The Hermeneutic of Continuity

An article in today's Scotsman reports is headed Britain 'in strong position' to lead stem-cell work . Quote: BRITAIN is in an "enormously strong" position to become the world leader in stem-cell research, the government's chief scientific adviser said yesterday. Sir David King said there were economic and health benefits to making the UK the global hub of the controversial biomolecular research. Tony Blair is on a four-day visit this week to California to meet US biotechnology firms including Genentech, Gilead Sciences and Cell Genesys. They are then hoping to have a joint UK-California conference in the UK in November. The BBC in Blair to lure US stem cell firms mentions the bottom line: The UK may benefit from an influx of cash as US stem-cell firms face vocal and politically powerful opposition. President Bush recently vetoed legislation on embryonic stem cell research. He gave an announcement surrounded by babies who were adopted while they were embryos.

Not done one of these "memes" before. I gather the idea is to tag other people to do it once you have done it yourself. Well I've not been tagged but saw it on Letters from a Young Catholic and it got me thinking. 1. One book that changed your life: St Francis de Sales Introduction to the Devout Life 2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Edward Holloway Catholicism: a new synthesis 3. One book you’d want on a desert island: De Imitatione Christi 4. One book that made you laugh: Jerome K Jerome Three Men in a Boat 5. One book that made you cry: A Bugnini The Reform of the Liturgy 1948-1975 6. One book that you wish had been written: Bl John Duns Scotus A concise and systematic guide to my principal ideas 7. One book that you wish had never been written: De Benedictionibus (1984) 8. One book you’re currently reading: Richard Dawkins River out of Eden 9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Colin Harte Changing unjust laws justly. Pro-life solidarity with "th

A couple of weeks ago, in his English column Sandro Magister ran the text of an interview conducted by Riccardo Lenzi of L’espresso with Domenico Bartolucci, the director of the Sistine Choir who conducted the recent concert for Pope Benedict in the Sistine Chapel. Bartolucci said many things that we would all agree with on the degeneration of liturgical music. However, I noticed one point that is quite controversial. Lenzi asked him whether the faithful should participate in singing the chant. Bartolucci distinguished between such chants as the Introit and the Offertory which require a "refined level of artistry", and such chants as the Missa de Angelis , the Te Deum , or the Litanies. Then he added this heartfelt observation: And furthermore, Gregorian chant has been distorted by the rhythmic and aesthetic theories of the Benedictines of Solesmes. Gregorian chant was born in violent times, and it should be manly and strong, and not like the sweet and comforting adaptations

I drove down to Aylesford this evening after Mass to see my sister Sarah playing Lady Bracknell. Each summer, the Hazlitt Theatre and Changeling Theatre Company put on a programme of open air performances of Shakespeare. Unfortunately, I was not able to get to any of the venues to see Macbeth which is running on the programme alongside The Importance of Being Earnest . As the publicity puts it: Hard to believe that these two cornerstones of the British theatrical firmament are not regularly presented as a double act. Not hard to believe, however, that the Hazlitt/Changeling combo are the ones to do it. Biased as I am, I cannot refrain from congratulating Sarah on a superb performance. (The other actors in the company were all very good as well, you understand.) It must be a coveted role to play. Everybody knows the lines "A handbag" and "to lose one parent etc." but the part has many gems. One I particularly like: I do not approve of anything that tampers with natu

Crisis Magazine for June 2006 has a good article by Sue Ellin Browder, Dirty Little Secret: Why Condoms Will Never Stop AIDS in Africa . Thanks to Greg Clovis for spotting this one.

