John Wayne's stretch of films between True Grit and The Shootist is a pretty grim sight, The Cowboys notwithstanding. Exhibit A is Rio Lobo (1970), his final collaboration with Howard Hawks. Even Jacques Rivette would have a hard time defending this film, a mediocre rehash of previous Wayne glories.
During the Civil War, Union Colonel Cord McNally (John Wayne) sees a gold shipment robbed by Confederate partisans led by Captain Cordona (Jorge Rivero) and Sergeant Tuscarora (Christopher Mitchum). When the war ends, McNally runs into his old adversaries and learns that the robbery was set up by a traitor amongst McNally's ranks. McNally's quest for vengeance leads to the scummy border town of Rio Lobo, where his old adversary (Victor French) and a crooked Sheriff (Mike Henry) run the town as a private fiefdom. McNally teams up with the ex-Rebels, feisty girl Shasta (Jennifer O'Neill) and a grouchy old coot (Jack Elam) to set things right.
Lazy is the perfect word for Rio Lobo. After a creative curtain-raising train robbery, the film's plot drifts all over the place and never amounts to anything remotely interesting. Unable to generate much narrative interest, Hawks falls back on a rerun of Rio Bravo and El Dorado for the last half-hour. The Duke who shunned help in Rio Bravo enlists a gaggle of townspeople for the final showdown, but that's the only fresh wrinkle in a hopelessly derivative Western.
John Wayne is always a pleasure to watch, but he's let down a lousy supporting cast. Jorge Rivero (Soldier Blue) and Chris Mitchum are uncharismatic losers who aren't fit to hold the Duke's jockstrap. Love interest Jennifer O'Neill's acting talent sure doesn't match her looks, and villains Mike Henry and Victor French are as threatening as neutered poodles. The lone bright spot is Jack Elam (Once Upon a Time in the West) in the Walter Brennan/Arthur Hunnicut role as Wayne's grouchy sidekick.
Rio Lobo is overwhelmingly mediocre. It's not painful to watch, but even the most hardcore Duke fans won't find much of interest.
Last weekend, Brighton was hit by its annual procession of the undead. Basically, people, mostly young people, dress up as zombies and go on procession through Brighton. This appears to kick off what turns out to be more or less a week of 'festivities' grounded in the thin end of the occult wedge. In fact, even a few days before All Hallow's Eve, the checkout girl from Sainsburys was serving customers dressed up as one who has risen from the tomb in a less than glorified body.
A huge amount of commercialism surrounds 'Halloween' now but that shouldn't detract us from a desire of the young to go on procession, even if it is just to give outward expression to an inner reality. It is a little sad that there is only a small, if growing, visible public counter-culture in Britain when it comes to Catholic processions, not that vast swathes of the youth would want to join in - it might even freak some people out a bit.
One can also see in the zombie processions and what amounts to a week of preparation for Halloween, with all the parties and dressing up and stuff two societies running in parallel lines - one society, society at large, immersed in a culture obsessed with death and another society - the Church - which with a strong heartbeat should live up to Her proclamation of life 'in all its fullness'. Tomorrow, thanks be to God, October will be over and November will have begun, a month in which Holy Church intensifies Her loving prayers for the Souls of the Departed. It struck me today that the Souls in Purgatory's greatest torment is not the 'purifying fire' but the thwarted desire to see God 'face to face'. They are in a different realm and though they anticipate and greatly hope to see God, believing surely in this eventuality, their spiritual reality is much different to the Saints in Heaven and indeed ours. The Saints in Heaven see God and enjoy the vision of His Glory. We do not see the vision of His Glory, and yet, at Mass we do see God, disguised as bread in the Blessed Host.
The Souls in Purgatory must therefore yearn for what the Saints in Heaven possess and what we here on Earth possess also, when we receive Holy Communion, for unlike those in Purgatory, when we receive Holy Communion, we are united in our Souls to God. God and us become one. Much as it may seem as if our lot, on Earth, is a vale of tears, our position is more enviable than that of the Souls in Purgatory, since at Communion, we possess in our souls what those souls do not - Jesus Christ Himself, His Body, Blood, Soul, Humanity and Divinity.
How much those Souls in Purgatory must lament that they did not perhaps always appreciate that this was so. How likely that we shall be guilty of the same lack of love for Our Lord! How much we should be aware that it is His Body and His Blood!
How much then, we who have time that we often squander, should have compassion on the Dead and remember them in our prayers as often as we can, for we have been promised by Holy Church that our prayers can bring them not just relief, but the eternal vision of the Triune God. We, too, can gain indulgences from Holy Church, as Rorate Caeli reminds us today, by visiting a cemetery and praying for the dead in the month of November. If we are wise, then we shall surely do so. What a great mystery it is that we poor and feeble creatures can bring relief to the Souls in Purgatory by our prayers. If we knew what Purgatory was like, then surely we would endure much for them and pray very regularly indeed for them.
Just one year ago and Catholic Iraqis were massacred in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation.
Adam, a four year old child pleaded for the shooting to stop, the terrorists put a gun to his head and shot him along with 49 other members of the congregation and, of course, the priest celebrant.
The following clip tells the story in a moving and measured fashion - remember 31st October 2010 - pray to Our Blessed Mother for peace and justice for all Christians being persecuted in the world today.
There's no easy way to say this but, in the aftermath of the Cardinal Vaughan School battle (and victory) to retain their identity and autonomy and the great appointment of Mr Paul Stubbings as the new Head, why is Paul Barber, Director of Education for Westminster Diocese still a School Governor?
He needs to move on in order to give Mr Stubbings a clean canvas upon which to work his skills. It just is not fair for one who opposed so much and who advised Archbishop Nichols in this affair, to remain on the Board...he must go...tout suite!...right away!
For Mr Barber's own sake also, he needs to go; he is now the spectre at the feast and he cannot possibly hope to function well or be at ease as a Board Member under these circumstances.
So here is a note of farewell, from...who else?
A Barbershop Quartet!.....Goodbye world, Goodbye......
The great feast of Christ the King and a double celebration as the High Mass celebrated at St Benedict's, Sketty, near Swansea was probably the first one to be celebrated there since the early 70s.
40 plus years of indifferent, banal church music replaced, at a stroke by the beautiful singing of the Newcastle Emlyn Schola - wonderful!
A goodly sized congregation attended at 3pm and, for many, it was the first Latin Mass they had been to since Vatican II and the introduction of Mass in the vernacular.
Sorry the pictures are not too good, the camera had an attack of the vapours at such high excitement!
Thanks to Fr Neil Evans, Parish Priest and to Fr Jason Jones, celebrant, and to the Schola Newcastle Emlyn the altar servers.
