births.”

According to “Klan Parenthood,” a black baby is three times more likely to be
murdered in the womb than a white baby.

'Since 1973, abortion has reduced the black population by over 25 percent. Twice as many African-Americans have died from abortion than have died from AIDS, accidents, violent crimes, cancer, and heart disease combined. Every three days, more African-Americans are killed by abortion than have been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in its entire history. About 13 percent of American women are black, but they submit to over 35 percent of the abortions.'

Bernard Nathanson, M.D., co-founder of pro-abortion “National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws” recalled creating the slogans for ‘pro-choice’ public relations with Betty Friedan back in 1968. Such slogans included, “Women must have control over their own bodies.” , and “Freedom of choice - a basic American right.”

“I remember laughing when we made those slogans up. We were looking for some sexy, catchy slogans to capture public opinion. They were very cynical slogans then, just as all of these slogans today are very, very cynical.”

It was a racket. Promote the breakdown of marriage while simultaneously promoting promiscuous sex behavior, with abortion as handy backup birth control. The only thing better would be if the federal government covered the abortion cost for impoverished teens - the very demographic targeted by Sanger’s eugenics agenda. Nathanson and other former abortionists and clinic personnel have come clean after becoming revulsed by the rampant profiteering of abortion providers. Nathanson says all abortion doctors and staff are well aware they’re in the business of terminating live human beings. After performing thousands of procedures, literally butchering the unborn, all rationalizations break down.

Thousands of young women die annually from botched legal abortions performed at a rate of 120 procedures per urban clinic per day, 8 am to midnight shifts, seven days a week. Nathanson himself estimates he’s performed 75,000 abortions during his career as an abortionist. The average cost to the patient for an abortion is around $480.00.

Doctors and staff who do the dirty work are expendable and replaceable. Abortion clinics now are operated as large franchises with profits going to their boards and shareholders. Only so much profit can be had from the abortion market alone, which with Obama’s signing of FOCA will reach saturation shortly. Tax payer funded abortion will increase the numbers to the maximum, but the corporate owners and investors of this industry want more profit.

Human baby corpses –stem cells and tissue– are worth money. What’s left of the ban on wholesale harvesting of aborted human cell tissue has cost investors billions of dollars a year. Margaret Sanger and Heinrich Himmler probably never dreamed that exterminating ‘undesirables’ could be so profitable. Sanger merely wanted to rid American society of ‘weeds’. Himmler dreamed of his Aryan supermen perpetuating the thousand year Fourth Reich.

A Post-Abortive Woman Speaks Out

Article by Theresa Bonopartis, courtesy of Catholic Online

I have often wondered what the boundaries are to move you from pro-life, to pro life ‘extremist.” Are you extreme if you think every life is precious and work to end abortion? Would the fact that you speak out on abortions truth make you extreme? How about praying in front of clinics, writing letters, or for that matter publishing articles against abortion? Does being “extreme” automatically classify you as a potential terrorist in our current political climate? And, why is being extreme when it comes to the death of 4,000 babies a day in utero a bad thing?

I am a post abortive woman. I was coerced into an abortion by my dad when I was in my teens and into my fourth month of pregnancy. Although the argument has slowly desensitized us and has gone from justifying abortion as just “a blob of tissue” to a “women’s right to terminate an unwanted pregnancy”, the truth has always been that abortion takes the life of an unborn child.

I know. I saw my son. I saw his tiny hands and feet. I looked at him as he lay on the bed next to me dead, and I prayed I could put him back inside of me. Horrified, I wondered how on earth our country could condone such a thing. How was it possible we thought this was ok? It was beyond, my comprehension.

I lived with the impact my abortion had on my entire family. My dad, my mom, my sibling, and my future children all lived with the consequences of the death of my son. Mostly, I lived with the impact of my abortion. I suffered from guilt, shame, anxiety and self hatred, in a silence that was deafening because no one would acknowledge my pain. There are millions of other families out there living with these same consequences.

Am I extreme? You bet. And I would not want to be any other way. I would not want to be able to see that I had caused the death of one of my children and not have it bother me. I would not want to keep silent while millions of unborn children were killed in the womb, many with their moms still not knowing the entire truth of what abortion does. Post abortive women and men are being “Silent No More” and people know the truth when they hear it because it has most likely touched their families too. The pro abortion lobby hates it, so they try to place a label on us to make us move back into that deafening silence. No way.

There are people in our government now who may label me, by their standards, a potential terrorist. I find this ironic since the only violent act I have ever been involved with was the killing of my unborn son by abortion.

Recently, an obviously unstable person murdered late term abortionist George Tiller. Every single pro life person I know condemned the murder. It is against all that we stand for and believe in. Yet, instead of using this as an opportunity to stand together, to condemn violence, Tillers death has been used as an opportunity to paint the pro life movement as violent terrorists. I cannot believe some of the things I have read.

• President Obama was quick to point a finger at our differences instead of looking at the individual who acted alone.
• NARAL said “Dr. Tiller and those individuals who helped provide care to his patients have lived under intense harassment tinged with persistent threats of violence.”
• NOW is asking the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to prosecute Dr. Tiller's murderer as a domestic terrorist.
• US Attorney General Eric Holder dispatched US Marshals to protect abortion clinics around the country.
• Bill O’Reilly is being blamed for the murder because he dared to point out that Tiller was no hero to many women who went to him, and his tactics were horrific. George Tiller was not even buried before the rhetoric began. The message? Don’t you dare speak out against anything that has to do with abortion?

I have to ask, why don’t the same parameters hold true for other issues?

When our military recruiting station was attacked this week, and Private William Long was killed and another wounded, the word terrorist was never used to describe the murderers. I have not heard Obama speaking publicly against them, or Eric Holder asking for additional security for our recruitment centers. Are the anti war demonstrators or Code Pink responsible for this act of violence?

Private Long who was serving our country was hardly mentioned on the news and only worthy in the eyes of our media, of a small sideline article in the paper while Tillers death made headlines and was on all the media stations. A sad sign of our times.

I will never apologize for being “extreme” in my views against abortion. I will not allow people to put me on the defensive. As long as there is a breathe in me, I will speak out about the violence of abortion in a peaceful loving way, educating and changing hearts one person at a time with the truth. Although against all violence in the womb and out, am proud to be extreme and I am certain, my son who is in heaven is proud of me too.

Are you a Christian or an Obamian?

