How to Run an Allotment

Now that's what I call a greenhouse.

There are some lovely images of the Transalpine Redemptorists growing fruit and vegetables in the Orkney Islands.

Today I obtained a shed as I had a day off work and will be putting it up in the next week. Next, the greenhouse...well, that might have to wait a while and finally the statue of Our Lady, the arch and the roses, then a blessing of the allotment by a local priest and some serious mulching and seeding.

That should keep the Council off my back.

Black is Black

If His Holiness tells you his shoes are red, it is okay to say they are black

'We should always be disposed to believe that that which appears white is really black, if the hierarchy of the Church so decides.' 

~ St Ignatius of Loyola

Rorate reports that during the astonishing - extraordinary - meeting between the Holy Father and the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, that His Holiness is said to have quoted St Ignatius of Loyola with the above statement and attributed it to the current occupant of the Chair of Peter. Now is, then, a good time to remind ourselves that there are very particular circumstances in which a Pope's statement is infallible and that no guarantee of infallibility was given to the founder of the Jesuits. We are perfectly entitled to believe that black is indeed black and that white is indeed white and that anyone who says any differently is deceiving you, since he can see and knows that black is black and that white is, indeed, white. So if a Pope tells you that the Resurrection of Christ was a physical, historical reality white is indeed white, but if a Pope tells you that the Resurrection of Christ was not a physical, historical reality, white is still white, not black.

Saints, no matter how holy, can say things that are regrettable when read in the light of a particular period in the Church's history.

It is also worth reminding ourselves, as far as I know, that no actual Pope in history has spoken of himself and his role in such a way as this, presumably because while those under obedience to the Pope are entitled to say outlandish things about the virtue and value of holy obedience to the hierarchy, for a Supreme Pontiff himself to say it could produce unnecessary and damaging suspicion among those under his care that he feels fit to abuse the authority placed into his mortal hands and corrupt the Office of the Papacy itself.

For a Pope to say this could give rise to opinion forming among the Faithful that the occupant of the chair of Peter is putting forward a view that is the very opposite of humility. The overwhelming majority of Popes have seen their roles in terms of safeguarding that which has been passed down to them and to teach the Faith, to strengthen the brethren and Shepherd the Faithful under their care, rather than in terms of altering reality. Apparently, according to Michael Jackson RIP, such things as black and white matter not anyway...

...but then he's not the Pope. His Holiness is also reported to have said to the Franciscans of the Immaculate that "the Pope is the guarantor of orthodoxy" but it seems odd that Pope Francis has had very few positive words to say, if any, of 'orthodoxy', until the day that he is confronted by a group of depressed, perhaps abjectly so, Franciscans dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to their seraphic father St Francis, who have been placed under strict and severe penalties that deny them the right to celebrate the Mass given legal protection in the whole Universal Church by this Pope's predecessor, Benedict XVI. In this sense, Francis has, to use the expression of St Ignatius, made what is white, black, but that does not stop making the Traditional Latin Mass dependent on permission given by the relevant authority in Rome anything else but illegal and unjust.

The Birthday of St John the Baptist

I am pleased that His Holiness has affirmed that torture is a mortal sin and I look forward to His Holiness teaching us the other sins which fall into the category of sins that bring death to the soul.

I do personally wish that Popes would cease making statements upon United Nations 'International Days' because unless some strange agreement has been made the Vatican and the UN, the UN has absolutely nothing to do with the Bride of Christ. The UN have made it very clear that they believe the Church's position on abortion and homosexuality is, in Pope Francis's words, a 'mortal sin'. Perhaps His Holiness was really talking about abortion.

Happy Feast of the Birthday of St John the Baptist. Pray for the Franciscans of the Immaculate and pray for Pope Francis that he will govern the Church with equity, justice and prudence and that His Holiness will govern the Church in a true spirit of humble service, rather than give the impression that he is in favour of governing the Church in the style of a Renaissance prince. There is nothing on this story on Rome Reports. Presumably, for the Holy Father, this is not good publicity.

Allotment Progress

In response to a reader's comment asking for an allotment update, I am working this week all week, including Saturday. With regard to quite how I am going to make adequate improvements on my allotment I can see only a desert land, with no water and no way. Shall I quit my job or just give the keys to Jason and hope for the best? He'll want paying, mind.

There is no way the Lord is giving messages to Maria Divine Mercy...

I mean the Man who gave us the Beatitudes would never talk like this! There is no way that the Man who said 'judge not lest ye be judged' and 'condemn not lest ye be condemned' would tell His followers to abide by holy charity and to refrain from venting our spleen at others. No way, that just would not make sense. 

I have never posted anything in terms of actual text from the ecclesiastically condemed Maria Divine Mercy site claiming to prepare the Church and World for the Second Coming of Our Lord, on my blog, but you know what, this time I might just go with it...

Lord, spare your servant.

My dearly beloved daughter, to those amongst you who do not desire that I communicate with you, then know this. Your free will means that you are free to choose whether or not you accept what I say and what I desire. Whether to believe or not believe – that is your choice and, whatever you decide, I will never Judge you because of this.

But you must never judge others in My Name. By this I mean judging those who reject Me, as well as, those who accept My Intervention. Not one amongst you has the right to declare another person to be evil or guilty of wrongdoing. Those of you who judge harshly - those people you believe to be wrong, guilty of wrongdoing or heresy – do not have this right. You must remain silent and pray for those you believe to be afflicted. Only I, Jesus Christ, have the Power to Judge humanity.

When you demean another person in My Holy Name, you are guilty of sin and I will hold this against you. When you harm others by your tongue, I will silence you. When you hurt another person’s reputation, your own reputation will be questioned by others. Hypocrisy disgusts Me and when you are guilty of calumny, carried out in My Name, then you bring great shame, not only on yourselves, but upon My Holy Name

Any man who inflicts pain upon another person and openly professes to speak in the Name of God, deceives only himself. Those who punish others and say that they are merely carrying out their orders, because of their dedication and devotion to God, are not of Me. 

Shame on you, for you do not know Me. And while you fight amongst yourselves – Christian against Christian – the pagans amongst you are invading My Church. The enemy works very cleverly. His cunning plan is to create discord within My Church and as true allegiance to Me weakens, the doors have been opened to allow the heathen to desecrate My Churches and the Holy Eucharist.
Shame on those of you who know the Truth – My Holy Word given to you in the most Holy Scriptures. Every sacrifice was made for you; the prophets of God sent to you were violated, persecuted and killed; the visionaries, seers and the saints – all revered, only after their deaths, but scourged by you when they imparted My Word and then My Own Sacrifice – when you crucified Me. Now what do you do? You allow those who worship false gods to pay homage to them upon My Altars, which are meant to honour Me. Would these pagans allow you to do the same in their temples.

History repeats itself. The heathen took over My Father’s Church and they were cast out. When you desecrate My Church and My Body, you are no longer fit to serve Me and I will cast out every sacred servant of Mine who betrays Me in this way. Your sins are blacker than those whom you serve in My Name, for you will carry with you the souls you take away from Me. It is time for you to choose. You either accept Me, Jesus Christ, as I Am and not what you want Me to be or you deny Me. There is nothing in between.

