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'Dear Bishops of England and Wales,
Many of us so-called Taliban Catholics have been severely disappointed in your over-willingness to negotiate with the state about how our Catholic adoption agencies should be allowed to operate, and how our schools should explain the facts of life to our children.
Like many millions of people in this country and around the world we are very proud and happy at how the British people have taken The Pilgrim from Rome to their hearts.
We are prepared to, metaphorically-speaking, bury the hatchet and truly welcome the words of Archbishop Vincent Nichols this weekend following our Holy Father's visit.
Furthermore, we would like to offer our services to you, bishops, to assist you in a renewed effort to bring the message of Christ to all. Many of us are people who lost our way in the past, lured by the "freedom" of the 60s and the decadence of the decades which followed. A few of our number have knelt patiently in the pews during the last five decades saying Rosary after Rosary, never giving up hope that England would be saved.
In practical ways we would like to help you.
Please let us know how you would like us to organise: open prayer days in our local churches, where we pray the Rosary, have exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, facilitate our priests to be openly available to hear confessions, sing prayerful hymns, and attend Holy Mass devoutly.
We could easily have reruns of the TV clips of the UK Papal Visit in our parish halls, engage discussion groups on what the Pope has said to all his audiences: the children, the teenagers, the politicians, other faith groups, the teachers, the population at large, the Faithful, the priests, the bishops.
All this, along with inviting all (Catholic and non-Catholic) to join a choir learning Gregorian Chant. Even if we don't know it - we can learn. We can set up home groups for learning how to say The Rosary, and Gregorian Chant with all the facilities that are available on the internet.
Benedict has beautifully called us to be happy and praise God. He has shown us that hatred can be turned into respect in the space of four days!
Most especially we speak to the Anglican bishops who are leading their people back to Rome, we welcome you with open arms and look forward to receiving the wealth and beauty of your spiritual traditions into our Church.
Let us sing together and be happy despite our different poverties! And may God Bless us all!
Neither let us forget the great work being done right now and endeavour to swell the number of those praying at a vigil in London for the 40 days for Life and/or adding our name online for praying at home if we are unable to get to London.'
We remain your humble and obedient servants. Great letter. I'm signing!
15 comments:
You should be a sending and signing a straight forawrd letter of apology for your constant sniping and dis-respect, not this pius claptrap.
now, now, catholic apologist - let's not bicker! This is an opportunity for a new beginning. Laurence England is a good soul even if he lets his tongue run away with him at times:) showing that being Catholic does not mean being a goody-goody the whole time!
"not this pius claptrap."
Hmmm?
Hardly a sentiment befitting a catholic apologist.
Well the letter would be more genuine if it included an apology. It's not up to you to announce a fresh start with our bishops, like they have done something wrong and you are being gracious by giving them a second chance. The letter is the height of arrogance and the 'pius clap-trap' is just an attempt to conceal your ridiculing of them. Next you'll be criticising them for not sending you a reply within a week and outlining a full programme of traditional devotions throughout the country.
I think you mean "pious" claptrap :)
I'd be all for a programme of traditional devotions throughout the country. One of the many mercies of living in Poland is that they've never stopped communal parish devotions :) Unpretentious, straightforward, excellent claptrap:prayer ratio, no special resources needed, communal, inclusive, accessible, ...
But this letter is rude.
Catholic apologist - I'm very sorry it comes across to you as arrogant.
I'm sure the bishops would be more charitable and accept it as a handshake of peace.
Catholic Apologist
Epsilon is the author of the letter not Laurence.
Where has she ridiculed the bishops?
She is trying to be part of the solution.
I would have written to Archbishop Nichols personally, if contact details or an address were available on the Westminster diocesan website, which they aren't. So I record my reaction to his suggestion for heightening the awareness of the Catholic presence in the UK.
Could we start with the shepherds leading from the front, as the flock goes about its business among the wolves of secular Britain?
Let the clergy and religious, who give their lives to serving God and His Church, resume their distinctive clerical dress and/or religious habit, and forgo the anonymity of secular clothing completely. That will hearten every Christian who sees them in the street or public places.
If they do this always, even on their "day off," it will show how seriously they take their vocation as a state, rather than as just a job.
you remain their humble and obedient servants...
you haven't been so up to now so how are you remaining so?
It is a little rude, but...
There's nothing stopping you sending the letter to Archbish Nichols, it's hardly a secret that he lives in Archbishop's House next to Westminster cathedral, Ambrosden Avenue.
Hopefully it would prompt him to get all your blogs monitored more closely.
support our bishops -
I don't think you are being very fair to Laurence: I have seen no evidence on this blog of his disobedience or dissent on any issue of Catholic teaching. On lesser issues, such as the best way of arranging a Papal visit, for example, Catholics are entitled to disagree with their bishops, and, indeed, have a canonical right to make their views known to their bishops.
On your reasoning, the Popes would still be living in Avignon, because St Catherine of Siena would never have dared to nag Pope Gregory XI into returning to Rome.
I think that, as Ecclesiastes nearly says, there is a time to complain and a time to pipe down. This seems to me to be a time for the latter, to enable the impact of the Papal visit to be felt, by us and our bishops together. At this time, it seems to me perfectly reasonable to write to them, offering our willingness to respond to Archbishop Nichols's call to live our faith more visibly, while at the same time offering our support in the work of acting on the Holy Father's exhortations.
Maybe that should read "you remain our humble servants" (kidding)
Wasn't the time to pull together before the pope arrived instead of constant petty sniping, and using the visit to pit our ishops against the holy father (which isn't accurate). Lawrence suggested the bishops were engaged in a conspiracy to make the visit a flop and theat they were trying to undermine his authority.
Like the steward who was ashamed to beg when dismissed from his post, I would be ashamed to write direct to the Archbishop of Westminster with an incorrect address on the envelope.
Catholic Postman: do you encourage people to write to Father Christmas at his North Pole address? Postcodes were introduced in my lifetime, as was the extinction of PHG's and many working practices, which has now left us with a rump of our once efficient GPO.
The internet is more efficient for conveying information, although I would have wished my thoughts to reach His Grace directly, and would have awaited his answer with interest. Mgr Nichols is deliberately protected from this by the absence of his address from his diocesan website.
Re the suspicion of impertinence towards bishops in the letter:
The bishops hold their position because of their appointment by the Holy See, whose incumbent styles himself " The Servant of the Servants of God". This should be enough to remind every Roman Catholic, that the bishop - if he follows Our Lord - is come among us as "One who serves".
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