Woodcuttingfool: Groggy Approved!

I'll end February with a quick shill for this cool site. Loren Kantor showcases her woodcuts of various classic movies and stars. Really neat.

Pray

Let us do what he told us to do and live us he showed us to live, love us as he showed us to love.

Pray.

Turn towards the Lord. Trust Him. Walk humbly with the Lord.

For the One he held in his hands, He is the Lord Jesus, the Invisible Head of the Church.

He, the Lord, can turn our sadness into everlasting joy.

Goodbye to Our German Shepherd

It is unknown what was said on arrival at Castel Gandolfo, but I'm still hoping His Holiness said: "Aha! Had you all going! Take me back to St Peters! Can't believe you bought that one! Pope resigns! Honestly! As if!"

A prayer storm is now what the Church requires. Pray for our beloved Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI and pray hard for the man who will have the unenviable difficult task of filling those red shoes. There is a 'Twitter Storm' taking place right now and you can thank His Holiness at the trend #ThanksPontifex

Farewell to a hugely unpopular Pope

Who would turn out to wave farewell to a very unpopular, conservative, out of touch Pope?

 

Well, a few turned out........

Well, maybe just a few more turned out...

OK, OK.....maybe it was several hundred thousand of his minority following who just happened to be in Rome that day - tsk!

The Holy Father ate my post!

"Das Leinen auf die Hecke-Blog ist ganz lustig (manchmal)"

I have often idly wondered who the mystery commentator, 'Vatcom' is.

The stats analysis frequently flag up a single viewer from Vatican City, apartment 10, room 6 (second from the top, third left).

And now I can reveal that it is indeed the great man himself.

What an honour. I feel duly humbled.

For the Holy Father to base his farewell address on one of my posts is the greatest compliment I could wish to receive.......trouble is, I think that, out of 1.2 million Catholics, something like 1.999 million of them would have already worked out the topical significance of the parable of the storm as posted HERE

Pray for the Archdiocese of Liverpool

Pray that the vacancy at the Archdiocese of Liverpool will be filled by a holy and worthy Archbishop.

Why not recommend some good names to the nuncio? Above all, pray for Liverpool.

The previous blogpost on this subject has been removed due to some offense caused to readers on the issue of the design of the Cathedral. Sorry to all offended.

Tim Stanley on Ricky Gervais

'Benedictines' swarm St Peters to bid farewell to a popular and greatly loved Pope

Tim Stanley today notes that the National Secular Society cannot pull in a crowd like this one. There are apparently 200,000 + people present in this image alone. The National Secular Society has, I believe, between 7000 - 10,000 members worldwide. No wonder Ricky Gervais is naffed off. I suppose that the National Secular Society are a creative and laughable, if no longer particularly funny, minority. Anyway, along the 'Where's Wally?' theme, I've created this 'Where's Ricky?' picture. Can you spot him? Clue: he's the guy who is always on the telly...

Great and Greatest

Christianity and Ideology

Adopt a Cardinal

I've been assigned a Cardinal to keep in my prayers in the upcoming conclave.

Learn more about Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga here.

Adopt your Cardinal here.

And remember, a Cardinal is for life. 

Not just for a conclave.

Ten points for the Papal election press kit

There is so much misinformation and ignorance (wilful) out there with regard to the election of the new Pope that I can hardly bear to listen to a broadcast let alone read a newspaper.

And much of it, shamefully, comes from Catholic journalists and, of course, the unmentionables (the bishops).

I am heartily peeved at the constant whine of "Perhaps we will have an African Pope...." well read your history, we've had three already.

And then there's the democracy aspect. It does my liver no good at all to hear comments such as "...the Church is not behaving very democratically..."

Good. The Church was not designed to be a democracy.
Christ did not say: "Hands up all those who think that it's a good idea to go forth and teach all nations".

He did not say: "Do this in memory of Me if you agree with the principles of transubstantiation".

What He did say is: "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church" - a line that is guaranteed to induce buttock clenching mode in any Protestant present when the subject comes up.

The Vatican really does need a Press (not Public) Relations Director as a secular counterpart to Fr Lombardi, the press supremo; someone who is as cunning as the media serpents and as wise as a Piazza pigeon.

One of his/her first duties might be to produce a media information pack.

Brief the press firmly and clearly and you stand a very good chance of at least ten per cent of what they state about the Catholic Church being accurate.

Here is the idiot's guide version of the Papal Election press kit:-

1. The new Holy Father will be a Catholic male.

2. The whole election process is under the control of the Holy Spirit - and no, He will not be available for photocalls.

3. Latin will be used a great deal in the days ahead  - it's much better than Esperanto.

4. It is normal for all official Vatican posts to fall vacant when a new Pope is elected - think new leader, new team.

5. No, a new Pope does not mean that we will have women priests; it can't happen, please move on.

6. There will be no changes, repeat, no changes to Catholic doctrine; abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, IVF, contraception, adultery and fornication are all mortal sins and will remain so.

