How to halt The Tablet in one easy move

Tyburn Tree has posted on Facebook, with a suggestion  of how to call a halt to The Tablet and its utterances, in particular, criticising Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

As with all good ideas, it has simplicity at its base.

Here is what TT has to say on the matter:-

"This is just a thought.                        Perhaps people who attend Westminster                                     Cathedral could be encouraged to desist                       from putting money in the collection until                     such time as the Tablet is removed (and                        write to His Grace to that effect)".

Great idea. But why restrict it to Westminster Cathedral?

Why not withold normal weekly donations to the collection plate?

Always provided, of course, that you attend a parish where The Tablet is on sale.

If the thought of holding back your dues is worrying you, why not just place the money in a safe place pro tem and then pay up once the offending rag has been removed?

 For good.

Seems a sound concept to me.

Nothing focuses the attention of their Lordships better than a reduction in turnover.

So please....desist.....yes, desist......DESIST!

Coming off The Pill

In my formative years, when hookers were only found on rugby pitches and generals were the only people with aides, there were three main Catholic publications in church porches throughout the country.

Their readership was quite distinct in both class and character.

At the cheap and cheerful end there was The Universe, the working Catholic man's newspaper.

The Catholic middle classes read the broadsheet Catholic Herald and, as Sister Catherine Walsh OP used to say: "It's the only Catholic newspaper run by Catholics, boys". And so it was and still is.

And then the Upper Class Catholics had a rather upper class publication called The Tablet. This was and is, in magazine format and carried rather more copy than pictures; it would then have been described as  "an intellectual read".

I think this hierarchy still stands except that The Tablet, as we all know, has become the mouthpiece of  liberal crassness; somewhat left of Arthur Scargill.

But it still retains, (among Catholics of the cafeteria variety) a sort of air of pseudo intellectuality, of being unassailable as an organ of the thinking Catholic.

The once exclusive readership has drifted so that both the lower and middle classes like to be seen with a copy under their arm.

It lends them, so they believe, a sort of pew credibility; it adds an air of 'better than thou' to those who buy a copy and then, on returning home, consign it to the re-cycling bin unread.

A group of young Catholics has started a campaign aimed at closing down The Tablet, (Tabula Delenda Est) I wish them every success in their endeavours.

But we all need to challenge this false air of intellectual authority that surrounds the editorial team and their Directors at The Tablet.

We need to question those who wave their copy around as proof of their forward thinking capacity and charitably point out the truth of the matter to them.

The Tablet is not now the thinking Catholic's magazine; it has evolved into 'Pseud's Corner'.
Please inform your Bishop, Parish Priest and you fellow parishioners of this fact.

In this clip below you can see three Catholics.

Can you tell The Tablet reader from The Universe reader or The Catholic Herald reader?

There's also a final clip showing an interview believed to be with a young Clifford Longley

Another Catholic Priest Speaks Out Over 'Gay Marriage'...

Fr Ceirion Gilbert has penned a dodgy article in The Tablet

Unfortunately, the diseased organ in which he has spoken out over 'gay marriage' is The Tablet.

'Dissenter's Weekly' is really bending over backwards to be as 'inclusive' as inclusive can be in this intense and 'heated' debate. Why's it so 'heated' I hear you cry? Because the fires of Hell are lapping up against the walls of Holy Mother Church and The Tablet and its supportive clergy are pouring petrol on the flames.

If you thought Fr Timothy Radcliffe's piece on same-sex marriages was ambiguous in its treatment of the issue of homosexual unions, then wait until you get a load of Fr Ceirion Gilbert. When we have liberal clergy speaking out in contradiction to the Bishops of England and Wales, then we can tell Houston we have a problem. My thoughts, bold, gold.

'"Marriage" is a word, and yet its content is heavily determined by factors of culture and belonging, faith and history. The Catholic hierarchy believe [rightly] that however there is an essential "core" to the meaning of that word that is inalienable and non-negotiable; others (including other Christian communities and, interestingly, many members of the Catholic laity) disagree [But do you disagree, Father?].

As a priest who deals daily with young people, teachers and catechists [to whom you are duty bound to correct error when you hear it], I fear that yet again the Catholic Church is aligning herself with the wrong side, portraying herself as the "defender" of a position and an interpretation of society and humanity at odds with that of younger generations and almost incomprehensible to them in its rigidity and - to use an admittedly "loaded" term, bigotry. [The Church is defending marriage, truth, Herself and society, but that is 'bigotry'. Is this Priest taking brown paper bags from Stonewall or something?]

I sense that once again, as so often on issues of sexual morality [would you care to elaborate?], that there is a gulf between the diktats of the institution [That'll be 'The Church'] and the "sensus fidelium" [That'll be 'The Schismatics'] , that concept that seems to have almost disappeared in recent years for some reason from the ecclesiastical vocabulary. [Not really, but the concept needs to be understood in its proper sense. That is, in its Magisterial sense.]

I welcome the debate on the meaning of marriage and its role and purpose in a liberal diverse society. [Why? So that you can sow seeds of doubt over the Church's teaching?] But growing ever stronger in my mind is the fear that while as a Church we worry about language and words - Welsh or English or Latin; rock or plainsong; marriage or civil partnership - the message and meaning that we are here to proclaim is passing us by. [Clearly, the Church's message of Salvation is passing some by, indeed...]

