To Be Human is to Accept Our Weakness

The assisted suicide and euthanasia debate in this country is bound to become more of a hot topic in the future. It is not surprising. In a post-Christian society, how are people to cope with sickness, illness and dependence on the care of others, nevermind the prospect of Death?

Without Our Lord Jesus Christ, I don't think we will cope. We in the West appear to have an existential crisis. We cope with life in our strength, but cannot bear to imagine utter dependence on others. I know a few people who basically say that when they believe that they will need care, nursing in their old age and need someone to help them go to the toilet and shower them and the rest, that they'd quite like to have the option of a ticket out of this life. "There is no dignity in that", they hold.

It's understandable. Our society now values people more on what they do that who they are. It has become a vainglorious society, one that values only success, strength and wealth. Yet, if we ever go down that road of ending our own lives with the help of others, we will lose a lot more than the elderly, sick and terminally ill who take up that option, if, God forbid, it should ever come to pass. We will all, the sick as well as the healthy, lose sight of our humanity because the truth of the matter is that our humanity begain in the womb, when we were utterly dependent.

Society doesn't value the elderly very much because some of the elderly are dependent on us. The sick and elderly need our care and our help. Because of their frailty they are unable to do very much. Some need nurses, care workers or volunteers to help clean them up and maintain their dignity, wash them, shave them, comb their hair, give them a glass of water. We look forward to our own possible state of dependence in the future with horror, yet why should we be ashamed?

In the womb, were we not totally dependent on our mothers for sustenance? In our first years, were we not totally dependent on our parents for food, water, nourishment, care, washing, going to the toilet. Some of the elderly wear incontinence pads, just as, when we were babies, we wore nappies. We are frightened of such a prospect, yet are we more in God's Eyes now than we were when we were babies? Does God love us because we are more learned and educated now than when we were babies or in the womb, or are more conscious of our condition? Does God respect us more now that we are independent, or behave as if we were and think that we are? Does God love us only in our strength and our youth?

No. We are in God's Eyes now what we were in God's Eyes when we were, I dare say, just one minute after conception, His children, or 5 months in the womb, or just as we were born, or just as we were Baptised, or in our formative years, teenage years, adulthood and 'prime'. We may feel ashamed of our dependence on others when we get old, but God is not, even less so, given that He became a Baby and became dependent on His Creation, humans, Himself and so knows our frail condition.

What we do for the elderly and sick, we do for Christ Himself for He is close to them and defends them. Woe to us if we should lay a finger on them or try to coerce them ever to consider ending their own lives. Woe to us if we neglect them, or ignore them and leave them as orphans, forgotten with nobody to tend to them and minister to their needs with love, since it will not be just their humanity we are neglecting or despising, but our own.

The suffering, the poor, the sick, the elderly, the dying, we wonder why God permits it all, the sadness, pain and sorrows of the human condition. Yet, all are great gifts from God. When we give love, care and compassion to these, 'the least' of Christ's brothers, we receive back tenfold what we have given. Not only do works of mercy, even small works of mercy, benefit our souls, but our outlook changes. When we tend to the sick, elderly and dying we see our end, how, short of a sudden death, we shall be. It is salutary and humbling and takes away the pride and vainglory of this earthly life. In a society driven often by fantasy, dreams and illusions, the elderly, sick, dependent and the hospitalised give the young, healthy and far less dependent some real perspective on our humanity. We may like to think we are strong, but our strength is fading and passing.

St Paul said that the among faith and hope, the only thing that truly abides, truly lasts forever, is love. If we should ever go down that road of euthanasia and assisted suicide, then not only will there be a great and unholy, premature loss of life of the vulnerable at the hands of the untrustworthy and wicked, but we who are at the moment healthy shall be deprived of the gifts of God, for all people, whatever their state, are a gift from God. We shall be depriving ourselves the opportunity to love, to care, to show compassion, tenderness and mercy to the afflicted and suffering. Suffering is redemptive, not just to and for those who suffer, but to those who alleviate their pain or show them mercy and love. Like all of humanity shares in the merits of Christ's Agony, Passion and Death, so we who are healthy share in the merits of the sufferings of the sick, elderly and dying. Without us, they are lost and without them, we, too, are lost.

Mercy, not Sacrifice...

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were convicted last week in a Malawian court for unnatural acts and gross indecency, the words of the judge, not mine, receiving a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison with hard labour under the country's anti-gay legislation.

The culture in many African nations is vehemently anti-homosexual, since the family is seen as paramount. Imposing Western 'progressive' ideas such as gay liberation movements upon Africa amounts to neo-colonialism, but this verdict goes deeper than human law because the penalisation and State persecution of homosexuals runs contrary to Catholic Church teaching, which proclaims Christ's teaching, on social justice and mercy.

The idea of the State imposing such harsh punishments on homosexuals should horrify us whether we are gay, straight, Catholic or not. Christ commanded that we show mercy to our brothers and sisters, knowing that one Day, we shall all be 'in the dock'. In the case of these two men, some of us can say, 'It could have been me.' Furthermore, the Catholic Church has a good record in condemning the persecution of homosexuals on the African continent while other Protestant denominations acquiesce in an unjust and often violent persecution of men with a same-sex attraction.

According to the website, Daily Monitor...

The titular head of the Catholic Church in Uganda has weighed in on the proposed anti-homosexuality law, saying he rejects it because it is “at odds with the core values” of Christians. But while Kampala Archbishop Cyprian Lwanga’s opposition to the 2009 Anti-Homosexuality Bill is based on compassion, the cleric retains the view that homosexuality is immoral and violates God’s will. “The Bible says homosexuality is strictly forbidden,” Dr Lwanga said in a statement made public yesterday. However, the Church equally teaches the Christian message of respect, compassion, and sensitivity. The Church has always asked its followers to hate the sin but to love the sinner… In our view, the proposed [law] is not necessary considering that acts of sodomy are already condemned in the Penal Code.” 

Meanwhile, this statement by the Ugandan Catholic Church, calling for the protection from persecution of homosexuals is not in isolation. According to the Vatican’s statement, delivered by Father Philip Bene, legal attaché to the Holy See’s UN mission, the Catholic Church made this statement...

“Thank you for convening this panel discussion and for providing the opportunity to hear some very serious concerns raised this afternoon. My comments are more in the form of a statement rather than a question. As stated during the debate of the General Assembly last year, the Holy See continues to oppose all grave violations of human rights against homosexual persons, such as the use of the death penalty, torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The Holy See also opposes all forms of violence and unjust discrimination against homosexual persons, including discriminatory penal legislation which undermines the inherent dignity of the human person. As raised by some of the panelists today, the murder and abuse of homosexual persons are to be confronted on all levels, especially when such violence is perpetrated by the State. While the Holy See’s position on the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity remains well known, we continue to call on all States and individuals to respect the rights of all persons and to work to promote their inherent dignity and worth.”

According to The Guardian, at their judgment, the judge is reported to have said...