Obamian: One who follows the creed of Barack Hussein Obama. One who describes himself as member of a major World religion, or none at all. One who can belong to that major world religion yet profess the absolute equality of all religions because 'the message is the same'. One for whom every major religious text is 'Holy', including the 'Holy Qu'ran', the 'Holy' Torah, the 'Holy Bible', the 'Holy' Bagadavita and the 'Holy' teachings of the Buddha, who can belong to that religion yet deny nearly every tenet of faith ascribed to the religion to which he belongs in search of the 'common good' and the search to create a world where 'differences' on important moral issues are disregarded in favour of a new creed in which nobody is offended but Christians. If expedient, the central truths of his faith can be abandoned based on worldly requirements and those who still maintain these truths and proclaim them can be silenced so as not to offend the majority. One who uses the new creed of multi-religion to further the cause of environmentalism and globalism.



Christian: One who believes in the Divinity of Christ and belongs to the Church established by Him, which he believes, in teaching of faith and morals, cannot err. One who strives to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. One who believes that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered, died and rose again for the salvation of mankind, including himself. One for whom the proclamation of the Gospel cannot be compromised by the search for the 'common good' and an earthly 'brotherhood of Man'. One who believes that Jesus Christ is truly present in the Eucharist and believes that the bread and the wine consecrated upon the Altar is truly the Body and Blood, Soul, Humanity and Divinity of Jesus Christ. One who strives to be a peacemaker, but for whom to deny Christ and His Truth would be ruinous both in this life and the next. One who defends the dignity of all human life from conception to death. One for whom the proclamation of the Gospel, the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Church is of such import that he would rather lay down his life in times of persecution, relativism and amoral tyranny, than remain silent.

Street Life

Hidden talents

I spent a great deal of today at St Mary Magdalen's once more today. I struggled to get into my work once again (ahem...cough...internet addiction...cough) and I think my priest noticed that I needed fresh air and time out. He kindly gave me some money to do his garden and saw some ladders in half to be used in the garden for some kind of bizarre climbing plant design he must have up his sleeve. I appreciated it. I was outside, in the fresh air and away from the office. I'll have to go in again Monday and do the work I was meant to do this week. Promise!

Anyway, this evening I saw my friend 'J' who has once more informed me he was beaten today. He seems to be beaten every day. He is in somewhere now, so he has a place but is doubtless lonely and so spends all day on the London Road and thereabouts hanging out with 'the wrong crowd'. He drinks heavily and then says something to someone to which they take exception and gets hit. The frustrations of the homeless and hostel dwellers of Brighton spill over onto the streets and often it seems, men and women take it out on each other.

I worry about him. I worry he is not going to last another week, two weeks, month in Brighton. 'J' was always denied the love of a mother and father and has gone searching for love wherever he could find it since. The lack of love he received as a child and the abuse he received from those who were meant to care left him ravaged and scarred. Neglect led to drugs and crime, prison, ASBOs and unemployment. Two themes then, mark his life, two themes that the Church always proclaims to be part of the true dignity of man. Firstly, the importance of the family as the foundation from which the human person learns love, feels safe and is nourished as an individual. Secondly, the dignity of work, something of which 'J', through probably no real fault of his own, has always been denied also.

And he is not the only one. I think that when people walk down the London Road and see the various beggars and the men and women drinking and getting lairy outside St Peter's, they look down on them and think something along the lines of 'get a job', 'parasites', or similar such language as certain people seem to use about unborn babies. The great problem is that by and large many of the addicts and the homeless have really been rejected by family and society, as well as potential employers. If you don't have many clothes, live in a hostel and bear the marks of heroin addiction, who is going to employ you?

All day drinking, on the London Road, is a sub-culture, a kind of surrogate, often infighting family, formed in the absence of a culture that sees each individual as having something to contribute to society. Talents, hobbies, skills have been discarded in what really amounts to an absence of recognition of the gifts that people have to offer - gifts that are rewarding to individuals and to others. I suppose ultimately what I am saying is that the council - and the probation service's approach to drug abuse, crime prevention and petty crime among the homeless and very poor does not take into account the whole human person. This can be seen recently with 'J's experience of being thrown out of jail and onto the streets with nothing - only to then be expected to turn up for his drug meeting on Monday.

Tonight I didn't go busking with him even though he wanted to go out and busk. I've had a long couple of days and felt I needed some time out. I gave him my guitar and sent him on his way. He makes a little money out of busking even though he can't play guitar. The point is, that when he busks, alone or with me, he is given some kind of recognition. He can sing - and that is a gift. The problem is that during the day he really has nothing to do - no job, no purpose, no hobby, or at least none that he can afford to indulge in. He is trapped more or less on one of Brighton's least friendly and attractive roads and given nothing to do - and the probation service expect him not to go and get some beer and hang out with other people recently released from jail, drink and later on, probably get hit - or get a hit.

If Brighton is serious about tackling the problem of 'anti-social behaviour' - though there is probably nothing so anti-social as banning someone from the entire town centre and slinging them into jail if they break the ban, or sending someone to a drug clinic for two hours and then throwing them out onto the street with nothing to do - then the council or the probation service have to look at programs that will approach the problem of 'anti-social behaviour' with holistic support to the individual. At the very least, that means, giving them something to do. For me today it was gardening. It helps. Its therapeutic. A funded programme aimed at giving people with nothing to do, something to do - and I know this is going to sound rich after I slated Obama and his City Youth plan - done voluntary obviously, rather than compulsorarily, could really make a difference to people's lives. With my friend 'J' it could be something that saves a life, otherwise the poor lamb is going to turn up dead on the sidewalk within a month.

When I was in Liverpool I heard about some tunnels that were discovered under the ground. Apparently some philanthropist, noting the masses of unemployed people of the city, got people to build tunnels for him. Why? For no other reason at all other than to give them something to do. I imagine he paid them. For men, in particular, having nothing to do can be a total disaster. The dignity of work is an issue close to the heart of the Holy Father and the Church.

At ATD Fourth World, the organisation worked with poor families on art projects, poetry projects, projects in which they could express themselves artistically. It may not seem like much, but it does make a difference - and much of the art was good. The Unemployed Centre of Brighton offers such services as well. However, there is a sense in which many of the very poor and homeless feel excluded even from there, I imagine.

The sense of hopelessness, despair and sinking into alcoholism which the homeless suffer is only compounded by the fact that they feel there really is nothing else to do but get pissed all day, go home and sleep it off and do the same thing all over again tomorrow. I would imagine that a great many chaps and chapesses who hang out all day on the London Road, really, deep down, would rather be doing something else...but what?