Your Jesus 

No. This visionary must be a witch. Let's stone her. That can't be Jesus Christ because we all know that if Jesus spoke to a servant today His message would be very similar to Mundabor's. "Forget that 'love one another' stuff", He would say, " Charity is for losers". Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, because I have sinned against You. What is evil in Your Sight, I have done.

The Twofold Message of Benedict XVI

Readers may have gleaned today that I am somewhat concerned about the state of Catholic blogging and in particular how we interact with each other online in a 'virtual world' in which it is so easy to forget that a person's presence on the internet does not render them in some way less than human.

I am open to the idea that I am completely and utterly wrong about this and there is 'no problem' here, but it seems to me that there is a genuine disconnect between how we relate to other Catholics - and 'the other' online and how we would behave if we were in the same room as them. There is then, of course, the scandal that with some Catholics, we would not wish to be seen dead in the same room as them. The ease with which the internet allows words to be so easily used or thrown about, without face-to-face contact, gives us plenty more temptations than normal custom would permit to indulge our anger, frustration and even our hatred of an opponent. There are things we say online that we would never dream of saying to someone's face - no matter how much we disagreed with them, or thought their opinion to be entirely false and wrong.

As Catholic bloggers, we are often wistful in our remembrance of the reign of Benedict XVI because of the assurance with which Benedict XVI governed the Church. There was never any question under Benedict XVI that any article of the faith or any doctrine handed down to him was in any way 'unsafe'. Benedict XVI's clear belief, before, during and after his resignation, was that truth would win and that the Catholic Church's Head was and is Our Lord Jesus Christ Who will keep the Church and be with the Church until the end of time, nourishing Her and feeding Her in time of trouble and persecution or time of peace and liberty.

Yet, love of and adherence to the Truth was not the only reason that Benedict XVI was admired. There was a gentleness and holiness to the personality of Benedict that remains deeply attractive to those who lived through his reign. The depth of his knowledge of the Scriptures, his personal humility, his gentle manner, his courtesy and respect for others, his fervent life of prayer, his prudence, his wisdom, his obedience to the Church's holy tradition, his self-effacing manner and penetrating spiritual insights. Benedict XVI was - and is - graced by many heavenly virtues for which we may earnestly thank the Lord. His pontificate was marked by the building of bridges towards those who had strayed from or who were placed outside of the path leading to Salvation. Benedict XVI's liturgical vision was about manifesting, showing forth - the beauty and attractiveness of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. For him, everything was - is - centred on Christ. Contrary to popular belief, Benedict XVI was not about expelling those in the centre to the peripheries, or pushing those on the peripheries out of the Church, but was about bringing those on the margins into the centre to discover the joy of the worship of God and the discovery of His mercy and truth.

Benedict XVI: Not a liberal, but a Pope, a scholar and a gentleman

Benedict XVI, before he departed from the Throne of St Peter lamented the sin and disunity that wounds the Bride of Christ. His thoughts were thus:

The readings that have just been proclaimed offer us ideas which, by the grace of God, we are called to transform into a concrete attitude and behaviour during Lent. First of all the Church proposes the powerful appeal which the prophet Joel addresses to the people of Israel, "Thus says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning" (2.12). 

Please note the phrase "with all your heart," which means from the very core of our thoughts and feelings, from the roots of our decisions, choices and actions, with a gesture of total and radical freedom. But is this return to God possible? Yes, because there is a force that does not reside in our hearts, but that emanates from the heart of God and the power of His mercy. The prophet says: "return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting in punishment" (v. 13).

It is possible to return to the Lord, it is a 'grace', because it is the work of God and the fruit of faith that we entrust to His mercy. But this return to God becomes a reality in our lives only when the grace of God penetrates and moves our innermost core, gifting us the power that "rends the heart". 

Once again the prophet proclaims these words from God: "Rend your hearts and not your garments" (v. 13). Today, in fact, many are ready to "rend their garments" over scandals and injustices – which are of course caused by others - but few seem willing to act according to their own "heart", their own conscience and their own intentions, by allowing the Lord transform, renew and convert them.

As a blogger, and from my experience of social media, I know that I am more zealous for the conversion of others than I am of myself. I know that I am guilty of various offenses against charity on social media. Sometimes it is a 'heat of the moment' thing. I am glad I am off Twitter - that is a blessing from God after I received a 'virus' that blocked me out. Many of us Catholic bloggers would say we loved Benedict XVI and his message, but perhaps, now that he is out of the 'limelight' we forget that the example that he gave us was not only one that spoke of the truth of the Gospel reflected in each every teaching of the Church, but of the gentleness, humility and quiet courage with which it can be communicated.

We love Bishop Philip Egan, but we don't like it when he tells us to love 

our enemies and to exercise charity on the internet. We know better!

He never insulted his enemies, though he had many. His language was courteous, modest and respectful. His esteem for the dignity of each human being he encountered was quite visible. He seemed, to me at least, much more interested in 'the other' than he was of himself. Readers may think, 'Well that is how each Pope is', but the brash and sometimes coarse language in which his Successor communicates himself would suggest otherwise. As Catholics, many of us lamented - and still mourn - the loss of this wonderful Supreme Pontiff in terms of the Papacy and we still speak of the legacy which he will have left the Church. His tone was dignified, gentle, wise and prudent, generous and charitable, but there was never any suggestion that he was in any way guilty of abandoning the Catholic Truth.

It is worthy of note that upon leaving the Office of the Papacy, Benedict XVI identified 'sin' as the cause of the disunity within the Church, where we would perhaps imagine he would use the word 'error'. I wonder whether we have really accepted the Benedictine message in its fullness, since it seems clear to me now that Pope Benedict XVI did not consider only error to be a threat to the Church, but sin itself, which can manifest itself in so many different ways, in such sins as pride, lust, envy, malice, greed, slander, detraction, and the loss of our inability to 'love tenderly, act justly and walk humbly with our God'. I ask the question - and I ask it of myself - did we who claimed to be the loyal spiritual sons and daughters of this holy Pope really accept the full message of Benedict XVI or did we, too, reject him?

Loving Our Enemies

George Bernard Shaw, Hilaire Belloc and GK Chesterton

To my horror this morning, I have discovered that what was an internal discussion within The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma has quickly become an open wound with Richard Collins of Linen on the Hedgerow parting ways with the Guild after I encouraged members of this coalition of bloggers towards a more charitable exchange of ideas with each other on the internet - especially on social media.

To trace the history of how we got to this point would take an age and the intricacies of the Guild's issues should remain between the members. I would like, however, to challenge Richard Collin's view of Christian charity which I find as simplistic and black and white as he may perhaps consider mine.

In his stunning post, 'Let me get this straight', Richard highlights infamous murderous dictators from the 20th century and asks whether he is called to love these people or whether he is allowed to loathe them. The first question that arises for me to ask Richard Collins is, 'Can you think of anyone in the Guild who fits the description of a murderous 20th century atheist dictator?'

Richard then cites examples from the Gospel in which Our Blessed Lord calls Herod a 'fox' and sees this in terms of what could be described as an insult. Equally, Richard could cite Our Lord's dealings with the Pharisees who are described as a 'brood of vipers' and 'whited sepulchres'. This overlooks two important aspects of Our Lord's ministry. Firstly, Our Lord was and is God and He could see into the hearts of all his hearers, his enemies and his own disciples. If anybody therefore was well placed to deliver a right and fair judgment on anyone, that person is Our Lord Jesus Christ, Universal King and Judge of the World.

