Having taken a very slow train down to Brighton, we were alerted to the advantage of taking a fast train up again to Victoria. Arriving in the Piazza at about twenty to seven, there were already some good people saying the Rosary and displaying banners with scripture texts. The concert singing the 99 names of Allah was subject to strict security with a mobile "airport security" style screening tent. The police kindly provided a corral for us to use for our prayers.
At 7pm we began by singing the Credo and it was immediately apparent that the participants in this prayer vigil wished to proclaim their faith in the Triune God with enthusiasm. As a priest, I was happy to provide leadership for this group whilst being prepared to recognise that many came under their own initiative. Many people said that they were pleased that a priest came to lead the prayers. We sang, prayed the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Litany of the Holy Name, the Litany of Loreto, the Salve Regina and the Christus Vincit. At the end, I suggested that we might have enough energy to sing "Faith of our Fathers" and was proved correct in my supposition!
Various reporters asked why we were there. My reply was simply that the Cathedral was paid for from the pennies of the poor for the worship of God according to the Catholic faith. We have many areas of agreement with our Muslim brothers and sisters, notably on matters concerning the sanctity of human life and the importance of chastity and family life. Nevertheless, we do not agree on the nature of God. Muslims do not believe that God is three in one, nor do they believe in the divinity of Christ. It is not right to sing the names of Allah according to the Muslim faith in a Cathedral dedicated to the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
18 comments:
Thankyou so much for this Fr.
God bless
God Bless you Fr Tim and all who turned out yesterday evening. Be sure that there were very many prayers offered by many more Catholics who could not make it to Westminster last night.
Can the 'sell-out' to some kind of deranged ecumenism by our bishops get any worse??? Does the ultimate sacrifice paid by thousands of Crusaders defending the Catholic Faith from marauding hoards of muslims over two centuries mean nothing now that we have arrived in modern and oh-so-sophisticated 2007. I tell you all it won't be so modern when Westminsterstan (as one commentator put it very well) goes under shariah law! And what's worse we are giving them the keys to the gate! Just plain nuts.
I hope you managed to take some pics Fr Tim, and will publish them on the blog at some later stage if appropriate.
I'm very glad at least one priest had the guts to go and pray outside with the good Catholics. I live in the US and have traveled to the UK on a number of occasions. I am a regular reader of the Daily Telegraph and have been following Damian Thompson's "Holy Smoke" blog on this issue. I have decided that I will forgo visiting that cathedral ever again, until an apology is given by that poor excuse of a cardinal, or he is called to his own judgement day. Much as I would like to see the relics of St. John Fischer again, I will worship in a house of prayer of the Catholic faith which does not allow Muslims shove their mistaken denial of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Catholic faces. Perhaps if NO ONE henceforth darkens the cathedral's door until an apology is given by the cardinal, lack of shekels flowing in will even get that misguided cardinal's attention.
Astonishing witness!
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Whilst the book challenges certain attitudes and dogma it remains a Catholic (if underground) comic.
All best wishes,
Martin
Mgr Langham quotes Lumen Gentium in his defence of yesterday evening performance.
All supposition, to be sure, but Tradition, sourced directly from Scripture, assures us that the Jews shall be converted at the very end, but never Moslems who also deny the triune God, and the Incarnation of Christ.
It has also been a very long held belief that the biblical Armageddon is in Northern Palestine. Given the long history of the region, we could easily conclude that one of the two warring sides will be moslem.
In his desire to be a 'defender of faith', expressed as early as 1994, it is clear that HRH has no strong affinity for either Christianity or Crown tradition. If Charles has or is considering converting to Islam, as has been suggested, it is not surprising that our islamic friends did not protest at this first act of worship in what they may well, and with sound reason, hope will become a central London Mosque within the next twenty years or so. For instance, we read that Mohammed is expected to be Britain's top name for newborn boy's from 2007. Times are changing rapidly.
Having lost sight of the simple Faith they inherited and that was entrusted to them, and with minds befuddled by the (oft-times) meritorious but non-infallible VII constitutions, and the likes of Rahner, von Balthasar and Bede Griffiths, our bishops and their leckeys shall hand it to them on a plate.