TTBYHCMT Nominated for Another Catholic Blog Award

David Bowie's 'Fame'

Well, what can I say? I've been nominated for not just one Catholic blog award but now I've been nominated for another, this time, in the Catholic New Media Awards. I'm in a few categories, the 'People's Choice' blog award (when I die, obviously I want Tony Blair to say, "He was the people's blogger"), 'Best Blog by a Man', 'Best Written Blog', 'Most Spiritual Blog', 'Most Informative Blog', 'Funniest Blog', 'Most Entertaining Blog', and 'Best New Blog'.

Obviously, should I triumph in any of these categories I would accept the award graciously. The glamourous Catholic New Media Award presenters may find themselves saying, "And the winner of the 'Best New Blog' is...

[cue drum rolls and nervous opening of gold, shiny envelope]...

Laurence England!

[cue 30 seconds of 'Bigmouth Strikes Again' by The Smiths and camera angles of the audience clapping while supping on champagne and being served by waiters]

However, it may be that I will be away working on the 'difficult second blog' in a monastery on a remote island off the coast of Spain, in a desperate bid to outfox brother and sister bloggers in the 'Best Spiritual Blog' category for next year.

Should that situation occur, the presenters may say, "Unfortunately, Laurence is unable to be here tonight to accept this award, because he is working on that 'difficult second blog' in a Monastery off the coast of Spain. But let's join him now by live webcam satellite link-up."

Parasites!

I have been at work today at the office of St Mary Magdalen's, where I diligently do the accounts and every now and then, take 5 minutes break to do some blogging. Then I take that 5 minutes break every 5 minutes and become embroiled in some heated row on a Guardian 'Comment is Free (unless you say something we really don't like and moderate you)' website.

Anyway, Sara Paletsky, Guardian columnist has been pushing the usual Guardian, 'abortion is for winners, all you anti-abortion people are losers' line in the wake of the Tiller murder. No surprises there. But having made more than my fair share of comments and getting into the usual scrapes with heretical abortion enthusiasts I was stunned by one phrase in particular used in relation to the unborn child.

A commenter called 'misanthropetty' made this comment, in response to one of mine.

'Would you feed a foetus? Clean up its poo? Would I feel the urge to throttle it when it sits behind me on the bus singing 'forty ni-ine, do do do do' as a small child did yesterday (for seventeen minutes. I counted)? No, I would not. Because while it is in the womb, it is nothing more than a parasite; and furthermore, unable to sing.'

The unborn child is a 'parasite'. Uh-huh. Okay, I've never heard anyone use that term in relation to the unborn child, before, but there we go.

Then, to my horror another commenter came in and supported the previous one. Saying,

'Parasite: 1 an organism which lives in or on another organism and benefits at the others expense. 2 derogatory a person who lives off or exploits others.'

To me that first definition sounds quite a lot like an unwanted pregnancy. I am struggling to think of ways in which a woman benefits from an unwanted pregnancy but there are a lot of ways in which she can suffer.

So, I paused to reflect on the utter selfishness of the unborn child. What does it do all day? Nothing! It just sits there feeding off its mother. Quite why it can't just cut the cord itself and walk out into the bright fresh air at 4 weeks is a mystery. Selfish little blighters! Really, these unborn babies should do the decent thing and get a job...A message to all unborn babies ..."Stop living off your own mothers! Get a job!"

Then, these unborn babies are born. What do they do then? Do they get a job? No! They leap onto their mother's breasts and take all the milk. "That milk was meant for me, you little toerag!" mothers across the globe say, and quite rightly so! These babies are milk thieves, plain and simple, living off their mothers. They never think of anything but milk all day and as soon as you take your eye off the ball, where are they? That's right! They're all over your chest looking for a teet! I don't know. "Parasite! Get off my tits!" say decent mothers.

Then, when they're a little older they expect you to help them to walk, and they want you to teach them how to talk and everything. All they do is take! What do they give? Nothing! Even at the age of 7 they are still living off their mums and dads, eating all their fish fingers, drinking their fruit juice, watching their TV, using the hot water, nicking digestives from the biscuit tin. None of this is free, is it? Do they think to pay any bills?! No! Selfish little blighters, they are, through and through!

Still at the age of 8 and 9 they seem to think of nothing but themselves. 'I want this, I want that, I want toys, I want trainers, I want stuff.' Good parents tell them, "You are 9 now. It is about time you stopped this nonsense and fended for yourself. We have decided you should live somewhere else, because all you do is take, take, take. You're an absolute drain financially and really you need to go elsewhere and grow up!" They come back from school and the school have sent a letter about a field trip to a zoo. The parents obviously look at the child and say, "Zoo!? You want to go to the zoo? Well, I suppose this time I will pay, but I don't know why you are still showing me these letters! If you want to go to the zoo in future, I suggest you get a job. Why not get a job at a zoo? At least then you'd be out of my hair. I'm sick of paying for your love of animals! Parasite!"

Then, even when they are teenagers they still hang around the house. They're depressed. "Listen, mate," mother's say, "You're staying here for free! What have you got to be depressed about anyway?! Hormones, you say?! Hormones?! When I was having you I had hormones like you'll never know! I'll give you hormones, you little parasite! All you do is sit in your room looking at the NME, moping, masturbating and listening to Joy Division! Get a job! Get a mortgage! Parasite!"

Then, at the age of 18 these teenagers expect Mum and Dad to help drive them to university and give them financial aid during uni to do what exactly? Get smashed every night at the campus bar and go out partying all the time! Then they cram all their revision into the last week and come out with a 2:1 in sociology. Parents say, "What are you going to do with a sociology degree anyway!? You should have studied law! At least then we'd have you off our backs! Parasite! Now you're going to spend the next 10 years floating around a seaside town doing temping jobs for local authorities! You're still going to feed off us to bail you out every time you go too deep into your overdraft. Parasite!"

Then later on, these parasitic adults want to get married. They go up to their parents and they say, "Mum, Dad, my girlfriend and I are getting married." The parents obviously reply, "Married? You want to get married and have children? Children!? Are you mad!? They're all parasites! Believe us, we know, since we had you! All you've done is feed off us since the day you were born. What have you given us? Aside from the joy of parenthood and the bittersweet joy of learning about the nature of unconditional love? Nothing! Still, I guess, now you are 31 you are okay and totally independent. Thank God we don't have to pay for the wedding', the parents say. "That would be the ultimate in parasitic behaviour, you little sponger," they say.

Then, the girlfriend is talking to her father about how she's met the love of her life, and she wants to settle down with him. The suitor asks the father for his daughter's hand in marriage. He turns to the daughter and says, "I suppose I have to foot the bill for the wedding, don't I? Listen darling, this is the last time I'm paying for you and your outrageously parasitic lifestyle upon your mother and I. I only thank God that you've found someone else you can live off. Oh, but we do so love you, you know. We've grown fond of you and your selfish, parasitic ways."

