Good old BBC, never fails to disappoint

Sorry, no tangos at Latin Masses, only
at Latino ones!

First, before I get to Auntie Beeb let me give you the results of my pre Christmas Quiz, the one showing a picture of a couple doing the Tango, you know, that dance that epitomises immodesty with its blatant sexual overtures and scanty dresses.

The answer, of course, is number three, and it originates from the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing programme, or, as I prefer to call it, Strictly Come Pornography.

For that, really, is what it is. Sorry to be a killjoy but pornography it is.

Those that nominated number one, the Berlin nightclub were a shade off strasse; but it could well have been snapped in a dodgy joint in Germany's capital.

And, as for those who suspected that the photo came from a Catholic Mass in Buenos Aires, what an outrageous suggestion.

Can you possibly imagine a sensuous, provocative dance taking place on the sanctuary after Holy Mass?

That would surely be an act of sacrilege, the modern day equivalent of prancing round the golden calf.

You just have time to make it to Confession before Midnight Mass.

Now for the BBC.

Radio Four on Sunday morning and the adenoidal tones of that pillar of the Church, Ed Stourton.

He is introducing a piece on the seasonal celebrations, you know, the ones that we love to take part in at this time of the year 'cept he's not talking of Christmas and the birth of the Messiah, no, no,
no-ooo!

Ed is speaking about the Winter Solstice and how pagans love to gather at dawn around the standing stones of Stonehenge - great!

And then, as I listened in horror whilst attending to matters of dental hygiene I hear a Pythonesque voice state words to the effect that:

"Well, Stonehenge is a place of spirichool healing, just like Lourdes, reelly"

At this point I had to call Mrs L to disentangle my toothbrush from my epiglottis.

Nice one Ed and your pagan chums!


 

O, Naughty Jim

James Naughtie - expert on all things Catholic

                         
That long time admirer of the Catholic Faith, broadcaster and veteran of Radio Four's Today programme, Jim (Jimmy) Naughtie, has made a boob with his commentary on the Papal Mass of Inauguration.

Describing the priests at the Mass distributing the Holy Eucharist, he referred to them "bringing the bread and wine".

O Jimmy, I suspect that was no error on your part but a little bit of the old Scots Presbyterian rearing its ugly 'heed'.

He knows jolly well that Catholics not only believe that the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ but also KNOW it!

I wish whoever is in charge of Religious Affairs at the BBC would take Naughtie into the gents and stick his head down a pedestal while engaging the flush.

That is a much kinder retribution for making such comments than the Islamists would have applied had he made a similar 'blunder'.

A tip of the Biretta to EFPE whose comment led me to this post

BBC....the Bigoted Broadcasting Corporation

Two things that the BBC excel in

For far too long the BBC has shown an astonishing and wilful level of ignorance on all things Catholic.

Now, wilful ignorance has given way to a prejudiced and spiteful anti Catholic campaign.

It spills over into all types of programmes; this morning's business news had a woman from industry (name unknown) who pronounced with great authority on the fact that the Catholic Church was so archaic, 115 men "average age 71 years" repeat etc., "all speaking latin to each other" (what did she expect - Serbo-Croat?) and all in a huddle to determine a new leader.

Annoying, ignorant and shallow, but that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yesterday, on Radio 4's Today programme we had the ubiquitous Jimmy Naughtie interviewing none other than the highly respected and mainstream Church authority, Hans Kung.
Hans Kung! I ask you!

Of course, we were treated to a stream of damning statements regarding Pope Benedict XVI's reign.

And now, today, the same programme featured an interview with John Humphrys (always good for an inaccurate grasp of Church matters) and an ex priest (of course, they are de rigeur when a commentary on the Catholic Church is required) and Fiona O'Reilly batting for the good team on behalf of Catholic Voices.

First of all we were treated to a few sound bites from Tabletista and ex Amplefordian Ed Stourton (yawn, vomit).
Ed told us that the Pontiff (Pope Benedict XVI) had "fallen asleep" and the consquences were that the Church had failed in its dedication to social justice and in listening to the people.

I almost thought I heard cries of "Up the people" in the background but I may have been hallucinating at this stage.

Red Ed continued with his rant rhetoric and in his obnoxious, pompous manner stated that "Benedict has allowed things to slide" and that he should have "Got a grip and spoken to the modern world".

I am sure that his scripts are written by the same frothy mouthed mob of socialist workers that put in an appearance at the Cardiff 40 Days Vigil recently.

Then on to (oh, joy) the man Humphrys described as a "Gay, 'married' priest" - is that an oxymoron? It's certainly a moronic comment.
For some unknown reason Humphrys adopted the American pronunciation of the GMP's name; Ber-naard Lynch he kept saying in pretty polly fashion.