7. The Catholic Faithful will still be obliged to believe in the Sacraments, the Virgin birth, the Immaculate Conception, the Resurrection of the body (see The Apostle's Creed) and also that the devil exists and requires our constant vigilance in order to protect ourselves and HMC.

8. The new Pope may be a Benedict XVII or a Pious XIII or, even, a John Paul III. What he will not be is a Craig, a Del or a Jimmy.

9. There will not be two Popes; only one as normal.

10. The Catholic Church will remain the Mystical Body of Christ, the one, true Church.

In brief, normal service will be resumed as usual when you see the white smoke.

Reversal of Fortune

Barbet Schroder provides a solid true crime drama with Reversal of Fortune (1990). Based on an infamous society scandal, this adaptation of Alan Dershowitz's book avoids sensationalism with a commendably low-key approach. Restrained direction and powerhouse acting make it a memorable film.

In 1980s Rhode Island, socialite Sunny Von Bulow (Glenn Close) falls into an irreversible coma, seemingly brought on by insulin. Suspicion falls on husband Claus (Jeremy Irons), a Danish gadabout seeming to have the means (recreational drugs) and motive (a pretty mistress). After he's convicted, Claus hires ace attorney Alan Dershowitz (Ron Silver) to appeal the verdict. Dershowitz initially believes Claus is guilty, accepting only to fund another case. But Dershowitz finds the case and his client more complicated than they appear, reframing his argument from legal technicality to innocence.

Reversal of Fortune can't be praised enough for its tactful presentation. One could easily paint this as the story of a rich bastard who got away with attempted murder. But Sunny's family is far richer than Claus, launching their own semi-legal investigation with a private attorney. This last provides Dershowitz a legal principle to justify his involvement: by challenging the prosecution's unethical tactics, he hopes to plug a loophole in the system. Then, of course, Claus may be innocent: a key piece of evidence proves fabricated, and Sunny's demons gradually surface.

This portrait of high society isn't exactly flattering. Schroeder shows Rhode Island's hoi polloi as backbiting sybarites, with drugs, extramarital affairs and self-destruction a daily occurrence. Sunny started seeing Claus when married to a European noble; her children from that marriage (Jad Mager and Sarah Fearon) and maid (Uta Hagen) seem to resent Claus, providing a motive for suspicion. Claus's new squeeze (Christine Baranski) lets slip an anti-Semitic slur upon meeting Dershowitz. Then there's the unavoidable fact that, for all Dershowitz's liberal posturing, only a millionaire could afford such an appeal.

Schroeder and writer Nicholas Kazan avoid courtroom dramatics, focusing instead on Dershowitz's exhaustive preparations. He's helped by a team of perky grad students, who eat Chinese food and play basketball between research sessions. Dershowitz easily pokes holes in the prosecution's case, finding their investigation bungled or worse. But his case is nearly derailed by pusher David Marriott (Fisher Stevens), a shady witness unable to keep his story straight. Never mind the trial: just getting to court is difficult enough.

Comatose Sunny weighs in with sardonic narration, sketching in her background and feelings on marriage. But Claus takes center stage. Initially seeming an arrogant bastard, he slowly reveals a more complex personality: he's genuinely chummy towards Dershowitz, complains that Sunny wouldn't let him hold a useful job, and seems hurt when accused of callousness. Yet what conclusion can be drawn from his shooing away the maid while Sunny lay unconscious in bed? Is Claus a murderer or simply a bad husband? There's no easy answer forthcoming.

Jeremy Irons won a well-deserved Oscar for his performance. He makes Claus a seemingly impassive figure with decadent taste and a ghoulish sense of humor ("What do you get the wife who has everything? Insulin"). His hauteur is initially off-putting but Irons, with his wry smile and velvet purr of a voice, generates a mysterious charm. Irons does a remarkable job suggesting a man who alternately appealing and repugnant, frustratingly inscrutable.

Glenn Close makes a strong impression with minimal screen time. She plays Sunny as a neurotic wreck, unhappy in marriage and increasingly absorbed by drugs and self-loathing. Ron Silver matches Irons' reserve with extroversion: Dershowitz is borderline manic but formidably smart and principled. Uta Hagen, Jack Gilpin and Fisher Stevens handle key supporting roles. Among Silver's research assistants are Annabella Sciorra and a young Felicity Huffman.

Reversal of Fortune is a top-flight movie. Reserved, mature and cerebral, it's an excellent thriller.

It's a hard concept to grasp (according to The Daily Telegraph)

Yes, it's going to cause chaos and confusion, the days of the two popes are back with us again and (panic, panic) how will the Vatican and the wider world cope?

In mean two popes.....how will we tell them apart?