"To me this case counts as the worst of its kind and carries a sense of shock against the morals of Malawi. Let posterity judge this judgment." Chimbalanga remained composed as armed police officers handcuffed him to Monjeza. "I am not worried," he shouted to reporters. But Monjeza broke down upon hearing the ruling and was still sobbing as he was helped into the van. Hundreds of onlookers shouted "You got what you deserve!", "Fourteen years is not enough, they should get 50!" and "You deserve death!"

African culture is supportive of natural law and the family and that is a moral good. What is a moral evil and a gross injustice is the persecution of men by the society and the State for their sexual orientation and for giving in to their temptation. Our Lord said, 'It is mercy, not sacrifice, that I desire.' Homosexuals should not be sacrificed in order to protect the society, nor should any sinner, since all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. Our Lord warned us to resist the yeast of the Pharisees who looked down upon and wanted to stone those they deemed beyond God's love.

In the Person of Jesus Christ, they were surprised and horrified, not by God's desire for vengeance, but His thirst for mercy and His desire to forgive and to heal. God does not desire the death of the sinner, but his repentence so that he may live. Our Lord identified Himself with the outcast, those who are spat upon and derided by those who see themselves as respectable but forget that God sees into every man's heart and sees what is done in secret. Those who dispense civil judgment and those who see these men as evil and worthy of shame should recall that one day a more important and Eternal Judgment shall fall upon them and all of us, at an hour that we do not expect. Our Blessed Lord warned us that only the merciful would obtain mercy.

Look, Everybody...

Awwwwww...Wallabies! Look, you can see the baby putting his head out. How cute is that!?

I took this picture at Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens which I visited with my fiancee yesterday. It is, I have to say, a fantastic day out for people of all sexual orientations and none.

Yet, your roving, outrageously homophobic, queer bashing, closeted, self-hating, massive queen of an unemployed Catholic opinion blogging, independent journalist for free was there to catch an even bigger story than this. Could there be a bigger story than this? Yes. Yes there could be.

For behold, readers, these gardens, which have been open to the public since they were first opened public ages ago, are to close this June, so hurry up and visit these beautiful gardens which must contain, in the flora alone, I dare say, all the colours of the rainbow.

"Why are these beautiful gardens to close?!" I hear you cry in a voice louder than even the National Gay Men's Gospel Choir itself? Well, an 'anonymous foreign businessman', according to The Times, has purchased the whole plot of land, and like the greedy git that he patently is, is closing it so that only he and his rich mates can enjoy it! Outraged!? I know I am and I sure hope you are too! Get him boys, and indeed, girls, don't get me! He's the bad guy, look!

This breathtaking show of wealth and arrogant abrogation of beautiful national heritage and stunning scenery is worse than the sin of Sodom and could well be unforgivable even in the sight of the All-forgiving, merciful and loving Redeemer who loves everyone including gays who He longs to forgive and reconcile to Himself, like all sinners, in the Sacrament of Penance through His Priests.


If there is one issue that can unite all of us, one campaign that should see the entire World perhaps unite and forget all of our differences so that I receive less online hate mail, it has to be this one!

Is it a rich Arab? Is it a Russian tycoon? I don't know, but I think we can, all of us, traditional, orthodox Catholics or heretical LGBT lobby propagandists unite in condemnation of this stinking rich man, whoever he is, or wherever he is from, for coming over here, buying our gardens and lakes for around £8.5 million and not sharing them out with anyone, not even the people of West Sussex, let alone the poor or disabled. What an awful bastard! I think, given that he's bought the land a Facebook campaign might fail, but with the power of the LGBT political lobby behind us, I believe that anything is possible.

Let us all unite and condemn this rich landowner for being the selfish toerag that he is. Whoever you are, whatever your cause, or whosoever's rights you are currently campaigning for, drop it now, because Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens have been sold to a filthy rich foreigner and now he is grabbing all this beautiful land hitherto enjoyed by the great British public for just £8 during the week and £9 on Saturdays and he's going to turn it into his personal playground, for him and his filthy rich, millionaire friends.

Somebody, get me Peter Tatchell on the phone because, having had time to reflect on my previous views expressed through a blog earlier only hours earlier today, I've suddenly and inexplicably changed my mind totally about the 'aggressive' LGBT political lobby, who are meek as lambs, the practise of homosexual acts, a subject on which I no longer agree with Holy Mother Church because I've realised it just hates and punishes gays routintely for being who they are and IVF treatment, which should immediately be made free for lesbians, because if there's one thing lesbians deserve, its the sperm of some random man in Macclesfield in need of an extra tenner a month, so they can all have children while the friendly clinic wantonly destroys unwanted human embryos that they consider useless.

The Real Vice of the LGBT Political Lobby is Narcissicism

I have received quite a few comments on a previous post on the Rainbow Sash Movement, more than I usually receive. I would like to elaborate on why this 'movement' and all the movements which seek to undermine or subvert Holy Mother Church are so very dangerous.

The LGBT lobby is concerned with championning the rights of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people.  This much we know. Yet not all Catholics of a homosexual orientation are actively involved in the LGBT political movement.

There are a significant proportion of Catholics with a same sex attraction, we know that and heck, I know that. Some are active sexually, some are chaste, but not all Catholics, either active or chaste would place themselves in this political movement or campaign to champion the rights over which the LGBT lobby concern themselves.

On the other hand, some clearly do. Why? I would suggest that it is primarily because they are narcissists. There is a violent streak of narcissicism running through the arguments of Catholics who wish to make protest against either Church teaching or what they feel is prejudice against them, rooted in an inordinate desire for personal recognition. This is the case for the LGBT lobby on the whole and this is why the LGBT political movement within the Church should be seen as an infection, rather than a healthy movement for 'reforming the Church'. This self-love and desire for personal recognition in society and the Church, as well as the forging of a new identity grounded in sexuality alone is misguided and harmful to individuals, to society and, of course, to the Church.

Essentially, the campaign within the Church for recognition of LGBT rights is rooted in self-centredness and narcissicism. Even the mere idea of attending an LGBT Mass is inherently anti-Christian. It is closed, a club within the Church of men and women joined together not by their Faith in the Risen Christ, but by their sexual orientation and desire to see their interests given priority within the Church. Somehow, the Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is essentially self-sacrificial in teaching and 'other-centred', becomes distorted by sin, selfishness and self-love, to become a Gospel of personal liberation and personal recognition which is corporately divisive. By this I mean that it divides the Body of Christ, rather than unites it. These souls have lost a sense of personal sin and believe that instead of serving, they believe that they and their needs and 'rights' need to be served. It is the spirit of the Antichrist.

These souls who will be wearing 'rainbow sashes' at Westminster Cathedral make it painfully clear that their chief concern is themselves and that their interests come before anything else - even the interests of Holy Mother Church. Quite apart from the fact that they will be guilty in desecrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Blessed Sacrament, in making a visible protest during Mass, they have failed to see that the Gospel is less about championning our 'rights' and more about serving, praising and adoring God and serving the needs of our neighbour.

Furthermore, when asked the question, 'Who is my neighbour?' Our Blessed Lord made it clear that the poorest, the most abandoned, persecuted and vulnerable should be a primary concern of every follower of His. There have been times when homosexuals have been persecuted, often violently, harshly and unjustly so, but it can no longer be said that this is a poor, despised community who require the help of Christians. The gay lobby is in the ascendency in society, having achieved nearly every one of its goals and their goals are their only concern.

If gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered Catholics really want to be Catholic and live the Gospel there are plenty of people in need of their help and whose rights they can defend. Among them are the poor, the homeless, the unborn, who, far from being able to marry, are unable to live, the despised and persecuted drug addicts you will find in every town in the UK, asylum seekers, the mentally ill and the elderly who receive inadequate care and dignity and will very soon come under pressure from lobbyists on euthanasia.

Our Lord said, "If any man should come after me let him take up his Cross daily and follow Me." In so doing Our Blessed Lord was making a call to self-denial for the love of Him. Brighton is a town in dire need of true Christianity and it is full of gay men, many of whom are very wealthy (and unhappy) because they do not have to spend money on children. The 'pink pound' is strong here. Hedonism and pleasure seeking is rife. There is, on the other hand, great poverty, stigmatisation and hounding of the homeless and drug addicts. These people are not treated with dignity by the authorities and are worthy of the help of Christians.

If a few of the gay bars became homeless hostels providing care and treatment for the homeless and drug addicted, then you would know that Brighton and Hove was a gay and Christian city indeed. That day, I am afraid, will never arrive, because those who involve themselves actively in the gay political movement are so self-absorbed that on the whole they make it clear that they only care about the interests of themselves and their associates. A Catholic active in the LGBT political movement is therefore guilty of the sin of omission since membership of that society is inherently exclusive of others. As Catholics we are called to love everyone and to give priority to the poor, persecuted and outcasts of society in whom Christ Himself is served. I am sorry, chaps and indeed chapesses, but gays no longer fit that bill.

Happy Pentecost all!

Teresa May MP Bullied into Submission

How very ironic. Teresa May MP has been forced to change her opinion by a certain lobby, who pompously claim to be against bullying.

Why? Because as new Home Secretary and 'Equality Minister', her voting record did not go down well with over 65,000 Facebook campaigners. Her voting record, for the record, from a Catholic point of view was rather good.

According to an irate writer in The Socialist, she voted...

'...against the repeal of Section 28 and against the lowering of the age of consent for gay men to 16. She also voted against adoption rights for same-sex couples and against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill which would give lesbian couples the ability to receive fertility treatment, as did the new Conservative Prime Minister. In addition she abstained from a vote on the Gender Recognition Act that allows transsexuals to change their legal gender.'

How shocking that Teresa May did not buckle in the Commons to the demands of the LGBT lobby and dance to their tune like her predecessor Harriet Harman did during her time as Minister for the Promotion of Homosexuality. Now that Teresa May has, as part of her brief, the responsibility for 'equalities', she has begun to do the YMCA, but only because of the hatred poured forth from those whose only agenda is for the LGBT community.

A Sack Teresa May campaign and a Facebook page with a similar title was quickly established which attacked her for, basically, standing up in the Commons in defense of marriage, the child, natural law and the family. All of these concepts appear alien to the LGBT community and their supporters who clearly believe that life is just one big erotic festival and that children, families, married couples and religious faith are concepts that belong to ages past, never to be allowed to rear their ugly heads again.

I managed to see footage of the Question Time debacle in which Teresa May buckled under the pressure of cameras and lights and lent her support to gay adoption. Christina Odone, a 'Catholic' who writes for The Telegraph, appears to think this is wonderful news, 'Quite right too,' she wrote on her blog.

Gay adoption is not a moral good, since every child deserves a mother and a father who can be protectors, carers and role models for the child. A family requires a mother and a father. A child needs both maternal love and care and paternal love and guidance. Of course, the LGBT community don't really think of the best interests of the child, they are consumed with self-interest and the promotion of their rights to the detriment of the child.

Neither is the promotion of the homosexual lifestyle to teenagers by lowering the age of consent to 16 a moral good, since at the age of 16, children are just coming to terms with their sexual maturity. Many of the victims of sexual abuse in the Church, especially in the US, were in fact around this age and look what happened to those children. 16 year old children can be easily groomed by homosexuals who do not have their best interests at heart and who want them only for their own sexual satisfaction. Section 28 was concerned primarily with the protection of the child as was, of course, the age of consent at 18, rather than 16 when a teenager is still in his or her formative years. Above all, LGBT campaigners are reckless and especially so, given that rates of HIV in the gay community continue to remain high.

Nearly every Government proposal in the Human Fertlisation and Embryology Bill was morally repulsive and destructive of human life. This is the same Bill which enshrined in legislation the rights of the scientific community to bastardise, experiment upon, inject animal DNA into and then destroy, human embryos. It is no surprise therefore that the same Government proposed that lesbian couples should receive fertility treatment and leave countless children without fathers quite deliberately.

This is a 'brave new world' indeed, but a braver one would stand up to communities of men and women who are so blinkered by their own ideologies and sexual fetishes that they are willing to sacrifice morality absolutely in order to achieve their goals. The child is not a right, but a gift from God. Marriage is not a human invention but the union of one man and one woman before Almighty God. This country has been held to ransom by men and women whose hearts are not set upon the moral improvement of society, but the destruction of society from within. Without families, without marriage, without children and without the bedrock of Faith this society and indeed the whole of Europe will fall apart. The amorality which those who bullied Teresa May into submission propose will indeed contribute not to a new and better society, but the collapse of a whole civilisation descending into sterility, self-interest and personal pleasure at the expense of this generation and all generations to come.

Calling all Altar Servers...

 How exciting!

The Society of St. Tarcisius is a Sodality of altar servers for the traditional Latin mass.

Its objects are:

1. To promote the dignified, devout, and accurate service of the altar in the traditional Roman rite.

2. To promote the spiritual formation of altar servers, in the spirit of St Tarcisius, who accepted death rather than allow the profanation of the most holy sacrament.

3. To disseminate information on the correct service of the altar, and arrange from time to time training events for servers.

4. To maintain a list of those who are willing and able to serve at the traditional liturgy, and provide this information to those organizing traditional events, where needed.

The Society is specifically committed to the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic church, in a form no later than that current in 1962.

The Society of St Tarcisius is sponsored by the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales - Traditional Catholicism for the 21st Century.

I hope very much to join this Society. Remember, that doesn't make me a 'SST Catholic', just a Catholic who longs to see God revered, honoured and worshipped in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. The patron of the Society, incidently, died doing just that, since the defense of the Blessed Sacrament was of greater importance to him than any earthly thing.

If you would like to join, email the secretary, David Forster at secretary@saint-tarcisius.org.uk

No rainbow sashes on the Altar, please. Love for the Blessed Sacrament and a desire to serve God on His Sanctuary will suffice.

"When There's No Getting Over That Rainbow..."

The Rainbow Sash Movement are, according to their website and Fr Tim Finigan, who blogged about this a couple of days ago, encouraging 'LGBT Catholics' to attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass at Westminster Cathedral.

My first instinct over reading this news was one of great sadness, since there are clearly a minority of Catholics with the condition of homosexuality who feel they are not included in the Church, to the extent that the Rainbow Sash Movement, impelled by their inexplicable desire to 'queer the Church' are organising a protest against what they perceive as prejudice, but what amounts only to the Teaching of the Church. Having watched this video on their website my feelings have changed. Watch it, it is hilarious.