I think it is fair to say that as Catholics, disciples of the Lord though we may be, unless we are exceedingly holy, we may not be in quite such a position as Our Lord with our brethren. Our Lord was and is without sin, unlike us, and therefore any judgment we give on another Christian may be incomplete and tainted by human prejudice in a way in which Our Lord's Opinion would and could never be because His Judgment alone is Perfect.

Secondly, there is, within the Gospels, a world of difference between Our Lord's condemnation of his enemies and his treatment of his friends and disciples, since they, unlike his enemies, are open to His message, His divinity and His teachings. That does not mean that Our Blessed Lord neglected to correct His Apostles and hearers, for the Lord on one occasion called St Peter the Devil's own when He said, 'Get behind me, Satan!' Yet, again, it must be asked whether, as Catholic bloggers, anything so shocking as ascribing to other members a Satanic disposition has ever been seen. Presumably, even those who take to social media to attack each other's positions on certain matters do not go quite as far as that!

Richard then says that 'there is a long litany of saints who were bad tempered grouches and worse.' This is true, but these were incredibly holy people who, presumably, when they offered correction to others, or insulted others, did so out of the fire of divine charity. It is also worth noting that being bad tempered, or being a grouch is no problem for a Guild - we all have our personalities - what was and is at stake is a credible witness to the Gospel of truth and charity to which we are all called. As chair of the Guild, by urging brother and sister members to a more charitable approach to fraternal correction, it would appear that I have disturbed a hornets nest that was far larger than at first I thought it was.

That Richard has felt need to leave the Guild saddens me greatly, but I am equally astonished that in basically drawing attention to what Bishop Philip Egan had to say on the online activity of Catholics is considered by some to be in some way a limit on their personal freedom. I would argue that if it is really true that within a Guild, if members really did hate and despise one another, mock, ridicule or slander one another, whether that is a Catholic Guild at all. Are Catholics really saying that the Lord's teaching on charity, 'Love one another' is beyond us or in some way not binding on us?

GK Chesteron and Hilaire Belloc were polar opposites to George Bernard Shaw, who during his lifetime expounded some horrendous ideas that even led to admiration for various dictators. I believe his atheism was something pretty extreme and led to his support for socialism. Yet, Belloc and Chesterton were able to meet and to dialogue with Shaw and the three of them, despite a chasm of understanding of life, love, religion, liberty, politics and economics appear to have got on quite well. GK Chesterton, it would appear, did not loathe Shaw even though his moral positions were pretty lamentable on a number of things.

Could Catholic bloggers not take Chesterton as a model and communicate the Gospel to our friends and enemies without fear, without loathing and without the destruction of the reputation of the person? Are we saying, as Catholics, that this is beyond us? I had not wanted to blog about this, since this is a private matter to the Guild, well, it was, until this morning when one of our brethren decided to leave. Pray for him and pray for the Guild. All I was saying, was 'give peace a chance' because if we really take the words of Our Lord seriously, we will, as bloggers, not only speak the truth, but speak it in charity. The following are the words of Our Lord. Surely, unless we believe them and put them into practice, then we are not followers of Him. What has surprised me is that Catholics think they are controversial.

'By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.' 

- Our Lord Jesus Christ

Archbishop of Canterbury on the Mutual Blessings

...and then after the mutual blessings, His Holiness tuned to me and said, "Completely null and utterly void".

I said, "Oh, Your Holiness! Don't be so hard on yourself! Your people need you! Don't go all sede-vacantist on them now!"

Pope Francis Opts Out of Corpus Christi Procession

Rome Reports reports that His Holiness skipped the Procession for Corpus Christi in order to save energy for an upcoming apostolic trip to Calabria. Last year, His Holiness broke with his predecessors tradition of kneeling on route in the vehicle carrying the Eucharistic Lord and walked in the Procession instead.

This year, in order to preserve energy, His Holiness omitted the Procession altogether. It would have been nice to have seen His Holiness in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament on Our Lord's route through the streets in the vehicle. Like last year, His Holiness refused the kneeler prepared by his Master of Ceremonies for adoration and incensation of the Blessed Sacrament. There are, it appears, times when liturgy calls for kneeling and times when it does not. So, for instance, it is fitting to kneel at a Charismatic Prayer Conference while being 'prayed over', but not in front of our Eucharistic Lord.

Damian Thompson Leaves The Telegraph

Damian Thompson has let it be known that he has left The Telegraph on entirely amicable terms.

In a bizarre twist, on the day on which this news breaks, I have discovered that I have been blocked from commenting on Telegraph Blogs.

Was it something I said? It is sad that if the Antichrist stepped onto the World stage tomorrow, I wouldn't be able to give him a piece of my mind on Telegraph Blogs. I smell a conspiracy. Does it involve freemasons and/or lizards? Readers, I cannot rule it out. Damian says to 'watch this space' for his next move. The question on all our lips is: Is Damian planning to join The Guild of Blessed Titus Brandsma? Whatever The Spectator are offering you Damian, I will match it*, but I urge you to consider well the Rule of the Guild.

*When funding is available.

I Can't Reconcile the Message with the Reality

Pope Francis's homily today is rather thought-provoking. Certainly, it pricked my own conscience with regard to my treatment or rather lack of love for the poor and the elderly. I just cannot reconcile the message with the reality. There is a complete disconnect between the message of Pope Francis today and the treatment of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. 'Martyrs of...ecclesiastical corruption'....for Heaven's sake...that's a perfect description of the plight of the Immaculate sons and daughters! How eerie that His Holiness should mention St Stephen. The founder of the FFI, who lives apparently now more or less in seclusion under very strict rules imposed from above is called Fr Stefano Manelli. From time to time, we suffer our own glaring moral blindspots, but we are not all preaching in the emphatic manner of Pope Francis on brotherhood, charity, mercy, fraternity. The themes that His Holiness has chosen that mark his pontificate are laudable, but there is a real difficulty in reconciling the warfare on the FFI with these themes. Why single this group out for special and severe attention and then, when alerted to the possible charge of hypocrisy, do nothing to ease their burden?

FFI News: Prayer and Demonstration in Rome

The image to the left is one of a few which have emerged today of prayer and demonstration taking place in Rome (note, big Basilica in background).

Check out the story at Pray 4 the Friars and follow that blog for news of the treatment, that certainly appears to be heavy-handed, of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. 

The same link has the text of an official appeal from the Immaculate's Committee to His Holiness Pope Francis.

Thankfully, no teargas or rubber bullets have been used on this crowd standing up in defence of the FFI...yet!

Allotment: The Race Against Time

Never mind the 'interfaith' prayers: The Pope did servile work on a Sunday

Well, with a warning letter from the Council having been received through the post and the heat well and truly on to 'cultivate' my allotment, today, on Trinity Sunday, I started digging.

I know that Sunday is traditionally a day of rest, but I don't have much time due to work, so I went up to my plot and hit the ground running. Some friends very kindly came and assisted me and it now looks a lot less like a jungle than it did.

At Wyevale Garden Centre, I bought some leeks to plant. I also bought some aubergines. I'd love to buy seeds, since they are cheaper, but I guess that Brighton and Hove City Council want genuine 'evidence' of cultivation, being empiricists, so I thought I had better buy actual plants. All in all, having an allotment is getting quite expensive and I have not even yet purchased a statue of Our Lady that I saw at the garden centre. If only I was retired, having an allotment would be so much easier to maintain.