By the way, I'm a bit skint at the moment. I walked through the door and there was a gift voucher for Tesco's for twenty quid from my Mum. Cheers, Mum! Seriously though. I do need to get a job.

Here is undercover footage of someone who asks Planned Parenthood about abortion.

PM Brown's Cabinet Implodes

"Ding, dong, the witch has gone..." Aren't I cruel?

For PM Gordon Brown and his cabinet, the proverbial has hit the fan. Hazel Blears and Jacqui Smith are the latest to fall upon their swords. The Labour Party, the Government and perhaps even the political stability of the UK is in free fall. There is no trust in the political system and the character of the MPs in Parliament. BNP and UKIP are waiting in the wings. These are dangerous times. Say a prayer to Our Lady of Walsingham for England.

The Guardian Newspaper's Guide to Abortion

I found this on The Guardian website. It gives 'information' on abortion. What I found striking was that the language of the 'guide' is so flippant about the health risks of abortion, which it suggests is a course of action taken as a health-related matter. My comments in orange, bold obviously...It is long, but I think, worth a fisk.

This information tells you about an abortion to end a pregnancy. It explains the different types of abortion, how they work, what the risks are and what to expect afterwards. [Introductory para: There are risks to having an abortion. That's not a great start...].

The statistics we've included here are based on research studies. But some things, such as the chances of having complications, can vary from hospital to hospital. You may want to talk about this with the doctors and nurses treating you. [2nd paragraph: "There could be complications. But don't worry, it is pot luck on which hospital you go to. Hey, life's a lottery so just roll with it! It's nothing to do with the medical studies!"].

This information is about abortions for women who are less than 13 weeks [over 3 months] pregnant. More than 9 in 10 women have their abortion in the first 13 weeks of pregnancy.[1] However, in the UK, you can legally have an abortion at any time up to your 24th week [6 months] of pregnancy.

What is an abortion?

An abortion is a way of ending your pregnancy [There are other ways of ending your pregnancy. Abortion is one way. The other way is by giving birth to the child]. Abortions can be done with drugs or surgery .

* Drugs cause your womb to cramp. The contents of your womb [the unborn baby] pass[es] out of your vagina like a heavy period [a very heavy period]

* Surgery involves gently stretching the entrance to your womb (cervix) until it is wide enough for the fetus to be removed with a suction tube [the unborn baby is hoovered out of your body and is then binned]

You can have either type of abortion at any stage of pregnancy, but it's safest to use drugs in very early pregnancy [there are risks very early and later]. Surgery isn't usually done before you are seven weeks pregnant. Before this, the fetus may be too small for the doctor to find ["So wait until the baby has grown more so the doctor can find it, because at the moment, the baby is too small. It is alive and growing, so wait a while"] [2]

You may not want to be pregnant because of circumstances at home or problems with your relationship [even though according to studies described later in this article, 1 in 4 women report relationship problems after an abortion]. Your health may be at risk, or there may be a chance that the baby will have a medical problem [even though this guide explicitly admits that abortion carries health risks to you and to your unborn child, should the abortion 'not work' and the baby survives, or it is botched and stays in your body]. This information can't help you make the decision to have an abortion [It can help you decide against it if you read the orange bold input!]. What it does is to tell you what will happen if you decide to go ahead [No it does not. It basically says that abortion is like lucky dip. Read on].

The decision to have an abortion is a very personal one. Whatever your reasons, no-one has to know about your abortion unless you want them to. Your usual doctor, partner or parents don't have to be informed, even if you are under 16 ["You don't have to tell mummy or daddy, or even the father or your trusted family GP..." Anyone would have thought abortion carries a certain stigma or taboo] [3] If you are under 16, most doctors will suggest you talk to your parents ['But you just said no-one has to know? How confusing!'].

Can I have an abortion?

The law says you can have an abortion if:

* You are less than 24 weeks [6 months] pregnant
* Two doctors agree that it would cause less damage to your physical or mental health than going on with the pregnancy [How is this decided?] This is a legal requirement, but in many cases it is just a formality. [Which is it? A legal requirement or just a formality!?] [3] You should be able to have an abortion if you choose to [regardless of the second signature or lack thereof?]. If your usual doctor is unwilling to refer you for an abortion, you are entitled to go to another doctor who will [I see, the second signature bit is easy to get around] Charities which offer abortion advice, such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service [There is even a 'charity' set up to get you the elusive second signature] (http://www.bpas.org), can help with getting authorisation from two doctors. ["Leave the paperwork to us..."]

You can only have an abortion after 24 weeks if there are exceptional circumstances, such as a risk to your health [You can have an abortion after 24 weeks if you get two signatures from doctors. However, if you read on, you will discover that abortion is indeed a risk to your health. i.e it is far from 100% safe either mentally or physically. So how on earth is the judgment made?].

The doctor works out how many weeks pregnant you are by counting from the first day of your last period. The earlier in your pregnancy you have an abortion, the more likely it is to work and the safer it is.[2] [4] [5] [6]

Guidelines for doctors say that:[2]

* You shouldn't have to wait more than three weeks between asking for an abortion and your appointment
* You should be cared for separately from women who may be going ahead with a pregnancy
* You should be given the choice between an abortion using drugs or surgery. However, some hospitals don't offer both, so it's important to check this with your doctor.[1] [So...read on, you may be out of luck and have to have the doctor remove the baby by an even more barbaric method than you had thought]

More than 190,000 women have an abortion in England and Wales each year.[7] At least a third of British women will have had an abortion by the time they are 45.[1] There are more restrictions on abortion in Northern Ireland than there are in England, Wales and Scotland.

What happens during an abortion?

Preparing for an abortion:

Before the abortion, your doctors will give you a check-up and ask about your health.[2] You will have a blood test to make sure you have enough iron in your blood. You may have an ultrasound scan. This isn't essential, but it can tell you more precisely how many weeks pregnant you are.

If there's a risk that you have a sexually transmitted infection (STI), such as chlamydia, you may have tests to check. Having an STI can increase your risk of getting an infection after the abortion, so it's best to get it treated [but even if you do, you may still contract an infection and leave the clinic in a less healthy state than that in which you entered].

An abortion using drugs

An abortion using drugs is called a medical abortion. You might hear it called the abortion pill, but it doesn't just involve taking a pill. You need to take two different tablets, usually two days apart. You'll need to visit the clinic or hospital twice and have a check-up about a week later.