Of course, it is made less humourous by the fact that these Catholics are no friends of Holy Mother Church. There are, of course, many Catholics who struggle with Church teaching on chastity, the sanctity of marriage and struggle with their sexuality. I count myself as one of these souls. These men and women are not enemies of the Church, but souls who find refuge in God's abundant mercy and forgiveness and find both in Confession and reception of the Holy Eucharist.

The Rainbow Sash Movement, on the other hand, are intent on subverting not just the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or even just Church teaching (which will never change on matters of sexual morality), but the Church Herself. The website recommends that 'LGBT Catholics' acquire a rainbow sash which they can then pin on their apparrel on approaching Holy Communion. If they are 'denied' Communion they are then advised to go back to their seats and stand up while everyone else kneels, prays to Our Lord and speaks to Him longingly in their hearts.

I very much doubt that the 'rainbow' contingent will be large in number. That said, anyone who approaches Our Blessed Lord in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar while attempting to make a brazen and shameful political statement against His Church, their Mother has clearly misunderstood both Who they are approaching and why they should be approaching Him. What do these souls believe the Church is, if She is not the Ark of Truth and Dispenser of God's Mercy?

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, Who is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament knows well the hearts and souls of His children. If you are a homosexual, you do not need to tell Him, for He well knows. If you are a lesbian, God the Eternal Son is aware of the fact. If you are attracted to members of the same sex and those of the opposite sex, Our Lord knows all about it for He is God and, being God, lover of souls, healer of the afflicted and broken hearted, comforter of the contrite and Hope of Christians, our Redeemer and Saviour is interested not in our political motivations, since the Rainbow Sash Movement is inherently and overtly political in its desire to subvert and change Church teaching, but our souls. If you are in a state of mortal sin, He knows this as well and all Catholics, gay, straight, mutilated by doctors or into sex with anyone should receive Absolution before approaching He who is Lord of Heaven and Earth made present on the Altar.

Let us be clear and unambiguously so. There are no 'LGBT Catholics', there are only Catholics. There are no 'Black Catholics', there are only Catholics. There are no 'Latin Mass Catholics', there are only Catholics and if, sorrowfully indeed for you, you cannot bear to present yourself to God the Eternal Son as His child, a baptised Catholic, as one grateful that the Lord Himself should come to you, a poor sinner, in humility and mindful of His great mercies, in awe of the One Who died for you and has come down from Heaven to you under the guise of Bread, then you should not receive Him at all.

Baby Gives Thumbs Up in the Womb

This is a baby at 20 weeks giving a thumbs up in the womb.

In our country he needs to wait to 24 weeks to be safe to give this sign.

Click here for the I-petition against the advert to be screened on Channel 4 on Monday.

Meanwhile, John Smeaton has some other advice for concerned Catholics, lifted and posted below.

Channel 4 will be broadcasting an advertisement by Marie Stopes International, the abortion promoter and provider, on Monday evening at 10.10pm. Please act immediately to help stop the ad, by:

• contacting Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Secretary of State has the power to stop the ad through his powers relating to Ofcom - please urge him to use that power. The department's email address is enquiries@culture.gov.uk (alternatively enquiries@culture.gsi.gov.uk )  and the department's telephone number is (020) 7211 6000.
• contact your MP, asking him/her to urge the Secretary of State to stop the ad. You can email your MP via http://www.spuc.org.uk/mps You can also telephone your MP via the parliamentary switchboard on (020) 7219 3000.

Below are some arguments and information you can use when writing to the Secretary of State and to your MP:

• Allowing abortion to be advertised on TV will lead to more unborn babies being killed and to more women and girls suffering the after-effects of abortion. Abortion ads will trivialise abortion. It is an insult to the hundreds of women hurt by abortion every day. Such ads are offensive and will mislead viewers about the reality of abortion, which is the killing of unborn children.
• Marie Stopes centres are not advice centres but abortion factories. They fast-track women down a path to abortion, because they have an ideological commitment to abortion. Even if Monday night’s ad doesn’t mention abortion, Marie Stopes is well-known as an abortion provider (cf. their “Abortion” ads on the London Underground.)
• Marie Stopes may claim to be a non-profit organisation, but they have a financial interest in drumming up demand for abortion. Marie Stopes has a cavalier attitude to obeying legal restrictions regarding abortion, and has been implicated in illegal abortions overseas. Neither Marie Stopes nor any similar organisation should be allowed to advertise the killing of unborn children.
• Although Marie Stopes claims to be a charity helping women, its huge multi-national revenue means it can afford TV advertising, which is hugely expensive. This creates an unfair playing field, as pro-life groups simply cannot afford any such advertising.
• The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport has the power to insist that Ofcom controls advertising in this area. We call upon him to intervene immediately. [cf. Communications Act 2003 s.321.
• Abortion is in English law a criminal offence (Offences Against The Person Act 1861, though not prosecuted if the conditions of the Abortion Act 1967 are met). Advertising of a criminal offence is not permitted.
  European law also prohibits the advertising of restricted (i.e. on prescription) medical procedures, such as abortion. [cf. the Audio-Visual Media Regulations 2010, preamble, 89]
• The Broadcasting Act 1990 requires that advertising is not offensive or harmful. Abortion is offensive to the countless women damaged by abortion; and lethally harmful to the hundreds of unborn children aborted every day.
• Last year 29,000 people signed a SPUC-organised paper petition to the prime minister against a proposal to allow abortion agencies to advertise on television and radio. Hundreds of people also wrote submissions to the broadcasting authorities against the proposal.

Channel 4 'Secret Millionaire' Exclusive!

Last week Channel 4 were at the BUCFP, Brighton's centre for the unemployed. They told the centre that they were filming for a documentary about the recession.

So, they did some filming and covered the 'story' of a man called Brad, a man living in a camper van on the seafront, who was fed by the St Mary Magdalen Soup Run. To the right is a picture of them filming during an art group.

Or at least that was what the BUCFP were led to believe. It turned out at the end of the week that Channel 4 were, in fact, filming an episode of 'The Secret Millionaire'. There were tears of joy from committed volunteers in the centre when the 'secret millionaire', who had left some in the centre feeling 'conned' because they thought they were meeting a man down on his luck everyday during filming, handed over a cheque to the centre for £25,000.

I asked one of the Channel 4 team of freelancers whether I could have a picture of 'Brad' for the centre magazine. I have since had an email back saying that they don't want any publicity about this to get out into the open (how many people can the unemployed centre's magazine reach with a print run of 400?), so 'no', I can't have a picture of him or a quote from him or the Channel 4 team.

So, in light of the fact that Channel 4 have so brazenly accepted blood money in showing an abortion advert for Marie Stopes, I thought I'd simply do my journalistic duty and cover the story. Hopefully, The Argus will pick up on it. I'll send them a copy of this post now.