They will both be wearing white (horror of horrors)

They will both be male (sorry LGBTs)

And they will both celebrate the Mass on a daily basis (swoon)

                                       
                                               After tomorrow this  man will not be the Pope                                      
                                    

              
                                 
                                                        In a few week's time the Pope may     
                                                         look like this, but a little chubbier


OK, OK, settle down media pundits; here is how it will work:-

Pope Benedict XVI (after tomorrow) will be known as Pope Emeritus (not 'The Pope' and not 'The Holy Father'

His successor, (hopefully a rather amiable and holy American Cardinal), will be the one wearing the red shoes.

He will also speak with an American rather than a German accent (Deo volente)

He will be addressed as "Your Holiness" referred to as 'The Pope' or 'The Holy Father' and he will be the one not eating bratwurst.

They will live not too far apart from each other but reports so far indicate that Fr Lombardi, Vatican PRO will be issuing photofits of each so that the Bishops of England and Wales can be absolutely sure that the person they are slagging off is definitely THE POPE.

The Church's Critics Coming Out of the Closet

Mark Dowd: Catholic pundit who has a real problem with Catholicism

Dr Joseph Shaw wrote a fine blogpost on his LMS Chairman blog concerning a Telegraph article by Peter Stanford.

Peter Stanford has a reputation for writing 'outside of mainstream Catholic thought'. That is to say, that Peter has a problem with the Magisterium of the Church and has a habit of airing his grievances with the Church's teaching in a number of areas. Mark Dowd of the BBC, too has been discussing homosexuality in terms of a 'time bomb' in the Church. Of course, to Mark, anyone in the Church who condemns the homosexual lifestyle is naturally hiding their homosexuality and fears it being exposed. This is ridiculous.

In Christ, all men are held together, be he Saint, be he sinner

While it is true to say that there exists within the Church an element of contradiction on the issue of homosexuality (a proportion of Catholics are, shock horror, homosexuals), it is also true to say that nothing changes or alters the truth of the Church's teaching. Obviously, if anyone is teaching the Gospel - anyone - and is acting in any way contrary to the Gospel, then that person loses public credibility and the privilege of teaching authority.

The idea that because a proportion of clergy and laity and perhaps even Bishops have, at one time or another in their past, present or future, committed sins against purity and chastity - even sins of a homosexual nature - that this naturally leads to the conclusion that the Church's position on homosexuality should change is laughable. It should be laughed at while of course those acting contrary to the Gospel in teaching authority should be 'rooted out' of their positions for the good of the Church.

For centuries, millennia, the Catholic Church has been able to hold both the Saint and the sinner to Her breast, loving both, urging both on to love God. Liberal 'experts' who now appear in the press and on TV to share their wisdom that the Church's position on human sexuality is on its last legs because Her members - even in positions of great authority in the Church - fall short of the glory of God are being woefully ignorant of what the Church's mission really is. These people entirely miss the point of what it means to be a member of the Body of Christ.

The Church only exists to save sinners and to help sinners change sinful lives and to help sinners to be Saints in order to get to Heaven. If She were not this, there would be really no point in someone like St Augustine writing his Confessions. He could, instead, have told his readers all his sins and then said, "But anyway, I enjoy sleeping around and so I believe the Church should change its teaching on sexual matters. This is the way I am and I don't want to change. The Church's teaching on human sexuality is so 300 AD. I'm a 5th century man who moves with the times."

The great problem in the Church, in my honest opinion, is not the array of sexual sins afflicting Her members. We are not really an 'issue' Church. The Church is against and condemns all sin, vice and evil, of course, but the Church is obsessed with preaching a Person - not an ideology. Who is this Person? Of course it is Jesus Christ. For the Church, sin is not just a thought, word or action (or omission) that is contrary to the will of God. Sin is what wounds not only a soul, not only that which offends God, but that which comes between man's relationship with God. Mortal sins destroy the life of grace in a soul. Mortal sins can be forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance as well as venial sins. The Sacrament of Confession restores mortally sick souls to life, to health, to the life of supernatural Grace. Man's relationship with God, though impaired or even severed by sin can be restored. That is, you know, why Jesus died on the Cross.

Peter Stanford, former Editor of the Catholic Herald

'Cafeteria Catholicism' is the rejection of Catholicism - a rejection of truth

All this a child can accept. It makes perfect sense. We are sinners. We need God's help to be good Christians. When we are not good Christians, we need God's forgiveness. Through His Church and the ministry of the Priest, the penitent who has lost Heaven and deserves Hell can 'get back on the horse' and back on the road to Heaven.

So, the great problem is not sexual sin. The problem is that Salvation is no longer preached from those with a mission to preach it. Even in a secular age, lay Catholics can support Teachers and Shepherds and can and should preach the message of Salvation - not the message of sin. Liberal Catholics are obsessed with defending sin because they cannot proclaim Salvation. Let's be honest here, liberal Catholics do not want to be saved or lead others to Salvation. They neither open the door of Salvation to others nor enter the Kingdom of God themselves.

