A traumatised friend phones to tell me about the declining standards of reverance in Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.
It seems the cathedral authorities are more content to run a tourist attraction than a holy and sacred House of God.
My friend was speaking to a regular parishioner who said that nobody is allowed to correct visitors to the cathedral who are wandering around drinking water or eating food. Neither can we tell men to remove their hats.
When my friend checked with the security guards the men confirmed that they cannot tell people to stop eating and drinking in church by orders of the dean.
What are we coming to?
Monday, July 28, 2008
Monday, June 9, 2008
Why Charismatics can be dodgy?
I have been very blessed by the Charismatic Renewal but there are times when its leaders can be extremely suspect.
Attending the Northern Catholic Conference at the weekend in Southport, all was going well until the last speaker Archie Cameron, a leading light in Catholic Charismatic Renewal was giving the last talk.
It was a very subtle deviation from the magisterium - like most dodgy doctrine some of it was half true until he suddenly started talking about women priests.
"Can she be a priest...why not?", he asked. "should she be a priest, why not?"
Some people voiced their immediate displeasure while others applauded - it was all very disturbing.
If he did not believe in women priests, why raise the topic?
Despite quoting scripture during his talk, Mr Cameron neglected the vital piece of scripture where Jesus told Peter whatever he bound on earth, is bound in heaven.
Well Peter has spoken, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for 2000 years and never has he sanctioned women priests. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have reiterated this teaching.
Do Mr Cameron's views matter - tragically yes? He is a school chaplain and this sugar coated dissent makes you wonder what else he tells his charges.
As a leading figue in the Renewal he is in a very good place to lead people astray.
Attending the Northern Catholic Conference at the weekend in Southport, all was going well until the last speaker Archie Cameron, a leading light in Catholic Charismatic Renewal was giving the last talk.
It was a very subtle deviation from the magisterium - like most dodgy doctrine some of it was half true until he suddenly started talking about women priests.
"Can she be a priest...why not?", he asked. "should she be a priest, why not?"
Some people voiced their immediate displeasure while others applauded - it was all very disturbing.
If he did not believe in women priests, why raise the topic?
Despite quoting scripture during his talk, Mr Cameron neglected the vital piece of scripture where Jesus told Peter whatever he bound on earth, is bound in heaven.
Well Peter has spoken, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for 2000 years and never has he sanctioned women priests. Both Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have reiterated this teaching.
Do Mr Cameron's views matter - tragically yes? He is a school chaplain and this sugar coated dissent makes you wonder what else he tells his charges.
As a leading figue in the Renewal he is in a very good place to lead people astray.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Blair wants to unite world religions
Why does this story below spotted on the BBC website make me feel uneasy?
Read Father Elijah by Canadian Catholic novelist, Michael O'Brien. You might feel the same.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions
He said faith could be a "civilising force in globalisation", bringing people together to solve problems such as malaria and extreme poverty.
Mr Blair, who is now a peace envoy to the Middle East, told Time magazine that religious belief had given him "strength" while in power.
He is launching a "faith foundation" in New York on Friday.
Mr Blair, who recently converted to Catholicism, said: "Faith is part of our future, and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalisation work."
His foundation will attempt to bring religions together to tackle global issues such as the UN's eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from eradicating extreme poverty to ensuring environmental sustainability.
One of its first priorities will be to fight the spread of malaria.
Mr Blair said: "If you got churches and mosques and those of the Jewish faith working together to provide the bed nets that are necessary to eliminate malaria, what a fantastic thing that would be.
"That would show faith in action, it would show the importance of cooperation between faiths, and it would show what faith can do for progress."
He added that it was possible to "achieve a greater understanding between the different religious faiths, so that we make platforms for action by those faiths and deal with some of the biggest issues in the world".
Mr Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell, when asked about his boss's faith, once famously remarked that the government didn't "do God".
But Mr Blair, 55, has recently spoken out on the subject far more than during his 10 years in Downing Street.
Discussing decisions he made as prime minister, he told Time: "You don't put a hotline up to God and get the answers.
"The worst thing in politics is when you're so scared of losing support that you don't do what you think is the right thing.
"What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it."
Mr Blair is not being paid for his work as a Middle East envoy for the "Quartet" of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia.
But he has lucrative consultancy posts with insurer Zurich and merchant bank JP Morgan, on top of a reported £5m deal for his Downing Street memoirs.
Read Father Elijah by Canadian Catholic novelist, Michael O'Brien. You might feel the same.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has promised to "spend the rest of my life" uniting the world's religions
He said faith could be a "civilising force in globalisation", bringing people together to solve problems such as malaria and extreme poverty.
Mr Blair, who is now a peace envoy to the Middle East, told Time magazine that religious belief had given him "strength" while in power.
He is launching a "faith foundation" in New York on Friday.
Mr Blair, who recently converted to Catholicism, said: "Faith is part of our future, and faith and the values it brings with it are an essential part of making globalisation work."
His foundation will attempt to bring religions together to tackle global issues such as the UN's eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from eradicating extreme poverty to ensuring environmental sustainability.
One of its first priorities will be to fight the spread of malaria.
Mr Blair said: "If you got churches and mosques and those of the Jewish faith working together to provide the bed nets that are necessary to eliminate malaria, what a fantastic thing that would be.
"That would show faith in action, it would show the importance of cooperation between faiths, and it would show what faith can do for progress."