A friend of mine leant me a Daily Mail disco compilation with this cracking song by The Nolan's. This song is playing therefore in the van on a regular basis. I just thought I'd update readers because with the world economy in turmoil, floods, earthquakes and famine ravaging the Earth, what's playing in my van has got to be at least '...and finally' newsworthy.
For those who want to learn this song on guitar, there are some significant key changes and they don't sound quite right to me, but it is exceptionally great song by a Catholic band, though, I wouldn't like to bet my van on whether they've all lapsed or not. What with the last 50 years having seen a decimation of the Catholic Faith, it wouldn't surprise me. All The Nolans went to Cardinal Wiseman school in Greenford, Essex, and St Catherine's Catholic secondary in Blackpool. I hear that they have reformed or, at least, did in 2009. Perhaps they'd consider coming down to Brighton and doing a gig for the Building Restoration Fund at the community centre. Their autobiography, Survivors, is available for anyone interested in the joys and the sorrows of the Nolans story and is apparently for sale on their website.
Death Wish (1974) is a good counterargument to conservatives who bitch about "liberal Hollywood." Lambasted by most critics on its release, it was embraced by audiences sick of crime, hippies and liberals. Today it plays poorly, an abrasive, amoral and sadistic right-wing fantasy.
Mild-mannered architect Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson) is shocked when his wife (Hope Lange) is killed, and daughter (Kathleen Tolan) raped by thugs. With the NYPD unable to track them down, Kersey goes west to try and forget about past events. After spending time with a gun-loving client (Stuart Margolin) in Tucson, Kersey comes back to New York with a .32 revolver and a grudge against all criminals, going on a killing spree of muggers and hoodlums. Kersey becomes a popular hero, leaving police unsure how to deal with him: after all, he's doing law enforcement's job much better than them!
Conservative backlash movies and revenge flicks were a staple of the early '70s, as much a product of their time as hippie garbage like Billy Jack. Don Siegel's Dirty Harry stands out as the best because it's a good cop film outside of its posturing. Death Wish doesn't have much to offer outside of Charles Bronson shooting muggers, and while that's fun to a degree the movie is far too strident to ignore its message.
Set in John Lindsay's New York, depicted as "a wretched hive of scum and villainy," Death Wish is as obnoxiously slanted as something like The Chase. Every street corner conceals a mugger, every subway commandeered by knife-toting goons, and you aren't even safe in your own house. Early on a character calls for the "underprivileged" to be placed in concentration camps and there's little to dissuade us from this view. Kersey's mission isn't even really revenge since he doesn't bother targeting his wife's killers; he's an avenger for all aggrieved New Yorkers, and the film even shows him inspiring other vigilantes.
Death Wish makes no bones about endorsing Kersey's violence. The obvious comparison is Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, which also turns a meek liberal into a killing machine, but Michael Winner's hack direction and Wendell Mayes's hamfisted script can't touch Peckinpah's disturbing artistry. While Peckinpah bemoans humanity's propensity for violence, Winner embraces it as a positive good and stacks the deck so we can't possibly disagree. Screw the liberal courts and the ineffectual cops: get a gun and blow away malcontents yourself.
The movie was a big hit in 1974 and still has a following today. Obviously audiences took comfort in the depiction of an Everyman taking on the "sickness" of post-Vietnam America, and some viewers still find its message appealing. Our old friends at Big Hollywood uphold Death Wish as a masterpiece for its "uncompromising truthfulness." I suppose people are entitled to their fantasies.
Personally, I wouldn't even call Death Wish "conservative" because of its naked contempt for law and order. Rather, it's an extreme celebration of individualism, making Kersey John Galt with a .32, "[holding] the omnipotent cure of being able to act." I'm inclined to agree with Vincent Canby's characterization of the film as "self-righteously inhumane," glorying in its sadistic violence as a celebration of individualism at any cost.
Charles Bronson has never registered strongly with me as a leading man. I've always enjoyed his work in ensembles like The Magnificent Seven and The Dirty Dozen, but despite commanding screen presence he isn't much of an actor. We have no problem buying Bronson as a vigilante but the attempts to paint him as a bleeding-heart liberal in the early going is laughable. Bronson would be typecast in this role, reprising his role in four Death Wish sequels and playing vigilante characters again (Murphy's Law) and again (The Evil That Men Do).
Most of the supporting cast is one-note and forgettable, playing annoying ciphers: Vincent Gardenia's clueless cop, Hope Lange's Stepford wife. More interesting is the slew of future stars/ in bit parts: Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park) as one of the attackers early on, Christopher Guest (The Long Riders) as a beat cop, Saul Rubinek (Unforgiven) as a subway thug, and Denzel Washington (supposedly) as another goon.
Death Wish is an extremely grating film. It's essentially a conservative response to Stanley Kramer "message films," replacing impassioned speeches with bullets and beatings. Unfortunately for Michael Winner, poorly-handled cinematic violence can be just as obnoxious as a Spencer Tracy stemwinder.
You can have all the beards in the World, but there is only one Pope.
Well done to Archbishop Rowan Williams for kneeling before the Tabernacle of the Lord.
May the Lord assist him in calling in the Government to use water cannons on the protesters outside St Paul's Cathedral.
No more Mr Nice Guy, Archbishop, its time to get mean, and I mean Westminster City Council kind of mean. If you asked them to do it to the homeless, that would be bad, but these guys are just left-wing, Gap-wearing protestors who look as if they are posing for a new magazine dedicated to the sole subject of 'how to look great while protesting'.
Are you going to let them close down the Anglican Cathedral in London? Do they think they can do that to you just because you have a beard, are verbose, thoughtful, reflective, sensitive to modern day man and above all because you are an 'accommodating' Anglican? Well, no more accommodating! Get ready, protesters! Nobody ****s with the Archbishop of Canterbury!? You got that, amigos?! Nobody! Now let me introduce you to my little friend!
Half of them are probably just tourists anyway and apparently most of their tents are empty. Its just water - it won't kill them. They'll do what I always do, and go running home to mummy and daddy. They probably need a good wash anyway. Let's see how 'anonymous' and 'united as one and divided by zero' they are when their tents are being water cannoned into the Thames!
Pope Benedict XVI is a true Successor of St Peter, a fisher of men. Look at all these souls who he brought to Christ to adore Him in His Sanctuary.
A commenter has appeared on my blog on a few occasions, I have noticed that he is popping up on James Preece's blog as well as at Smeaton's Corner.
Anyway, I thought I would just warn Catholic bloggers to 'be prepared' for the individual. He is called 'Scout', at least that is his avatar name and whoever it is, the individual is so concerned at the rise of the Catholic blogosphere that he has decided to start a blog called 'Catholic Internet Watch'.
