Gay Mass centre for Wales?

The small village of Llanddewi Brefi is rumoured to become the first centre for Gay Masses in Wales although, due to a dispute over boundaries there is some confusion as to which Diocese the village belongs.

The community organising these Masses is a section from the so called "Soho Mass Group" but, being based in Wales they will be called the "Boyo Mass Group"

An altar server training session has been established in the local pub and the clip below shows two of the servers at one of their meetings (not arranged by the Latin Mass Society I hasten to add).

Will Farm Street end up on Queer Street?

The action taken by Archbishop Nichols to halt the so called gay Masses at the church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Warwick Street, Soho and to transfer the pastoral care of the same sex attraction community to the Jesuits at Farm Street is, at first glance, laudable.

But, as the rumours begin and as my cynicism sets to work, the concern must be, to question if that really is an end to the homosexual Masses or are they merely being transferred.

If the latter is the case then who better to conduct such Masses than the Jesuits, now an order based upon jeans and sweaters rather than the yoke of Christ.

And, if these Masses of exclusion do continue then I hope and pray that the Cardinal's hat does not end up on the coat rack in Archbishop's House.

And, for those who may feel that my choice of wording in the headline to this post is not quite politically in order, let me state that the term "Queer Street" is used to describe getting into a state of disarray, getting in a pickle.


Which is just what Vin Rouge may be doing if he lets the abuses continue.

Time for a Dry Mennini!

 

Win a free trip to Rome in this exciting competition

All you have to do is:-

* Terminate the gay Soho Masses

* Instal the Ordinariate in one of London's most beautiful churches with links back to the Blessed John Henry, Cardinal Newman

and complete the following sentence in not more than twenty words:

"In future I shall uphold the teachings of Holy Mother Church and respond swiftly to abuses because..........................................................................................................................................

Well done Archbishop Nichols...now may we please have more Latin Masses in your Diocese?

Elena Curti on the Soho Masses: Export it to Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh

Coming to a town near you? The Rainbow Roadshow...

Elena Curti believes the Soho Masses are so great at communicating the Catholic Faith to men and women with same-sex attraction that they should be exported to Bristol, Manchester, Edinburgh and, well, seemingly everywhere where there might be 'a gay' and 'a Church'. Wherever there is a gay, there should be a gay Mass. So now we know why St Pio of Pietrelcina once threw a communist out of his confessional box by force, simply for being a communist...

Elena pines for the day when every Church will have its own Gay Mass for the gay contingent. What could possibly go wrong? And how's this for a cracking start to a blogpost:

'Gay Catholics are called to life-long friendship, the Archbishop of Westminster told BBC2's Newsnight programme last week. It was as far as Archbishop Vincent Nichols was prepared to go in articulating the Church's pastoral concern for its gay members. But he could have referred to the bi-monthly Soho Masses for gay Catholics and their families, which continue in his diocese in spite of complaints to Rome by traditionalists.'

How much further did she expect the Archbishop to go? All the way?

Indeed, he could have referred to the bi-monthly Soho Masses, but there is an outside possibility that the Archbishop finds these Masses a little embarrassing at this time, when the dissent emanating from Soho runs in contradiction to Catholic Teaching and while they continue to draw criticism from 'traditionalists' and, presumably, other Catholics of sound faith in Rome. Full of praise for the Soho Masses, Elena opines:

'These, more than anything else, have demonstrated that the Catholic Church takes seriously its ministry to gay members. It counters the argument from those advocating gay marriage that the Church is homophobic.'

It certainly does counter the argument from those advocating gay marriage that the Church is homophobic. If you listen to what some of the organisers actually say, it counters that argument so much that you get the distinct impression that there is very little difference between what supporters of 'gay marriage' believe and what organisers of the Soho Masses believe. Then, as if to finally confirm what many already believed, that The Tablet editorial team is comprised of fantasists, Elena says:

'As for Cardinal Keith O'Brien, what better way to counter the furore that greeted his outburst against the notion of gay marriage?'

Good luck with that one, Elena, love. I think you need a lay down, dear.

And, of course, no Tablet article would be complete without perpetuating the lie that the Universal Church has any support whatsoever, or ever shall, for gay civil unions, even though the parallel Magisterium of The Tablet and (at times, some of) the English Hierarchy can give people the impression that this is the case:

'If we as Catholics are to argue convincingly that marriage is the nucleus of our society, that to tamper with it has implications for the care of children and that civil partnerships are the way to recognise stable, committed gay unions, we need the Church to show support for its gay members. Extending the gay Masses would be a good way to do that.'