He added that it was possible to "achieve a greater understanding between the different religious faiths, so that we make platforms for action by those faiths and deal with some of the biggest issues in the world".
Mr Blair's press secretary Alastair Campbell, when asked about his boss's faith, once famously remarked that the government didn't "do God".
But Mr Blair, 55, has recently spoken out on the subject far more than during his 10 years in Downing Street.
Discussing decisions he made as prime minister, he told Time: "You don't put a hotline up to God and get the answers.
"The worst thing in politics is when you're so scared of losing support that you don't do what you think is the right thing.
"What faith can do is not tell you what is right but give you the strength to do it."
Mr Blair is not being paid for his work as a Middle East envoy for the "Quartet" of the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia.
But he has lucrative consultancy posts with insurer Zurich and merchant bank JP Morgan, on top of a reported £5m deal for his Downing Street memoirs.
Monday, May 19, 2008
My Catholic principles will self destruct after one reading
A friend tells me of a Catholic MP and minister who told her he will vote against the government for the second reading of its new embryology bill but will vote with the government at its final reading.
The MP did not tell her if this was part of Gordon Brown's deal to allow Catholics in the government to go against collective responsibility and the party line but you have to wonder.
So it seems our representatives can have their cake and eat it. No problem guys you can still be part of a government which is slowly but surely undermining much of the nation's Judaeo Christian heritage which has underpinned our moral life, social ecology and freedoms.
One day you won't be in government - you might be with the rest of us reaping the whirlwind.
Since when did your Catholic Faith become based on moveable principles?
The MP did not tell her if this was part of Gordon Brown's deal to allow Catholics in the government to go against collective responsibility and the party line but you have to wonder.
So it seems our representatives can have their cake and eat it. No problem guys you can still be part of a government which is slowly but surely undermining much of the nation's Judaeo Christian heritage which has underpinned our moral life, social ecology and freedoms.
One day you won't be in government - you might be with the rest of us reaping the whirlwind.
Since when did your Catholic Faith become based on moveable principles?
Monday, April 7, 2008
Father Elijah and Tony Blair
I had the misfortune to watch our ex PM on BBC News 24 giving one of the cardinal's lectures (why do our hierarchy get bedazzled by the rich and powerful?)/
I reminded me of one of my favourite novels. Father Elijah by Canadian author Michael O'Brien. This book combines a good thriller, theological treatise and spiritual combat manual all into one.
I am not going to spoil its content for anybody who hasn't read it but if do get chance look at the speeches "the president" makes in public meetings throughout the book and compare and contrast with Mr Blair's address last week.
Now I am not making the same kind of claims for Mr Blair that the author makes for the president but the ideology expressed seems very similar.
To those becoming increasingly baffled I just by the book its by Ignatius Press and well worth a read as are most of Mr O'Brien's novels. If you are short of cash get your local library to order it - this is the time of year when their coffers are full and we need good Catholic literature in the libraries. I have a friend who has turned this into a personal ministry to counteract the anti Catholic and material and books by dissident Catholics which the libraries always seem to have plenty of.
I reminded me of one of my favourite novels. Father Elijah by Canadian author Michael O'Brien. This book combines a good thriller, theological treatise and spiritual combat manual all into one.
I am not going to spoil its content for anybody who hasn't read it but if do get chance look at the speeches "the president" makes in public meetings throughout the book and compare and contrast with Mr Blair's address last week.
Now I am not making the same kind of claims for Mr Blair that the author makes for the president but the ideology expressed seems very similar.
To those becoming increasingly baffled I just by the book its by Ignatius Press and well worth a read as are most of Mr O'Brien's novels. If you are short of cash get your local library to order it - this is the time of year when their coffers are full and we need good Catholic literature in the libraries. I have a friend who has turned this into a personal ministry to counteract the anti Catholic and material and books by dissident Catholics which the libraries always seem to have plenty of.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
nothing to do with politics eh?
The Olympic Torch arrives in London tomorrow with the understandable protests from friends of Tibet at this appalling glorification of China later this year.
BBC News
The Olympic torch is being welcomed this weekend in the UK as a symbol of the sporting spirit, uniting people around the world in peaceful competition.
But the idea of lighting the torch at the ancient Olympian site in Greece and then running it through different countries has much darker origins.
It was invented in its modern form by the organisers of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
And it was planned with immense care by the Nazi leadership to project the image of the Third Reich as a modern, economically dynamic state with growing international influence.
I do hope some pro-lifers are on the route as well pressing the case against China's appalling population policy which makes it the only country in the world where it is illegal to have brothers and sisters. This is kept going by practices ranging from forced abortions to posting a chart showing a woman's cycle on the factory noticeboard just in case she dare to reproduce.
And then of course there is the ruthless suppression of freedom in Tianaman Square.
There are those who still naively cling to the idea that sport and politics should be and are separate.
Sadly their innocence may well be punctured by an insight from the BBC website today
"
By Chris BowlbyBBC News
The Olympic torch is being welcomed this weekend in the UK as a symbol of the sporting spirit, uniting people around the world in peaceful competition.
But the idea of lighting the torch at the ancient Olympian site in Greece and then running it through different countries has much darker origins.
It was invented in its modern form by the organisers of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
And it was planned with immense care by the Nazi leadership to project the image of the Third Reich as a modern, economically dynamic state with growing international influence.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)