"I would like an allotment built in my honour"

So heartening to see, among the quite rather vulgar garden statues, a nice statue of Our Lady - just one, mind, which means she obviously belongs in my allotment. I need Our Lady to watch over my allotment and to ward off the predators at the Council who obviously want to take my allotment off me for reasons which can only centre on the Council's anti-Catholicism. There can surely be no other reason for their ultimatum.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite the Israeli Prime Minister, the leader of the Palestinian authority, the Greek Orthodox chap and His Holiness Pope Francis to come and volunteer on my allotment, but only to do some light weeding and sing sweet solemnities to the Mother of God. I don't want any heathen prayers nonsense on my plot and certainly not on a Sunday!

I do really appreciate my time at the allotment - when I get the chance to go that is. I won't bore you, but there is a really beautiful view out to the sea and the Roedean area. You can see right out to Seaford, or perhaps it is Eastbourne. I have to take the van that I hired over the weekend (for a princely sum at that - can I invoice the Council?) back tomorrow, but in order to get my money's worth, maybe its worth going up before I start work tomorrow and doing some more bits and bobs around the allotment. We were turning over quite a bit of earth and attracted a little Robin who came looking for worms. So cute!

Removing this bird involved major hand surgery

All I need to do is catch him and glue him to my finger and I can do an impression of St Francis or Pope Pius XII who, when he wasn't being kind to Jews and ordering monasteries and convents to hide them, almost always had a chaffinch on his finger.

I hope and pray that readers had a peaceful, relaxing and blessed Trinity Sunday. It is so sad to see that the efforts of His Holiness to foster peace and concord among the different religions yield little peace and concord for the people - and especially the Christians - of Iraq.

May God and Our Lady be with them, strengthen them and grant them the grace to accept martyrdom for the love of Christ. May God bring an end to the horrifying bloodshed there in northern Iraq and grant to Tony Blair and George Bush the grace of true repentance. Apparently, Muslims in the region saw Blair and Bush as 'Christian crusaders'.

The truth is, of course, that the Crusades were launched initially not as an exercise in global hegemony, but in defence of Christians being slaughtered by Muslims on the way to pilgrimage in the Holy Land. As time has gone on, it has become more and more apparent that in Europe, the UK and the US, the defence of Christians is now - and has been for a long time - pretty low down on the list of priorities. We are considered as the refuse of the World, but then I guess the Franciscans of the Immaculate are considered the refuse of the Church.

God help and heal Iraq and may God have mercy on us all.

With Pope Francis the Enemy is Always Outside of Ourselves

Greetings, readers. I'm gradually getting to grips with the harsh realities of the Francis pontificate.

One trend that I have noticed with Pope Francis is the desire to look outside of the human condition, marred as it is by Original Sin for the problems facing the world.

It is only my opinion, but I do detect within Francis's anthropocentrism an emerging view of the world that forgets, or even denies, Original Sin. For instance, his latest interview decries the world economic system that pushes countries, especially world powers, to war. There may be quite some truth to this, but His Holiness neglects to mention that wars and conquest have been a feature of every civilisation since the dawn of time. As long as human beings have been around, there have been wars. Who can be to blame for this? Benedict XVI, I am certain, would look to our human condition, wounded by sin, and point to the seeds of mutually assured destruction which are already in man. This wound can be healed by grace in Jesus Christ, I think he would say.

ISIS terrorists: 'Don't blame us! Blame the arms dealers!'

Similarly, arms dealers. Well, no doubt arms dealers do not aid peace, but again we see here that the bogeyman is invariably not us, the human race, born with inclinations towards the pursuit of sex, money and power, but 'them over there'.

Not a great percentage of the world are arms dealers, so we can safely blame them without causing too much offense to 99.999% of the human race. In the Holy Land, His Holiness had a special word for arms dealers, but let's face it, there are no end of people queuing up to pull the triggers who received no admonishment whatsoever, in Iraq, Syria and, well, a lot of countries!

Again, the mafia. Well, the mafia do some terrible things, but I am not convinced that the mafia nurture within the hearts of its members sins that are any worse than, say, abortion because all murder is wrong. Presumably, if the mafia were brought closer to Christ they could be a far greater force for good in the world than the Freemasons, because they at least would be truly Christian. It seems a bit harsh and erratic to place arms dealers and mafia members in Hell, but the great multitude of faithless sinners if not in Heaven, but in God's friendship. Why so pessimistic about the salvation of arms dealers but so optimistic about the salvation of nearly everyone else? Are we really going to place the sins of the whole world on the shoulders of arms dealers?

Presumably, also, some mafiosi have contributed to some good in the world as well, as well as evil. Have they perhaps contributed to the building of hospitals and Churches and stuff? We have a gypsy community in Brighton at the moment near where I work. They face a great deal of ridicule and contempt from the 'good people of Brighton' and I am glad that His Holiness has defended them, but apparently the crime rate does go up a notch in Brighton when they are camped up here. Still, as the Holy Father lays into arms dealers and mafia, so some people in Brighton would have it in for gypsies. I expect the Council will 'deal with the problem' in due time. Who we see as the enemy seems awfully relativistic to me.

Finally, we have the world economic system which brings with it a host of bad things, not least, in the Holy Father's view, wars and ecological damage. Presumably, His Holiness would see the slavery highlighted by The Guardian this week as a form of evidence of an inhumane economic system, despite the fact that no company has been coerced by the economic system to make slaves. Ultimately, the economic system relies on human beings for its operation and human beings are quite capable of abusing, debasing or corrupting further that which is already imperfect.

Many of the Holy Father's chief concerns seem to me to be the kind of concerns and campaigns that I was into before I became a Catholic, read about sin and salvation and learned at the feet of good and holy priests (and Popes) about the redemption won for us by the Blood of Christ and how Christ came to raise our nature up, making us by adoption, what He is by nature. I have, since I became a Catholic, believed that all of us are being called out of darkness and into light, that we are all being called away from sin and towards friendship with God, away from the works of evil and towards works of goodness and charity - from ourselves to Christ - though if I hear the word 'fraternity' from His Holiness one more time I might lose quite dramatically any charity in my soul!

Of course, at these times, it is quite easy for a Catholic to think the problem is Pope Francis. This is a temptation. The problem is always me. We have found the enemy and it is ourselves. The answer is always Jesus Christ. I am more and more convinced that as long as the Church is focused on changing structures and institutions that the Church is becoming more and more Anti-Christ, for such will be the concerns of the son of perdition.

I am sure he will be a great humanitarian, ecologist, pacifist and charismatic teacher. I am sure, too, that there will be some who oppose him and some who merely do not fit his agenda, who will be viewed as the greatest criminals on the face of the earth. Embracing secular humanism might make the Church more attractive to the enemies of the Gospel, but it makes the Church - and frankly the Pope - open to the charge that of the Lord Himself and His own teachings - we are embarrassed. The more it is espoused within the Church, the more vulnerable the Church is to the temptations that we are promised will one day be presented to it, with the coming of the false messiah. I hope that doesn't sound too hysterical, but how on earth would a Church only concerned with this life cope with such a man today? If the Antichrist were revealed during the reign of Pope Francis, truly, he could not have picked, for him at least, a better time.