This is true in vast arenas of the Church's life and mission and it is something that afflicts priests, lay people, 'public Catholics' and even Cardinals and Bishops. This is what sadly afflicts those who preach something of the effects of Christianity - kindness and forgiveness - but who lack the inner power of the Gospel to proclaim Salvation to their flock. That said, if a Bishop spends his entire ministry teaching on the evils of abortion, artificial contraception, IVF, embryology, masturbation, drunkenness, vice, homosexual acts and fornication, but says nothing of Jesus Christ, His mercy and forgiveness in the Sacraments, then his ministry is an utter failure.

See, its not really about homosexuality. It's not really about contraception. It's not really about fornication. It's about the failure of the Church to preach Jesus Christ and to offer the World Christ crucified. We all desire God's mercy and we all desire the truth. We are drawn to goodness. For centuries the Church's liturgy has been a sermon on the great mercy of God, yet now God's mercy and Salvation is a peripheral feature of the Church.

Benedict XVI: A voice rejected by many in the Church, from the Cardinal to the lay man

And so, instead, we have lay Catholics preaching something entirely different to Jesus Christ in the media because, fundamentally, they do not want Salvation, or are ignorant of what it entails to attain it, are ignorant of the Gospel and leave their audience in total ignorance as to what the Church is actually for: savings souls and getting souls to Heaven because of their relationship with Jesus Christ in His Church. If 100% of the Church's priests and Bishops were homosexuals who were devoted to prayer, devoted to the poor, devoted to saving souls and devoted to Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother, I assure you, there would be no great crisis in the Church as there is now.

Sadly, we do have a crisis, but it is not a crisis of sexual ethics or a crisis that requires a revision of Church doctrine - as if an entire ocean of sin could sweep away God's laws! What we are experiencing, as Pope Benedict XVI made so clear is a crisis of Faith. It is a crisis that affects the modern Cardinal as much as it does the modern lay man or woman. We no longer believe in the power of Jesus Christ to forgive us. We certainly don't think He can heal us. We lack the Faith to be like little children and to trust Him like little children. We lack the Faith to be like little children and to accept what the Church teaches to be from God, or Divine origin. We believe that our own way is modern and therefore better - as if the heretics of the past did not think their 'way' was new and exciting! We have forgotten, as Catholics, how to pray, to hope, to love. We have forgotten how to love! We are told God loves us, but have forgotten or are left in the dark as to how to love God.

Of course, in Pope Benedict XVI, the Church has a light, we shall soon say, had a light, but as with the Lord Jesus, when light comes into the World and the Church and illumines Her with the truth, so often, even the Church members themselves reject the light and are dismayed by the truth. The light of Pope Benedict XVI has shone in the darkness of the World and the gloom of the modern Catholic Church.

His is a light that has illuminated the minds and hearts of all those who have listened to him and read him who hear the voice of the Lord and who love truth. If men and women in the Church in the modern age have rejected the message and pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI, the 'humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord', then it is not because they don't understand what he is saying. It is because they have hardened their hearts in sin and error so much that they have become unteachable. This is true of the Cardinal, the Bishop, the Priest, the Religious and the lay man.

May God guide and protect you always Pope Benedict XVI, Holy Father, you who have been such a wonderful Shepherd to us. You have been a true Father in God to your flock spread throughout this unstable World. Thank you for your wonderful words and writings. Thank you for your humility and courage. Thank you for your visit to this country. Thank you for helping Anglicans to join Holy Mother Church corporately, for strengthening the brethren, for trying to heal divisions even within the Church and with other church communities. Thank you Your Holiness, for liberating the Traditional Latin Mass, enabling us to see in the ancient liturgy, that beauty, so timeless and ancient, so ancient and yet so new! The beauty that is Jesus! You have been an inspiration, Your Holiness. We love you. We thank you. Viva il Papa! Enjoy your retirement with the Lord Jesus and ora pro nobis! Whoever is elected your Successor, Your Holiness, you will be deeply missed and never forgotten.

"The Deacon's busy......

......the Deacon's ill......we are all under a lot of pressure right now.....the priest in the parish adjoining ours has asked for help from our deacon....I'm sure she could get to a church somehow...."

                         Even clowns can juggle successfully

This is a transcript from a phone conversation I had with a parish administrator in my hunt to arrange for the Blessed Sacrament to be taken to an elderly and frail relative.

The real problem is that my relative will only receive Holy Communion from a priest or, at a push, a deacon (provided that they look like a priest and are not in civvies).

I would have precisely the same attitude in a similar situation.

I have some sympathy with a parish who has a decent PP but who is suffering with illness himself at present. I have sympathy with busy deacons.

But, I do not have sympathy when nothing is done, over a long period of time.

I do not have sympathy when I am told by a voice over the phone that: "Your mother (sic) was seen at Mass with another relative so we assume she is alright".