Marco Vervoorst, author of the Traditional Anglo Papist blog put a kind comment on my ordination anniversary post. Surfing through his blogs, I discover a link to a sermon about how Mary teaches us how to offer Mass . That is a theme dear to my own heart so I look it up to discover that it is in fact the sermon that I preached last year at the London Oratory :-)

My good friend James Corum reminded me today of the Bulwer-Lytton contest , described as follows by the organisers: Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels. The inspiration for the contest is the writing of the Victorian novelist Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. The opening of Paul Clifford is the model that contestants strive to emulate: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents--except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness." The site has a page called "Sticks and Stones" featuring examples of bad writing by published authors who are paid

I was ordained on 28 July 1984 at the Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation, Addiscombe, by Bishop John Jukes. This morning at Mass, I told the people of a quip by the late Fr Edward Holloway, founder of the Faith Movement, when he was celebrating his 50th: "I feel that on these occasions, rather than celebrating so wildly, one should make a good act of contrition." Since it seems to be the custom that people "choose the liturgy" on special occasions like this, we had the preface and the Roman Canon in Latin today. Next year, if I remember to announce it in time, we'll have all the Mass in Latin. The photos at the ordination were taken by my brother-in-law, Orlando, using some grainy fast black and white film. As a result, they have a pleasantly antique air. Here is a selection (click to enlarge). Prostration of the ordinand during the Litany of the Saints The Litany was sung in Latin with all of the canonised saints of the English College included by name. Por

On the front page of the Universe this week, the main headline is "Bishops see the positive side in Holy Day switch". The article quotes the official statement saying that it is an opportunity to deepen our faith and understanding" etc. The other day in Ryde, chatting to Peter Clarke of the Isle of Wight LMS, I thought of another "positive side". Why not ask for permission to celebrate Mass in the classical rite (and therefore according to the classical calendar) on the Holy Days that have been moved? This would give people the chance to celebrate those days legitimately if they choose to do so, and at the same time, introduce them to the rite which Pope Benedict and Archbishop Ranjith have said is a point of reference for the reform of the reform.

The Spanish Bishops have just published a “pastoral instruction,” entitled “Theology and secularization in Spain, forty years after the end of Vatican Council II.” Sandro Magister has some quotations from it in his weekly column (translated into English). The full text of the instruction in Spanish can be read at the website for the Spanish Bishops’ conference. The document was planned in conjunction with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and has been three years in the making. (i.e. Cardinal Ratzinger was involved.) It is to be given significant publicity by “L’Osservatore Romano” as a model for other episcopal conferences. The document received more than a two-thirds majority of the Spanish Bishops but key figures are Cardinals Antonio Cañizares Lovera, of Toledo, and Antonio María Rouco Varela, of Madrid, as well as Bishop Eugenio Romero Pose who is president of the doctrinal commission. Here are a few snippets taken from those translated at Sandro Magister’s site. On

Antonia has published a lovely post on her forthcoming wedding . After the wedding, they are going to Rome where they will pick up sposi novelli tickets for the audience to meet Pope Benedict. Right! Bloggers all - Atteeeeen SHUN! Prayers a-plenty for this most Catholic wedding! Storm heaven.

Just found this post with a lengthy quotation from St John of Damascus on Islam , written in the early 8th century. Needs to be widely known.

From the current issue of Faith Magazine. Opening Up. Speaking Out in the Church edited by Julian Filochowski and Peter Stanford, DLT,284pp, £14.95 Opening Up is a collection of twenty articles and two poems. It ‘speaks out in the Church’ numerous profoundly heterodox opinions. It is published to mark the 60th birthday of Martin Pendergast, the partner of one of the editors, Julian Filochowski, director of CAFOD from 1982-2003. In 2001, a special Mass was celebrated by the Rector of Ushaw seminary to celebrate the 25 years of their partnership, with two prominent Bishops in attendance. Not surprisingly the Church’s teaching on homosexuality is the main focus of some of the articles and several others use the question to illustrate various supposed ills in the Church: discrimination (Sobrino, Heymann), confusion in the priesthood (Loftus), the unfairness of Vatican procedures (Gramick) and the recasting of moral theology (Kelly). However, the collection covers a range of topics. Clague

The policy of Faith Magazine is to make all the content of the Magazine available free of charge online . If people want to have a paper copy, they can order the Magazine by subscription and pay for it. But we are not in the business of making money. The important thing is that the ideas get out to as many people as possible. I am delighted to see that the new look Tablet website (you didn't expect me to put a link there did you?) still only gives bits of the content of the print edition. This is great. The more barriers there are to people reading it, the better.