Don't use insults

His Holiness today has warned against the use of insults.

Pope Francis Little Book of Insults is an ongoing project.

Nick Clegg

Today, a Telegraph columnist is asking the question Eccles has been asking for quite some time.

British Values: Lesson One

In the wake of 'hardcore Islamist takeover of British schools', Michael Gove has insisted that from now on 'British values' will be taught to all children. There we were wondering whether we had any left, but I have thought of a few simple values that remain quintessentially British, for those who simply don't do things the British way.

If you are in any way 'foreign' to the British values system, don't worry, these will be easy to learn and to remember...

British Value 1: A nice cup of tea 

Violence and extremism are not welcome here in Britain. We find that most arguments can be settled over a nice cup of tea - including heated debate - not of course that we welcome religious debates. In fact, if truth be told, we don't talk about politics and religion unless we are absolutely certain that we are in company of persons that welcome our private view. So you might consider talking about such things as politics at the Conservative or Labour club, or religion at your particular church or religious gathering. Now, I want you to repeat after me, 'A cup of tea will solve everything'. Have you got that? If someone asks you whether you would like a cup of tea, say, "It would be rude not to", in a jocular manner. If you see anyone you know in distress, tell them, "I'll put the kettle on. I think this calls for a nice cup of tea."

An abberation

British Values 2: A stiff upper lip

The mass media will tell you that years of propaganda has made women more like men and men more like women, but British resolve remains indomitable that the male gender in the populace do not wear their emotions on their sleeves. You will notice that there are prominent exceptions to this rule, but they remain exceptions. During one world cup a man cried publicly and the nation never forgot it. That's how unusual it is.

You may be from a country where human emotions such as sadness, great joy (not that British people are truly joyful in the common sense of the word) or anger are encouraged to be expressed publicly. With exceptions, this is the British way. When at a funeral, it is best advised not to weep and wail over a coffin as you may have seen back home in your own country, but to instead keep a quiet and dignified reserve. Steel yourself, then in private you can do your mourning, but even then, keep it sensible and reserved. Whatever you do, don't embarrass yourself and others or make others feel uncomfortable by your emotional state, whatever it is. People will only offer you tea.

We have an innate sense of decency. It is indecent to sleep in doorways...

British Values 3: Learning the sense of "fair play"

In this country, by now you may have discovered that you can abort a human being from anytime between one and twenty four weeks in the womb, or even up to birth if the child is malformed or disabled. You may also have a relative looked after by local authorities in what we call a 'care home', horrified by what you deem to be a near total lack of care. Despite this, here in Britain we have a sense of decency unrivalled among any other nation. When, on those small number of occasions in which you meet injustice, say, for instance, when you are deported for not being British enough, simply keep your calm and say, quite insistently, "That's really not on!" The British person will realise then that you really are becoming British and there is every chance your deportation order may yet be cancelled.

Similarly, while equality legislation, feminism and other various forms of ideology have become deep rooted in British life, we still honour those who uphold standard British values of decency. If you see a pregnant woman who needs a seat on the Tube, it would be crude and dastardly to convince her that the life in her womb really is a living human being.

That said, it would be only right to offer her your seat and she will be thankful that you have. The same would go for an elderly person, though once they are left alone and neglected in a care home, or in a place of isolation, it is best not to bother them. After all, the British motto is 'Musn't grumble', so if you are in any way suffering and someone asks you how you are, simply say, "Oh! Musn't grumble!"

To recap then...

In this the first stage of our curriculum for learning British values, I believe we have shown you some important steps in becoming British. Remember, there is nothing that cannot be solved by having a nice cup of tea. Keep a stiff upper lip and remember to behave with a sense of fair play. We will, in our next session examine garden centres, how to talk about the weather, especially if it is clammy, humid or close, as well as teaching you how to say "hello" when on a stroll in the countryside.

We used to have a different culture in which there were acceptable norms about such matters as sex before marriage, cohabitation, the definition of marriage, gender roles, the acceptability or unacceptability of suicide, divorce, remarriage, family breakdown, illegitimacy, public modesty in dress, pornography, integrity in public life, adultery, drug use, homosexuality, mass immigration to replace a child-unfriendly population and other things that may be far less common in your home country, but through years of State-based education, wall-to-wall propaganda through the BBC and other forms of mass media, the country is nearly unrecognisable from even 50 years ago, thanks to the wholesale destruction of its Christian roots, but remember, destroying the values of the British is the Government's job. Don't come over here with your foreign ways imposing your values on us!

Meanwhile, back in the real world...

"The path of education, the path of sports, and the path of employment, in other words, that there be jobs available at an early age. If we have these three paths, I assure you there will not be any addictions, no drugs, no alcohol. Why? Because school carries you forward, sport carries you forward, and work carries you forward.”

 ~ Pope Francis

Two words, Your Holiness. Diego. Maradona. The Fall affects all of us. You can have the most fulfilling career in the world and still fall into vice. I don't mention Diego to offend Argentinians, but to illustrate that Original Sin does not observe fixed rules concerning status, or profession. One would have thought someone who has heard lots of Confessions would have realised that at some point.

Pentecost Sunday: Welcoming the Spirit of Truth

The Holy Spirit: Not to be confused with the spirit of Vatican II

Among quite a few things that I confessed to a Priest yesterday - I certainly had a few things to confess - I confessed to some seriously uncharitable thoughts about the Pope. I also confessed to some seriously uncharitable thoughts about Jews and Muslims. So don't worry, I don't discriminate!

As Christians we have to walk a way that upholds and proclaims truth but that is rooted in charity.

Anger and resentment really are not about charity, but walking away from charity. That is not to say our anger cannot be righteous, but that we can easily fall into a trap of thinking our anger is righteous, when it is just plain human anger, bitterness and resentment.


The Spirit of Francis Versus the Spirit of Truth?

But I say the truth to you, it is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. And having come, he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe on me; of righteousness, because I go away to my Father, and ye behold me no longer; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

I have yet many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now. But when he is come, the Spirit of truth, he shall guide you into all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but whatsoever he shall hear he shall speak; and he will announce to you what is coming. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall announce it to you. 

(The Gospel of St John, 16: 5-15)

St Peter preaches to the Greeks

The Lord Jesus makes it very plain that the Holy Spirit is both Comforter and the Spirit of Truth. It is this Spirit of God, which is God, that leads the Church into all truth, that sanctifies the Church and makes Her inerrant in Her teaching. The same Spirit that convicts us of sin also brings pardon and peace.

In terms of judgment - and nothing in the Gospels suggests there is 'no judgment' - the Holy Spirit brings either condemnation or salvation depending on how we co-operate with or respond to Him. The same Spirit that gave the Apostles the power to preach Christ Crucified to Jews and Gentiles also brought about the conversion of new believers in the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit is not a vague spirit in the new age sense of a 'spirit', but the Spirit of holiness, Who is God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. This is why we are not orphans, because 50 days after the Lord - Jesus Christ - ascended from the early Church, the Lord - the Holy Spirit - descended to and stayed with the early Church to this very day. That is why today is the Church's Birthday!