I suppose they would be a good way to do that, if, into the bargain, you wished to scandalise the good faith of Catholics, undermine the Church's teaching on sexuality, create breeding grounds for dissent around the country and introduce the Marxist liberation theology of the gay movement into every city and town into the country. Yep, that sounds like The Tablet to me. Love it or loathe it, it can always be relied upon to show us the direction in which Holy Mother Church should be going. Just read The Tablet and remember to go in the opposite direction where the compass is pointing.

God, in Your Mercy...

We implore Thee to inspire Your Archbishop and the Archdiocese of Westminster's clergy to put an end to the Soho Masses. God, in Your Mercy, hear our prayer.

I've written reams and even written songs about the grave scandal and utter spiritual travesty that is the Soho Masses. The worst thing about it is that it is opportunity for catechesis and evangelisation wasted.  You would think that if the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church were going to provide a Mass for people with same-sex attraction, in this era in which homosexuality is so actively promoted, that the above video is the very last thing it would look like. Yet, there it is.

Never have I seen a Mass hijacked for an altogether different agenda than the promotion of the Faith or the good of the whole World than the evidence of the Mass above. There are so many depressing things about it, but one of the most depressing is that the Mass has been turned into a social gathering with a bit of spirituality added in.

No, that isn't the most depressing thing. The most depressing thing is that they are the most introspective bidding prayers I have ever heard. It is a community turned in on itself. And then, to cap it all off, a roll call is read of the poor men who have died from Aids, we guess from within their own community! I know that the Church saves souls, not bodies, but if there is any hint, any hint at all, in that video that the Catholic Church promotes chastity for homosexual men, those Aids victim bidding prayers are that advertisement. What about the people of the parish who weren't gay, lesbian or who didn't die of Aids?! Do they not get prayed for by the LGBT community? Does God only care about gay people or something?

I would not like to be in Archbishop Vincent Nichols's shoes right now because I have a feeling that video is about to go viral and in Rome too. Pray that His Grace will have the courage to end his unswerving loyalty to this organisation of dissidents who seduce men, women and people in between to believe that a change in Church teaching signifying God's desire to drape the Church and the World in one big heavenly rainbow flag is just over the horizon while encouraging them to believe and behave as if He has already done so!

Pray that His Grace will divert his Apostolic authority and support to Encourage, who are in need of Apostolic support. Last I heard, they were looking around desperately for chaplains. Sadly, their website (http://www.encouragetrust.org.uk) seems to be down at the moment. A convincing manifesto to combat 'gay marriage' this video is not, Your Grace.

See also: Fr Ray Blake, Fr Tim Finigan, Linen on the Hedgerow, Caroline Farrow

Blessings of Civil Partnerships in Catholic Churches...Already?

H/T John Smeaton of SPUC

You know, a part of the problem with the Bishops of England and Wales's response to Summorum Pontificum, which, years later, can be described as not so much lukewarm as arctic freezing, is that they miss out on a great solution to a huge problem.

For instance, let's say you're the Archbishop of Westminster. You inherit from your predecessor, yes the one who sacked his press guy because he was in a gay relationship, a situation in which Masses are being celebrated solely for the LGBT community in Soho.

Not only have the Masses been organised by LGBT foot soldiers, but after a period of years of letters of complaint as well as public Acts of Reparation taking place near the Church, it becomes apparent that the message of the Gospel, the message of Salvation, is not quite getting the hearing it should be at those Masses. You learn that, instead, the Mass itself has been hijacked and is now being used as a vehicle for the gay 'agenda' which now involves Civil Partnerships, which are otherwise known as same-sex unions, unless, of course, you have been recruited by an apologist media network for the Bishops Conference called Catholic Vices, sorry, Voices.

You know that, ostensibly, the original hope (and it was a hope, certainly at the CDF) of the Masses being brought into the Catholic Church, was that this would be a sacred space in which men (and women) of a homosexual/lesbian orientation would get together in a spirit of brotherly/sisterly love and Christian humility and worship God in the Mass, receive encouragement from the Priest (and each other) to live good and holy lives and walk away from Mass, strengthened by the Holy Eucharist (and possibly the Sacrament of Penance) in order to carry that heavy Cross (and nobody doubts it is heavy) in the World, finding in that very Cross the source of life and Salvation itself.

