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.