The 'Catholic Internet Watch' blog is, as you can expect, rather anti-Catholic in tone, devoting itself to 'exposing Catholic lunacy, prejudice and hypocrisy on the internet'. My personal opinion is that there is something a little 'lunatic' about spending your life bewailing the opinions of Catholic bloggers, when you are not even a Catholic. I mean, should I just dedicate one blog against the, how shall we say, misunderstandings, of our brother pilgrims in the Islamic religion? Sounds a bit silly, if you ask me. I mean, if I did, I could be accused of being some kind of 'Islamaphobe' and I might even deserve the name. Still, that's his choice, I guess. Other 'scouts' were into other pastimes like orienteering, doing a good turn once a day, tying undeniably intricate knots and putting up tents in the dark, but if you want to troll around the internet, mate, commenting on the blogs of faithful Catholics, dissecting the opinions of their (sometimes incredibly eccentric) commenters, posting them up list-like on your blog and generally being angry with the Catholic blogosphere, then, well, its your life.
The individual himself, however, remains enigmatic. In defence of his Catholic-baiting, the individual protests...
'I am the grandson of three Catholic grandparents and count Catholics amongst my friends. Real anti-Catholic prejudice is something I deplore. Growing up in London during the 1980s and 1990s, I remember the suspicion against Catholics at the time of the IRA bombing campaign. [Read: "I can slag off Catholics and the teaching of the Church which they often re-iterate on such topics as abortion because my grandparents were Catholic and I know some Catholics. I don't think Catholics are all dangerous Irish terrorists, but I do dislike them immensely. Especially the faithful ones."]
Critics ask me, "Why focus just on Catholics?" It is true that narrow-mindedness can be found amongst the members of other belief systems [Really? You mean, like those of 'humanists'?]. I could start a blog called "Protestant Internet Watch", "Muslim Internet Watch" or "Atheist Internet Watch" and find much of legitimate concern to blog about. If I wanted to be even-handed, I could do an "Everybody Internet Watch" and devote each week to a different misbehaving group. [Why not Scout Watch? I was only in Cubs, but I reckon those Scouts are well dodgy. It never seemed natural to me.]
The fact of the matter is, though, that my time and knowledge is limited, and as the old dictum goes, "it is best to write about what you know best". I believe I am, or hope I am, well-placed to study Catholic internet goings-on because I was immersed in that world for a while myself [Okay, but are you now, will you ever be or have you ever been, A CATHOLIC? Because if you are not inside the Church, in full communion with the Pope, then you are going to find it all a bit confusing. It may very well be the case that the best you can do, in your current position, is respect the right to religious freedom and its expression...]. But that does not make me "anti-Catholic". In fact, I admire the more beautiful aspects of Catholicism, and was at one time very personally interested in the religion on a positive level. [Is he talking about the Latin Mass?]
What eventually turned me off was the effect Catholicism has on so many of its followers. [Something incredible happens to Cathoilc believers. They believe! Not only do they believe but they publicly defend and proclaim the Catholic Faith! Outrageous!] That is why Catholic Internet Watch was born. The internet is a largely anonymous forest where you can often best gauge what people are really like and what they are really thinking. It is here that I learnt about the darker side of the collective Catholic mind, and I believe it has to be exposed if people are to become aware of the problem that exists. In many ways, the Catholic leadership fails to deal with or even encourages bad thinking and bad behaviour, and this is also something that needs to be exposed. [Clearly, Scout has not been scouting so long as to pick up on Catholic blogdom's oft-repeated exasperation with the Bishops Conference of England and Wales].
Catholic Internet Watch encourages Catholics to build on that which is good and beautiful within their movement, and challenge that which is bad and ugly. My blog could not be more pro-Catholic in the most authentic sense of that term. It is only by taking on the hardliners and challenging the Catholic community to address them that progress can be made in taking the Catholic Church forward, both morally and reptutationally.' [Read: "The liberal ones who don't really believe are okay, but the ones who both believe and endeavour to teach or preach the Faith in its fullness are 'hardliners'. Frankly, they're a bit like terrorists."
Oh, we're so 'hurt' and so 'offended'. We should really call the 'Equalities Hotline' immediately because some troll has set up a blog devoted to carping at Catholic bloggers. I can't believe Austen Ivereigh would sink this low! That was a joke by the way. Still, I'm at a loss to explain which Bishop could possibly be responsible for this deeply uncharitable blog. That's the Catholic Internet Watch blog, I'm talking about, by the way, not mine.
That said, I do rather recoil in horror at some of the things Catholics have been writing about marital rape according to one blogpost that CIW pens and some of the things Catholics say about Jews on the internet which can, as we know, be most unpleasant. All in all, however, I do get the impression that this individual must have to spend quite a bit of time to get to genuinely offensive Catholic blogs and I get the impression that this individual might just generally also despise faithful lay and priest Catholics and perhaps, maybe, just maybe, the Pope too.
Personally, I think this is a case of 'spiritual envy', because he has noticed that Catholic believers have Faith, which he doesn't have, Hope, which he doesn't have, and Charity (though he could be forgiven for thinking we need to work on all three, especially the last). With that I will end the post. So God bless you, Scout. I will certainly pray for you, not so much for the success of your blog, because it is awful, may God strike it down and bring it to ruin without harming your computer, but for you, that the Lord may shower you with blessings, both spiritual and temporal, that Our Lady watch over you, the Saints intercede for you and that God may grant you His peace in this life and the vision of Himself in the next.
...so remember to set your grandfather clocks for tomorrow morning's Mass.
I don't want to sound like 'Big Brother', just I've had experience of turning up for Mass and people are having coffee and biscuits in Spring. The worse that would happen this time of year is turning up for Mass an hour early, which is okay if you can access the Church, or cold if you cannot.
Does anyone have any pictures or words on todays prayerful vigil outside Blackfriars Hall, wherein the Catholic Labour MP, John Cruddas, whose track record in terms of voting on life issues and the rest is abysmal? How did it go?
I was greatly encouraged to hear that one Dominican priest, Fr Leon Pereira, has written a reply to Paul Smeaton over the inclusion of John Cruddas on a bill of speakers at Blackfriars Hall today.
