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Showing posts with the label HMG

Being followed by the Foreign Office

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When I led the 99 names of Allah Prayer Vigil at Westminster, it was noticeable that across the Piazza some sharp-suited types were discreetly taking photographs so I flattered myself that I had made it into a file somewhere at MI5. It was nice to find out today that I am being followed on Twitter by @foreignoffice . This is probably because they gave me press accreditation for the Papal Visit - a kind gesture of the FCO who considered that some Catholic bloggers ought to be included as well as " bona fide media organisations." Mind you, they are following nearly 15,000 other people which goes to show that HMG is not slow in adopting new technology. All of which means that if our spooks at some time in the future become engaged in implementing a restoration of the former Government policy of hunting down priests, I probably won't be in with much of a chance. This reminds me of a conversation reported to me by a fellow seminarian many years ago, during the "Milit...
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FCO Stakeholder Positioning Chart for Papal Visit

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In a follow-up article on the recent "error of judgement" at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Daily Mail has revealed the identity of the junior official who emailed the offensive document. The authors comment: It is believed that Mr Mulvain, who lives in East London, escaped punishment because he was given authorisation to send the memo by a more senior civil servant, who has since been 'transferred to other duties'. It might also be believed that Mr Mulvain is something of a scapegoat, perhaps. The identity of the "more senior civil servant" will presumably leak out at some stage; which will be more interesting. The graphic above, published by the Mail, ( click to enlarge ) gives the "Positioning Chart" for stakeholders in the Papal Visit. It offers a fascinating guide to the thinking of the FCO. CBC (Catholic Bishops' Conference) is put as much less positive but far more influential than the Archbishop of Westminster; bu...
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BBC series "Our Man in the Vatican"

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The BBC has produced a series of three programmes on the life and work of Francis Campbell, the British ambassador to the Holy See. The series is to be shown on BBC 1 in Northern Ireland only, starting this Wednesday 17 February. There is a short trailer at Our Man in the Vatican , and there is a programme information brochure . This might be quite significant since HMG will obviously have an interest in giving a certain spin to relations between the UK and the Holy See. The series includes an interview with Tony Blair. UPDATE : BBC1 Northern Ireland is available on Sky channel 973.
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Popular posts from this blog

Saint Gabriel

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The angels call for our veneration and awe as part of God’s creation. Part of the destructive modernism of the 1970s included advice to Catholic school teachers that they should not talk to children about angels. This wrought lasting damage which continues to need rectifying. We should include in our prayers a heartfelt recourse to our own Guardian Angels. The Archangel Gabriel “God is my strength” would be terrifying were he to appear to any of us. Our Lady was “troubled” at the word of Saint Gabriel and wondered at the manner of the salutation. Immediately, according to his mission, the awesome messenger explained himself. Modern retelling of the event is often reduced to the jejune “Mary said Yes to God”. In fact, she said “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”. This conveys more accurately the flawless faith and trust of the Immaculata. In the infinitely wise providence of the Father, we now know the structure of the event in even more detai...
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Plenary indulgences not impossible

Dilexit Prior in Letters from a Young Catholic asked some useful questions today about indulgences. I thought it would be best to do a post here especially to cover the controversial question of detachment from venial sin. But first the other questions: The conditions for gaining a plenary indulgence Pope Paul VI set down a number of norms relating to indulgences at the end of Indulgentiarum Doctrina . Norm 7 states: To acquire a plenary indulgence it is necessary to perform the work to which the indulgence is attached and to fulfil three conditions: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is further required that all attachment to sin, even to venial sin, be absent. If this disposition is in any way less than complete, or if the prescribed three conditions are not fulfilled, the indulgence will be only partial, except for the provisions contained in n.11 for those who are “impeded.” It is worth reading the other norms bec...
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Portiuncula indulgence tomorrow (and indulgences generally)

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Tomorrow, 2 August, you can gain a plenary indulgence under the usual conditions ( see below ) by visiting a parish Church and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . This is called the Portiuncula indulgence and goes back to St Francis of Assisi. Fr Z has the details . Don't forget that you can also gain a plenary indulgence by visiting a Church on the day of the titular feast, and there reciting the Our Father and the Creed . I made a list of other indulgences: please see the post Plenary indulgences for particular days which has a link to the list. The post has some background information which you may find helpful since indulgences are not well understood today - which is not surprising since indulgences are not included in most Catholic education curricula, and most priests never preach about them. Therefore many Catholics are left with whatever silly, half-baked, ill-informed nonsense about indulgences happens to be current. If you want to understand the theology...
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Our Easter Faith: Not a Pious Crème Fraiche

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In public life, some basically well-meaning figures have the graciousness to wish us well at Easter and to recognise the importance of the Christian feast day. Perhaps they might assure us that their thoughts are with us at this time. That is kind of them and in Christian charity we should thank them for their kindness, but Easter should be a great deal more than that for us. We must believe that Our Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the grave, in the flesh, and lives for eternity. We cannot treat Easter as a jolly holiday that heralds spring, or the remembrance of a significant event from the past. It must change us today and every day, change who we are and what we do. The Christian faith cannot be a mild custard or blancmange of religiosity. (I am showing my age. Nowadays, I should say that it cannot be reduced to a pious crème fraiche .) We bow down and adore the King of Kings, risen from the tomb, who, “[…] continues for ever,...
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Blessing of the New Painting of St Bede at Clapham Park

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This morning, the parish priest at Clapham Park, Fr Marcus Holden, blessed a new picture of the parish's patron, Saint Bede, painted by James Tildsley. It is sited over a recently installed side altar near the rear of the Church. The altar itself was acquired from Antique Church Furnishings . The website gives the information that the altar was built and carved by a nun in a convent near Liverpool. It is a beautiful piece of work and it is always a joy when such works of art find a suitable and dignified home. The inscription on the gradine is AMANS AMATUS AMOR. The sellers translate this as “Loving is the object of love” which is a reasonable stab at “dynamic equivalence”. Today the parish's relic of St Bede was exposed for veneration in its distinctive brightly-coloured reliquary. After the blessing, there was High Mass with Fr Holden as celebrant, Fr Littleton deacon, and myself subdeacon. That gave me the enjoyable task of chant...
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