ARCHBISHOP STACK - DO YOU BELIEVE IN OUR LADY'S INTERCESSIONARY POWERS?

"Not an English and Welsh Bishop again"

                                                     

The new Archbishop Designate of Cardiff, His Grace, George Stack gave an address to the General Synod of the Church of England in which he, apparently, denied the role of Mary, Mother of God with regards to her intercession.

Now the important word is "apparently" because, as William Oddie of The Catholic Herald points out, the Archbishop's phraseology is open to some interpretation - but it damn well shouldn't be! Surely that's why our priests rise up the hierarchical ranks, because of their ability (among many other things) to pronounce clearly and without error on the teachings of Holy Mother Church.

It is not good enough to make a statement that leaves a number of speculative options open as to the meaning behind the words.

I am not one of ++ Stack's biggest fans, I disliked the way he handled the Vaughan School debacle and how he responded to letters with a letter of his own (standard response) plus a computerised signature......very low grade in my books.

However, I would like to think that, on this occasion, the Archbishop has been misunderstood and I would also hope that he will issue a corrective statement in which he clearly lays out the role of Our Lady as part of Church teaching.

BUT..........more than that I would hope (and strongly recommend to his Grace) that he leads a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of Wales, Our Lady of the Taper, in Cardigan.

Our Lady of the Taper - what is the
relevance of Lourdes if we do not
believe in Our Lady's intercession?

 In fact, it would be a very good thing for Welsh Catholics if the new Archbishop were to lead the Latin Mass Society Pilgrimage to the shrine this year - and even celebrate a Latin Mass (EF, that is).

You see......it's not just the people of Cardiff who want to know, it's not even the Catholics of the rest of Wales, it's all Catholics from all over the world who want to be reassured of the Archbishop Designate's belief in Our Holy Mother.