One, she is not my mother. Two she is housebound (more or less) and three she would rather conduct a self appendectomy with a rusty saw blade and a coat hanger than attend a novus ordo Mass.

To me this is a snapshot of the modern Church.
All shallow, smarmy pc talk, cant and hypocrisy but no intention of practising charitable works.

Not just charitable works but works at the very heart of a priest's vocation (sorry, are we allowed to use the 'V' word still?).

I regard the current 'deacon' status with some reservations.
 Yes, yes, I know we had 'em years ago but we also had the bubonic plague years ago so it does not follow that everything is hermeneutically sealed.

And yet the problem of too few priests and too many demands on them is not going away, if anything, it's getting worse.

Of course, our Holy Father (whose reign most bishops now seem to regard as some sort of Petrine aberration) had a very good solution some two or three years ago.

He asked for priests and parishes to be federated; clustered in other words.

Instead of four separate parishes in a rural area, the HF suggested that they should be brought together so that two or three priests could live together as a community, reducing the housing and living costs elements by up to 75% and creating a vibrant hub of fraternal support and round the clock pastoral care.

It makes sound sense in both human resource and spiritual management terms.

But then, what does an 85 year old 'conservative' 'blinkered' Pope know about parish life?

The Bishops know what's what and they are following the example set by their brothers in France who employ priests on a peripatetic basis to visit a parish on a six weekly rota.
For the rest of the time the parish church gathers dust and the associated overheads that attend large, old, semi used buildings.

And for those who have not yet guessed, my mother/aunt/cousin/sister-in-law/stepmother, lives in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, home to the pin up of Eccleston Square, Bishop Kieran Conry.

Say no more.

What do you call men who are disloyal to their leader?

Men who stab their general in the back; men who do not wait for the stage to be cleared before they put the boot in by talking of needing a change, of moving away from a 'conservative Church'

Would you place these men in that category? -



Cardinal Emeritus Cormac Murphy O'Connor    



                         
                                              Bishop Kieran Conry, Arundel & Brighton


Bishop Thomas Burns, Menevia             


Would you use these words to describe the character of any of the above?

Integrity/Faithful/Loyal/Obedient/Visionary/Decent/True

The Homosexual 'Mafia' in the Church

A very interesting presentation by Michael Voris.

Pray for the Holy Father.

Pray for the Church.

Pray for the new Pope.

Inwood's Lenten Resolution

Paul Inwood has, due to some restructuring, given up music in Porstmouth Diocese for Lent.

The abstinence programme has been going so well that he will be giving up music for the Diocese for good.

Good for him.

Well done that man!

In times of austerity, times call for a leaner, meaner Church that's unafraid to make cuts when necessary.

Well done to Bishop Philip Egan for making those 'tough decisions' called for in these times. Portsmouth will regain its AAA rating soon enough if things carry on like this.

Don't worry, Paul, after Easter you can come busking with me in Brighton. You'll love it.

How green was his valet?

Speculation grows about many things at present and I have no wish to sling grappa on the flames but I liked this link from Fr Athanasius McVay on Facebook

Not quite a Lazarus moment

That would be endowing my release from hospital (on bail, pending further tests and then an op to remove something that should not be there), with more importance than it really deserves.

However, I am both startled, humbled and very, very grateful for all of your prayers and Masses. And please keep Mrs L and myself in your daily prayers as we are not out of the wood just yet.
Of course, the great Catholic thing under the circumstances is that we shall, in turn, remember you all in our daily Rosary.

Frustratingly, the hospital did not have wi-fi, so in the midst of the latest crises in HMC, I have had to rely on the BBC Radio Four programme for my news.
And that was very bad for my blood pressure (both the news and the prejudiced
way the Beeb presented it).

It seems very much to me that we have entered an era not so very distant from Germany's Weimar Republic of the 1920s and 30s.

Recession and economic disaster are on every corner, secularism enjoys an unparalleled resurgence, everywhere one looks there are images and acts of evil (pornography, violence, war, infanticide), degenerate humanity carries on drinking and carousing generally indulging itself in every perversion known to man and even the pillars of Holy Mother Church are shaking as what is, undoubtedly, an onslaught from below carries on apace.

It is slightly out of a time context but I cling to Archbishop Fulton Sheen's phrase of the late 70s:

"THESE ARE WONDERFUL TIMES TO BE A CATHOLIC"

For those unfamiliar with His Grace's context, he meant that, as a child he enjoyed something of an age of comparative innocence.
Front doors were left unlocked, bicycles could be parked in the garden unchained and free from fear of theft and so on.

By the time he was an old man, the world had moved on and society was suspicious, selfish and jealous; charity had grown cold. The Church and all of her members were under attack and it meant something to stand up and state 'I am a Catholic' under those circumstances.

And now, we have entered an Ice Age as far as goodness and charity is concerned. It is hard to stand up and make a claim to our Faith today; battered and despised by many.

But, we are the Church Militant! This is what we do!