So, just to recap, then. This is a local 'exclusive'. The BUCFP received £25,000 from a 'secret millionaire', Brad, following a week of filming in which the centre were led to believe he was a beggar living on the seafront. He made his fortune in the care industry. He saw the work that the BUCFP do and liked what he saw so he gave them money. I believe he was fed by the Soup Run. Unfortunately, Karla and her team of committed volunteers were not on the receiving end of his generosity and the Soup Run did not receive a cheque.

I personally commended Brad on his generosity and asked him if he'd like to meet my friend with nearly no teeth, as he really needs implants. He replied, "Oh, yes, that's awful. My nephew suffered the same problem. No. Sorry. Go well."

I suppose that 'The Secret Millionaire' would lose its sense of drama if they were honest to the volunteers of centres that provide assistance and relief to the poor, but that didn't stop some in the centre from feeling very deceived by Channel 4 and the rich man slumming it on the seafront so that he could egotistically hand over a load of money and be filmed doing it.

Don't worry Channel 4, I only get between 400-500 hits on this blog a day, but I hope the local newspaper blow your cover, only because you didn't want any publicity of this exciting story for the BUCFP to get into the magazine ran by unemployed volunteers...and accepted money from Marie Stopes International to promote abortion to pregnant women and girls.

How terrible it is that you are more protective of your documentaries than you are of the unborn and vulnerable teenagers.

Doctors Who Act According to Their Conscience to Be Struck Off?

Click here for an article on a horrendous attack on the consciences of doctors and medical practitioners by the General Medical Council, who are threatening to strike off from their membership doctors who do not agree with withdrawing hydration and food from patients who are expressed a wish for it to be removed.

Doctors take the hippocratic oath to defend life, to save life and to preserve life. People go to hospital to receive treatment. People should not go to hospital to die. Doctors who wish to preserve human life, rather than end it, should not have their careers threatened by an unelected medical body with absolutely no moral jurisdiction over the conduct of doctors.

As Dominica Roberts, chairman of the campaign group, Pro-Life Alliance, said...

“Everybody has the right to refuse treatment if they do not want it. But feeding and hydrating a patient, even artificially, is not treatment it is care. It is wrong to view it as treatment rather than care. I do understand that at the very end of life patients do get to the point where it no longer benefits them but to withdraw it when it is helping patients is the same as withdrawing cleaning care.”

Email Channel 4 and Make Your Voice Heard

Dear __________,

Thank you for contacting Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries.

We are sorry to hear that you disagree with the broadcast of the Marie Stopes advertisement.

Channel 4 has had no input into the content of this advertisement, which makes no mention of abortion and is similar to advertising already carried in other media. The advert has been approved for broadcast by  learcast UK, which gave us unambiguous guidance that it is compliant with BCAP's Advertising Standards Code.

The BCAP Code contains robust rules about the nature and content of TV advertising and we believe it offers sufficient protection for our viewers against potential harm and offence. Therefore, subject to an advert being cleared for broadcast under the code, we are prepared to transmit it in an appropriate time slot; we believe it is up to viewers to form their own judgments about the content and messages that advertising contains.

Nevertheless; please be assured that your complaint has been logged and passed onto those responsible for our advertising.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate all feedback from our viewers; complimentary or otherwise.

Regards,

Channel 4 Viewer Enquiries

Click here to register your complaint. Channel 4 have human blood on their hands after they have aired that advert, since Marie Stopes International must have done the maths and worked out that the money for the advertisement is 'worth it' and will recoup the dividends in terms of abortions paid for by the NHS. A blacker day for TV, and possibly for this country, there has never been.

Marie Stopes International to Advertise on Channel 4

Apparently, the Rolling Stones are set to record a number one album for the first time in ages, at a time when the UK is to see its first abortion advert on Monday, so I am quite sure there will soon be a doubling in the demand for a new, intensive, one day course in the art of throwing your TV out of your lounge window.

I'm glad I got rid of mine for the sake of pedestrians. Don't get rid of your baby. Get rid of your TV. Save the lives of pedestrians. Save the lives of babies. Perhaps Channel 4 can run Marie Stopes International's new abortion advert alongside the campaigning of other 'charities' such as NSPCC.



What a horrendous, brutal and sadistic country we are becoming. According to The Telegraph...

The organisation, which carried out 65,000 abortions last year, has circumvented a ban on the commercials because it is a charity and does not make a profit from its services.'

I'm just trying to get my head around that statement. Isn't the point of charities advertising that they hope that in paying for an advert, they will increase their revenue? After all, the organisation, according to The Telegraph article, 'carries out most of its abortions on behalf of the NHS'.

The NHS, I presume, doesn't just refer 'patients' to Marie Stopes International. It pays Marie Stopes the blood money, or, should I say, we pay, since the NHS is funded by you and me. Isn't also the point of most charities advertising, that they hope that in paying for an advert, they make an appeal for donations? When was the last time a 'charity' advertised its 'service' to members of the public?

The same article reports...

'Julie Douglas, marketing manager at the charity, said: "We thought it was the right to bring abortion out into the open. It has been legal for 40 years, one in three women will have one before they are 45. It doesn't help to keep it under wraps."'

What a typically cynical statement by the 'marketing manager' of a group exhibiting more thirst for innocent blood than a house party hosted by Herod, Ghengis Khan and Adolf Hitler, the German leader so beloved by Marie Stopes that she sent him letters praising his accursed racial purity ideas and gift for getting things done. I'm sure that her 'dear Herr Hitler' would have been really quite impressed by the efficiency of the organisation which now bears her name. "65,000 abortions a year!?" F*** me!" he'd say, "Great work!" Most likely, since their deaths, the two of them are now getting on famously, like a house on fire, if you will.

Abortion has indeed been legal for 40 years, but that doesn't stop even MPs who would never describe themselves as 'pro-lifers' describing abortion as 'tragic' and 'regrettable'. Indeed, I am yet to meet anybody, even the hardest of atheists, who has called abortion a 'good thing'. Marie Stopes International are in the business of killing. They are not the Samaritans, neither are they Water Aid, Shelter or Christian Aid. Their 'service' involves the destruction of human life with often devastating impact on the physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual health of pregnant women and girls. I mean, how can you possibly 'sell' abortion. "Abortion. Try it. You won't regret it. Err...Okay, you might later."

Why is it then, that Channel 4 should be hosting adverts for a service which, even in the eyes of most men and women (and teenagers, remember, because, let's face it, they are the ones most 'at risk' from this advert, indeed, targeted by this advert) view an abortion not as 'healthcare' but 'tragic'.

I suppose that given that the woman after whom the organisation was named was such a prize Nazi witch who, according to her, 'Radiant Motherhood' book of 1920, called for the "sterilisation of those totally unfit for parenthood [to] be made an immediate possibility, indeed made compulsory," Ms Douglas must be one of the finest 'marketing managers' in history. She really should need to be, but then, hey, the Royal Mail put Marie Stopes on a stamp a year or two ago, so clearly she's in no need for rehabilitation.

I hope that Channel 4 have wildly misread the public's perception of abortion. Those who procure and obtain abortions do not go around telling everyone about it, as if its some great new yoghurt which is both tasty and helps the digestive system. Let us, who know very well the devastating human cost of abortion, pray, and bombard Channel 4 with letters of complaint for hosting, on their TV station, the advertisement of an organisation started by a Nazi, propagates information like a Nazi and kills the innocent mercilessly like a Nazi.