The Faith Magazine for July-August 2006 is now online. This issue is really outstanding. The editorial is on the impact of infallibility and the future of Catholicism. Fr Linus Clovis has finally got his talk on Slavery and the Gospel of Life onto paper. One of the sisters from St Cecilia's, Ryde has a first-rate article on Guéranger and Mgr Keith Barltrop piece on re-awakening the Catholic imagination is hard-hitting and very much to the point. Lots more - all available for free download.

The Good Counsel Network have asked us to advertise the following: URGENT MOTHER WITH NEW-BORN TWINS needs accommodation locally for 6 months. She has no right to benefits or housing but will receive a small living allowance. contact the Good Counsel Network 020 7723 1740 or by email

Having said the old rite at St Mary's, I said the new rite yesterday morning at the Monastery of St Cecilia which is also in Ryde. The photo above is taken from the public part of the chapel. The grille on the right of the sanctuary marks off the enclosure. So the priest saying Mass faces the community with the visitors to his right. The feast of St Joachim and St Anne is a special day for the community because it is the anniversary of Dom Prosper Guéranger's taking his vows. Guéranger founded the original Ste Cécile community of which St Cecilia's in Ryde is a direct descendant. To be honest, I find it terrifying saying Mass for the sisters. The view from the sanctuary of the community in choir is most impressive: as indeed is their execution of the chant. The standard of their Liturgy is so perfect that I feel a bit like a country bumpkin parish priest lumbering into the Papal Court. They are always very kind, of course but I made an awful hash of intoning the Gloria whic

My visit to Ryde was at the invitation of the Isle of Wight Latin Mass Society. The LMS is thriving on the Island and the members take a very active part in their own parishes. The Mass was at the beautiful Victorian Gothic Church of St Mary's in Ryde. Here is the interior of the Church: As I mentioned, the Church was founded by the Countess of Clare. In the sacristy, there is a brass plaque asking the priest to remember her at the Mass. The Mass was for the feast of St James and I took the opportunity to refer to the devotion that the Spanish people had to St James, particularly in relation to the conversion of Muslims. I tried to spell out some of the ways in which Christianity fulfils "anything that is true and holy" (cf Nostra Aetate n.2) in Islam - such as the practice of regular prayer, almsgiving, modesty, and love for the family. I also suggested that we should be less timid about evangelisation of Muslims since every Muslim convert I have spoken to tells of how

There seems to be something terribly English about the journey to the Isle of Wight. The train from Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour is mercifully now upgraded stock with air-conditioning but the changes en route are still much as they have been for decades. Starting out, there is a view of the Houses of Parliament, followed quickly by ugly and dilapidated inner-city industrial buildings (brightened up a bit by the imposing MI6 building.) There is a trawl through increasingly well-kept suburbia and then a long haul through countryside punctured only by places like Haslemere and Havant. Finally, Portsmouth passes by with suburbs, industry, tower-blocks and then the harbour in quick succession. Just outside the station is this magnificent vessel: In the distance, there is the naval part of the harbour. To be honest, the weather was not good for photographs, being impossibly hazy. However it did show quite neatly the camoulflage effect of battleship grey. I first went to the Isle of Wight o

Today's Independent carries a Independent Online Edition >Letter from Alison Davis in reply to a recent article by Stephen Hawking. Her letter concludes: I am a full-time wheelchair user and have several severely disabling conditions. I would be happy to avail myself of ethical stem-cell treatment, and stem cells from these sources are most likely to provide the treatments and cures I look forward to. I would never accept embryonic stem-cell treatments, because I would not want it on my conscience to be "helped" at the expense of killing some of the most vulnerable of my fellow human beings.

I am invited today by the Latin Mass Society of the Isle of Wight to celebrate Mass at St Mary's, Ryde, founded by the Countess of Clare in 1842. (She also founded St Mary's in West Croydon.) Tomorrow morning, I will be celebrating Mass in Latin in the new rite at St Cecilia's Abbey , also in Ryde. This thriving community sings the office in Latin each day and Mass is celebrated in Latin with all the texts sung from the Graduale .

