I won't use sensational words like "devastated" to describe my reaction. However, I for one was really looking forward to going to his talk. I hope that this cancellation is just 'mysterious' and that there is nothing sinister in the reason for his sudden change of mind.
There is no way anyone in any authority in the Catholic establishment in the United Kingdom would be offended by anything that Cardinal who said, "Since the Council, the Body of Christ in England and Wales has been haemorrhaging away at the rate of approximately 30,000 souls a year" would have to say.
I hope that, perhaps, God willing, he'll reschedule for another time.
Thanks to Fr Ray Blake for alerting us to the news.
Update: I've just read His Eminence Cardinal Raymond Burke's correspondence with Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. PEEP have, in my personal opinion, contributed to the good Cardinal's withdrawal. With their customary enthusiasm for putting the boot in with regard to the Bishops, this time in print on the advertisement/invitation for the talk, PEEP have put the Cardinal who is both loyal to the Pope and respectful of brother Bishops and Cardinals in what you could call an awkward spot. Gosh! And I thought I was hardcore! Sad. PEEP can keep my £20, because going by the correspondence, it looks like they're going to need it.
16 comments:
Oh, no!! I, too, was really looking forward to this talk... There's nothing worse than having someone cancel like this - especially as I'd pulled out of something else just to attend his lecture.
I hope Card Burke isn't ill. If he isn't, then it would be good to know why he cancelled.
copy of the correspondencce is here
http://www.proecclesia.com/page_newsflash.htm
looks like he was leaned upon
Copy of correspondence here
http://www.proecclesia.com/page_newsflash.htm
looks like he was leaned on
So it's all PEEPS fault is it?
You refer to:
"...their customary enthusiasm for putting the boot in with regard to the Bishops..."
Who, very recently, wrote the following reply to a comment?
"...Unfortunately, many Priests, Bishops have not been teaching the Catholic Faith 'in its entirety'"
You did.
The Cardinal was right to avoid this kind of controversy.
Yes, His Eminence has been "leaned on" Tom Smith, leaned heavily on by the Holy Spirit.
Yes, it is PEEPS fault.
Thanks for letting us know.I was trying to work out how to get to London in my heavily pregnant state.
Thank God St. Peter wasn't afraid of controversy.
I don't think he had any choice. He's on another Bishop's patch so what can he do. You can only go so fast with these things. If it took 150 years to get into this mess it will probably take another 150 to get out of it. Less haste more speed.
The writing is on the wall for the liberals but they will put up a hell of fight before they go. Its like dealing with the old grey men of the politburo. They won't step aside and let the new generation through. Austen and John Allen et al will no doubt spin this to liberal advantage.
BJC
I have tried the links and the PEEPs news page but haven't found any correspondence- has it been moved??
I didn't see any complaints about the tone of the PEEP's flyer/publicity until now.
Indeed their zealous OTT "defence" of the Faith was actively encouraged.
Not a good idea, and those of a more moderate outlook looking forward to hearing the Cardinal, have paid the price.
In a diocese where most people attend a Sunday Gathering to share the `Eucharist` and the Sacrifice of the Mass is rarely mentioned. In a diocese which does a wonderful job in Catholic Schools despite 97% of young people leaving schools alienated from the Church since it is just a `community`. In a parish where catholic devotions are not encouraged, even `Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, In a Diocese where there is a growing shortage of priests but no will to rectify the situation but a policy of putting dissidents and bullies in charge, I hereby declare that I have no respect whatsoever for our Bishops. I will no longer be careful not to offend them, and I am sorry I am getting no support for my lapsed children from Cardinal Burke, Rome, or any other who puts diplomacy before truth.
I think PEEP will have to draw on the past experiences of the LMS on how to negotiate these episcopal landmines. It's a case of thinking marathon rather than sprint, as Anon BJC has already said.
Which is not to say that PEEP should compromise its raison d'etre - it's led the way in publicly exposing "anomolies" and I pay homage to its doughty defence of the Catholic faith - but to be aware when its words might cause political embarrassment at a particular level. "Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves." Matthew 10:16
Church politics are the same as any other when it comes to defending territory. Very murky. What a single blogger writes may be swiftly discarded as having a limited reach to Catholic crackpots like me, but a well-known, organised and influential group which refuses to toe the line is another matter. In a way, it's a back-handed compliment to the achievements of PEEP.
But the note of triumphalism over the Cardinal's agreement to speak as if it were his imprimatur for public attacks on a particular episcopal group was unwise at the very least and gave the wreckers a virtual shoo-in. I hope the new Nuncio wasn't "got at" in this unfortunate affair by the devout and faithful. I fear he might have been.
I'm still inclined to attend the conference, though. Solidarność.
"I hereby declare that I have no respect whatsoever for our Bishops" JK
This is the sort of generalistaion that has caused the cancellation.
It also illustrated the truth pointed out on another blog commenting on the Vatican:
"...It has also become clear recently that they no longer have control over Catholic theology, and even their grip on their own clergy and the ordination process is weakening"
Do you not think the Cardinal did not wish to become embroiled in ill-tempered disputation and conflict?
Thank you.
Well, well, well. The Mummy returns.
I have often thought that PEEP, worthy though its motives may be and rooted in truth as some of its comments undoubtedly are, frequently overstates its case and thereby attracts ridicule and impatience to what are in fact serious issues.
PEEP may well have provoked this, in part, but the withdrawal wouldn't have taken place unless pressure had been brought to bear on His Eminence. In my view, this withdrawal has got the initials VN stamped all over it.
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