Marie Stopes International clearly have a lot of money, hence their ability to put an advert on Channel 4. The Good Counsel Network have £50 in the bank and genuinely give practical, emotional and spiritual support to women and unborn children at risk from the scourge of abortion. Clearly, one of these charities is in the business of giving money away and one of them is in the business of receiving as much as possible.

If you call the hotline for Marie Stopes International they will tell you about their abortion service and kill your child. If you call The Good Counsel Network, they will give you as much help as they can to aid you in your plight and help you to keep your baby, rather than make a decision which, through their experience in working with mothers who have aborted and who haven't, know that abortion ruins lives. The finances of these two very different charities, only one of whom truly give charity, tells you everything you need to know on this subject.

I have found this feedback form on Channel 4's website.

Write to Nick Clegg

According to The Telegraph, 'the public will be asked what laws they want ripped up, in far-reaching reforms designed to put back “faith in politics”, the Deputy Prime Minister will say'.

So, let's start with repealing the Abortion Act (1967), the Human Fertilsation and Embryology Act (2008), the Equalities Act (2009) and the Civil Partnership Act (2004), which we all know is the door through which the full legalisation of gay marriage will walk, and go from there, shall we?

I don't know how you email him, but you can write to him, presumably, at Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall, London SW1A 2AS. I can't find an email for him as yet, but when I do I will let you know.

Another option is:

Nick Clegg
85 Nethergreen Rd
Sheffield
S11 7EH

The Truth About Abortion

This video speaks very well for itself. I wonder how many cinemas/distributers in the US will back this film?

I've just found the blog of the Good Counsel Network, called 'Maria Stops Abortion'.

Click here to read it.

Roman Missal: The New Translation

I've just started reading the new translation of the Roman Missal and what an improvement it is.

It's much better than the Missal of Pope Paul VI, I think, and if that sounds arrogant of me to say, then I can only appeal to God's great mercy, since I will have committed that sin...

'...through my fault, my own fault, through my own grievous fault...'

rather than just,

'...through my own fault...'

How exciting! It's just like the 1960s all over again, only better...Economic crises, unemployment, strikes, political chaos, coaltion government and a new Missal!

They say if you remembered the 1960s you weren't really there, which I have always found a little disturbing, since the inference is that the authors of the 1962 Missal weren't 'really there' either. Click here for a pdf of the New Order of the Mass and here for Fr Ray Blake's blogpost on which you can subscribe to Scribd and download a copy from there, for the 'People's Parts' of the new translation.

May God bless and protect His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

The Cabinet's 'Ones to Watch' Part One: Lynne Featherstone MP

We all know that, thanks to the Labour Party's capitulation to Stonewall and nights on the town with Peter Tatchell, the Church's big fight over the coming years will be with the Equalities department.

Here is a picture of her trying to overthrow the Church. There is something strange about a the Government post title, 'Equalities Minister', isn't there? I mean, it is almost as if there are several different equalities, rather than just one.

Anyway, Lynne Featherstone will be 'one to watch', as the Equalities and Human Rights Commission is bound to have some more high profile, Conscience Vs Secular Atheism contests over the coming years.

Stop What You are Doing and GIVE...

...to the Good Counsel Network. I tried to give but my card got declined for the second time today. Weird.

The organisation which saves the lives of unborn children, counsels distressed and supports expectant mothers and offers post-abortion counselling to those who despair and grieve over their aborted child, are in desperate need for money.

If you can't give, as it seems I cannot, then pray!

'Today Good Counsel has £50 in the bank, we needed £445 to buy this week's food vouchers.

We are supporting fourteen Mothers and their children at the moment, whose only support is this small weekly voucher. 

Please pray the following prayer for the next nine days and if you can help, donate on line at

http://www.goodcounselnetwork.com

or transfer money into our Bank account (phone + 44 (0)20 7723 1740 or email for details).

As times are hard, our income has gone down and our expenses have gone up

Please forward this message to anyone who you think may help.

For more information about Good Counsel see our blog.

NOVENA TO ST. RITA

Helper of the hopeless. Holy Patroness of those in need, St. Rita, you were humble, pure and patient. Your pleadings with your divine Spouse are irresistible, so please obtain for me from our risen Jesus the request I make of you, that Good Counsel will raise the funds they need and my own request (mention it).

Be kind to me for the greater glory of God, and I shall honour you and sing your praises forever.

Glorious St. Rita, you miraculously participated in the sorrowful passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Obtain for me now the grace to suffer with resignation the troubles of this life, and protect me in all my needs. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father...'

What is 'Green' about the Green Party?

Green. Not my favourite colour but an interesting colour for a political party.

The 'Green Party' as a name makes one think of among other stuff, greenery, nature, natural beauty, conservation, life, fecundity, ecology, earth, maybe creation itself.

So why is respect for these rather lovely ideas not made manifest in their manifesto? The Green Party would be much 'greener' if it were Catholic or Christianised.

Think about it. What is 'natural' or 'organic' or 'wholesome' about choosing abortion? Abortion is the direct intervention into the most natural things in the World, childbirth and motherhood.

What is 'natural' or 'organic' or respectful of nature about gay marriage? Gay marriage goes against the Natural Law, against nature. Gay marriage is sterile, not fertile. It cannot produce children. It is not fecund. It does not produce fruit. Adoption for gay couples is one suggestion which is already in operation, but doesn't adoption often also entail the removal of children from their natural birth mothers and fathers. What is natural or 'green' about that?

What is 'natural' about artificial contraception? Surely, Green enthusiasts should want to see sex being as natural and life-giving as possible, since respecting nature is about not allowing mankind's selfishness to over-rule something so natural as conception?

Pouring all those pills down your throat so as not to get pregnant? Doesn't sound particularly 'green' to me. Allowing all those chemicals, most notably oestrogen, to get into the water supply and lower the sperm count of men? Doesn't sound particularly 'green' to me. Surely the 'greens' would want to let nature take its course, rather than master it and use chemicals to kill new life or prevent new life from forming.

If its good enough for the farming community to be asked to go 'organic', then why is it not good enough for humanity in general?

All in all, the Green Party are riddled with contradictions. They want to conserve the planet, save the planet, protect all the species, seemngly apart from ours. These are all questions I'd like to ask Caroline Lucas, new MP for Brighton Pavillion. Perhaps I can one day get an interview with her.

I guess that is just one reason why the Holy Father condemned gay marriage and abortion as being the most "dangerous and insidious threats" that face humanity.

Pope Benedict XVI. Now there is a real ecologist, a real humanitarian and a real 'green' activist.

I think that somehow we need to convince the Green Party and its leader in the UK that in order to be truly 'green' you should want to not only protect nature, but respect nature and the Natural Law.

For no other species is as bad at respecting nature and Natural Law so much as we human beings. One would have thought that the Green Party would be at the forefront in the battle to respect nature.

Also, I don't know what they think of smoking, but tobacco comes from a plant. Every time I light up, I'm smoking a plant. You can't get much greener than that. I guess some people like mint tea and some people like the tobacco plant and the cocoa bean.

