Wrong kind of ecumenism

True ecumenism should be about the shepherd calling back the lost sheep to the fold, into the comforting arms of the Church, under the leadership of the Supreme Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ. Any other kind is wrong, misguided and potentially disastrous.

Take, for example, Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster. His visit to a Hindu temple and his laying down of flowers before a hindu idol was no doubt well-intentioned but what does that act symbolise to the rest of the world? It sends the message that it's okay not to be a Catholic or even a Christian. It suggests that there are many different ways of looking at God and lots of different path to God.

That is plainly wrong.

Archbishop Nichols, please don't repeat that mistake. . .

Chevetogne Abbey

I've been rather a westerner in both theology and liturgy but the most likely candidate for union in the West, the Anglican Communion, continues down its path to oblivion, we must look East in bringing more of people who claim to confess Christ into the One True Fold.

I've never been to an Eastern liturgy and my experience of it remains the testimony of others. All has been good so far - the most common sentiments being the air of mystery and holiness which of which we have lost in the new latin rite.




Chevetogne Abbey is in Belgium and is dedicated to just such unity. Founded in 1925 by Dom Lambert Beauduin. The Abbey has two churches, one Latin and one Byzantine. The canonical hours are said separately but the monks eat together and are under a single Abbot.

You can have a look at their website here:

Chevetogne Abbey

Feast of Christ the King. . . Again

Today, the Feast of Christ the King, has been an odd one for for the past two years. I'm sure many traditional Catholics, or at least bi-ritual Catholics, feel the same way. I already celebrated this festival earlier on the year, you see.

It seems particuarly odd when we consider the present position of the old and new rites. We are told that they are not rites at all, but merely different uses, or forms, of the same Roman rite. In the middle ages, of course, when we had so much greater liturgical variety it would not have been uncommon for one feast to be on a different day to another in different rites or uses. Each use would have had a different priority for feasts. Those were, however, days when there was very little social mobility, if any mobility at all. People would live and die in the same village, the home of their ancestors and their descendents to come.

Now, however, when we all have, or should have, access to the different expressions of the same Roman Rite, surely some kind of harmonisation of the calendars is in order? Would the re-translation of the new missal not be a perfect time?

Almighty Answers from the Order of Preachers

An email from a friend came through this morning asking me to advertise an initiative being undertaken by the Catholic chaplaincy in Edinburgh, which is overseen by the Order of Preachers. The following here is still small but I said I'd be happy to do all I can.

The blog, which can be found here, is essentially a question and answer service for students of Edinburgh University. All comments and questions seem to be welcome though.

But lying, they know, is a sin

Scientists manipulate climate change data

Faith or Religion?

There is a rather interesting article over at Heresy Corner in their religion section at the moment.

It looks at the way our secular society considers these two words of 'Faith' and 'Religion'. Faith seems inclusive and personal whereas religion seems dogmatic and exclusive, even judgmental.

We may see it in certain kinds of Christians who claim to be a Christian but to not be religious. Again, they associate religion with something that is cold, dogmatic and ritualistic. Of course one can be religious without having faith, but can one really claim to have the Faith if one is part of the religion in which that faith is to be found?

Faith is a personal gift from God but it is also an act of our will, it is giving our assent to something which we hope to understand. It is particular to Christianity, which is why we Catholics are right to of 'inter-religious dialogue' but not of 'inter-faith' activities.

The failure to understand the real nature of Faith and the distinction between Faith and religion is to be lamented.

No trousers for women

I was amused to read yesterday about an arcane law, still technicaly in force in Paris, which bans women from wearing trousers. It made me think of the following quotation.

'The deep-down reason is the same as for the wrongness of women's trousers: the unwomaning of woman. The deep-down cause in both cases is that Revolutionary man has betrayed modern woman; since she is not respected and loved for being a woman, she tries to make herself a man. Since modem man does not want her to do what God meant her to do, namely to have children, she takes her revenge by invading all kinds of things that man is meant to do. What else was to be expected? Modern man has only himself to blame.' Bishop Richard Williamson