Well Ber-naard certainly lived up to expectations. We were treated to barrow loads of sodomite cant such as "I was expelled from the Church because of my love for my 'husband'" (bucket please nurse).

Ber-naard (I can't stop saying it now) added that 95% of practising Catholics used contraception.

What that had to do with the debate was anyone's business but, where on earth did he get that statistic?

Not from the Farm Street Homo Information Bureau I trust.

Fiona O'Reilly did a valiant job but, coming in more or less at the end of the discussion, she was ever on the hind foot.

John Humphrys kept banging on about the Catholic Church ignoring the sexual priest issue blah, blah (and we cannot deny that this has been a problem, but one of that the Bishops have allowed to escalate) and I dearly wanted Fiona to bite back and ask what the Beeb did about Jimmy Savile for more than forty years, but, she was too Christian a girl for that.

That, in itself, typifies one of my concerns regarding Catholic Voices. The aims of the group are admirable but we don't just need "young and with it Catholic speakers", we also need to move away from a re-active stance to a pro-active one.

This (and I know you will hate me for saying it) is where having a good Catholic Media Director in place would pay dividends.
Someone who knows the press and the media inside out and who will take the battle to them; not sit back and wait until the problem has boiled over into a mega crisis.

Of course, if we had a corps of Bishops* who had moral fibre and some sort of spine, the problem would be solved.

Cardinal Heenan, where are you?

* I do not include the excellent Bishops of Portsmouth and Shrewsbury here.

The signs of a Christian - BBC fashion

The Radio Four Today programme this morning fielded a debate involving that darling of the Anglicanettes, Canon Giles Fraser and the man who is doing more to bring Christians back to their faith than any other, the jolly atheist, Richard Dawkins.

Dawkins claimed that we (the UK) were not Christian in any real senses as, although figures showed that X number claimed the title, most could not display any knowledge regarding the faith.

He intimated that, given the question: "What is the first book of the New Testament"there?" Most would respond with a shrug of the shoulders.

If then, we knew nothing of our creed, how could we lay claim to be part of it?

Canon Giles had obviously consumed more than one Weetabix for breakfast as he threw down a challenge, there and then, to the Prof.

"Tell me" he said "As a Darwinian could you please state the full title of 'The Origin of the Species'.

"Of course" blustered Dawkins, "It's....um....er...it's....."(all dissolve in fits of giggles). He could not recall it and, hoisted by his own petard, he could of course, by his own argument, no longer refer to himself as an atheist.

However, I do find myself grudgingly agreeing with the point made by Professor Dawkins. If we know nothing about Christianity - what does that say about our personal faith?

It says that we ignore it, we regard it as a tab that we can call on at times when we are feeling righteous. It says that our belief is about as strong as a glass of watered down skimmed milk.

There is, as always a balance. There is absolutely no requirement for us to be erudite about matters theological, to be able to frame an argument based on the hypostatic union.
What God requires of us is Faith in Him, Charity in our dealings with our fellow man and Hope in Christ's promise of redemption.

But, in the context of western society today we do need to know more about our Faith other than just the basics. There are so many secular influences and influences of another kind that surround us from day 'A' and stay with us until day 'X'.
We have to have knowledge in order to survive, to stand up to those in society who glibly make a case for abortion or euthanasia or IVF treatment.

I wonder how many Catholic Year 11s could answer the following questions:

1. How many Sacraments are there and what are they?

2. Why did God make you?

3. What are the gifts of the Holy Spirit?

4. To whom did God give the Ten Commandments to and in what form were
    they?

5. Who is the Father of Jesus Christ?

I may appear cynical but, unless the student was studying at The Oratory School, The Cardinal Vaughan or Coloma Girls' School (or, indeed, was a homeschooler) I don't think that many others beyond those boundaries would score five out of five.

And the answer to the Darwin question?...The Origin of the Species By means of Natural Selection - give yourself a gold star if you got that.

1.5 Million Turn Out to Greet Holy Father in Spain...

"...Oh look, let's film that small group of protesters."

I haven't been watching TV coverage of the Holy Father's visit to Spain, as I don't have one, and neither have I been looking at BBC news, but I hear from a commenter and a special correspondent at The Catholic Herald that the BBC has been up to its old tricks again.

To register your complaint click here.

A Reluctant Sinner has a good post on the BBC's decision to almost accidentally juxtapose its short and rather dismissive coverage of the spiritual leader of 1 billion Catholics worldwide in Spain with an effusive, much longer interview with a Hare Krishna "guru". We really need Franciscans singing God's praises on the streets again. I saw a group of Hare Krishnas in Brighton this summer singing their Hare Krishna songs and banging tambourines and dishing out their flyers. Not surprisingly, in Brighton, they were warmly received. I find them really quite irritating, personally, but there we go. Always ramming their religion down people's throats!