It is  indeed a wonderful time to be a Catholic.

My Coffee, Fags and Internet Hell

Well into Lent and my life still revolves around coffee, tobacco and the internet.

From out of nowhere I just scoffed and entire packet of peanuts that I thought I would just 'nibble on'.

It's important to remember God loves losers especially those who've lost their AAA rating.

How is your Lent going?

The Church and Crisis

Abdicating Popes, Cardinals resigning due to sex allegations, Bishops, Cardinals, laymen calling for an end to priestly celibacy, renegade priests forming schismatic 'associations', Bishops fighting among each other and criticising the Pope.

The Church in crisis.

Despite the fact that we've been in similar situations in the Church's history it is easy to forget that the Catholic Church is founded upon huge crisis.

What greater example can there be than the Lord and Founder of this Divine Institution being nailed to the Cross and bleeding until dead while the Apostles run for the hills for fear, deny Him, forsake Him, betray Him.

Our God is a God Who brings good out of every evil. The power of love, the power of Christ is stronger than death, human weakness and evil. Pope Benedict XVI knows this. Let us follow the Holy Father's deep and profound trust in the Lord.

 "Let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ Pope Benedict XVI

If only we would all trust Him as much as does our beloved Holy Father! Perpetual crisis in the Church should encourage us all to pray. God will never abandon His Church. He is with His Church, however besmirched She is by sin, confusion and misunderstanding, until the End of Time.

When You Read a Journalist Say Someone 'Must' Do Something, Ignore Them

The Church 'must' do this. The Church 'must' do that. The Pope 'must' look at this. The Pope 'must' look into that. Someone pass me the sick bag! Who does this guy think he is?!

As Catholics we understand that in every age the Church is 'black, but beautiful'. Saints arise that point the way to Christ in a sinful world and arise like a beacon of light in a Church of sinners.

St Francis of Assisi, St Anthony of Padua, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, St Philip Neri, St Maximillian "Hey, Nazis, why not kill me and spare the married guy with the kids?" Kolbe, the whole litany of Saints down the ages point to a mystery deeper than even the mystery of marriage that St Paul talked about.

I'm preparing for marriage this year. I believe that Our Lord wishes me to love and cherish one person for the rest of my life in holy matrimony and to accept and cherish new life if He blesses us with new life.  I'm a homosexual man preparing for marriage with a heterosexual woman. Odd? Yes. Do I give a stuff what you think about that? No. It's between us and God as every marriage is. We've been friends for years and we'll be friends until the Lord separates us by Death. I confidently predict we'll outlast the vast majority of all 'straight' marriages and the vast majority of all 'gay marriages' because of a thing called love.

Of course, for the clergy and Bishops the grass is always greener on the other side, but I would argue that if you didn't want to marry Jesus and you didn't want to embrace His Cross in a unique and more than averagely painful way, then you shouldn't have married Jesus in the first place.

As Catholics, we should admit that if we wanted luxury, roses and comfort, we shouldn't have professed our love for the Child born in a stable in a manger who was born and died in poverty and died nailed to Wood, a total outcast. A Church that has rejected the Cross of Christ is one that will be unable to proclaim His Resurrection since without the first, there is no second.

Making things easier does not make things holier. Along the Via Dolorosa, Our Lord had His Blessed Mother come to Him to share His sufferings in a way which we will never fathom. St Veronica came to perform a work of mercy upon the Lord Himself and was rewarded with His Holy Visage being imprinted upon the cloth. St Simon Cyrene came and was honoured enough to share the weight of the Cross. In times when there is now only one Priest in so many parishes the Cross of loneliness is heavy upon a Priest's shoulder. Maybe your pastor needs your prayer and your active support, your encouragement and even your companionship at times, but if we give the impression that what every second Priest needs is a wife and kids then we really are saying that we live in an age in which the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ - as well as the idea that the Priest is 'alter Christus' - that these belong to an age in which people wanted to be Saints - an age now gone.

I have met Priests who, though it is obvious there is an element of pain and suffering involved in their ministry - physical and mental - it is also obvious that their lives speak of the love of Jesus Christ and that to love Jesus - even to suffer with Him - and to be in an 'exclusive relationship' with Jesus is the most mysterious and incredible thing imaginable on Earth - better than sex and far more satisfying. The future of the Church in terms of 'fecundity' surely is relying on these heroic Priests to come forward to proclaim Jesus to be the only hope for all men and all women - no matter what state or vocation to which they are called.

These men are called to a profound and exclusive love affair with God that calls upon them to renounce all others, instead to love all others for the sake of the God with whom they are in love. None of them can do it on their own. They need our prayers and encouragement. They don't need journalists or even Cardinals telling the Pope what the next Pope 'must' do in order to remove the Cross from their shoulders. Despite what some people are saying about Pope Benedict XVI, neither His Holiness nor his Blessed predecessor shied away from the Cross of Christ.