'Dr Cruddas’ voting record as an MP on abortion and same sex unions is not in keeping with the teaching or mind of the Catholic Church. This matters all the more because I am given to understand that Dr Cruddas describes himself as a ‘practising Catholic’ - a designation at odds with his actions as an MP. His actions appropriate the dimension of scandal precisely because he is a public figure. Therefore what he says and does in public which is contrary to Catholic faith and morals, all the while describing himself as a ‘practising Catholic’, are a scandal to the Faithful and prone to reinforce the assumption that perhaps these things (abortion, same sex unions, etc) do not matter, and that Catholics may reasonably conform their mind to that of the age, and still somehow (mysteriously!) remain fully Catholic without incurring any penalties whatsoever. That is a grave wrong wrought against God and His Church.
Is the Church then unable to dialogue with institutions or individuals who hold certain beliefs contrary to our Faith? Not at all. From the beginning we prayed for the very same emperors and authorities who persecuted and killed us. We appealled to them, to their reason, for tolerance and for the truth (the sole truth that comes from God which they can still perceive by the use of their reason, and not necessarily faith) which enables genuine justice and peace in society.
Notice how in her history the Church has not hesitated to negotiate with authorities, no matter how evil their deeds. We hold out the hope for their conversion and salvation, beginning with the cessation of their evil deeds, but also we do not see anything or anyone as beyond hope whilst they are still in via, still alive.
Fr Leon Pereira OP leads prayers at 40 Days for Life vigil
So in our desire to spread the Gospel, we should never be reluctant to dialogue with anyone, whatever their beliefs, so long as they are genuinely open to dialogue. You cannot dialogue with soliloquists, but we can still pray for them. I see the invitation extended to Dr Cruddas as a great opportunity for the friars at Blackfriars, Oxford, to ascertain where exactly his faith has gone wrong, and how his conscience has come to be so deformed.
I am not too surprised that he has ended up like this, because the Church in our country has for too long been filled with compromise on essentials, and tolerated error - error which has poisoned the minds of too many Catholics who take secular assumptions as their yardstick in morals, and not Christ and His authoritative teaching, expressed by His Church.
But when Blackfriars opens its doors to the public to hear Dr Cruddas, this becomes a different matter. The invitation, although not an awards ceremony, nevertheless takes on the air of an accolade. Out of politeness it is unlikely that Dr Cruddas will be asked serious (however awkward) questions. Instead it is most likely he will leave Blackfriars with a sense of vindication, confirmed in his erroneous position by our silence and misplaced courtesy. Is it inconceivable that he or his supporters may say that he was honoured by an invitation to Blackfriars, where he set forth his positions in a well-received and unchallenged lecture, etc? The false impression given then is that Dr Cruddas truly is what he calls himself: a ‘practising Catholic’. And it is the Catholic in the pew who will suffer - either by being misled into error, or by the scandal this will cause.
At the heart of this, I wonder why Dr Cruddas in particular was invited by the Las Casas Institute? There are many MPs to invite, so the reason is unlikely to be his membership of the Commons. I hazard that it is his Catholicism and perhaps his affiliation to the Labour Party. But, as I have said above, his distorted understanding of the Catholic Faith is a scandal because he is a public figure. There seems to be an assumption in this country that to be Catholic is to be Labour. This naivete reached a nadir in the fawning displayed by our Church over that most reprehensible couple Tony and Cherie Blair. In Mr Blair’s case, I cannot understand how he could be received into the Church without a public abjuration of his erroneous beliefs and practices - for example, his own voting record on abortion. These were errors he committed before he became a Catholic, but they were in the public sphere, and his reception as a Catholic without any recantation is a continuing scandal.
The Church must remember that her one Lord and Spouse is Jesus Christ, and not hurry to jump into bed blithely and blindly with any political party or establishment. It is such ‘promiscuity’ which infects us, infects our faith, and makes the Church weak, sick and compromised.
The assumption that the Church’s social teaching is more naturally alligned to the political Left is a false one. The great irony is that Dr Cruddas (who has woefully failed to stand up for the Catholic teaching on abortion by his voting) has been invited by an institute committed to ‘justice and peace’ (our normal shorthand for Catholic Social Doctrine) when the single greatest justice and peace issue in our country is abortion! Is that like inviting the BNP to speak on ethnic minorities?
Justice and peace has, in the U.K., often been interpreted as ‘soft’ issues, that the middle classes can protest safely, for example, nuclear weapons and their disarmament, or ecological issues. I call them ‘soft’ because they do not impact our daily lives, even though we live in the shadow of nuclear destruction and environmental pollution (I am suspicious of ‘Climate Change’ being treated as a pseudo-religion, one which supplants the Gospel in the minds of too many Catholics and Christians; the only unforgiveable sin for them seems to be one’s ‘carbon footprint’). The things which do impact our daily lives are abortion, employment, just wages, euthanasia, the poison of contraception, and the erosion of both marriage and the family.
Perhaps the ‘Cruddas Affair’ is a wake up call to Catholics. Why is the Church so sycophantically snuggling up to the Left? Why do we tolerate errors on this scale? Why are Catholic public figures not brought to task for the scandal they cause? Justice and peace must be at the heart of the Church’s faith and morals, and I mean true justice and peace, and not simply those ‘easy’ or ‘soft’ issues which the wider society will not object too much to, and which does not require individual Catholics to convert to the Gospel.
We sign agreements to make our parishes ‘Fair Trade friendly’. That requires a conversion of sorts, although I understand that Fair Trade as it now stands could be improved and made fairer. But why do we not make a covenant with all our families (remember, they are the ‘domestic Church’ according to Vatican II!) to be ‘Humanae Vitae friendly’? Is it a good use of our energies to chain ourselves to the gates of Faslane, when hundreds of thousands of children are slaughtered in our cities every year? Probably not, but it is easier isn't it? It's easier to moan about carbon footprints than to form our consciences according to the mind of Holy Mother Church. But then the Gospel isn't about what's easier.
Yours,
Fr Leon Pereira, O.P.'
God bless this Dominican priest and those who care passionately about the Truth of the Holy Faith to organise and attend a vigil in reparation for Mr Cruddas's inclusion on the list of speakers today at Blackfriars Hall.
As a male, I mean. Could I enter the church and take my place in a pew wearing, let us say, a pretty natty fedora?
OK in the Synagogue but not in a Catholic church that's the custom you see?
Would anyone notice? I think that they would...a man wearing a hat in church would stick out like, well, a man wearing a hat in church!
Would people be scandalised? I would hope so. It is our culture, unlike that of the Jew, Muslim, Sikh or Hindu, for men to go bareheaded at Mass; in church, at all times.
It would be grossly wrong and offensive to do such a thing. As a boy at home I was not allowed to even enter the home wearing my school cap.
"Is thy father a Jew?" was the usual challenge from my Pa and, of course, I would remove the offending article pretty damn quick.
I believe that few men would enter a home with their hat still on. It is not just in church that this rule applies, our culture extends into the home situation as well.