Happy as Larry, they would walk away from Mass exclaiming "Deo gratias!! Brothers! Let us go hence and evangelise these den of iniquities you see around this Church. Let us bring other gay chaps to the fount of mercy and show them the tender love with which Christ has purchased our souls! See the Lord has given us brothers, let us love one another, taking for our example the purity with which Christ has so loved us! Come on, chaps! Shall we say the Rosary in Latin or English? Ave Maria, gratia plena..."

As far as the CDF was concerned, this was the original plan. That romantic dewy-eyed plan, if it ever did exist, at some point got thrown out of the window or burnt and instead the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory has been well and truly Stonewalled. Coverage of the scandalous infiltration of this Mass by elements in the Church who do not believe a single word that the Church teaches about homosexuality (i.e that homosexual sexual acts are gravely and mortally sinful and run contrary to both the natural law and the law of God) is available on the internet. Just type in 'Gay Masses' or 'Soho Masses' into Google and see what you get. What is more, these Masses have received healthy coverage on this blog.

However, now the Archbishop of Westminster has a new problem on His Grace's hands. The organiser of these Masses, a Martin Prendergast, who has a Guardian column (today he laments the successful Christian backlash against Tesco's support of gay Pride), has suggested that already 'blessings' of Civil Partnerships are taking place.

"What in Higgs Boson! Christopher Columbus! No! That's outrageous!"

...will surely be the Archbishop's response when he hears the news of it. After all, there is no way the Archbishop is going to allow a man who publicly states his belief in 'gay marriage' as being potentially 'sacramental' within the Church to enlist the help of Archdiocese of Westminster clergy to 'bless' Civil Partnerships in a Catholic Church! Certainly not while His Grace is fighting the good fight against the Government's plans for gay marriage!

Or, perhaps it isn't a problem at all. For 'who knows what's down the road' in the Archdiocese of Westminster? What with having quite masterfully spun, sorry, 're-framed' the issue of Civil Partnerships with the help of Catholic Voices, in terms a 'contribution to the common good', while praising the secular doctrine of 'equality' and thus having already set himself and the Bishops Conference of England and Wales on a collision course with Rome, I suppose there would be no huge problem for the Archbishop of Westminster's Diocesan clergy 'blessing' Civil Partnerships (that's gay unions, yep, and no buts!) in Catholic Churches. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, 'Just how far down this road do we have to go before we get to Perdition?' and 'Didn't someone once say the road is paved with the skulls of Bishops and Priests?' Well, whoever said that, and whoever is saying that now: Just you hold your horses and your tongues!

I know that the idea of a Catholic priest blessing a Civil Partnership, that is, a legal union of two men or two women bound together by their shared sexual attraction for one another, doesn't sound very, um...Catholic.

'That's the kind of stuff that would only possibly happen in an Anglican Church, right?' 

That might be what you're thinking, but then, you have to consider that this is England and Wales and we do things slightly differently here, don't we? We're more 'nuanced'. We have a veritable army of influential Catholics whose party trick at The Tablet's annual ball is to nuance themselves out of hermitically sealed steel boxes to the astonished disbelief of onlookers.

What a sorry mess. It raises questions. Who, indeed, needs to know 'what's down the road' when what happened five miles back was this bad? Why hasn't Austen recruited this guy for Catholic Voices? I mean, he's more or less saying things vaguely in line with the Archbishop, right? Don't you just love his definition of chastity for those in the single, or unmarried state? It's about 'wholeness' you know! Whatever it is about, it's not about not having sex or even striving (if failing) to adhere to the Church's moral teachings.

Nonetheless, the Archbishop should be concerned about the Soho Masses, at least in terms of how His Grace is seen in Rome, even if His Grace's concern does not extend to the poor mislead Souls attracted to the 'gay Masses' and who fall into the ideological, moral and theological errors that only an incredibly 'nuanced' brand of Catholicism can achieve.

Furthermore, if His Grace is more concerned about the Soho Masses than he appears in public, sorry, just have to hold my tongue a sec, guess it must be an ulcer of some kind, then His Grace could do worse than to send a Catholic priest of a Traditional mold to the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory and do away with the lay-led prayers and 'gay lifestyle affirmation course' said to be present at the Masses, and replace the 'Gay Mass' with a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form. Problem solved. Within 6 months it would be a very different 'scene' altogether. It might even start resembling the Brompton Oratory. Why! I might even consider attending myself!