How good it is.....

....to live in a peaceful Country where all faiths are respected and all signs of intolerance stamped out with the full force of the law.

Where Catholics are free from persecution and bigotry and may safely walk the streets happy in the knowledge that David Cameron's government (and Nick Clegg's) is committed to defending them from all acts of sectarian violence and hatred.

In Lewes, Sussex, on 5th November, mobs march through the streets
 carrying burning crosses in a primitive display of anti Catholicism.
They then burn an effigy of the Holy Father.
Pray for the Parish Priest for whom it must be an exceedingly terrifying experience.

Photo: Wikimedia

 

Football bigotry - no surprise there then!

The fact that adult males (and females, these days) enjoy wearing ridiculous coloured hats and scarves and standing around for hours in the cold watching a strange game where opposing teams seek to trip each other up and then hug and kiss one another when a goal is scored, never ceases to amaze me.

The rattle of a simple man!

And when I read that an ex referee (what a claim to fame) has published (allegedly) bigoted and obscene statements about Catholics in general and the Holy Father in particular, I find myself muttering to myself: "Just what did they expect?"

The old saying that 'Rugby is a game for hooligans played by gentlemen and football is a game for gentlemen played by hooligans' never rang more true.
The day that the press features news of a composition of the mass for four voices or a painting of the face of Christ, all done by a well known Centre Forward (do they call them that any longer?) - that's when I'll sit up and take notice.

But obscene invective, drivel from the rabble is a no news item as far as I'm concerned.

Say a prayer for the man and hope that he grows in intelligence and faith to understand just a fraction of what this world is all about.

That's what I'll do.

And if you wish to read a report of this outburst, please click bigotry.

Is the Queen anti Catholic?

I know that HM and the late Cardinal Hume used to schmooze a bit (in the most Christian sense of the word) and that she used to refer to him as "My Cardinal" - a phrase that somehow rankled with me, raising spectres of an earlier Queen Elizabeth I guess.

But, on the whole Queen Elizabeth the Second has not gone out of her way to give any sort of impression of overt affection for the Catholic Church. Apparently, she did fleetingly smile when she greeted Pope Benedict last September but then quickly reverted to her "I've just stepped in something nasty" expression.

"Eccleston Square Smithers and make it

quick, it's open season for Catholic Bishops"

 

Of course, she is head of a heretical faith and there is every reason why she might have a downer on Papists but we Romans are, by and large these days, loyal and faithful servants to the Queen (but God's first). In fact, it was not so long ago that we had a prayer for the monarch immediately after Low Masses were said. How many Protestant churches have a default prayer for Her Majesty?

My press cuttings files reveal a report from the late 90s with a headline that reads....."Queen bars Catholic Masses at the Tower of London". This refers to a gentleman by the name of Peter Bearcroft, who, by some deft negotiations, had arranged for Mass to be celebrated regularly in the cell of St John Fisher.

A small group of Catholics would meet up and discreetly attend Holy Mass. This was with the permission of the Governor of the Tower, and, when he retired, Mr Bearcroft applied anew for permission to the new Governor and, after some bureaucracy, the matter was referred to HM Queen Elizabeth who flatly rejected the matter stating that her decision was: "...because of the problems this would  cause for the governor".....Ummm.....like a major insurrection of Catholics...or the storming of the Houses of Parliament by the Legion of Mary?

Of course, at her coronation, HM swore an oath to uphold the Protestant faith so one cannot really get too shirty except that, we are, by and large,  loyal servants of the crown and it would be good to be on the reciprocal end of things for a change.

After all, we are the only section of society barred from royal accession or, even, from being Prime Minister.

You can be Sikh, Muslim, Buddhist or 39th Day  Coming of the Anti-Christ Free Homosexual Revisionist and marry into the royal family or be PM.

But...if you are a Roman Catholic...forget it!

Britain's Monarchy can be Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu or Bush Born Baptist but they can't be Catholic

A country that prides itself on its even handedness and sense of fair play, that opens its doors to all and sundry in need of state support, that invokes laws promoting homosexuality, abortion and euthanasia in its attempt to be 'forward thinking and unprejudiced' actually does not allow a Roman Catholic to become an heir to the throne.
 A massive throwback back to the Dark Ages!

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales profess to be ambivalent towards this inequality, not really concerned with a Catholic becoming an heir to the throne, happy to  maintain the status quo. Happy, also, for their Cardinals to be relegated to the back of the VIP pews when it comes to Royal Weddings.

But I find it distinctly unhealthy and an indicator of a hard core prejudice against Catholics. Nick Clegg (bless him) was all set to sort out the Act of Settlement and change it so that Catholics could join the ranks of those eligible to be king or queen  along with Seventh Day Adventists, Monster Raving Loony Born Again Christians and the Ba Hai Reformed Church members (who have been eligible for that honour since the Act was passed in 1701).

Now it appears that the Government is cooling down any notion of making any changes, well we have had 310 years of prejudice against Catholics, what's another century or two?

Whom, one might ask, has put the dampers on change? EF Pastor Emeritus claims that no less a personage than the Queen is behind it and I believe that he is correct.
Her Majesty has never evinced any love or even empathy for the Catholic Faith; she is Low Church Anglican and put a stop to a small private Mass that was celebrated regularly in the cell of St Thomas More in the Tower of London a few years ago; that seemed to be a spiteful act. She referred, patronisingly, to Cardinal Hume as "My Cardinal" and he also played the part well.




"A Papist on the throne? - Never"

 She has not gone out of her way, in any sense of the phrase, to embrace the British members of the Catholic Church as her subjects.

British Catholics, however, continue to show temporal fealty to the Crown and, by large, are a loyal and true bunch of people.

Of course, no self respecting Catholic would wish to marry or be born into the British Royal Family. They do not have a great record in terms of marital fidelity or sensible behaviour. I once stood for nearly two hours in the rain with a group of Special Needs students outside our College, awaiting the arrival of the Princess Royal. When she arrived her aide pointed out the group but she totally ignored them and swept past. All that was needed was a quick wave and all would have been fine.
I would like to be a Royalist but my support is waning fast and the fact that this state prejudice is likely to continue only contributes to my feelings that they should all get proper jobs like their European counterparts and start behaving with some decorum.

I also question the role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission - shouldn't they be taking action against such bigotry?

But then I looked at the list of Commissioners and speculated how many of them were Catholic or, even, Christian.....here they are:-

Trevor Phillips OBE (chair)Baroness Margaret Prosser of Battersea OBE (deputy chair)Stephen Alambritis Ann Beynon OBE
Professor Geraldine Van Bueren
Kay Carberry CBE
Baroness Sally Greengross OBE
Baroness Meral Hussein Ece OBE
Dr Jean Irvine OBE
Kaliani Lyle
Angela Mason
Michael Smith
Simon Woolley


If you check their EHRC profiles you will find that many of them are Labour Party activists and a few of them are also supporters of Stonewall, the Homosexual Charity. Quite a few list trades unions as being their key interest. One also claims representation of black people - that's fine but why no evidence of Catholicism?

We are the only faith of any reckoning in this country after all!