And when men who are wearing a hat meet a priest or a woman, what should they do? Well they should take it off as a mark of respect, they should doff it to use a quaint old word.
Now, when a woman enters a church, how should she be dressed as regards to headwear?
In terms of lower prices, though it has to be said the cost of living in general appears to be skyrocketing, the major supermarkets have us over a barrel.
Catholics, those Catholics who do not agree with Gay Pride marches and the political homosexual agenda, may in futur.e decide, however, to boycott Tesco due to the supermarket giant's decision to sponsor the Gay Pride march in London.
You will have seen (on both sides of the pond) how we are under fire for professing to be Catholic.
No visible signs of our faith, no literature regarding our faith, no mention of our faith, no spiritual aid to those in need, no prayers, no Christ, no means of salvation......that's according to those in authority over us, the Government, our employers, the private and the public sector.
"Finding the right work is like discovering your own soul in the world"
The Thomas More Legal Centre provides help to those who are brave enough to stand up for their beliefs and to be "dry" martyrs for Christ.
They need funds to support the massive increase in their workload as a result of the growth of secular beliefs (and Islamic ones) in our society.....
.....the following is a case in point..if you can help with cash...all well and good, if not, pray like mad!
Subject: Help defend Catholic freedom of speech
Dear Friends,
Please see the announcement below which will be covered by the Catholic press this week.
In brief, a Catholic mental health nurse has lost her job because, in a professional discussion with a colleague, she made available a booklet providing case histories of the mental health consequences of abortion. The booklet was deemed to be 'religious' and she was dismissed for 'distributing materials which some might find offensive.
The nurse's case is being supported at an Employment Tribunal by the Thomas More Legal Centre, of which I am the Chairman; it will be heard on 15th November. We also intend to bring a case in the County Court arguing a breach of her right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
This is not an isolated problem. An unrelated case reported last week concerned a man demoted for saying on his facebook page that he thought new laws allowing civil partnerships on religious premises were 'an equality too far'. His public sector employer deemed this a breach of their diversity policies and moved him as a disciplinary measure from a £37k post to one earning £21k per annum.
If we do not take action, and establish some legal judgements setting precedents, the ability to express any Catholic moral view will effectively become unlawful.
Please help if you can, either by making a donation, or by offering a pledge against the need to meet any legal costs that might be awarded against us if we fail. Please forward this message to as many people as you think may be interested in helping, and please put it on any blogs you may be running. Please pray for our success.
With many thanks,
Richard Kornicki Chairman, Thomas More Legal Centre Reg. Charity No.1121184
No? Well here is a brief selection of phrases that will help you understand the meaning of what many of our Bishops say.....
"I have established Mass in the Extraordinary Form in my Diocese in accord with Summorum Pontificum"
Meaning: "I have one parish 68 miles from the nearest city that celebrates the EF Mass once a month (except when there is an 'r' in it) on a Wednesday at 3.30pm"
"There is little demand for Mass in the Extraordinary Form in my Diocese"
Meaning: "I ignore all representations made to me"
"The teachings of the Church with regard to homosexuality are quite clear"
Meaning: "I am relaxed about homosexuals having the Mass framed around their spiritual needs"
"None of my priests have any desire to say the Latin Mass"
Meaning: "Any troublemakers are dealt with by being given particularly hard and arduous roles and by being placed in far flung parishes"
"There are no traditional applicants for the priesthood"
Meaning: "I grill them at interview stage and get rid of any with traditional leanings"
"In my Diocese we have independent Catholic Adoption organisations"
Meaning: "I've washed my hands of the issue and now Catholic children may be fostered by homosexuals"
"I abide by the guidance of the Holy Father and the teachings of the church"
Meaning: "The Pope does not know what goes on in my Diocese, I am the best judge of interpreting church teachings and bringing them up to date"
The address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to religious leaders in Assisi,
27 October 2011
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Distinguished Heads and Representatives of Churches, Ecclesial Communities and World Religions, Dear Friends,
Twenty-five years have passed since Blessed Pope John Paul II first invited representatives of the world’s religions to Assisi to pray for peace. What has happened in the meantime? What is the state of play with regard to peace today? At that time the great threat to world peace came from the division of the earth into two mutually opposed blocs. A conspicuous symbol of this division was the Berlin Wall which traced the border between two worlds right through the heart of the city. In 1989, three years after Assisi, the wall came down, without bloodshed. Suddenly the vast arsenals that stood behind the wall were no longer significant. They had lost their terror. The peoples’ will to freedom was stronger than the arsenals of violence. The question as to the causes of this dramatic change is complex and cannot be answered with simple formulae. But in addition to economic and political factors, the deepest reason for the event is a spiritual one: behind material might there were no longer any spiritual convictions. The will to freedom was ultimately stronger than the fear of violence, which now lacked any spiritual veneer. For this victory of freedom, which was also, above all, a victory of peace, we give thanks. What is more, this was not merely, nor even primarily, about the freedom to believe, although it did include this. To that extent we may in some way link all this to our prayer for peace.
But what happened next? Unfortunately, we cannot say that freedom and peace have characterized the situation ever since. Even if there is no threat of a great war hanging over us at present, nevertheless the world is unfortunately full of discord. It is not only that sporadic wars are continually being fought – violence as such is potentially ever present and it is a characteristic feature of our world. Freedom is a great good. But the world of freedom has proved to be largely directionless, and not a few have misinterpreted freedom as somehow including freedom for violence. Discord has taken on new and frightening guises, and the struggle for freedom must engage us all in a new way.
Let us try to identify the new faces of violence and discord more closely. It seems to me that, in broad strokes, we may distinguish two types of the new forms of violence, which are the very antithesis of each other in terms of their motivation and manifest a number of differences in detail. Firstly there is terrorism, for which in place of a great war there are targeted attacks intended to strike the opponent destructively at key points, with no regard for the lives of innocent human beings, who are cruelly killed or wounded in the process. In the eyes of the perpetrators, the overriding goal of damage to the enemy justifies any form of cruelty. Everything that had been commonly recognized and sanctioned in international law as the limit of violence is overruled. We know that terrorism is often religiously motivated and that the specifically religious character of the attacks is proposed as a justification for the reckless cruelty that considers itself entitled to discard the rules of morality for the sake of the intended “good”. In this case, religion does not serve peace, but is used as justification for violence.