* On the first visit you take tablets called mifepristone. These block the hormone that makes the lining of your womb hold onto the fetus. You should wait at the clinic for half an hour or so to make sure the tablets are working properly.
* You can carry on as normal in the two days between appointments. You may get some bleeding or period-like pains.
* On the second visit, about two days later, you'll be given one of two drugs. These are called misoprostol and gemeprost. They contain a hormone called prostaglandin, which makes your womb push out the fetus. They are usually given as a tablet that you put into your vagina. You can also get misoprostol tablets that you swallow, but it works better and has fewer side effects when used in your vagina.[8]
* You may be given a choice between going home and staying in the clinic or hospital after taking the second drug. You don't have to lie in bed. You may feel more comfortable walking around or watching television.
* The drugs can sometimes make you feel sick, vomit or have diarrhoea. [The drugs have nasty side effects] The cramps in your womb will be painful, [this procedure will be painful] but the nurse can give you a strong painkiller to help [but hey we've got painkillers!]. The pain usually settles after the abortion.

The abortion usually happens after the second visit [Second visit? You mean it isn't over?]. It will be like a very heavy period with clots of blood. It should be over within four hours to six hours. You will keep bleeding after this, but it will be much lighter. You'll need to wear sanitary towels to soak up the blood as you may get an infection with tampons.

Occasionally, the abortion takes longer than four hours to start [Sometimes the drugs don't work]. If this happens, you may be given another dose of the second drug you took [The does is increased]. Abortions can take longer to start in women who are more than nine weeks pregnant. You can be given up to four doses of the second drug, with a three-hour gap between doses, until the abortion happens [You could be in the clinic for up to 12 hours, while they dose you full of drugs to get rid of the fetus]. [2]

It's important that you take the second drug, even though it means a second visit to the clinic. There is lots of research to show that taking two drugs works far better than taking one.[8] [9] [Is it me or is this guide to medical abortion not filling you with confidence in the procedure? Some research says this, some research says that!]

Drugs used for abortion

The second drug you take will be either misoprostol or gemeprost. Misoprostol was originally used for treating stomach ulcers. Many doctors use misoprostol for abortions, and studies show that it works and is safe.[2] [8] But it hasn't been licensed for abortions by the government organisation that decides on the safety of drugs [Say what?! Let's run that one by, one more time. The drug used by many doctors for abortions has not been licensed by the government for use as an abortive drug?! Holy crap! This procedure is illegal!] It's common for drugs to be used outside their original license, so there's no need to worry about this [Oh really?! You mean like heroin, cocaine and morphine?].

Having a surgical abortion

The operation doctors usually use for an abortion is called suction aspiration or vacuum aspiration. This is because the contents of your womb [err...guys, that is the baby] are [is] gently sucked out with a tube and pump.

The operation takes about 10 minutes. You should expect to stay at the clinic for a few hours. You can usually go home the same day. You don't have to get fully undressed. You'll be asked to take off your pants shortly beforehand.

The entrance to your womb may be softened with a hormone called prostaglandin. This is done to make it easier for your doctor to open your cervix without damaging it. You or your doctor may put a prostaglandin tablet into your vagina three hours before surgery. Or you may be given tablets to take at home a day or two before your operation.

You can have a general anaesthetic, which makes you sleep, or a local anaesthetic, which numbs the area around the entrance to your womb. With a local anaesthetic you are awake and aware of what's happening, but you won't feel any pain. Your doctor or nurse will talk to you during surgery to make sure you're OK.

During a surgical abortion, the fetus is gently sucked out of your womb. The suction can be done with an electric pump or a syringe operated by hand. It doesn't involve any cutting. If you have an abortion using an electric pump, you will usually have a general anaesthetic.

Here's what happens.

* First, the doctor inserts a small instrument called a speculum into your vagina so he or she can see your cervix. Your cervix is cleaned with a swab.
* Your cervix is gently stretched and opened. A series of metal instruments called dilators are put into your cervix, starting with one that is 2 millimetres (1/12 of an inch) wide. Bigger ones are added until your cervix is open. How far open your cervix needs to be depends on how many weeks pregnant you are. If you are nine weeks pregnant, 9 millimetres (a third of an inch) should be enough.
* A thin plastic tube is put into your womb through the cervix. The contents of your womb are gently sucked into the tube using a pump.
* If you're awake during surgery, you'll probably feel strong, period-type pains.

If you're having an abortion with a hand-held syringe, your cervix will not need to be opened beforehand, as the tube used is very thin and bendy. You will have a local anaesthetic and the abortion will probably happen in a small treatment room rather than an operating theatre. It takes longer than suction using an electric pump.

After a rest and a check-up, most women can leave the clinic within three hours. Driving isn't recommended for 48 hours after a general anaesthetic. You may be given antibiotics to prevent infection.

How well do abortions work?

Abortions usually work [usually work?] and most women are no longer pregnant afterwards [most women?!] [8] [10] [11] But there is a small chance that you will still be pregnant after your abortion [So, there is a chance you will experience a botched abortion?].[3]

* Just over 2 in 1,000 women who have a surgical abortion are still pregnant afterwards.[2] [10] [Still pregnant?]
* Some studies show that as few as 2 in 1,000 women are still pregnant after a medical abortion. Other studies show that between 1 in 100 and 2 in 100 are still pregnant. [Which one's the right one? Do the clinics not keep records?] The results of studies vary because they looked at different drugs.[3] [11]

Before the seventh week of pregnancy, a medical abortion works better than a surgical abortion.[3] [8] [11]

Some women prefer surgery because they don't want the heavy blood loss you get after a medical abortion. Surgery is also quicker and happens in one go. Other women prefer to take drugs because they feel more in control, see it as more natural, or because they don't want the risks of surgery or an anaesthetic.

What if my abortion doesn't work? [There is a chance your abortion won't work]
An incomplete abortion means that part of the contents of your womb [the baby] is left behind. This is more common with a medical abortion than a surgical one. You'll usually need surgery to remove the contents of your womb. About 2 in 100 women who have a medical abortion need surgery afterwards.There's a very small chance that an abortion won't work [There is a 2% chance that the clinic will botch your abortion and you will still have parts of the baby in your womb].

If your abortion hasn't worked at all, [the clinic cannot 100% guarantee they will not botch your abortion] you may decide to have another [another?] or go ahead with the pregnancy. It's important to know that if you had a medical abortion and it didn't work, it's possible that one of the drugs could have harmed the fetus. [You may have to have the child if the abortion failed and the abortion may have harmed the child for life as a result of the procedure] [12]

What are the risks of an abortion? [There are risks to having an abortion]

All medical procedures have risks. About 2 in 1,000 women who have an abortion get complications.[13] But the earlier in pregnancy you have an abortion, the safer it is.