Via Domenico Bettinelli , a thoughtful post from Melanie Bettinelli of The Wine-Dark Sea on Harry Potter, Anti-hero . She argues principally against the morality of the Harry Potter stories. referring to Scott Peterson , she points out that Harry does the same things as Voldemort but is always assumed to be right whereas Voldemort is wrong. Harry lies and cheats and steals and seldom gets punished. And this might be ok except this is a kids book and it never questions Harry's morals or even presents him struggling with the moral issues. The punchline in this discussion is a question asked by another author "Llama Butchers": If he could obtain it, would Harry use The Ring to defeat Voldemort? That very neatly illustrates the superiority of Tolkein's story.

On 19 July, David Amess MP asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland "how much his Department gave to the Belfast Brook Advisory Centre in each year since its opening; and what the rates of sexually transmitted infections were in Northern Ireland in each year over the same period." The answer said that figures were only available from 1997. Funding for Brook from Health and Social Services Boards (in £ sterling) 1997-98 - 52,702 1998-99 - 52,596 1999-2000 - 62,786 2000-01 - 83,356 2001-02 - 75,112 2002-03 - 79,347 2003-04 - 88,961 2004-05 - 107,469 2005-06 - 107,831 In addition, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has provided one-off funding to the organisation as follows: (in £ sterling) 1997-98 - nil 1998-99 - 1,875 1999-2000 - 10,000 2000-01 - 6,450 2001-02 - 9,000 2002-03 - 4,000 2003-04 - nil 2004-05 - nil 2005-06 - nil Now all that safe sex funding should have some sort of an outcome. Here are the rates of new treatment episodes of sexu

Bloggers Fr Stephanos and Gerald Augustinus met the other day for dinner at a Bavarian restaurant in San Diego. This makes me think that we have to have a pilgrimage to San Diego to meet these guys. I could think of a number of priests for whom a good evening like this would be a great tonic. Reading the posts on both blogs, I got to wondering what the menu was. Here is my version - a little bit after the style of Private Eye . THAT ONE-MONK, CLOSED-CAFETERIA MENU IN FULL Monkfish roulade Arinzotto alla casa Gumbleton on toast *** Rump de l'Eveque (tenderised) Duck a l'Oranjith Ratzingatouille Selection of vegetables (USCCB) *** Chocolate indulgence (40 days) Melted Todd Brownie *** Cotes du Rhine (flowing freshly into the Tiber) La Chasse du Pape ( Tally ho! ) Kool-ade in glass pitchers ***

After Mass this evening, I drove round to Fr Stephen Boyle's parish of the Good Shepherd in New Addington to give the first in a series of talks for young adults. The theme was "The male priesthood and the theology of gender". In preparation, I used two previous pieces that I did some years ago. One was a talk in 1992 to the Kings College Catholic Society on the question of women priests. It was interesting to see that it was given shortly after the decision of the Church of England to ordain women priests. The other was an editorial I wrote for Faith Magazine in 1997: Male and Female: does it matter? . (The link takes you to the EWTN library which has stored the article.) The question has moved on quite a bit in the last nine years. When I wrote the editorial, it would have seemed rather "extreme" to suggest that people would regard "gender" as something merely contingent rather than being a necessary aspect of our created human nature. The question o

People very kindly tell me that my parish website it great etc. Blogging about vocations reminded me that there was one area in which it was woefully lacking. Nothing at all about vocations! So I have remedied that with a new page about priestly vocations . I would be grateful for any comments or suggestions (especially from Fr Stephen & team.) (I do realise that there should also be something about vocations to the religious life.)

Fr Stephen writes: For up to date news on whats happening vocations-wise in Southwark I'd recommend the Southwark Vocations Blog rather than the website. Sorry - I forgot about that. (And it is even on my own blogroll!) I'm happy to recommend the blog - especially to any lad who may be thinking about the priesthood and wondering where to go next. (May I offer a suggestion - it would be good to have a prominent link to the blog on the front page of the Southwark Vocations Website.)