The Spirit that the Lord Jesus promised to His Church is not 'a spirit' like that described of the Second Vatican Council, but God Himself. Because He, the Holy Spirit, is Holy, one Person of the Thrice Holy God, the Church's teachings cannot err. We were not promised or given any old spirit, but God Himself. This is precisely why the Church's teachings cannot be altered or 'developed' (read: altered) according to the whim of some heretical German Cardinal. To alter the Church's doctrine would not be to say, 'Sorry, we got it wrong', but rather, 'Sorry, the Holy Spirit was wrong' - that God was wrong!

Lesson in Mercy with Dr Evil

There is a good article on the position of the Church in a 'post-Francis' climate at Rorate Caeli.

Well worth a read.

Keep the Franciscans of the Immaculate in your prayers.

I hope and pray His Holiness will come to their aid and that of the Sisters of the Immaculate 'soon', as he said, rather than leaving them to be the portion of foxes.

Islamic Prayers in the Vatican on Pentecost Sunday

The prayers, I believe, will take place in Vatican gardens, but I think we can all agree that we've certainly come a long way since Regensburg...

Catholic Herald Must Read

Simply has to be read.

There is a Way...

I'm working on a cunning plan to save my allotment from the hounds at Brighton and Hove City Council. I've been given anything between 30 days and eight weeks to turn my allotment around.

All I have to do is convince homeless people and even non-homeless people in Brighton to become my slaves.

I can't give them accommodation or money, but I can give them garlic and spring onions. More than their hearts could possibly desire! In fairness the homeless people I know already have accommodation. Does that fit with Catholic social teaching? I guess its only slavery if I'm making money out of it, right?

"Okay, who here wants their misfortune and misery to be exploited?"

Rules, rules, rules.

Doesn't Pope Francis say things about people caught up in rules?

Volunteer Opportunity

'Too uniform and rigid': A child responds unfavourably to a papal insult

Readers may or may not have noticed that my blogging output has decreased recently. This is because I have been working longer hours at a local cafe and I am exhausted. Indeed, these bones have been crushed! I've got today off and my legs are killing me. All this work business - I'm sure I wasn't made for it. All of a sudden, monastic life looks very appealing!

I look forward greatly to the time when the capitalist system is 'reformed' since both Prince Charles and Cardinal Maradiaga desire the same thing on this matter - one in order to save the planet - and the other in order to save the poor (and the planet). According to the Cardinal, the poor cannot wait. In a way, he is right. Won't the Second Coming be wonderful for the poor who lived for Jesus and who trusted in His mercy and grace? No more toil, no more oppression, no more hunger and pain and every tear wiped from every eye that hoped in the Lord. All that will be will be the enjoyment and praise of God forever, assuming you haven't died in mortal sin and condemned yourself to eternal fire and banishment from the perpetual vision of God.

Minted: Pays his restaurant's waiting staff minimum wage

In the meanwhile, I am sure readers will join with me in earnestly looking forward to the day when, in the name of justice, fraternity and solidarity, this tired cafe assistant on £6.50 an hour (that's 20p more than Jamie Olivers's waiting staff - I know because I've talked to them...) will have the same 'quality of life' as David Rockefeller and Henry Kissinger.

When the powerful of the world 'reform' the economic system and the Church's 'social teaching' triumphs, you can guarantee that justice and freedom will prevail. It won't be anything like communism - no way! If anyone has a private jet, a mansion and a swimming pool, under a 'reformed' economic system, you will have one too, because there will be no more 'inequality' which, as we know, is the 'root of all evil'.

Now that marriage has been redefined, I also look forward to the day when work has been redefined and I can turn up to work, get a coffee, grab my laptop and tell the customers to make their own drinks and do their own washing up. I won't have to work 9am-6pm with only 20 minutes break anymore. I can just kick back and relax...

"The coffee machine is just over there," I'll say. "If you need a mug just wash it up in the kitchen. While you're at it, I'll have an espresso since you are up. Yeah, that's right, you just pay the money into the cash-till and take your own change. If you want food then you know where the kitchen is."

Anyway, given that my hours have increased at the cafe and I don't have a great deal of time to keep up with the Pope's relentless insults, I wonder whether there is anyone with a bit more time on their hands just to keep abreast on Vatican Radio of papal insults.

I will try to keep up with them but I must confess I believe there have been so many the past few days that I may have missed one or two. If you want to help, just drop a comment on the Pope Francis Little Book of Insults page and I will be able to update the page at a later date. If not, no worries, I'll get around to it in the end. They just come so fast and I don't want to miss out on the Pope's eloquent and compassionate instruction of his spiritual child. You know what they say...spare the rod...

What my allotment does not look like

Ironically, my boss is called Francis and he's something of a tyrant as well. He's recently finished building an extension on his house. I guess that's where the staff holiday pay, sickness pay, pay increases and pension scheme contributions went. Oh well, who am I to judge?

Having worked my sorry little behind off all day at a local cafe, there's nothing more I like than to go up to my allotment. Well, there was. The Council have sent me a letter telling me they will take it off me if I don't plant more vegetables and cultivate 75% of the allotment. Honestly! Who are they to judge!? It is cultivated! With weeds! I'd love to cultivate it, but I don't have the time!

If you'd be so kind, say a prayer for me. No offense to other cafe assistants, but I can't quite get over this feeling that I'm wasting my life. It's not necessarily true, its just what catering does to you. Come, Lord Jesus (but not too quickly please as I need to go to Confession)! Anyway, here's to Cardinal Maradiaga's end to inequality plan. See you in the Galapagos Islands soon!

One last question: Once everybody but the elite is equally poor - as Latin American State-based socialism usually ensures - will His Holiness still live rent-free with on-call room service in a plush hotel in the Vatican or will Mgr Ricca be presenting His Holiness with a bill? Or is that an invoice that will be presented to His Holiness's corpse?

Don't Worry...

It's a charismatic prayer group 'raising of hands'.

Not a Nazi salute.

Bizarre. What must Blessed John Henry Newman make of it all?

Still...always good to see the Pope kneeling which is the model of prayer for us all.

Just for a moment there, His Holiness looked a little pious.I say this because His Holiness has issued from on high another insult to Catholics...

"Oi! Angel face! Stop looking so pious! Putting on your sweet angel face, closing your eyes and pretending to be a Saint! Yeah, that's right! You! Isn't that right?!"

A Case in Point: Sarah Silverman

I have received a couple of comments referring to my 'controversial' post on Jewish attacks on the holy names of Jesus and Mary. Sarah Silverman perfectly fulfils through her comedy show the Talmudic views on Our Lord Jesus Christ as a 'sorcerer' or 'magician' through her comedy show, 'Jesus is Magic'.

Before discussing Christ's crucifixion in which she triumphantly exclaims, "I hope the Jews did kill Christ! I'd do it again!", Sarah, claims that she is one of the 'Chosen People' but her Catholic husband believes 'Jesus is magic'. Insodoing, Sarah displays the clear Talmudic teaching par excellence. Yet this lady is presumably one of those celebrities who is a 'non-practising' or 'atheist' Jew? How is it that Sarah is allowed to air her insulting 'views' on stage and television? In the name of what? Freedom of speech?

Why is this complete and utter disrespect of the Catholic religion allowed by US television networks and other media? Why do we rarely hear Catholic leaders denouncing it? Why do none of her religious elders bring her to task and ask her to show respect for other religions, including the Catholic religion? If a Catholic said similar of Jews, a Bishop might see fit to intervene. Why do the names of Jesus and Mary enjoy no protection but other religious figures do? Catholics are called to show charity, courtesy and generosity to people of other religious faiths, yet I cannot help but feel that the level of 'brotherhood' exemplified by Pope Francis is grounded in either incredibly ignorant, or incredibly naive.

