Not a good Pope

We do not have a good Pope: we do not have an outstanding Pope, we have have a great Pope! I wonder if most of us, lay and clerical, realize the Pope that we have been given at this precise moment in history.

Tomorrow we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, of which the priesthood is the expression of his love, as St. John Vianney said. The Holy Father answered five questions from priests from different continents - his extemporaneous answers were, quite literally, extraordinary. Watching the Holy Father,through the blessing of EWTN, I realized that George Weigel's book 'God's Choice' was absolutely correct. As diabolic forces mass against the Church and her priests, what an incredible blessing to hear Peter address the priests of the world - the priests of Jesus Christ.

Beautiful - and Powerful!

Yesterday, on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, consecrated all the priests of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This event, as the Year for Priests comes to an end next month, has profound significance, both theologically and spiritually. The Successor of St. Peter has entrusted the priests of the world, in a formal act of consecration, to the spiritual care of the Mother of God in the very place where She appeared. As the Pope has reminded us, we are only seven years away from the centenary of Her appearance. With all that has happened, and all that will happen, I think this moment is going to have profound significance, not only for all priests, but for the whole Church. Thank you, Holy Father!

As Arnie would say.....

"I'll be back..."

Happy Octave!

A happy, blessed and peaceful Easter Octave day to my faithful three or four readers! I must confess that the Triduum was not what I had hoped for - unfortunately, I allowed myself to be distracted by the venomous, serpentine and diabolic attacks on the Holy Father and the Church which reached a spittle-flecked crescendo on Easter Day. I was so distracted that, during the Vigil, I forgot to get the people to renew their Baptismal vows until we had started the intercessions - mea culpa - I am sure they think their priest is a moron! However, I had a lovely call from a parishioner this evening - a mother of five and a great inspiration to me - she told me to stop listening to the news - they loved their priest and they loved the Holy Father - thank God for parishioners like that!

Betrayed by a Kiss

The "ad intra" encouragement of disloyalty to the Pope just got a huge boost from Fr. Richard McBrien, the well-known heterodox professor from Notre Dame. He really should be ashamed of the article he penned in Newsweek. The reality is that people who are warning about potential schism in the Church are actually behind on the story: the schism is real, and has been for some time - the difference is, they don't leave the Church anymore, they try and corrupt it from within. The danger to the precious faith of the ordinary faithful when those who speak, apparently in the name of the Church, is immense. Let us never forget that Jesus' warning about the "little ones" and the millstone was not about children but the little poor ones, those of a simple and humble faith. Another kiss in the Garden from Fr. McBrien. How appropriate on 'Spy Wednesday.'

Wisdom from Belloc

"The love of Truth is the distinguishing mark between men."

"A man who loves Truth and has the Faith is up against it."

"The Catholic Church is a thing of which a man never despairs or is ashamed."

What modern anti-Catholicism is - it is...."anti-civilization, anti-it, anti-wine, anti-laughter of a free sort, anti-love, anti-celibacy, and anti-pure stuff!"

Why this is really happening.

The Press: "the new black arts of mass suggestion and propaganda." Christopher Dawson




It has been said so many times, but still needs to be said: one case of the abuse of a minor by a priest is too many. It is not only a crime, but it is a mortal sin which, if unrepented, will result in eternal damnation. Independent and unbiased journalism - (seeking facts not spin) which used to exist, will confirm that the vast majority of the sexual abuse of children takes place within the family. Other institutions, especially Schools, also figure very highly in the statistics. I read one report that in one year in the New York Public School system (State schools in English), there were more reports of sexual abuse than in 50 years against the Catholic Church in the entire United States. What is happening now, in the wildly inaccurate, slanderous and downright false reporting of the current crisis, is more akin to a lynch mob than anything else. Even calling the crisis "current" is clearly not true; most of these cases are from decades ago and the Church, in Britain and the United States, is recognized, again by the independent and unbiased, as having the most stringent child protection measures in place of any organization. None of that matters; what matters is that the Catholic Church is the leading voice for traditional sexual morality in the world; the Church is the defender of life; the Church defends the God-given institution of marriage between a man and a woman. In the culture war which is rapidly intensifying in secular Europe and the United States, the Catholic Church is "the opposition" - the enemy - of a secularism which is not neutral, but hostile - and aggressively hostile. In military terms, the Pope is the "General" of this army - and if you want to take out an army, go for the leader and guide. John Allen, the uniquely fair religion "expert" on CNN, said in his new book, "Future Church" that is does not take much to move the "nones," those having no religious affiliation, to becoming the "antis." Anti-Catholicism is the anti-semitism of the secular elite who inhabit the newsrooms and editorial offices of much of the media. It is not only the "last acceptable prejudice," it is not even regarded as prejudice, it is sanity, clarity, breathing the pure air of freedom, liberated from the dark oppression of the Church. This will not change, it will only get worse. The attempt to portray the Church as the epicenter of child abuse in the world, despite the facts, is the attempt to exclude the voice of the Church from the Public Square. What is even more disturbing is that some of the support for this is "ad intra," coming from within. Perhaps we should not be surprised by this, betrayal has been part of the life of Christ's Body since that first kiss in the Garden. Every act of abuse is, of course, a betrayal of Christ - so is the sanctimonious kiss of the National Catholic Reporter and other "friends." The great fault of many in the hierarchy in recent years is not the "covering-up" of sex abuse - it has been naivete - imagining that the opponents of the Church are charming dinner party guests who wish to engage in "dialogue." They wish to "dialogue" us into obscurity, and this latest battle in the Great War to end all wars should concentrate the minds, and gird the loins of our platoon commanders. We are dealing now with what Roman Guardini called, "the smiling unbelief of the world's mighty and wellborn;" but they are snarling, not smiling. Bryan Appleyard, writing in The Independent in February 1996 wrote these words....."The truth is that Catholicism is not a problem for the contemporary liberal, is is the problem....to the modern imagination, Catholicism is the biggest enemy of all. As a result, 'I hate Catholics' is quite commonly heard in otherwise civilized circles."