Yes, I know - they have not been abolished , just moved to Sunday. And in fact, not all of them have been moved: only the feasts of the Lord - Epiphany, Ascension and Corpus Christi. Given the reasoning of the statement from Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, it is difficult to make sense of this distinction. Why should we need to celebrate the life of Our Lord more profoundly and not the mystery of the Assumption of Our Lady? Is it after all thought that the "hierarchy of truths" means that there is less need to celebrate the communion of Saints profoundly? Many priests may be concerned at the diminishing observance of Holydays. My parish is probably typical in having about half the Mass attendance that we would have on an average Sunday. However, the people who do come value these days immensely. One parent spoke to me yesterday, concerned at reading in last week's Catholic Herald that the application was being made to Rome. The Holydays are one of those distinctive features

Shiela and Pat Connolly of my parish kindly hosted a Garden Party today in aid of the Sunshine International Project . You can see some pictures over at my parish blog . Here's one I thought more suitable for this blog: click to enlarge

Thanks to Amy Wellborn , I found this clip of Stephen Colbert being interviewed about his voluntary work as a Sunday School teacher. It includes a re-run of his "The King of Glory" dance :-)

DilexitPrior has an interesting post with a report on a survey by Avvenire . The survey found that 1 in 10 young people feel at some point a call to the priesthood or religious life but most abandoned the idea after a few months. The reason many gave was the lack of friends who had a similar desire to consecrate themselves to the Lord. The paper pointed to the need for guides to assist and support young people in their vocation. The survey is a powerful affirmation of the work that Fr Stephen Langridge and his team are doing in the Archdiocese of Southwark. The focus of the team for promoting vocations is on keeping in touch with young people, arranging various events - weekends, retreats, and "come and see" type events. You can find out more at the Southwark Vocations website.

The Holy Father, Pope Benedict, has asked us to observe a day of prayer and penance this coming Sunday to "implore the precious gift of peace" from God in response to the increasing violence that has developed in recent days in the Middle East. Faced with worsening situation in the Middle East, the Holy See Press Office has been directed to communicate the following: The Holy Father is following with great concern the destinies of all the peoples involved and has proclaimed this Sunday, July 23, as a special day of prayer and penance, inviting the pastors and faithful of all the particular Churches, and all believers of the world, to implore from God the precious gift of peace. In particular, the Supreme Pontiff hopes that prayers will be raised to the Lord for an immediate cease-fire between the sides, for humanitarian corridors to be opened in order to bring help to the suffering peoples, and for reasonable and responsible negotiations to begin to put an end to objective si

Writing in 1862 in the preface to his own translation of True Devotion to Mary , Faber said: Here in England, Mary is not half enough preached. Devotion to her is low and thin and poor. It is frightened out of its wits by the sneer of heresy. It is always invoking human respect and carnal prudence, wishing to make Mary so little of a Mary that Protestants may feel at ease about her. Its ignorance of theology makes it unsubstantial and unworthy. It is not the prominent characteristic of our religion which it ought to be. It has no faith in itself. Hence it is that Jesus is not loved, that heretics are not converted, that the Church is not exalted; that souls which might be saints wither and dwindle; that the Sacraments are not rightly frequented, or souls enthusiastically evangelised. Now that was in 1862. Nothing to do with today. No relevance at all. Purely an historical observation.

I try to renew my consecration to Mary on 22 August each year, the feast of Our Lady, Queen and Mother. This is convenient for me because it usually falls during my "holiday" in August when I take five days off to go to Lourdes or somewhere. This year, I will be spending those five days at Parkminster by the kind permission of the novice master. He is keen that I should experience the Carthusian way of life to help out when lecturing to the novices. That's great as far as I am concerned! So today I begin the preparation, using the very helpful guide Preparation for Total Consecration according to Saint Louis Marie de Montfort , published by Montfort publications. I don't claim to be a great practitioner of this devotion but what I do know is that it is a great help in my spiritual life and in my priesthood. In the TAN books edition of Montfort's True Devotion to Mary , there is a page of quotes from the Popes. This is greatly enhanced by the explicit recommendatio

American comedian Stephen Colbert has been attracting quite a bit of comment on his references to faith. One very funny sketch has him reciting the Nicene creed (see Mormon2Catholic for video and comment.) Recently, in his slot, he interviewed Bart Ehrman, an agnostic scripture scholar and author of "Misquoting Jesus". It's not by any means a fair discussion but it is fascinating (for us in England) to see that such an interview could even happen on TV. It is not on YouTube so you have to go to the Comedy Central Colbert Report page to watch it. The video below of his liturgical dance is one I saw a while back but then infuriatingly couldn't find it again. Many thanks, therefore to Amy Wellborn who referred to it on her blog today. Enjoy!