Today is the Feast of St Alban; on Friday we honour Ss Fisher and More. Why does it not surprise me to read that only one priest, JUST ONE, turned out at the Cathedral last night to protest and lead the prayers of reparation? There is nothing new under the sun.
Thank you, Father, and may God bless you.
I just thought it appropriate in light of Mgr Langham's denial that the 'performance' was liturgical by quoting one of the comments from another post on this blog:
'al-haq said...
According to Abdal Hakim Murad, the Cambridge academic Tim Winter, the recitation of the 99 most beautiful names of Allah is a liturgical office, albeit one not often encountered in the usual mosque cycle of prayers-Salaat. Given the prayerful nature of this work by the heterodox, not Orthodox, composer John Tavener and its connexion with the Gnostic/Sufic tradition as exemplified in the writings of Fritjof Shuon the decision to allow the performance of this work in a Catholic church constitutes not simply a scandal but an act of general/tacit apostasy by the administration and clergy of Westminster Cathedral. May God have mercy on their souls'.
What more can you say. Does Mgr Langham have anything further to add ???? No, I doubt it - out to lunch!
May God Bless All who turned out.
I gave you the last word on my "Religion of Pieces" headlines posts.
http://leminencegrise.blogspot.com/
2007/06/fr-tim-holding-line.html
Genuine question: IS The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the same person as Allah ? Just interested.
First, just a wee correction of Tom's post - two priests and one Seminarian (?) were at the Vigil.
Thank you Father Tim, and thanks to everyone who came to mark our distaste of what was going on in OUR Cathedral last night.
I am still reeling from the 5.30 PM Mass being hidden away in the shabby and grubby church hall 'round the back' and no notices to that effect. Perhaps Mgr Langham is ashamed of the fact that they still have Masses at the Cathedral.
Dear Father Tim. Some of your bloggers seem not to have realised that I too was at the Prayer Vigil outside Westminster Cathedral. I would be grateful if you could publish this fact. Pity that there were no other priests there.
Bernadette - that is a most interesting question. I cannot see how the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can be Allah since there is a clear denial of the Trinity and of the divinity of Christ in Islam.
However, Christians and Muslims worship a God Who is merciful and Who is One. This is a basis for inter-religious dialogue but not a basis for sharing prayers, I think.
Father Tim - I agree with your view that:
"Christians and Muslims worship a God Who is merciful and Who is One. This is a basis for inter-religious dialogue but not a basis for sharing prayers, I think"
The problem is that the prevelant teaching nowadays gives the impression that the Trinitarian God is one and the same as the God muslim's call 'Allah'. This is often put over as being the Church's official view. I cannot see how that can be the case.
Just because Christians, Jews and Islam are monotheist religions, it doesn't follow that the One God the Christians and Jews worship is one and the same deity as worshipped by our muslim brothers.
Dear Father Clifton, forgive me but I did not realise that you too were present yesterday evening. May the Lord bless you also for your courageous witness.
Fr Finegan, as it can be deduced from reason alone that there can be only one God, and that we have a loving duty to worship Him, I understood that the basis for inter-religious dialogue with moslems was purely on the grounds of morality especially when linked to common cultural concerns. Hence the Holy Father's decision a few years back that this particular Council should come under the umbrella of the Pontifical council of Culture, no? I am surprised to read otherwise.
Thankyou for clarifying that, Fr Tim. I had slipped into confusion that we did worship the same God as our Muslim brothers and sisters.
Bernadette.
Tom - Nostra Aetate seems to allow for more than purely cultural exchange. I think that there can be dialogue on theological matters. There was in the middle ages: St Thomas sometimes refers to Muslim writers after all. Pope Benedict's gentle invitation to dialogue on the basis of reason is actually quite a challenge.
Fr Tim,
Patsy and I do not have TV and have been out of circulation for the last couple of weeks - have not even read a paper. Instead we were with our family, two new grandchildren! When will all this creeping apostasy end - I had no idea of the goings on at Westminster. Well done for your initiative. I will be writing to our Cardinal on this matter. Hope you are well.
In Domino
keith and Patsy Crocker (grey.nomad)
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