The post-Enlightenment critique of religion has repeatedly maintained that religion is a cause of violence and in this way it has fuelled hostility towards religions. The fact that, in the case we are considering here, religion really does motivate violence should be profoundly disturbing to us as religious persons. In a way that is more subtle but no less cruel, we also see religion as the cause of violence when force is used by the defenders of one religion against others. The religious delegates who were assembled in Assisi in 1986 wanted to say, and we now repeat it emphatically and firmly: this is not the true nature of religion. It is the antithesis of religion and contributes to its destruction. In response, an objection is raised: how do you know what the true nature of religion is? Does your assertion not derive from the fact that your religion has become a spent force? Others in their turn will object: is there such a thing as a common nature of religion that finds expression in all religions and is therefore applicable to them all? We must ask ourselves these questions, if we wish to argue realistically and credibly against religiously motivated violence.
Herein lies a fundamental task for interreligious dialogue – an exercise which is to receive renewed emphasis through this meeting. As a Christian I want to say at this point: yes, it is true, in the course of history, force has also been used in the name of the Christian faith. We acknowledge it with great shame. But it is utterly clear that this was an abuse of the Christian faith, one that evidently contradicts its true nature. The God in whom we Christians believe is the Creator and Father of all, and from him all people are brothers and sisters and form one single family. For us the Cross of Christ is the sign of the God who put “suffering-with” (compassion) and “loving-with” in place of force. His name is “God of love and peace” (2 Cor 13:11). It is the task of all who bear responsibility for the Christian faith to purify the religion of Christians again and again from its very heart, so that it truly serves as an instrument of God’s peace in the world, despite the fallibility of humans.
If one basic type of violence today is religiously motivated and thus confronts religions with the question as to their true nature and obliges all of us to undergo purification, a second complex type of violence is motivated in precisely the opposite way: as a result of God’s absence, his denial and the loss of humanity which goes hand in hand with it. The enemies of religion – as we said earlier – see in religion one of the principal sources of violence in the history of humanity and thus they demand that it disappear. But the denial of God has led to much cruelty and to a degree of violence that knows no bounds, which only becomes possible when man no longer recognizes any criterion or any judge above himself, now having only himself to take as a criterion. The horrors of the concentration camps reveal with utter clarity the consequences of God’s absence.
Yet I do not intend to speak further here about state-imposed atheism, but rather about the decline of man, which is accompanied by a change in the spiritual climate that occurs imperceptibly and hence is all the more dangerous. The worship of mammon, possessions and power is proving to be a counter-religion, in which it is no longer man who counts but only personal advantage. The desire for happiness degenerates, for example, into an unbridled, inhuman craving, such as appears in the different forms of drug dependency. There are the powerful who trade in drugs and then the many who are seduced and destroyed by them, physically and spiritually. Force comes to be taken for granted and in parts of the world it threatens to destroy our young people. Because force is taken for granted, peace is destroyed and man destroys himself in this peace vacuum.
The absence of God leads to the decline of man and of humanity. But where is God? Do we know him, and can we show him anew to humanity, in order to build true peace? Let us first briefly summarize our considerations thus far. I said that there is a way of understanding and using religion so that it becomes a source of violence, while the rightly lived relationship of man to God is a force for peace. In this context I referred to the need for dialogue and I spoke of the constant need for purification of lived religion. On the other hand I said that the denial of God corrupts man, robs him of his criteria and leads him to violence.
In addition to the two phenomena of religion and anti-religion, a further basic orientation is found in the growing world of agnosticism: people to whom the gift of faith has not been given, but who are nevertheless on the lookout for truth, searching for God. Such people do not simply assert: “There is no God”. They suffer from his absence and yet are inwardly making their way towards him, inasmuch as they seek truth and goodness. They are “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”. They ask questions of both sides. They take away from militant atheists the false certainty by which these claim to know that there is no God and they invite them to leave polemics aside and to become seekers who do not give up hope in the existence of truth and in the possibility and necessity of living by it. But they also challenge the followers of religions not to consider God as their own property, as if he belonged to them, in such a way that they feel vindicated in using force against others. These people are seeking the truth, they are seeking the true God, whose image is frequently concealed in the religions because of the ways in which they are often practised. Their inability to find God is partly the responsibility of believers with a limited or even falsified image of God.
So all their struggling and questioning is in part an appeal to believers to purify their faith, so that God, the true God, becomes accessible. Therefore I have consciously invited delegates of this third group to our meeting in Assisi, which does not simply bring together representatives of religious institutions. Rather it is a case of being together on a journey towards truth, a case of taking a decisive stand for human dignity and a case of common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force. Finally I would like to assure you that the Catholic Church will not let up in her fight against violence, in her commitment for peace in the world. We are animated by the common desire to be “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”.
Thankfully, no traditional Catholics will find the idea of a statue of St Francis of Assisi dancing to Scott Mackenzie's 60s classic offensive, because they'll all be too offended by the Holy Father's speech to all religious leaders and none because His Holiness didn't tell them to convert or else.
In what amounts to an astonishing twist of justice, the Mears brothers at the heart of a 'wonderland' scam have been cleared of their conviction. Two more thoroughly pleasant and decent men, you would be hard pushed to find.
How did they arrive at a situation whereby from being behind bars for an alleged massive fraud to perhaps being recompensed for the result of what now appears to have been a mistrial because a juror received a text that said 'guilty'? Find out here. Phew. And there I was thinking this town was still ran by gangsters with leverage and influence over the Council. Strangely, no retrial application has been made...
.....perchance to have nightmares. He walks around St Peter's always looking into the distance but, at the same time, alert for any untoward movement within closer range.
He never scowls, neither does he smile very often. He is impassive; he commands his team with a stare.
Even Swiss Guard officers quail before his advance.
He looks and is powerful in a physical and mental sense; he has the hopes and fears of 1.2 billion Catholics on his shoulders; one slip, one split second's loss of concentration and he could fail in his prime role.
He works long hours, he travels across time zones but cannot afford the luxury of jet lag, neither can he relax with a lunch time Punt e Mes.
Nothing phases this man but his mind is constantly in overdrive, always expecting the unexpected.
Who is he?
Domenico Giani, Inspector General of the Corpa della Gendarmeria at the Vatican, Head of the Holy Father's personal security team and whose only reward is his salary and his loyalty and affection for Pope Benedict - and ulcers!
Besides the Pope Domenico Giani is the most photographed man in Rome
Another solid "adult Western" from Delmer Daves (Broken Arrow, Jubal), The Hanging Tree (1959) moves beyond the shallow characterizations and shootouts so common to the genre. Its interesting cast, beautiful photography and complicated story make for an enjoyable watch.