Both have honoured marriage as the great mystery it is and venerated the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, holding it aloft to humanity as the relationship by which God unites man and woman for their good and the good of mankind. Both Popes honoured the Priesthood as a great mystery and venerated Holy Orders, holding the Sacrament aloft to humanity as the vocation by which God unites Himself to His people for their salvation and the salvation of others. The steadfast work of heroic Popes, confessors, martyrs, saints, venerables and others devoted solely to loving Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother is not going to be undone by a Telegraph journalist and a few English Bishops, The Tablet and even a vast army of people saying, "This is too hard." Be of good cheer. God, at such time, always raises up Saints who show us the way and it is rarely the way we expect.

Pray for holy priests, holier Bishops, holy lay persons, holy religious and a holy Pope.

The Conformist

Bernardo Bertolucci graduated from modest, politically-inflected dramas like Before the Revolution (1964) to expansive art house fare: Last Tango in Paris (1972), 1900 (1976), The Last Emperor (1987). The Conformist (1970) is considered a masterpiece, yet I found it rough sledding. It showcases Bertolucci's fascinations with Marxist politics and sexual promiscuity, but seems more interested in crafting bizarre imagery than storytelling.

Marcello (Jean-Louis Trintignant) has no greater ambition than being a bureaucrat. He joins Mussolini's secret police, marries ditzy bourgeoisie Giulia (Stefania Sandrelli) and joins with enforcer Manginello (Gastone Moschin) to assassinate a leftist professor (Enzo Tarascio) living in Paris. Marcello becomes attracted to the Professor's wife (Dominique Sanda), seduced by Parisian decadence and increasingly ambivalent towards his mission.

The Conformist works best satirizing middle class values. Mussolini's regime was never universally loved, most Italians quietly acquiescing to Fascist rule. Marcello epitomizes this attitude: he sublimates his foibles, from his assorted friendships to implied homosexuality, to reinvent himself as a "respectable" middle class functionary. His confession to an irate priest is a comic highpoint, Marcello admitting his failures but praised for wanting to fit in. Conformity is key, even if it means marrying a drip like Giulia or murdering state enemies.

The Conformist's middle section sags. The movie remains on an ostensibly comic level but its message proves shallow and repetitious. Marcello and Giulia find Paris's bourgeois lifestyle more appealing than totalitarian Italy, losing any sense of mission (or plot) as they shop, flirt and putter around. Rather than deal with their complicity in Fascist crimes, Bertolucci cuts straight to war's end, for a bizarre scene where Marcello confronts a long-lost friend - and a traumatic past incident. 

Bertolucci's direction is annoyingly showy. He splashes off-kilter color schemes, narrative shifts, Dutch angles and handheld camerawork like a proto-Oliver Stone. Bertolucci even stages a Visconti-lite dance, the surest sign of artistic pretension. In some scenes it works, like Marcello's trips to his boss's cavernous offices or the bizarrely ritualized assassination. But too often Bertolucci achieves a Tom Hooper level of self-conscious artiness; in one scene, Professor Quadri explains Plato's myth of the cave before opening a window and dissipating Marco's shadow. Such obviousness proves annoying rather than profound.

Jean-Louis Trintingant (Z) scores with a low key, quietly anguished turn. Gastone Moschin (The Godfather, Part II) plays Marcello's more committed associate with comic menace. Dominique Sanda makes an impression as Anna, but Stefania Sandrelli's Giulia is even better. Her transformation from scatter-brained materialist to beaten-down housewife is powerfully effective.

The Conformist is a mixed bag. Admittedly, it comes down to personal taste: most fans love Bertolucci's showy direction, where it mostly gave me a headache.

Pope Benedict XVI's Last Angelus Address

What Page of Apocalypse are we on then?

'The Lord is victorious' ~ Pope Benedict XVI

'In an interview with La Stampa’s Vatican Insider today, the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, has backed the decision of the German Bishops conference to permit use of the morning after pill in Catholic hospitals for rape victims.' (Source: Life Site News)

Wow. I must confess that these are words I never imagined reading. I knew I should have stayed in bed today. Does anyone know what page we are on in the Apocalypse of St John the Divine yet? I'm kind of thinking of hunkering down and laying low for a while. Is there a cave somewhere in Sussex? Preferably one with central heating...

Long awaited proof of masonry at work in the Church?

The Pontifical Academy for Life!? No wonder the 'Fatima nuts' are thought mad by the majority of Bishops and Cardinals of the world. The next Pope isn't just going to have to be 'strong'. He's going to have to built like a brick****house!

Our Lady has promised that in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph, let us never lose sight of that. Let us pray that when it does, she will find us doing God's will and playing our part in the restoration of Holy Mother Church. Continue to pray for Pope Benedict XVI and pray for his Successor. His Holiness himself has said, "I, retired in prayer, will always be with you, and together we will move ahead with the Lord in certainty. The Lord is victorious."