Surely if there is one constant and common theme throughout the scriptures it is in the gradual discovery and recognition of the reality of God as a God of an inclusive and all-embracing Love whose ultimate expression is found in the Paschal Mystery of Death and Resurrection of his "Word" incarnate, Jesus of Nazareth. [Nobody says Our Lord doesn't love homosexuals. Indeed, He loves everybody and anybody. He is Love. However, sacramentally, naturally, biologically, societally, traditionally, legally and by any standard you wish to take, the State has no right to redefine marriage. That is what is under discussion, Father. Why can liberals not stick to the point?]

[...] Fortunately the letter read out in many Catholic churches over the weekend written by Archbishops Nichols and Smith was far more balanced and conciliatory in tone, although the arguments presented in it in defence of the status quo are not above logical and theological questioning.' [Neither, Father, are your own ambiguous statements in this article above logical and theological questioning. Except, I guess that over at The Tablet, you won't find too many people challenging your article, because, let's face it, they, too, have more or less deserted the Faith of Christ also.]

The purpose and mission of the Church, surely, is to be an effective and coherent witness to and expression of that love in our world and our time - however we do it, and in whatever language, for everyone. [Bringing Truth and Salvation to the World is just a footnote of the Church's mission, then?]

I saw little of that, sadly, in the words of the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh last week. Society sees little of that, sadly, when it sees a church hierarchy that all too willingly goes into convulsions when moral issues are called into question but remains silent when faced with the real social scandals of our time. [Which are? Abortion? The early sexualisation of children through explicit and amoral sex education programmes?]

But I do see it in the people, young and old, who still come faithfully to fill the pews and celebrate the mystery of a love that defies all our definitions and the limits we place on it [the mystery of a love indeed that, unlike you, does not deny Truth and Mercy to those with the condition of homosexuality]. I see it in their acts of sacrifice and solidarity, in their innate sense of dignity, justice and a shared and sacred humanity. Perhaps when as a Church we begin to speak about that a bit more, the world will once again sit up and listen.

Helpful, eh? Apparently, Fr Gilbert is Director of Youth Services in the Diocese of Menevia in south Wales, and editor of the diocesan magazine. God help Menevians and Tabula Delenda Est.

Tabula Delenda Est!

Thanks to my friend Lawrence who played harmonica on this song and to the Blessed Virgin and the Saints who inspired me. If you like it then Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. If you don't then, sorry. I chose a car park for recording because the acoustics are good and we are the Catholic underground.

Tabula Delenda Est

Well I walked into the Mother Church of England and Wales

To light a candle, say some prayers and confess

Took a stroll around and found a magazine

Enigmatically titled, ‘The Tablet’

So I read a couple of the articles and the more that I read,

The more it dawned on me this mag once had Catholic zeal

Now its a vehicle for dissent

So I said:

‘Tabula Delenda est!’

Now I know why so few Catholics genuflect

They're so comatosed by this infernal, liberal journal

They don’t believe in the Real Presence

‘Tabula delenda est’

The barely beating heart of the Catholic Establishment

Surely its days are numbered

If their faith is so encumbered by liberalism’s foul-smelling stench

Domine exaudi orationem meam

Et clamor meus ad te veniat

When will the axe fall upon this moribund magazine

And its liberal editrix?

No subject is taboo, no line can be drawn

Nothing's sacred, no Teaching unchallenged

And if you dare to tell them they’re writing into oblivion

They’ll say you’re a fundamentalist

Tabula delenda est!

The intelligensia ain't that intelligent

 Because they’re losing readers by the weeks, months, years

And its obvious they’re best years are spent

Tabula delenda est!

And we wonder where all of the Catholics went

They either lapsed or died of boredom readin' this nauseatin'

Excuse for the Catholic press!

An insult to the energy Cardinal Vaughan spent

On a Catholic journal called The Tablet

That would explain Catholicism rather than end up in schism

That would be loyal to Christ to the end

Now we get articles by Bobby Mickens wishing that our

 Beloved Pope was dead

But who'll be Bobby’s successor?

And who's a rank outsider?

Have a word with Archbishop Vincent

Living proof for the Doctrine of Original Sin

But at least in Adam and Eve’s defence

Although they picked from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

At least they knew the difference

More than we can say for…

Tabula delenda est!

The barely beating heart of the Catholic Establishment

When will the Archbishop of Westminster tell Catherine Pepinster

 She's non dignus of her monthly pay cheque

Tabula delenda est!
What kind of Catholic does this weekly represent?
Not the ones who adhere to the Magisterium
 You'll find them all on the internet

Tabula delenda est!

Are you wondering where all of the Catholics went?

Their faith collapsed, possibly, when they swallowed the Suppository

 Implausibly, bitter Tablet


Tabula delenda est!
Why not consider reading the Herald instead?

The Pill's dwindling readership's still cryin’ over Humanae Vitae

So they read The Tablet

Tabula delenda est!
Let's burn copies of The Tablet 'til there's no Tablets left
And then return to the Church to adore Our Blessed Lord
In the Most Holy Sacrament

Tabula delenda 
Tabula delenda
Tabula delenda est! 

Tabula delenda
Tabula delenda
Tabula delenda est!