Dr. Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper), an amoral man with a past, drifts into a Montana mining town and sets up shop. Rescuing petty criminal Rune (Ben Piazza) from a lynch mob, Frail makes the boy his indentured servant, initiating an tense relationship. Things grow more complicated when Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell), the lone survivor of a stagecoach robbery, is nurtured back to health by Frail, with the townspeople - including mad faith healer Grubb (George C. Scott) - gossiping about their relationship. When Frail and Elizabeth forge a business arrangement with the lecherous Frenchy (Karl Malden), trouble isn't far behind.
The Hanging Tree is as much melodrama as Western, scoring with a fascinating cast. Frail starts out the film mixing with a violent temper with a controlling nature, becoming more sympathetic as layers of his personality are peeled away. He's matched with interesting supporting players: Rune's relationship with Frail seems to invite Freudian interpretation, Frenchy's mixture of friendliness and primal lust is perfectly-rendered, while the chipper, strong-willed Elizabeth makes an interesting heroine. This interesting cast place The Hanging Tree in a league with the best character-driven Westerns: The Big Country, The Gunfighter, The Man from Laramie.
Delmer Daves captures some beautiful Yakima, Washington locations, highlighted by an intricately-constructed mining camp. The film is deliberately paced but Wendell Mayes and Halsted Welles' expert script keeps things interesting. Action is sparse but the violence, when it comes, is shockingly direct. Daves doesn't mind incorporating overt Biblical imagery into the finale, as the gold-crazed miners torch their own lodgings. In this context, the seemingly abrupt, convenient ending fits like a glove. Max Steiner adds a nice score, topped with cheesy Marty Robbins ballad.
Gary Cooper gives one of his best performances. Frail is a more convincing heel than Cooper's reformed outlaw in Man of the Westsince we actually see his nastiness, yet his vulnerability and misanthropy makes him interestingly complex. Maria Schell is appealing, even if her conversion from damsel in distress to tough frontier girl is abrupt. Karl Malden's (On the Waterfront) amiable bully and Ben Piazza's put-upon manservant provide solid support. Familiar face Karl Swenson (Major Dundee) has a larger-than-normal role as a friendly shopkeeper. The weak spot is George C. Scott (Patton), squandered in a bizarre role.
The Hanging Tree makes for interesting viewing. Delmer Daves and Co. craft an enjoyable film that's smarter than the average Western.
2100: Earth implodes after the 12 billionth baby is born
Why? Because world population figures are literally exploding, potentially causing whole towns, cities and yes, even countries, to fall into the depths of the Earth in what UN scientists have called the 'Fray Bentos Population-Earth Effect'.
In this nightmare scenario, because of human greed and selfishness, Earth itself would fracture and then disappear. This is what will happen to Earth if you have more than one or two children. Because the world population figures could, by UN Population experts, literally EXPLODEto12 BILLION PEOPLE, the Earth, according to a new report commissioned by the UN, could potentially implode.
Is this what you want to see happen to Earth? Are you that selfish? Can you not think of the future generations, of your children's children, who we strongly discourage you from allowing into the World? Can you not think of their share of the Earth's resources?
Doomsday: The 'Fray Bentos' Population-Earth Effect
Is this what you want Earth to look like?
Is it?
Is it?!
Is it?!!!
These mushrooms could be your children and your children's children! Are you insane? Think of them and either abort them, or contracept forever! Are you thatEVILand SELFISH that you won't KILL YOUR futureCHILDREN so that the future generation can also enjoy the fruits of the Earth?
Here at the UN we think you are, because even though our Malthusian population institute has got it wrong on population growth and human resources before, so many times, we are, fundamentally, motivated by eugenic ideology, not facts, not truth, but ideology. Thank you for taking time to read our frightening eco-eugenic propaganda and don't forget to kill your children and thwart the creation of new life. Look, its happening already!
If you've had more than 2 children, then remember...YOU DID THIS!
Adrian Smith, employee of Trafford Housing Trust in Manchester, made a statement to the effect that Churches should not be forced to carry out same sex weddings.
A Facebook entry crosses the divide between public and private but, it was an entry made in Mr Smith's own time
That statement was made privately (if Facebook entries can be deemed private) and it was done in his own time, not that of his employers.
As a result he has been demoted to a lesser position with a corresponding reduction in salary.
I do not know which Christian denomination Mr Smith belongs to, it does not actually matter in this context, he has offered up his livelihood for what he knows to be true - he has become a "dry" martyr!
I do know that his lead is a brave one; it takes courage to stick your head up above the parapet, especially if you believe that measures will be taken against you. Before long I can envisage civil prosecutions being applied as a result of anyone swimming against the flow of sewage that society forces upon us.
Well done Mr Smith, you have my prayers and, I am sure the prayers of many others to support and strengthen you.
What can we as Catholic bloggers expect in the future? Much of the same I suspect.
Now, we await a move from our Church leaders. Will one or some of them (or, even 20% of them - see Ecumenical Diablog) stand up in front of the cameras and state that the Trafford Housing Trust and other organisations like them are wrong. That David Cameron is also wrong to pursue his goal of same sex marriage for homosexuals and lesbians and, before long, for those who might wish to wed their poodle or pet goat.
If Cardinal Heenan was alive I can assure you that every portal in the media would have been kicked open by now and the good Cardinal would have stated the position of the Church clearly and unequivocally - none of this "Who knows what's down the road?" nonsense.
As a matter of fact, I do know what is down the road if we continue along this path...it involves hellfire and damnation!
The Confraternity of the Holy Cross is a group of circa 50 laymen and women and a few priests who strive to support the development of the traditional liturgy and the EF Mass here in wet and windy South & West Wales.
So how do we do that? Well, fairly informally it has to be said. We do not have a structure really other than a priest at the helm appointed by the Bishop to be Diocesan Co-ordinator for the EF.
But we do provide information as to Mass times and locations, we raise funds for Priest Training as organised by the Latin Mass Society and we are in the throes of launching our own blog in order to keep our members supplied with news of global Catholic events. Our members, or some of them, have independently formed a fine choir.
But...we do need a few things such as vestments, especially maniples, bourses and altar veils; in fact we can fruitfully use any materials used at a TLM.
Brighton's homeless have, according to the BBC, doubled this year. Meanwhile, I received a text telling me that, in Oxford, homeless are left outside in the cold because all the shelters are full. I am quite certain that there is an unusually large queue for this time of year at the soup run on the seafront, due to what has been described as a "purge" from London, around venues for the Olympics and that some have made their way to the 'city by the sea'.
The BBC link above actually has some quite shocking quotes from homeless people who tell of their having been forcefully pushed out of areas of London. The South East is therefore receiving some more homeless than is apparently usual. China did the same, India did the same, so who can blame that other 'third world' nation, the UK, from doing the same. After all, they're not good for tourism and the image of the UK.
