October thoughts ; Pro Papa League , 'Fit for Mission Schools' , 'Summorum Pontificum'.

Martyrdom of St. Peter .. Guercino 1618

Autumn is here and it is time to arise from summer torpor! First I must mention the ‘Pro Papa League’, with its papal fleet, assembled to do spiritual battle for the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVIth, with weapons of prayer and penance. Since the ‘Motu Proprio’(2007), the Holy Father has met with widespread and often barely concealed hostility from certain Catholic leaders, from whom he could reasonably have expected loyalty and obedience. Recently there have been signs of a certain mellowing in attitude, and slowly but perceptibly more and more Bishops are following our Holy Father’s instruction to facilitate the re-introduction of the traditional Latin Mass in dioceses, parishes, and seminaries throughout the world. Many believe, as I do, that the freedom to celebrate this dignified and beautiful ‘Mass of all time’, will significantly revitalise and deepen appreciation of our Catholic faith, will keep many in the Church who might otherwise have strayed, and bring back many lost sheep to the fold, with a corresponding increase in vocations to the priesthood and religious life. This is truly encouraging, but there is much still to be done. Daphne McLeod, see Catholic Action UK , has recently published a report in which she places the blame for the current Church crisis on a failure to teach the truths of the Catholic faith to generations of Catholic children, with poor and inadequate catechesis in both school and pulpit. She holds the view that simultaneously with the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass, Catholic catechesis was programmed to accommodate the 'new' liberal and modernist ethos, and it is as a result of this that the Church is in such a critical state. Speaking as a parent, I believe that the 'ecumenical' practice of joint Catholic/Church of England schools has proved spiritually disastrous for our Catholic children. I can only relate to the period of the late 1970’s early 1980’s, when two of my sons attended such a school, and unfortunately by the time the reality became known, great damage had been done.
Things might have improved over the years, although personally and from what Daphne McLeod says, I rather doubt it. Ignorance of basic Catholic doctrine and practice, false ecumenism, modernism and liberalism, provide a recipe for loss of faith and separation from God. Couple this with weak leadership, Protestantised and un-Catholic liturgical practice, closure of seminaries and churches, role-disorientated clergy and religious, lack of priests, and much else besides, we arrive at the grave situation in which we find ourselves today. Bishop O’Donaghue’s recent ‘Fit for Mission - Schools’ promotes the ideal of true Catholic schools, where the Catholic faith and worship has absolute place of honour, and where a full and true grounding in the Faith would be assured for all the children. Similarly the follow-up to this, ‘Fit for Mission-Parishes’, was a no-nonsense, no holds barred, analysis of what it means to be a true Catholic. No liberal waffle, no blurred definitions, no sociological jargon, but a demand that we take a truthful, critical look at ourselves, and that if we honestly wish to be true Catholics, we must accept and obey God’s commandments and those of His Church. It means that we must take up our Cross in the one true Church, for which over the centuries many brave and loyal Catholic men and women, priests, religious and layfolk, have given their lives. In the words of Bishop O’Donaghue, ‘let us pray for courageous and outspoken Shepherds of the Flock’, true to the tradition and teaching of the Church, and loyal to the Holy Father, who will lead the Church out of this sterile winter into a fertile spring of blossoming faith and spiritual renewal. Please consider adding your support to the aims of the Pro Papa League.

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I cannot finish without reference to the following slogan which was shown on an American pro-life blog site, and with thanks to that site:-
“Unborn children should have the same right to be born alive, as had abortionists " - this is an undisputable truth which should be imprinted in the minds and consciences of all those who support abortion, in particular our MPs. My own Member of Parliament supports legalised abortion on (quote) ‘pragmatic’ grounds, yet he is proud of the work that he has done to promote laws guaranteeing ‘equal rights’ and ‘social justice’, particularly for minority rights. He appears blind to the absolute injustice of abortion, where the unborn is denied the right to be born alive. In the USA, ‘abortion’ is a major political issue, with the Republicans led by Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin, supporting the ‘pro-life, anti-abortion’ lobby, and the Democrats led by Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joseph Biden, promoting the ‘pro- abortion' lobby.

Whatever we might think about the American electoral system, it has to be admitted that the American people generally do not seem to be afraid to be publicly associated with moral and ethical issues, and very many are prepared to speak out loud and clear against the evil of abortion. ‘Abortion’ may well be the dominant issue determining the next President of the USA. We must all pray that good will prevail over evil, as we must also for our own country, where in Parliament the debate continues on the Human Fertility and Embryo Bill, in which so far this Government has proved itself anti-God, anti-Catholic, unethical, and totally materialistic. I wonder if a change of Government would promote a Christian pro-life agenda, we do not know, but we must continue to pray and work for this cause.

These two recent offerings from Paul Nichols say more than a thousand words, and reflect only too well the real and deadly threat of the ‘pro-abortion’ lobby. Grateful thanks to Paul Nichols, Catholic Cartoon Blog, for permission to reproduce his work.