You are more likely to get problems in the two weeks after the abortion than at the time.[2] Getting an infection is the biggest risk. [You could get an infection]

Problems at the time of the abortion

There is a risk of heavy bleeding (a haemorrhage) after an abortion [There is risk of haemorrhage after an abortion?]. This happens to less than 2 in 1,000 women.[13] About half of these women will need a blood transfusion.[3] You are more likely to have heavy bleeding after a medical abortion.

Other risks of a medical abortion are:[14]

* Pain, from cramps in your womb[15] [Pain]
* Stomach problems, such as sickness and diarrhoea. These are caused by the drug prostaglandin. [Rather horrible side effects of the drug]
* Fever and chills. These can be a side effect of prostaglandin.[12] But they don't usually last very long. [Rather horrible side effects of the drug]

If you have a surgical abortion, there's a higher risk of:

* Damage to your cervix. Some studies show this happens in up to 1 in 100 women who have a surgical abortion.[16] Other studies show the risk is less than 1 in 1,000.[17] The risk is lower for early abortions and if your surgeon is experienced[2] [There is a risk the abortion will damage your cervix. It depends on which study you read and whether you've got an experienced doctor or an inexperienced doctor. It's pot luck].
* Damage to your womb. It's possible for surgery to tear your womb. This happens in around 1 in 1,000 to 4 in 1,000 abortions.[2] [17] Again, the risk is lower for early abortions and if your surgeon is experienced.

Problems within two weeks of the abortion

* Up to 1 in 10 women will get an infection after an abortion.[2] An infection can lead to a more serious problem, called pelvic inflammatory disease. This needs to be treated quickly as it could stop you having a baby in the future [There is a risk you will not be able to have a baby in the future if you are one of the 10% of women who contract pelvic inflammatory disease through an abortion]. Taking antibiotics after your abortion reduces the risk of infection [but cannot eliminate it totally].
* Your abortion might not get rid of all the contents of your womb [Some of the baby may be still in your womb] This can cause pain, bleeding or an infection. You may need surgery and a further course of antibiotics [You could have a botched abortion and you'll have to come back to do it all over again].

Longer-term problems [There could be longer term problems]

There's no evidence that having an abortion will harm your health or affect your chances of getting pregnant again.[2] Most women who choose to can go on to have a healthy pregnancy [Hang on...most? There is a risk of becoming infertile forever?]

You are no more likely to have problems with future pregnancies than a woman who hasn't had an abortion. Problems with pregnancy include the fetus growing outside your womb (an ectopic pregnancy) or the placenta covering the entrance to your womb (placenta praevia). There's no good evidence that having an abortion increases your risk of either of these problems.[18] [2] [If there is no evidence why have they mentioned two problems with pregnancy described above?]

Some research suggests that women who have an abortion and become pregnant again are more likely to have a miscarriage or a baby that's born too early.[19] [20] [21] [22] However, other studies show no link between abortions and miscarriages or premature births.[23] [So, which study is the right one?]

Having an abortion doesn't increase your risk of breast cancer. Some studies have suggested that there might be a link between abortions and breast cancer. [Hang on, I thought you just said it doesn't?] [23] [24] But there's good-quality research to show this isn't true, and most experts say that having an abortion doesn't increase your risk.[25] [2] [26] [27] [But some studies still suggest this is true, right?] A recent study compared women who'd had an abortion with women who'd had a miscarriage. There was no increase in risk for women who'd had an abortion.[28]

What other options are there?

Another type of surgery, called dilation and evacuation, is available, but it's usually only used for women who are more than 15 weeks pregnant. It uses a combination of electric suction and cutting with forceps. You usually need a general anaesthetic. Only 5 in 100 abortions in England and Wales use this method.[13]

If you decide to go ahead with your pregnancy rather than having an abortion, there are still some choices available to you. You may decide to keep the baby. Or you may choose to have the baby looked after by foster parents or adopted.

For many women this is a very difficult decision. If you aren't sure about what to do, it may help to talk to someone. You may wish to contact the Family Planning Association on 0845 122 8690 or at http://www.fpa.org.uk.

What can I expect after the abortion?

After you leave the hospital or clinic, usually the same day, you will probably want to go home and rest. You can bath or shower normally. You can drive after a medical abortion, but you should get someone to give you a lift if you've had an anaesthetic.

Most women feel fit enough to return to work within a day or so, but you may prefer to wait a little longer.

You'll need to go for a check-up a week after a medical abortion, or two weeks after a surgical abortion.[2]

Bleeding

You will continue to bleed for a while after the abortion. Bleeding often lasts longer after a medical abortion than a surgical abortion.[29] You may see clots in the blood.

Bleeding after a medical abortion usually lasts between 14 days and 17 days, then trails off.[12] But it can go on for several weeks. After surgery you probably won't bleed very much, but some women bleed for up to 14 days [You will experience a 2-week sustained period of bleeding. This could continue for several weeks].

The bleeding is usually no worse than a heavy period. You should see a doctor if the bleeding is worse than this. Your usual painkillers will help with any cramps. You may have spotting right up to your next period. Your next period should happen in about four to six weeks, although it may not start for eight weeks.

Infections [Say what?]

If you get heavy, continuous bleeding, pain that doesn't go away or a temperature, you should see a doctor straight away [You may experience heavy, continuous bleeding after an abortion]. You could have an infection. [You could have an infection because of your abortion]. An infection is usually easy to get rid of with antibiotics, but could affect your ability to get pregnant again if it's not treated [Because of your abortion and the possible infected area as a result, you may never be able to have children again, say, if it is treated too late, but we've said it so casually you'd hardly notice without the bold orange input].

Using sanitary towels instead of tampons until you stop bleeding can help prevent an infection.[30] If you can, wait until your check-up after the abortion before you have sex again. If you have sex before this time, it's best to use condoms.

Signs of pregnancy

If you have signs of pregnancy, such as morning sickness, these will gradually go away as your hormone levels return to normal. Breast tenderness is often the last sign of pregnancy to disappear.

But if you still have signs of pregnancy two weeks or three weeks after the abortion, you need to see your doctor. A pregnancy test can't tell you if you are still pregnant, because the hormone it measures can take up to a month to return to normal after an abortion [We cannot categorically rule out that they may have botched the abortion].

Contraception

You need to use contraception immediately after your abortion if you want to avoid becoming pregnant. This is because you are likely to produce another egg (ovulate) before your next period. So, you could become pregnant again before your next period is due [Theoretically speaking, you could be back at the abortion clinic the following month, if you are 'careless'].