Warning: If you haven't seen at least the first Matrix movie, you won't get this joke.

Due to a small health problem.......

...... there will be a brief intermission.

Mrs L and I would be most grateful for your prayers.

Thank you.

Pope Benedict XVI Alters Papal Inauguration, Adds 'Act of Obedience'

The 'run in' to the departure of Pope Benedict XVI and election of a new Successor of St Peter is beginning to look rather dramatic and you don't have to be a 'Vatican insider' to see that Benedict XVI, with great care and concern for the whole Church, is making some wise final touches to his pontificate.

Firstly, we hear that Cardinals with the responsibility to elect the new Pope will hear the full truth of the Vatileaks scandal and the report of the commission put in charge of gathering information on the document leaks that placed distrust and suspicion at the heart of Vatican life. The contents - under code of papal secrecy thus far - will be made known to the Cardinals on 1 March. This could, for obvious reasons, effect the choice of the election of Benedict XVI's successor and could also 'narrow the field' somewhat in terms of that choice.

Secondly, we hear, too, that there will be some alterations to the ritual for Benedict XVI's successor's inauguration as the new Pontiff. CNS tells us today that:

'Pope Benedict XVI has ordered several changes to the Masses and liturgies that will mark the inauguration of the next pope's pontificate. Rites and gestures that are not strictly sacramental will take place either before a Mass or in a ceremony not involving Mass, Msgr. Guido Marini, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, told the Vatican newspaper Feb. 22. One of the most visual changes, he said, would be the restoration of the public "act of obedience" in which each cardinal present at the pope's inaugural Mass comes forward and offers his allegiance.'

Having recently lamented the sins of disunity, pride and self-promotion within the Church during a homily at St Peter's, the Holy Father is paving the way for his Successor, the fitter and younger man to fill Peter's shoes, carefully.  I think we can safely assume that all is not well within the Vatican and that the Holy Father, who spoke of his earnest desire not to "flee for fear of the wolves" at the beginning of his Pontificate is now fully aware of who the enemies of his papacy are and would not wish what His Holiness has experienced to be visited upon any Successor - not even his enemies.

It is interesting that all Cardinals will have to make an 'act of obedience' to the new Pope. It sends a clear message to those Cardinals and to the Church that the Pope really is Peter, to whom obedience is owed and expected, by virtue of the unique Office given to him by Christ to teach, guard the Church and defend the Deposit of Faith.

His Eminence Cardinal O'Brien has been on TV thinking aloud on the issue on what His Eminence deems to be the potential prospect of the next Pope addressing the issue of married priests, clergy and priestly celibacy.

The Holy Father has not even properly stepped down yet - he will vacate the Chair of Peter on 28th February - and already some very senior figures in the Catholic Church in England, Wales and now Scotland are sowing some confusing seeds in the media, giving the impression, at the very least, that the Catholic Church is deeply divided on some quite important issues. Is it really helpful or wise for Cardinals and Bishops to exploit or seize the twilight of Pope Benedict XVI's reign to advance such controversial and divisive 'debates' in the world's media or attempt to 'set the agenda' for the next Pope? Is this the time for such statements? In Lent? With the Holy Father still on the Chair of St Peter? Is the BBC the forum for such statements to be made? Does this not foster confusion and assist the Church's enemies? Could this even be called 'dissent'?

It is an excellent idea of Pope Benedict XVI to ensure Cardinals take an 'act of obedience' to his Successor. Funnily enough, Cardinal Keith O'Brien made a similar 'act of obedience' - or rather 'profession of faith' when he was made Cardinal by Blessed Pope John Paul II on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October 2003. In the light of what His Eminence has said, it makes for interesting reading:

'Furthermore, I having been called to be Cardinal by pope John Paul II, state that I firmly hold and maintain all and everything taught by the Holy Catholic Church concerning faith and morals, whether solemnly defined or asserted as part of her ordinary Magisterium, especially those doctrines touching the mystery of the Church as the Body of Christ, the Sacraments, the sacrifice of the Mass and the primacy of the Roman Pontiff.

I further state that I accept and intend to defend the law on ecclesiastical celibacy as it is proposed by the Magisterium of the Catholic Church; I accept and promise to defend the ecclesiastical teaching about the immorality of the homosexual act; I accept and promise to promulgate always and everywhere what the Church's Magisterium teaches on contraception. So help me God and these Holy Scriptures which I touch with my hand.'

Oh dear! Ah well, its only an 'act of obedience', isn't it? A little act of disobedience isn't anything to worry about. Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church, pray for us. For those who share the Holy Father's genuine and deep concern for the Bride of Christ and who, today, feel saddened by recent statements by senior figures in the Church's Hierarchy, you can watch a lovely slideshow of Pope Benedict XVI's life here. While you watch it, pray for His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, pray for his Successor and pray for the Universal Church.

H/T Protect the Pope