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