It has been a strange two days or so. On my way to going to visit George and Diane yesterday I came across a couple, Neil and Margaret, outside the Jobcentre in Brighton, having recognised Jim, a former successful jockey, now hanging out in Brighton hoping to be found by the Rough Sleepers Team in Brighton. He turned up at the door of the Church on Friday during Catechism asking for a sleeping bag. Fr Ray gave him his jacket and I gave him a duvet from the garage of the Church. His story is rather confusing, I have to admit, but however he got here, he is in Brighton and is now rough sleeping.
Despite the fact that the interview above is rather 'in your face' I thought it worthwhile posting it up. It isn't 'politically correct', it isn't necessarily 'tasteful' and it isn't that 'pleasant', but nevertheless, these are the real opinions of real people living life on the edge in Brighton and for that reason they are worth hearing. I don't personally agree that 'foreigners' are taking a great deal of housing, certainly not in Brighton, Brighton being not half as cosmopolitan a city as, say, London, but nevertheless, that is their perception. Given that the man, Neil, has fought for this country and is left destitute after his stint in Northern Ireland, I certainly believe his words are worth listening to. I found it astonishing that the couple were looking for work at the Jobcentre even though they are homeless, but, even so, they are cut off from the benefits system, Neil having missed his letter telling him he has a medical assessment, when he was in Manchester, because they sent the letter to the wrong address. If you don't turn up for your medical assessment, in this country, then you are cut off from the benefits system. They've been in Brighton a week or two and sleep in a car park and it is getting colder by the day.
Their words are a challenge to us all. Perhaps there are issues with them, there is likely to be, but I believe that the Gospel still speaks through them. They are right to say that unless they have been here 6 months sleeping rough then they will not be considered to have a local connection and the Council will not house them until they have seen winter through.
I recently heard that a man of just 39, a rough sleeper called Steph Kelly died in Brighton on the streets. He had been taking a great deal of drugs over time, upon his release from prison. At the meal at the evangelical Church for the homeless on Monday they gave him a minutes silence. Men and women cried as they remembered the friend that they lost to drugs, alcohol and a cocktail of prescription drugs. People had tried to warn him to stop but he couldn't, wouldn't or didn't think he or the life he was living was worth it. You might perhaps think that street homeless and hostel homeless would become immune to hearing of the deaths of their brothers and sisters, but despite the harshness of their lives, often ravaged by alcohol and drug addiction, they intensely love their brothers and sisters. I know someone who says he has 20 friends who died in the last two years. He worries that he is next, but he 'doesn't care' either whether it is him. He says he cares when others die, but he doesn't care if he dies. There is a certain nihilism there, a devil may care attitude towards himself and yet when it comes to others, it is something else entirely.
Meanwhile, this evening, I met a lady who had a most horrendous story to tell. She is a mental health nurse who now feels she cannot work in the United Kingdom because the NHS is so appalling. She complained of the way in which the NHS deals with mental health patients and especially the 'care in the community' system. She said that in America, things are markedly better, whereas here, we never get to the root of the problem for mental health patients and just throw medication at them and then let them go. However, tonight she was particular angry.
Why? Well, her story, or rather the story of her niece, who she was comforting tonight, is not pleasant. The story of her niece is, in fact, perhaps the most harrowing story I have heard for a long time. Recently, her niece, who I met, and her boyfriend and son, befriended someone in their area. They didn't know he had mental health issues. One night, he called at her flat, where she lives with her boyfriend and son and was troubled, so they invited him in for a cup of tea. The man proceeded to go to the kitchen and got knives out of the drawer and started cutting himself up in front of them. In fact, he started cutting himself up so much that he cut a vast array of his arteries all over his body. The boyfriend tried to stop him but he just kept grabbing more knives. The mother had to get the son and literally throw him out of the house while getting the neighbours to call the emergency services. By the end, the man was dead, only to be brought back to life later by the emergency services. The niece now lives in a house which is covered in the man's blood. Totally covered in blood.
They have tried repainting the walls but the blood is still coming through. The man thought he was possessed and was trying to cut 'the demon' out from himself. He was rushed to hospital but the couple and the son were left in a house literally covered in blood. Understandably, they want to move but the Council are not yet doing anything to move them. The house should really be abandoned by now, in my opinion, and they are still in shock. But the most harrowing aspect of the story is that even though the man was at death's door, having cut himself to pieces, literally with parts of his internal organs hanging out, he is now out of hospital and is calling at the door of the couple and he won't stop going round. Why has the man not been sectioned? Why is he not in a secure hospital? Is he not a 'danger to himself and others'? Well, this is 'care in the community'.
Apparently, it was Margaret Thatcher who closed down all the mental asylums of Britain and just let the society that she said did not really exist deal with psychopathic mental patients. Say a prayer, or a Rosary, for the lady (you can pray for the 'iron lady' as well, of course), her niece and her family as despite the terrible things that have happened at the flat, the local authority seems to be washing their hands of the situation, while they are still trying to wash the blood off the walls and repaint them despite the fact that blood is still coming through. I don't know why people who are troubled come to Brighton but they do. Some people are desperate to get out. The lady I was speaking to about it is Catholic but she has lost her faith over the years, so say a prayer for her too and for the protection of her relatives.
The niece, who still lives in the same house, still coping with the trauma of what happened went on her way back to the same house where the same guy is still calling round is on the edge of a breakdown. Her boyfriend is, following what he saw, having a nervous breakdown. I told her that the Catholic Church has exorcists but that it is likely that 99% of cases are literally to do with 'mental health'. She replied that if you had seen this guy cutting himself open and opening up his chest in front of you, his eyes and face changing so much that that person you thought you had met was no longer there, you'd know that demonic possession is totally real.
Oh and, last, but by no means least, pray for the man who is (at best) seriously mentally ill, who is harrasing the family and that the authorities will take action that will save his life and bring peace to their lives. Welcome to Brighton and, remember, its nothing like what the Council and tourist board say it is. You could have the best 'global economy' run by a world bank in the World, even one run along the lines of the Church's social teaching, but, somehow, I don't think it would save the West. Only Our Blessed Lord can save this country.
This is Laurence England reporting to you live from Brighton and, while the view here is sometimes pretty, there is no doubt in my mind that this country is going to the wall, big time and how! If you live in the countryside, well, good for you! My advice, for the time being, is stay there! And it isn't even Halloween yet...Ave Maria, gratia plena...Anyway, to end, let's end with something light. As you'll hear from our video, I've got nothing on John Squire, but George, even though he isn't famous, is still a better singer than Ian Brown. Why not say a prayer for Ian and his ladywife too who is, apparently, a Mexican lady.