An article in today's Telegraph Schools get help for 'too sexual' pupils tells how Birmingham Council's "Inappropriate Sexual Behaviour Team" is sending in "teams of experts" to schools to tackle the problem of little children engaging in sexually explicit behaviour. Stephane Breton, a social worker is quoted as saying: They are seven and eight and they are flirtatious. We go with them and address the issue to make sure they know what they are talking about. So that's all right then. Yesterday, the same paper reported on how £150m plan has failed to cut teenage pregnancies . The £150 million has been spent on the notorious Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The headline figures from the TPU show a small decline in teenage pregnancy "rates" - but there is actually an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies. Critics of the figures have pointed out that the rates can fall where there is an increase in population, especially in the population o

Oxford Today recently arrived on my doormat. This is a magazine sent (as far as I know) to graduates of the University. The news content is limited but useful, giving notice, for example, of the revamp of the Ashmolean Museum, and a page explaining some of the more recent findings by Oxford scientists. The rest of the magazine is devoted to a collection of first-rate articles related in one way or another to Oxford life. The latest issue has a fascinating piece on John Betjeman “ The dilettante and the dons ” by Judith Priestman, a specialist in 20th century literature who works on Western manuscripts at the Bodleian Library. Frankly, I am not terribly fascinated by the dilettante bit. Betjeman was one of those teddy-bear carrying high Anglicans who went about in a silk dressing-gown, ate plovers’ eggs and corresponded with Oscar Wilde's lover. The attraction of the article is the description of his encounter with C S Lewis who was his tutor in English. After a term as an undergra

It is just two weeks to go before the annual Faith Summer Session at Woldingham School in Surrey. This is a gathering of some 250 people, mostly sixth-formers, students and young working people aged 16-25, but with a good sprinkling of young priests and seminarians and some religious sisters. We spend Monday to Friday listening to high quality lectures on the Catholic faith, there is daily Mass and divine office, confessions, benediction. Great sports facilities (including swimming pool and gym) - and some partying with Scots music, fireworks and general ribaldry in the evening. If you are thinking of going, it is high time you let Ann McCallion know. You can book via the Faith Website .

Two loud explosions and a plume of black smoke that seems about half a mile from the presbytery to the south a few minutes ago. Say a prayer that nobody is hurt. Lots of sirens starting to converge. UPDATE Turns out it was an over-enthusiastic family bonfire involving the disposal of some dodgy fireworks. Neighbours were not terribly amused. Nobody was hurt, thank God.

A great interview with Mgr McDonald in today's National Catholic Register. Mgr McDonald has just been appointed as Rector of the seminary of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Rockville. A taster: How does the immediate short-term look? Bishop Murphy asked me how we are going to get more priests. I told him, “From the Blessed Mother, who gave us the first priest.” Hat tip to the Curt Jester .

Most interesting post from Amy Wellborn. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy points out in a letter to Bishop Skylstad that the use of canon 123 (parish suppressions) is not appropriate when there is a merging or amalgamation of parishes. One quote: ...only with great difficulty, can one say that a parish becomes extinct. A parish is extinguished by the law itself only if no Catholic community any longer exists in its territory, or if no pastoral activity has taken place for a hundred years (can. 120 #1) Where in fact it is an amalgamation that has taken place and not a suppression, the consequence is spelt out: the goods and liabilities should go with the amalgamated juridic person, and not to the diocese. Canonists and those affected by parish mergers may well want to read the whole letter .

Thanks to the American Papist for news of the release of the new DVD of the life of Mother Teresa. I did have an amazon link here to buy it from Amazon UK. However the link only goes to the NTSC format DVD which is not playable on most DVD players here. I suppose this will be like the film of St Therese - nobody is interested in England.

