Pray for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton

Like many Catholics in this Diocese I am still perplexed and experiencing a wide range of emotions, felt by, I am sure, laity and priests alike. Poor priests, who had to read that statement this weekend.

Let's pray for Kieran Conry, for the family and lives affected, for a holy and faithful Bishop for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and for the flock he leaves behind. My own sins and crimes trail before me, as well readers know, so who am I, indeed, to judge?

One cannot help wondering, though: Are there any other bishops of England and Wales who may possibly be unfaithful to their vows while failing to shepherd and feed their flock? Will they do the decent thing and resign? Natural justice would seem to demand it, since it would be rather hypocritical if they permitted the fall of their brother but did not consider their own positions as well. Or are they, also, waiting for someone else to spill the beans in the Daily Mail? Perhaps those who knew of the bishop's activities waited instead for this very public explosion should also consider their positions as Shepherds of the Faithful.

Do pray for Kieran Conry. I wish I could write something as kind and noble as what Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith has written but in truth I met the then Bishop Kieran only a handful of times during which I spoke with him only very briefly indeed. I learned most about him from the interviews he did and the pastoral letters I heard. I am told by others of his fine human qualities and I sincerely hope that he finds peace, forgiveness and happiness in the Lord in this life and in the one to come. Whenever I met him he was kind, warm, interested in us and courteous, though I was a bit taken aback when he asked if we "really believed all that stuff" about Marian apparitions and sites of Marian pilgrimage. I got the impression he did not understand people's devotion to Our Lady and the Saints, nor those who genuflected towards the Tabernacle and knelt for Holy Communion. 

If anyone could do with an embrace (preferably away from the camera) from the Vicar of Christ right now, its probably him. I really do feel for him. That said, I'm pretty crestfallen, so I could do with one myself. I doubt the Holy Father would come near a traddie leper like me though. We're not the flavour of the month in Rome, are we? It really is astonishing just how much damage one Cardinal, now retired, can do in the Catholic Church, isn't it?

For the time being Arundel and Brighton is sede-vacante. This is perhaps one day on which the Holy Father might forgive a few long faces or Catholics who have been to Mass and look like they have been to a funeral. We are told that it is a holy thing to forgive, to resist anger and bitterness and to weep over the sins we hear of others, rather than condemn or judge. The laity and the clergy however cannot be blamed for the cascade of different emotions being felt at this time. Pray for all of us in this Diocese, including the former Bishop himself and especially for priests and a new Shepherd for the Lord's flock here.

Damian Thompson's latest piece on the 'unfolding drama' now rocking the Catholic Church in England and Wales is not very encouraging as far as the renewal of the Church in England and Wales is concerned. It all sounds like a bit of an 'old boys club' to me and as we know, 'boys will be boys'. God help us all and send us true Shepherds, not these ridiculous hirelings who actually consider that by deliberately not talking about sexual morality to your flock while living without sexual morality as a Bishop, you have not been a bad bishop.

Faith in our Families has a run down of the then +Conry's ecclesiastical career here. I'd also be interested to know: What did The Tablet and its powerful friends in high places know of this saga? After all, Kieran Conry was the wine correspondent and was well placed within the beating heart of the Catholic Establishment. All round, there is a sense of a possible cover-up that leaves a rather nasty smell not entirely different to the stink of the 'filth' lamented by Benedict XVI, who interestingly found so few episcopal friends in England and Wales.

"It's good to be here!"

Last but by no means least, here in Brighton, Kieran is the talk of the town because for the first time ever, the former Bishop has made front page news. I'm of the mind that we shouldn't judge Kieran Conry, because Our Lord tells us not to, lest we be judged.

I don't think I can judge Kieran's career as a Catholic Bishop either, because I'm not really convinced that he was or is a Catholic in the traditional sense of the word, but then, so many Bishops and priests these days nowadays aren't, are they? It goes without saying that scandal involving a Successor to the Apostles doesn't just damage the credibility of the Bishop individually, along with that of the particular See, but the credibility of the Church, Her Faith and especially the credibility of Her message that the Gospel can indeed be lived. Christ and His Church asks the impossible from no man, for what is impossible to men, is possible to men who live for Christ and all priests receive in Holy Orders the strength and grace to do so. This is grace and strength those called to this Sacrament can accept, co-operate with, or wilfully reject.

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Fidelity Always, a now frequent commenter here, left a comment in support of Cardinal Richard Marx's 'moral position' on sexual matters, in complete contradiction to the Magisterium, so I decided that it was time for this commenter to find somewhere else to speak his mind.

This comment was in addition to a veritable raft of comments he had already left. He emailed me under a created anonymous email account so I still could not identify his name, but despite his blatant cowardice still decided it was I who was not a 'true gentleman'. Bizarrely, this individual went on to actually apologise for 'taking over' my blog comments section while still sending in two to three comments every few hours. Clearly, the commenter doesn't understand that a real apology means changing the behaviour that led to your apology.

He must be either obsessed or addicted to this blog. He clearly has something against the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, so I know its nothing personal. However, when I decided to inform him that his comments were no longer welcome on my blog he decided to get personal on my personal life. Thanks for your concern Fidelity Always and, by the way, I know the Deposit of Faith was not entrusted to me but to the Pope and Bishops. Of course, if the Pope and Bishops should ever stop teaching it and teach something else instead, which seems to be the case, the laity and the clergy are free to shout from the rooftops that they should be teaching that entrusted to them, and not something else entirely.

Let's face it, according to the now (place face in palm now) "liberated" Kieran Conry, doing as such never did him or the flock entrusted to him, any harm whatsoever. Perhaps you should start your own blog, Fidelity Always. It's good to be 'Mr Editor'. It means that as 'Mr Editor' you are able to decide who comments, who doesn't and have the last word on a discussion after having blocked their persistent emails which border on sustained harassment. I don't know who you are, but I hope that one day, should I and you make it there, we shall merrily meet in Heaven, where I'll be more patient and charitable and you'll be less annoying. He emails under the name 'Inspired to Comment'.

Henceforth, his comments (and emails) are deleted immediately upon my receipt of them, without my reading them.