I only ask the questions. What is with the secular Jewish obsession with insulting Christ and Mary? How should Catholics respond to secular Jewish hatred of Christ and Mary? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do? Yes, indeed, but I cannot see for a moment how Jews and Catholics are 'on the same page'. For us, Jesus Christ is Lord and God. For a percentage of Jews at least, Jesus Christ is a figure of fun, ridicule, derision and mockery. Say a prayer for this lady, who in childhood has clearly been taught blasphemies concerning Our Lord and God, since it is clear that she didn't just 'come up' with this stuff. It is the 'holy book' of Judaism that says Christ our God was a 'magician'. All she has done is incorporate this teaching into her comedy routine.

Exclusive Interview with Owlie: Activist and Singer

The Franciscan papacy has given Owlie renewed hope of ordination

The dissenting organisation ACTA has made in-roads into Dioceses across England and Wales with their campaigns for a new vision of 'being Church' that means a liberalised attitude to such issues as clerical celibacy, female ordination and sexual morality.

Activist and singer, Owlie, however, continues to fight to obtain for the owlie community what has been sought by this controversial group waiting in the wings - owlie ordination. Here is the transcript of an exclusive interview with Owlie, making plain his thoughts on the long road to Owlie ordination and the impact of the pontificate of Pope Francis on his dreams to become what he has always felt 'called' to be: an Owlie Priest.

Owlie, it is a pleasure to meet you. It has been well over a year since your campaign for Owlie ordination first took the traditional Catholic blogging world by storm with your song, 'Ordain an Owlie'. What are your thoughts of the progress your campaign is making?

Owlie: Thank you. The support I have received since I released 'Ordain an Owlie' has been tremendous, from clergy, bishops and lay people as well. I cannot help but feel that a new springtime is in the air right now and that anything is possible. The appeals of the Owlie community to take a fuller and more active participatory role in the Church's life and ministry have been ignored for so long, but finally we are in the year 2014 and it feels like anything is possible, because the times have changed.

After the formation of OCTA, a group of lay owls seeking changes in the Church's disciplines, we have made headway by seeking a new culture of dialogue within the Church, meeting in parishes and gaining the friendship and blessing of several bishops. What seemed impossible last year now seems to be a distinct possibility. Truly now, we have a culture of encounter in which ideas previously banished to the peripheries are coming back into the centre. This is a time of great rejoicing for the owlies!

Owlies: Left in the lurch, but will Francis 'open the door'?

What are your thoughts on the differences between the papacies of Benedict XVI and Francis?

Owlie: I was very upset when Benedict XVI resigned. I have always been a traditional Owlie and love the liturgy of the Traditional Latin Mass that the Pope Emeritus liberated. To be honest, I was not thinking about ordination until I started attending the Latin Mass from my nest in the East Window of a local Church. Looking upon it, seeing the reverence of the Mass and the dignity which the Lord Jesus was treated made my heart and soul flutter in delight.

The idea of blackbird ordination is absurd, obviously, but other birds, too, sang praise to the Most High in looking upon the Mass of Ages, because that which was held sacred and holy for previous generations is once more held sacred in God's holy Church. However, it has to be said that under Benedict XVI, the chances of owlies being ordained was minimal. I loved Benedict XVI but he didn't like opening doors for the owlies. Now, under Francis, I have to say that while he has said that certain 'doors remain closed', I cannot help but feel that Francis is a kind man who would open a door for anyone because he is humble. The ban on blackbird ordination is absolutely correct, it must remain, but the owlie community see ordination now as a real and hopeful possibility.

There appears to be some contradictions between a rigorous traditionalism adhered to by the owlies and an element of dissent in the owlie community that seeks to overturn 2,000 years of holy tradition in ordaining these creatures. How do you reconcile these factors in your efforts?

Owlie: I and the other owlies submit ourselves 100% to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. We do not advocate a Church in which tradition is thrown out of the window. We watched much of the Second Vatican Council through the windows of St Peter's in Rome and were aghast at what happened in the wake of the Council. We saw the spirit of the Council fly in and we saw the spirit of the Council fly out. The spirit that flew out was not the same as the spirit that flew in. The owlies see ourselves very much as requiring an Ordinariate that will renew the Church in her liturgy and in her theology. Without renewal and reform the Church will be unable to meet the challenges of the 21st century with vigour and purpose.

The Rector: Taught Owlie liberation ornithology in 1992

What do you see as the reason why the Second Vatican Council's aims have been met with such a catastrophic loss of faith?

Owlie: Freemasons destroyed the Mass of Ages and they are still in the Vatican and elsewhere in the Church. That's all I can say. Now that it - the Latin Mass - is coming back and is being supported in areas, Catholics can hope for a recovery of the sense of the sacred, without which no religion, Catholicism included, can survive.

Horizontal liturgy does not satisfy. We seek union with God, it is what every heart craves. We seek God, all creatures long to praise Him and give Him due honour, worship and reverence. Does anybody ever issue calls for Jews, Muslims and Hindus to 'update' their worship? No! Why? Because only the Mass of Ages is a threat to the Devil!

Do you worry that Pope Francis doesn't share your views on the liturgy and that traditional Mass is under any threat? How does this affect your hopes of full reconciliation with the Church after years of separation?

Owlie: Owlies look on with horror at the treatment of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, first the friars and now, it would seem, the nuns. Where is the justice or the mercy or the fraternity in this?! Pope Francis seems to like opening doors and allows that old heretic of a Cardinal to advise him, will happily bless 'charismatic' crowds, but all mercy and protection is withdrawn from the Franciscans of the Immaculate. For why? Nobody knows! We seek, after years of misunderstanding, confusion and opposition, reconciliation with the Catholic Church but if the modernists running the show in Rome think for just one moment that the owlies are going to budge one iota in giving up our devotion to the true Mass, the Mass that fed and nourished the Saints, then they have another thing coming!

Female owlie ordination: 'The ban must remain'

We are confident, however, that the spiritual renewal that the owlies will provide for the Church with owlie ordination will bring fruits of peace and concord within the Church. If Francis lifts the ban on owlie ordination, then the rejoicing among the owlie community would not cease, but we would never seek full and active ministry at the cost of being unable to celebrate the Mass in the Extraordinary Form, for that would not be a price worth paying. We are loyal to Jesus, to Mary and the Saints. Any attack on the Mass of Ages and Catholic Truth, apart from the calls for owlie ordination, must be resisted.

Finally, there is much clamour in the Church and the world of female ordination. Is this an issue within the campaign for owlie ordination?

People who think female owlies can be ordained are sick in the head. If the Lord had wanted lady priests, He would have made His Blessed Mother a priest. People who think ladies can be ordained are frankly nuts. Wake up, people! It's never going to happen!


Thank you, Owlie. 


Owlie's song, 'Ordain an Owlie' can be viewed here. His album, 'The Long Road to Ordination' will be released in August 2014 on his record label, 'Free the Owlies' and will be available for £9.99. All proceeds will go to the Campaign for Owlie Ordination.