Evangelium Conference 2010: Weekend for Young Catholic Adults

Click here for details of the exciting Evangelium Conference 2010 for young Catholic adults (18-35).

Taking place at the Oratory School, Reading on 6th-8th August 2010, the conference promises to be an inspiring and informative event, with renowned and respected Catholic speakers in the Church and in the media.

Priestly blogger, Fr Tim Finigan will be there, Broadcaster and writer, Joanna Bogle, Jack Valero of Opus Dei and Catholic Voices fame, Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Andrew Pinsent, Co-founders of St Anthony's Communications and co-authors of Evangelium will be there as well as a range of other excellent speakers.

Actually, I don't know if they're excellent speakers or not, I'm just assuming that they are.

Click here for more information on that course.

Meanwhile, Fr Andrew Pinsent, who I think I may have met recently while I was in Oxford briefly, has been working on Apologia with Fr Marcus Holden. These two priests have a history of putting their heads together and coming up with concise, informative and incisive rebuttals of secular nonsense and have a gift for explaining the Catholic Faith in about 20 minutes.

Credo is an excellent RCIA tool and Apologia looks to refute the vast range of Dawkin's delusions.

Both are available now from the CTS for just £2.95 a copy.

What a bargain. Just think, Richard Dawkins books are probably about a tenner. Make yourself a huge saving and become a Catholic.

A Direct Appeal to Chris Evans

Dear Mr Evans

Congratulations on your £12 million car.

It looks very nice.

If you have any money left over, please can my friend George have some dental implants?

Yours sincerely

Laurence England

Health Warnings

So does abortion.

Can we have some more Government Health warnings for abortion and meanwhile Catholics need regular reminding of the dangers of The Bitter Pill?

The British Medical Association appear to think that smoking is the most dangerous and insidious affliction of mankind.



Strange that while the BMA suggest banning smoking in streets, abortion remains an issue that does not cause them any concern.

 Doesn't it also cause 'ageing of the skin'?

The Truth About Brighton's Homeless Hostel 'Business'

George, Diane and I took a walk around their living quarters and met a young woman with her daughter at 3-5 Percival Terrace, Brighton's answer to homelessness.

BBC Turns New Cabinet into 'FA Cup Semi-Final' Graphic

"What a line up we have here, Jim. In Defense, well, it looks like quite a strong defense, Cameron having picked a Fox of a defender to be minister for wars new and old."

"Any weaknesses in the team, John?"

"Yes, I think bringing back Ken Clarke could be a mistake. Sure, he's got experience, a safe pair of hands if you like, but he's past it now. Also, while its true to say he enjoys playing in Europe, very much it seems, questions remain over whether he still has what it takes to be a big hitter in the domestic scene...?"

"And what are your thoughts on the new signings, John?"

"Controversial, Jim. Highly controversial. They're going to have to do a lot this season to convince a large number of sceptical fans."

How on Earth...

...does the leader of a political party with only about 50 seats get to become Deputy Prime Minister to the leader of a political party who won over 350 seats?

The word 'shambles' doesn't do the situation justice. Clearly, Nick Clegg was about as popular with the electorate as lions were with Early Christians in Nero's Rome, yet he is Deputy PM and his henchmen have been invited to join the Cabinet.

It isn't just the Conservative Party who won't like what Cameron has just done. I expect a lot of people have been watching events unfold at home while thinking...Hang on! What's that election loser doing in Government?

Just looking at the figures on the paper, shouldn't the two parties who won the biggest proportion of the popular vote share power? I mean, if this was the Olympics, the man in bronze might as well just kick the man who won silver in the gonads and stand on his pedestal while listening to the national anthem. Bizarre. This will be a very weak Government at a time of economic crisis, which, history tells us, is something of a recipe for disaster.

Thank God Dr Evan Harris lost his seat is all I can say, otherwise, no doubt, the passionate abortionist and advocate of euthanasia would be sitting around the Cabinet table today exchanging pleasantries with Cameron! Also, if you look at the picture of No.10 Downing Street on the left, you will notice there is no disabled access there either. Shocking.

"Okay, nice stairway...

...but where's the disabled access?"

Help!

Could Paul McCartney help?

In this country...

You can get an abortion on the NHS...and kill a child.

You can have a sex change on the NHS...and mutilate your body.

But you can't get dental implants on the NHS...so you can eat properly because you can't wear dentures.

George Inspires Pope Benedict XVI to Embark On Busking Tour

"I'd like to dedicate 'Suspicious Minds' to the SSPX...Oh and this one goes out to all you Traditional Anglicans out there too!"

How to Send Donations

You can make a contribution to George's dental treatment and mattress fund by sending a cheque to the Presbytery of St Mary Magdalen Church, 55 Upper North Street, Brighton BN1 3FH and mark it for the attention of George and Laurence. I'm the secretary and I can then put the money into an account.

Make the cheque payable to 'Laurence England' and I can put it in an account in order to establish a fund. I don't know how to set up a Pay Pal, but I have a friend who does, so, in the meantime, if you want to contribute send a cheque.

At this stage there is a lot of trust involved in this. If you feel concerned about it, I may be able to come to an arrangement with St Mary Magdalen's Church or alternatively set up a new account with a bank for this explicit purpose. Any excess from this fund will go to the Church Building Fund, if people are agreeable to this.

If anyone has any suggestions as how best to operate this fund, I'd be grateful for your advice. Bob?

If anyone wants to 'wire' money over to us, then you can email me at lennydetroit@hotmail.com and I can email you the relevant bank details.

Thank You Fr Tim!

I have been overwhelmed, absolutely bowled over, by Fr Tim Finegan's generous offer to donate towards providing George and Diane with a new mattress.

Both do suffer back pains and aches as their plastic covered, old, sagging mattress is atrocious.

The 'one bed flat' (room) arranged through a Green Party Councillor also fell through, when George and Diane turned up to meet the landlord, only to be told by him that George couldn't stay there, that they must sign the tenancy agreement immediately if Diane wanted to sit down to rest her legs and her asthmatic lungs, having walked all over town, before tearing up the tenancy agreement and telling both to get out.

The Council say that a 2-bed flat may become available for them in the next month but they refused to confirm this in writing. The Green Party Councillor is, we are led to believe, trying his best, but the Council is a notoriously clunking machine at the best of times. Hopefully, he will come good, otherwise we'll have to busk for a deposit for a flat as well. Well, anything is possible!

These things, however, should not be too difficult for a Council to manage, but housing is, as we all know, the issue which affects many, many people in the UK and we know there is a massive shortage of decent, affordable housing due to a decimated council housing stock for which the most vulnerable can thank Margaret Thatcher. Funny, isn't it, how that issue didn't get much of a mention in the election debate or indeed during the election at all?

Claiming Cardinal Newman...

Damian Thompson has picked up on a really rather nasty article in The Sunday Times. I got some way through the Times article and then couldn't be arsed with the rest. Now that I'm re-reading it, it really is horrible.

John Cornwell asserts in his unambiguous and unimaginatively headlined article, 'Why Cardinal Newman is No Saint', that...