It's safe to have a coil (also called an intrauterine device or IUD) fitted straight away.[31]

How will I feel afterwards?

Your feelings afterwards may depend on your reasons for having an abortion and how comfortable you are with your decision. You may feel sad and tearful after your abortion [You may feel you have lost your baby]. Some women say they feel relieved it's over [What is over?]. Other women feel guilty or have a sense of loss [You may feel you have lost your baby]. You may feel a mixture of different feelings after your abortion [But mostly you will feel that you have lost your baby].

Any anxiety or distress you feel will usually go away after the abortion. But up to 3 in 10 women may still have emotional problems a month later.[32] [Up to a month later 30% of women who have an abortion are still suffering emotional problems]

Some studies suggest that women who've had an abortion may be more likely to get depressed or harm themselves [Having an abortion has been reported by some studies to lead some women to depression and self-harm] [2] [23]. But there's no evidence that these problems are actually caused by the abortion [But it is plausible that they are]. [33] [34] Psychological problems may actually be more likely after childbirth than an abortion.[34]

You may not feel like having sex for a while. This is normal. Up to a third of women feel this way after an abortion. [1 in 3 women don't want to have sex after an abortion, 'for a while'. Read, having an abortion will probably ruin your sex life for a sustained period] [35] And a quarter of women may have problems in their relationships. [Having an abortion could destroy your relationship. 1 in 4 women verify this].

Having someone to talk to can help. If you have problems coping, ask your nurse or doctor about counselling [After an abortion you may have problems coping with what you have done].

In conclusion, there are on average 190,000 abortions a year:

Every year, on average, according to the Guardian guide and my calculations, of these abortions:

• Between 380 and 3800 women in the UK who have a surgical abortion are still pregnant afterwards.
• 380 women haemorrhage after an abortion.
• 160 of these women need blood transfusions.
• Between 190 and 1900 women experience damage to their cervix in abortion.
• Between 190 and 760 women experience tearing of the womb in abortion.
• 3800 required surgery after a botched abortion, whereby the baby or parts of the baby were left in the womb.
• 57,000 women suffer depression for a month or longer after an abortion.
• 47,500 women's relationships suffer as a result of abortion
• 19,000 women contract an infection from an abortion, which if not caught early could result in indefinite infertility.
• 9500 babies are aborted by the method of 'cutting with forceps'.
• 190,000 babies are killed by abortions in the England and Wales alone, every year.

There is so much going on in this 'guide'. I have fisked a lot of it, but there is so much more I could say. The Guardian are so flippant about the risks and show such little respect to the countless women who have had an abortion and then realised that something went seriously, seriously wrong, or that they now have long term health problems, or suffer depression or are suicidal or self-harm, or have seen their relationship destroyed by it, or regret it, or who have damaged their womb or cervix, or who have haemorrhaged, or who bled profusely for several weeks afterwards. By all means fisk through it yourself some. It's an horrendously misleading and dangerous guide. The Guardian should be ashamed because they have dressed up very serious health risks related to abortion and glossed over them at every stage.

Motherhood, the Family, Adoption, Abortion & the State

It was the State, under the reign of Herod, which had the monstrous task of hunting down and slaughtering the first born of every house in Bethlehem, such was Herod's paranoia about the birth of the Saviour, and the threat he perceived He would pose to his earthly power.

Divine Providence ensured that the Christ Child was kept safe from harm and prepared the way for the Holy Family's Flight into Egypt. For the Holy Family then, and for the countless families who had their children slaughtered in the Massacre of the Innocents, the right to live as a family was suspended on the whim of the State. The Blessed Virgin and her holy, chaste spouse, St Joseph then, know what it is like to be hounded by the State, to struggle to remain as a family and to be persecuted. That was over 2,000 years ago. Those were barbaric times, but times have changed, haven't they? Now, we have progressed?

Well, no. Not really. The Herodian reign of terror still exists for many who are denied the right to live as a family. And of course, the State also legislates for the continued massacre of the innocents in abortion legislation in Europe and the US. In China, the State actually enforces a 'one child policy', the effects of which have been demographically and socially disastrous. A great modern exception appears to be Russia who, upon realising that the country is facing a fertility crisis and a decreasing population, is set to award a special State honour to families with 7 children or more.

Today on the radio, I heard a story which has been reported in The Times.

A mother is taking her fight to the European Court of Human Rights after she was forbidden from seeing her three-year-old daughter because she is not “clever enough” to look after her.

The woman, who for legal reasons can be identified only by her first name, Rachel, has been told by a family court that her daughter will be placed with adoptive parents within the next three months, and she will then be barred from further contact.

The adoption is going ahead despite the declaration by a psychiatrist that Rachel, 24, has no learning difficulties and “good literacy and numeracy and [that] her general intellectual abilities appear to be within the normal range”.

Her daughter, 'K', was born prematurely and officials felt Rachel lacked the intelligence to cope with her complex medical needs 'Baby K' was released from hospital into care and is currently with a foster family. Her health has now improved to the point where she needs little or no day-to-day medical care.

Rachel said last night: “I have been totally let down by the system. All I want is to care for my daughter but the council and the court are determined not to let me. The court here has now ordered that my contact with my daughter must be reduced from every fortnight until in three months’ time it will all be over and I will never see her again.”

Now, I realise that there have been some pretty horrendous cases recently of ghastly physical abuse which have ratcheted up Social Services 'We've got to do something!' factor to 11. However, 'Rachel' is not alone in what appears to be a State-sponsored miscarriage of justice. The right to live as a family has been eroded consistently down the centuries, seen in the poor and work houses of the Victorian age and more recently the modern social services. Often it is the poor who suffer the consequences still.

We know there have been some condemnable and wicked abuses of children, physical, sexual and neglectful, which have rightly warranted the action of social services. The most high profile cases are the ones where social services made the wrong call and the child in question died. This is a great tragedy. But in this case and in an array of others, we are not talking about actual abuse - we are talking about a subjective court judgment on a mother based upon her 'intelligence'.

Furthermore, there is a glaring contradiction between Government policy on adoption and the removal of children of parents deemed 'unfit' by social services, who are removed 'in the best interests of the child', and abortion - an action which, no matter which side of the fence you position yourself, can never be argued to be 'in the best interest of the child' - for it is always the deprivation or ending of that child's life prior to birth.