Fr Stephanos reports that you can now read the Compendium of the Catechism online . This is great news but infuriatingly, the Vatican server seems to be down or something. If you can get the text at this link, I'd be grateful for a short comment. I'll also try again later. UPDATE Lord alone knows what that was about. Still, it has prompted me to clean a lot of junk and temporary files, run virus and spyware scans, check the firewall settings, run a few backtrace checks and so on before it spontaneously decided to show up again :-)

As a priest, you are occasionally asked to "say a prayer" at some fairly secular occasion. You have two choices here. One is to launch gung-ho into something about the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Holy Angels. People outside the Church usually appreciate this, it being what they would expect anyway from a Catholic priest. The other choice may be recommended by the cautious: "discretion is the better part of valour". So they urge you to say something conciliatory and non-committal. The trouble is, you may not be too good at doing "bland and wet". Well help is now at hand with the Worldwide Blessing Generator . Its creators say, In an effort to balance the negativity of the world, we have created the WBG. It mixes blessings and prayers from all world religions and gives a random hybrid of spiritual goodness. All you need to do is click on the "bless me" button and a random blessing gets generated for that special occasion when you are lost for

There has been a line of comment about health warnings on cigarette packets to the effect that they don't really attack the things that people care about. Some light-hearted suggestions for more effective warnings have included "Smoking harms baby seals" or "Smoking contributes to global warming". Here's a health warning that might have more influence in traditional circles:

In the comments box the other day, Kevin of Proud to be Papist recommended this great vocations video produced by the US Bishops Conference.

Various blogs have picked up on the news item on Life Site about today's Vatican communiqué announcing the theme of the 2007 World Day of Peace. Interest has focussed particularly on the statement that disordered lifestyles are a threat to peace. The statement was issued in Italian but I think it deserves to be made more widely available. Therefore, gentle reader, my own translation... The message of His Holiness, Benedict XVI for the 40th World Day of Peace to be celebrated on 1 January 2007 will be dedicated to the following theme “The human person: heart of peace”. The theme of reflection chosen by the Holy Father expresses the conviction that respect for the dignity of the human person is an essential condition for the peace of the human family. Human dignity, in fact, is a seal impressed by God on man, created in His image and likeness (Gen 1.26-27), it is the sign of the common destiny of humanity, it is the foundation of love for God and for neighbour. Only in the awarenes

Sandro Magister excels himself in his weekly article today. Ratzinger's New Team Trains in the Holy Office offers a good overview and analysis of Pope Benedict's curial appointments with some speculation on possible future moves. In the past year, I have often discussed the beginning of Pope Benedict's papacy with people who are disillusioned or impatient, wondering when he will do something. My own view is that the opportunity for a thorough reform of the Roman Curia is rare - perhaps only one Pope in a century has the capacity, experience and "inside knowledge" to deliver such a reform. Pope Benedict certainly fits the "person spec" with more than two decades of experience at the CDF. This experience has given him an unparalleled authority within the Vatican and, at the same time, has enabled him to know in considerable detail the particular problems which the Church faces today. The reform of the Curia is important because of the impact of the Curia

Following the recent re-election of Bishop Fellay as Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, Andrea Tornelli, writing in the Italian daily Il Giornale speculates on the possible reconciliation of the Society. ( complete article at Rorate Caeli ) It is possible that, in the past period, with the knowledge that his term was nearing its end, Fellay would have hesitated. Now, however, precise signals are expected in the Vatican. The terms of agreement include the acceptance of the theological agreement already agreed in 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre and the then Cardinal Ratzinger, the lift of the excommunications decreed by the Holy See after the illegitimate ordination of four bishops by the same Lefebvre, and a canonical structure, similar to that of the military ordinariat, which allows the Fraternity Saint Pius X to preserve its seminaries and to incardinate [its own] priests. Simultaneously to the agreement, the Holy See will announce a kind of liberalization of the pre-Conci