'Benedict and the traditionalist wing of Catholicism nevertheless claim Newman as a faithful supporter of the papal “magisterium” — pontifical dogmas on a raft of issues. When addressing Britain’s bishops three months ago, the Pope cited Newman as an enemy to Catholic dissidence in any shape or form.'

He continues...

'As the Pope prepares for his visit to the UK, he is clearly bent on sanitising Newman’s progressive Catholicism in preparation for the beatification. But Newman was certainly a dissident when it came to overbearing papal authority, creeping infallibility, the downgrading of the laity, the primacy of papal dogma over individual conscience. He wrote of an ageing pope: “He becomes a god, has no one to contradict him, does not know facts, and does cruel things without meaning it.” If Newman is in heaven, as all Catholics surely believe, he is likely to be exerting his influence with the Almighty — not to produce miracles, but to stop his own transmogrification into an official plaster saint. He once wrote: “I have no tendency to be a saint — it is a sad thing to say so. Saints are not literary men...” Newman knew his own conscience, and he knew the difference between a saint and sinner. He was also secure in his priorities. “I shall drink to the Pope if you please,” he once wrote, “... still to conscience first and the Pope afterwards.” If Pope Benedict makes it to England in September, he is unlikely to preach to that text.'

Gosh, that is a controversial quote, but I expect that his conscience and that of the Pope chimed in harmony since they both sang from the same hymn sheet and loved doing so. People who are disloyal to the Holy Doctrine of Papal Infallibility and disagree with the Pope on matters of Faith and Morals tend not to be considered for beatification. If the Church really thought Newman was the kind of man who'd vote for Caroline Lucas, I doubt very much he would be in contention for his raising to the Altar.

Now, I don't actually know that much about Cardinal Newman, but I do know that he was part of the  'Oxford Movement' which argued that the Anglican Church was one of three branches of the Catholic Church, until he realised that it was impossible and joined the Church founded on the Rock of St Peter, the Ark of Truth Herself, the Catholic Church. He grew to see, much like many converts from Anglicanism or any Protestant denomination, that the Church contained and preached the fullness of Truth. He loved Truth and loved Truth to the end. I also know that he wrote a very profound and beautiful 'Stations of the Cross'. Obviously, all Saints had sins and weaknesses over which they personally struggled, and going by his sublime 'Stations of the Cross', lamented, but I don't believe that there is too much for the Holy Father to 'sanitise' when it comes to Newman.

It is obvious from his personal writings that he was a man who loved God ardently. He also loved Fr Ambrose St John, true, but there is little to suggest that their love was anything more than the highest form of chaste brotherly love to which we men are called. Peter Tatchell will, of course, argue that they were both tortured homosexuals who were chomping at the bit to jump into bed with each other but Tatchell fails to comprehend (and perhaps he cannot comprehend this) that 'same-sex attraction' can actually be a very good and holy thing. St Francis of Assisi and his disciples loved each other joyfully, Francis attaining to the Perfection of Christian Love, but he, of course, like the rest of his disciples, wasn't boning anyone.

Cornwell wheels out Clifford Longley of The Tablet, who we can only presume by his frequent carping and regularly liberal, Catholic by numbers contributions to one of the UK's most atrocious magazines, doesn't like the Pope or the Magisterium of the Church nearly half as much as Newman did. Longley, helpful as ever, is quoted as having said...

“The idea that God would demonstrate that a saint is truly in heaven by instantly healing someone’s fatal illness because he has been petitioned by the said saint — who is in turn responding to the petitions of the sufferer or those near to him — seems to me so simplistic, so credulous, so presumptuous, so mechanical and so manipulative, that it brings no credit to the Catholic religion and indeed confirms the worst prejudices of its enemies.”

Dear, dear! Well, shower me with roses, indeed! How did you miss St Theresa of Lisieux when she toured? Go to the tomb of St Anthony of Padua, mate, and see the pictures and notes written to the dear Saint thanking him for healings, miracles, intercessory favours and general graces, from people around the globe!

Man! That man doesn't just stop at a couple of miracles, just so that a couple of 11th century gout sufferers knew he was in Heaven after he'd died! "Howdy boys! It sure is nice up here!" Since he died in the middle ages, he seems to have been working pretty much around the clock, 24/7, 365 days a year and, what's more, he's not even doing it to show off! You may think that miracles and healings are a naff way of telling if someone is in Paradise, but the Church on Earth has limited access to the Court of Heaven, what with there being no fax number or email for Christ's Kingdom and I guess that both the Church Militant and Church Triumphant just have to try their best to get the message across! One begins to wonder sometimes whether the 'worst prejudices' of the Church's 'enemies' are suffered by those on the inside, rather than the outside of the Body of Christ!

Ruth Gledhill continues the Newman 'debate', though, I must say, I did not know there was any debate about the obvious loyalty of Newman to the Magisterium, with her suspicion and dread that indeed, Cardinal John Henry Newman might have been a 'frightening', 'hard-core' Catholic. Wouldn't that be terrible! God forbid that England's soon to be newest Beatus should have loved the Teaching of the Church and adhered loyally to Christ's precepts rather than to have spent his daytime encouraging vice and his evening campaigning for a papal endorsement of the sheath! Were he to write a brief thesis and send it from Heaven to Ruth Gledhill of The Times, I'd imagine he'd manage to find time to condemn artificial contraception and gay marriage quite easily and footnote his essay with numerous Church documents from down the ages.

She does, however, helpfully remind us that...

'...before Newman can be canonised, evidence is required of another miracle through his intercession'

So, get your prayers into the ears of a kind and holy man who the Church and the Holy Father believes is in Heaven pronto, lads and lasses, because it sounds like, what with His Holiness coming to the UK to beatify the great admirer of Truth and fighter against heresy, that God wants to glorify His Servant!

St George and the Dragon...

George and I have covered 'Sweet Caroline' and dedicated it to Caroline Lucas MP in the hope we can woo her away from Peter Tatchell and point her in the direction of those whose rights are not respected.

We're thinking of starting an online busking operation on my blog in order to get a new mattress for his bed and raise money for dental implants. He can't wear dentures, he's on benefits, so if there are any dentists out there who want to raise the profile of their business, I will advertise your services on my blog with before and after photographs...

I think you'll agree that George's vocal performance is rather impressive. I guest on guitar and there will be more songs to follow soon. I'm thinking of starting a 'Brighton's Got Talent' channel on this webpage...



In answer to Clare, a commenter, yes we do do requests. We're currently working on 'Ring of Fire'. We've worked out the trumpet on the keyboard. We're building up a catalogue of covers plus some of our own material. We do wedding parties, baptism parties, prisons, hostels, nursing homes and Church garages.

Maybe we should just be called 'Catholic Voices' and show Austen Ivereigh and Jack Valero that you don't need to wear a suit and tie or have 'media training' to defend the Holy Faith or the Holy Father. For example, when George and Diane were asked about the Foreign Office memo scandal they said that it was, "F***ing disgusting. Absolutely f***ing disgusting. Disgraceful."

There's no arguing with that level of honesty. Oh, and we'll need matching outfits too, of course...



Now that is a band!