So, bizarrely, the Government says that on the issue of abortion it is a mother's right to kill her child and the State will help a mother kill her unwanted baby. 'We'll do that for you', says the benevolent State. Does the baby have rights? 'No, it is the mother's free choice,' says the State. Then, when a mother brings a child to birth, but is deemed 'unfit' to parent a child, the child is removed, placed into care, adoption or fostered, severed from his or her parental roots and placed eventually with other parents, 'in the best interests of the child'. Furthermore, just to add salt into the wounds in the hearts of the birth mother, all contact with the child is severed until the age of 18.

Now, this doesn't make any sense does it? Why would the same State that condones child murder defend the removal of (mostly poor) children from (mostly poor) families to be placed with middle class parents with more 'intelligence' and wealth on the basis of the 'best interests of the child' and 'child protection', when the State is not prepared to offer child protection in the womb and act 'in the best interest of the child' in the womb?


‘Young, Single and Sterilized’ article advertises for Marie Stopes in 2008

Well, it only really makes any sense if you conclude that the State is knowingly or unknowingly endorsing eugenics and that the philosophies of Marie Stopes are alive and kicking in the heart of Government and local authorities. Marie Stopes was into both abortion and sterilisation - but, and this is crucial - not for all - only for the poor and 'unfit'. In other words, it wasn't that Marie Stopes just hated children and wanted children to die or not be born for the sake of it. She only wanted certain children to be aborted, or only the children of certain people not to be born. This is because she believed that the poor and 'unfit' should be taught not to breed so that the 'unfit' were stopped from breeding and in the end, the 'unfit' would no more trouble humanity. That's right - she was a rather nasty-eugenics-supporting-Hitler-adulating-super-bitch of the highest order.

The former Chief of Social Services was on the radio defending the SS by saying that it was courts that made the decision to place children into care or adoption. All the SS did was...err...gather the err...'evidence.' In this case, apparently, the 'evidence' was 'unfit' and a proper evaluation of 'Rachel's' parenting skills was denied when requested by her lawyers. The prejudices faced by the poor and supposedly 'unfit' are not negligible. These prejudices of course exist within Family Courts.

So...Have we moved on from the time of Herod? The answer is a resounding, 'No!' Is society 'progressing'? The answer is a resounding, 'No!' It is only viewed as 'progress' by those who are fearful of the Saviour, the Christ Child, born of the Blessed Virgin Mary in poverty in Bethlehem, Brother and Friend of the poor, the misunderstood, the condemned, persecuted, despised and rejected of society. It is not 'child protection' which lies at the core of Government policy - it is the eradication of the poor by a two-fold method of abortion and eventually, sterilisation. For once you have had your third child taken into care - believe me because I know people who know, it is much more likely that you will consider it...

How Not to Meet Your Bishop

Your Diocesan Bishop is approaching you with your parish priest. He is dressed as an ordinary priest. You know that he is largely informal with Priests and Laity. So what do you do?

Step 1: You remove your sunglasses and your hat. Good work! For deference, reverence for his holy office and respect in general - top marks! You are doing well.

Step 2: He moves to shake your hand politely and says, 'Nice to meet you.' Overwhelmed by his humility and your profound eagerness to show respect for his office, you near refuse his handshake and bend over to kiss a hand, the wrong hand, while he quickly tries to get his Bishop's ring out of his pocket, because he's realised you think you are 'doing the right thing'. You don't give him time to put it on and you kiss his hand anyway. He is embarrassed. You are even more so.

Step 3: In a painful attempt at reverence, respect for holy tradition and protocol you have made a t*t out of yourself. Still, don't worry, there is time to recover a sense of dignity and a modicum self-respect. So you say, "It is nice to meet you, Your Grace!" Great recovery...Except for the fact that later on you are told by another Priest he is not an Archbishop and his title and the title which is his as Bishop, should be, 'My Lord', for he is known as 'His Lordship'.

Yes. That happened today. Mental note for future reference. When you meet someone in authority in the Church, be yourself and don't force reverential traditional gestures to those who do not wish for it. So...What do I do when I meet the Holy Father again? Advice in comments box please, because one day, you never know, I might just need it.

'Pro-Life' Murder

Courtesy of BBC News

George Tiller, the US late term abortionist has been shot dead at a Lutheran church in Wichita. Not only can a moral good never be achieved through an evil action, but this news will doubtless be a gigantic set back for the pro-life movement in the US, which may henceforth be painted as a dangerous, near deadly fringe movement, when, in fact, 99.9% of its advocates are just not into murder, full stop. I believe Tiller's clinic in the US was under investigation by the civil authorities. Sadly, an individual has taken matters into his own hands.

Secondly, this senseless murder will create out of a man with an horrendous string of 'late-term abortions' under his belt, a martyr for the abortion cause and industry. If the murderer thought he was doing good, he is sadly mistaken. Not only has a man been killed but I expect the long term result will be an intensification of the Obama administration's 'war on the unborn' and a liberal media backlash against the pro-life movement. Obama's honeyed words of 'reasonable dialogue' [otherwise known as, 'I'll keep them busy talking while you guys kill the babies'] will sound sensible against the backdrop of the pre-meditated homicide of an abortionist. When it comes to abortion, the doctor is the guy doing the 'dirty work'. There is a whole chain of command in the abhorrent abortion industry which takes in politicians, lobby groups, abortion organisations, doctors, nurses - and of course - mothers - for without the consent of mothers no abortions would be taking place.

The suspect is being held by police for questioning. It is not up to us mortals to intervene by taking life through vigilantism. Our Lord's words on the Cross should resonate with us when it comes to the evils of child murder and homicide. "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Our Lord encouraged us to pray for our enemies, for those who hate us and persecute us - That is therefore, what we should do - for our friends, our enemies, the living and the dead, so that none of us should give into the spirit of fratricide and hatred. We must implore God's mercy always, as the Lord did upon the Cross. Holy Mother Church encourages Catholics to pray for the conversion of abortionists so that the bloodshed may end and life may be treated with dignity and respect from conception to death. May God grant the victim of this crime rest, comfort his family and grant repentance to his killer.

See Creative Minority Report for accurate and sensitive reporting of this crime. To that small minority who might seek to justify the perpetrator's crime by defending it on the 'If someone had killed Hitler' school of thought, I would say this. Che Guevara sent his disciples out with guns, ammunition and a revoluntionary zeal for Cuba. Many, many died at their hands. Our Blessed Lord sent His Disciples out preaching Christ Crucified to the people of Israel and beyond, with nothing but the clothes they stood in. Many, many of His Disciples died at the hands of others. Following Che Guevara ended up in killing all who stood in the way of the cause. For the Apostles, following Christ ended up in being killed. We are not called to be God's hit men.