Fr Nick Schofield, over at the Roman Miscellany , tells the welcome news of the publication of Evangelium , a catechetical resource published by the CTS. This was prepared by two young priests, recently ordained from the English College in Rome. I saw the draft and commented that it was absolutely excellent - a comment I am delighted that the CTS have used in their publicity. The package includes powerpoint presentations and material to help group leaders. The use of powerpoint can be helpful but such enhancements do not make a catechetical programme. What makes this programme stand out is the quality of the content. It follows the structure of the Catechism of the Catholic Church , dealing with the creed, the sacraments, the commandments and prayer. The material is pitched at just the right level for the average parish group. This is yet another great product from the CTS who have been going from strength to strength. I was glad that they got the licence to produce the Compendium of

click for larger version On this website supporting the 5th World Meeting of Families recently held in Valencia, there are wallpapers, screensavers, articles and soundbites designed to support the family and to campaign for the family. The tab posters/flashes has some quite hard-hitting flash animations. On the ideas page , there are some well-produced posters with inspiring texts on the family such as the one above. Another quote: The State cannot give you love. Your family can, because it is an intimate community of love, of life shared with real people of your own flesh and blood.

On the way back to the airport this morning, we stopped off at Carn Brea where there is a granite quarry at one level followed by another quarry filled in with a lake a little higher up: Carn Brea is famous for the fact that on a clear day, you can see both the north and the south coast of Cornwall. Unfortunately, it wasn't all that clear a day but from the trig point at the summit, we could see the coast both sides even if it doesn't show up very clearly in the photos. Here's Fr Chris looking to the North coast (Atlantic): And here is the view towards the South Coast (English Channel): And finally, a little scriptural meditation from the top of the Carn: I will look after the fat and healthy (Ezek 34.16)

My trip to Cornwall was in at the invitation of Fr Chris Findlay-Wilson, to give a talk to his parish of St John the Baptist in Camborne. The audience represented 10% of the mass-going population of his parish! Cornwall is one deanery in the Diocese of Plymouth. After the parish of Camborne, there is St Ives, Penzance and then the sea. The Church was founded by Richard Pike who was a Quaker, married to a Catholic. He was a director of some of the tin mining companies in the area and he had to hire some Irish labourers when many Cornish miners went abroad to the new gold mines. The nearest Catholic Church was in Penzance, 16 miles away. Pike was so impressed by the devotion of the Catholics who would walk this distance on a Sunday to attend Mass that he became a Catholic himself and set up the first Catholic chapel in Camborne. The Church is fairly small and can scarcely cope with its current Mass attendance. The interior has suffered somewhat from the liturgical reforms of recent decad

My journey down to Cornwall yesterday was courtesy of Air South West on a Bombardier DHC8-311 (aka "Dash 8") aircraft, powered by two Pratt and Whitney Canada PWC123 turboprop engines. Here is Melanie, kindly appearing at the door, at the request of the ground crew for my photo. The aircraft seats 50: I must have been the 49th because I had the good fortune to be seated at the back by the window and hence got the chance to take some photos in-flight. Here is a view over Southampton with the Solent and the Isle of Wight in the distance. A little further on, we got a good view of Portlant Bill - apparently it is now almost out of usable Portland Stone. Berry Head, near Brixham, with its long jetty, appeared through the clouds: Then we circled over this place to land and pick up passengers. Any readers from the US of A should get a little lump in their throats right now since this is where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail on 16 September 1620: A twenty-minute hop over clay pits and

King Juan Carlos : "Just tell them that Zapatero is a dictator of relativism." Pope Benedict : "Ho ho, good one - but I can't put it quite as bluntly as that!"

On the one hand, Pope Benedict was teaching: The family is an intermediate institution between the individual and society and nothing can entirely replace it. It is itself founded above all on a profound interpersonal relationship between husband and wife, sustained by affection and mutual understanding. Therefore it receives abundant help from God in the sacrament of matrimony which carreis with it a true vocation to sanctity. May children experience moments of harmony and affecton between their parents more than those of discord or indifference, because the love between father and mother offers to children a great security, and teaches them the beauty of faithful and enduring love. and on the other hand, protesters were engaged in a naked bicycle ride past the train station to call for "sexual freedom". Yeah - like all these oppressed people round Spain want to engage in sexual freedom but just can't bring themselves to do it unless Pope Benedict changes the teaching o