Aggressive Takeover

Lifesitenews alerted its readers to a disgusting Facebook page entitled, 'The Virgin Mary Should've Aborted' and the fact that despite originally removing the page, due to complaints, it has been reinstated. I don't know how Catholics should respond to this kind of horror. Ranting and raving is, presumably, what they want. A few things become clear though and they are quite disturbing.

First, such a page - and such stuff is hardly new - is explicitly anti-Christ. We keep on getting told how we should 'dialogue, dialogue, dialogue' with people but a dialogue with contributers to this page will just inspire them to type expletives at you and call you names. I'm not complaining - it is to be expected. There is no point walking into a lions' den and then complaining that there are some lions there.

Secondly, the page makes clear the spiritual and moral link between Our Lady, her Son and the Culture of Death which finds its greatest intensity in abortion - the direct killing of innocent, nascent human life. This is the battlefield in a nutshell. Slandering Our Lady, pouring scorn on Jesus and His Mother and encouraging abortion - praising it - are key areas on which the Devil and his agents are very active and very successful.

Thirdly, why is Our Lady called 'Virgin Mary' when the page's contributors do not believe in her perpetual virginity? That seems odd, yet even these reprobates cannot simply call this figure, 'Mary'.

Fourthly, Facebook clearly refuse to act forcefully to remove and keep removed such a disgusting page when surely a page mocking Abraham, Moses or Mohammed would surely get some more heavy censure. Why aren't Moses and Abraham figures of fun for the modern world? Is there any way in which there exists, perhaps, a tacit approval of, or indifference to, such attention-grabbing 'gestures'?

War on Jesus and Mary

The 'atheist' war on Jesus and Mary is, it would seem, upheld by some very powerful companies and famous 'atheist' individuals. Am I the only one who can see that so many of the 'atheist' people who viscerally hate Jesus and Mary are in fact Jewish people, who may be atheistic in their public image and who apparently don't take their religion 'seriously'.

Bishop Shomali has criticised the Talmud

Not to put too fine a point on it, are we really so naive as to think that those who, from their childhood on, are taught to hate the holy names of Jesus and Mary, and to blaspheme them through their study of the Jewish Talmud, care much if others slander them as well?

And we are to believe, are we, that people who slander Jesus and Mary, who believe Jesus is 'in Hell boiling in his own excrement' and Our Lady was a 'prostitute', it all works out well for them in the end because God respects the Old Covenant? What kind of theological gymnastics does one need to do in order to believe that people who hate the names of Jesus and Mary all have a happy end if unrepentant? Such is not what Jesus Himself taught, when He said that 'nobody comes to the Father, except through' Him.

Wherein your blogger commits thoughtcrime...

You cannot say anything that would offend the Jewish people, Heaven forbid, or indeed the homosexual people or the transgender people, a whole heap of people, or even 'the religion of peace' that slaughters Christians in public in the middle east, but Jesus and Mary are 'fair game' and so are we. Why? Because we are 'the enemy' if we believe in Jesus Christ and love His Blessed Mother. These poor souls hate us only because we have received what the World cannot receive, through grace.

St Maximilian Kolbe: Preached vigorously against the teachings of the Talmud

While few have the bottle to tell the truth about the Talmud, in Vatican Insider, in 2012 it was reported that William Shomali, the Auxiliary Bishop and Vicar General of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, had this to say of the 'holy book'.

The Talmud, the holy book studied by the ultra-orthodox, more highly venerated than the Bible itself, invites religious hatred, speaks badly of Jesus, and even worse of Mary and, in general, of Christians” he said, adding that “in Israeli schools love for the other is not taught but rather the destruction of the other”.

Can we really not say that the Jewish 'holy book' the Talmud and the Islamic 'holy book', the Koran, have equally horrendous results in terms of the response to Our Lord and Saviour and His Blessed Mother? We keep hearing how the Islamic 'holy book' is the inspiration for so much evil in the world, but nothing is said of the Jewish Talmud that applies to the Gentiles a complete inferiority or sub-human status to the Jews. I've challenged a Jewish friend online on this after one of his Jewish friends called me a 'goy' but response there came back none, other than for my Jewish friend to take his friend to task for a 'lack of tact'. In other words, there are things you can say about the Gentiles in private that shouldn't be said in public? Nice!

Of course to say any of this is "anti-semitic", but its okay for people to be completely "anti-Christian" and to slander Jesus and Mary and to ridicule their followers. I know, I know, you can't say that because...well, nobody ever says why you cannot say that. Presumably, you cannot say that for the same reason that Pope Francis cannot show his 'Elder Brothers' the Cross of Christ for fear of some kind of cold treatment or alienation from the Big Brothers.

The Orthodox never had a Vatican II, you see. Anti-semitism is repugnant, but then, so is anti-Christianity and I am sickened by the way in which it does certainly appear to be tolerated or even promoted by powerful members inside the Jewish community. I have to say, I find this man Br Nathaneal rather frightening but maybe the truth about Judaism is a little bit frightening as well. He seems to preach about nothing else and launches tirades against his former 'Elder Brothers', but let's face it, if the truth about Judaism itself wasn't a bit frightening, Pope Francis would have worn his Cross openly for all the world to see, as would those who were in attendance with him.

Offensive

I am sure many will find this post very offensive. I accept that it may be a very imprudent post and may bring me some enemies. I do not condone hatred of the Jewish people and never would. Following the outrage of the Holocaust, we quite rightly are very sensitive to the Jewish people. We must examine our hearts and consciences for anti-semitism, which is so dangerous and so ugly, but I ask also the question why it is that the Jewish people are never asked to examine their attitudes to Christianity, because it seems to me that the powerful among them hold it in nothing but contempt, scorn and derision. I guess that's not entirely their fault. It is what they are taught to believe, apparently, from a young age.

I don't know what we as Catholics can do about the Facebook page dedicated to smearing the holy names of Jesus and Mary. Sign the petition against it. Make acts of reparation. Pray for its closure and perhaps engage in an aggressive takeover of the site by repetitive posts of Marian devotions, images and chant which would each in their turn be most likely derided.

However, in the name of 'freedom of speech' don't expect it to be removed any time soon, because we're not the kind of people who have great power, prestige, status, protection or who blow stuff up when Our Lord is denigrated, so the enemies of the Cross can do what they like. That does not mean that while the holy names of Jesus and Mary are assaulted by both Muslims and Jews, we are to just stand by and nod our heads, embracing our enemies as our closest friends. Jesus tells us quite plainly to love our enemies and to do good to those who persecute us. He does not tell us to pretend they and we see eye to eye and to slobber all over them.

Far more likely than the Facebook page, 'The Virgin Mary Should've Aborted' being removed, I suspect, would be this page being removed. That wouldn't be just, I am not 'inciting hatred' but that, I guess, is the State we're in.

Pray for the conversion of atheists, Muslims and Jews. Despite 'ecumenism' we are still allowed to actually do that. We are all loved by the One who died for the love of us. We are all invited by Him to know the One True God and the One Who the Eternal Father sent: Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis, on his way back from the Holy Land ruled out the beatification of Pope Pius XII. Presumably, His Holiness feels enough Popes have been raised to the Altar recently, but if Pius XII isn't being beatified for fear of the reaction of men and women who have embraced diabolical and hideous lies about Jesus and Mary, then that is no cause for celebration among Catholics. That would be about as much cause for celebration among Catholics as a Vicar of Christ who gives the impression that he hides his Cross for the same reason.