Want to get ahead? Get a hat!

Whatever else they may or may not know, SSPX bishops certainly are right up there when it comes to mitres!














Bishop Bernard Fellay, the head of the SSPX, left, and Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society's founder.

Fathers Mick & Pat Dodson

Br Prior wasn't given an OAM in the latest round of awards for his services to the community (the Coo-ees' community didn't count apparently) but the well-known and now very wealthy indigenous leaders - the Dodsons - were acknowledged at the highest level.

Mick Dodson is the Australian of the Year and the co-chair of Reconciliation Australia has, since his award, been calling for a re-think of Invasion Day.






But in fact he is really the little bro of the clan. His great brother Pat Dodson - 'The Father of Reconciliation' - was named as the WA Senior Australian of the Year.

The official statement on the website includes the following about Pat:

In 1975, he became Australia's first ordained Aboriginal Catholic priest but after ongoing challenges with the ecclesiastical hierarchy over his beliefs about Catholicism and traditional Aboriginal spirituality he eventually left the priesthood.

The reaction from us brothers and sister was that of shock.

'He had problems with the 'traditions' of the seventies in Australia?' questioned Br Momus.

'Wasn't Australia one of the first nations to really adopt the spirit of Vatican II?' exclaimed Br Belvedere.

It was again up to Br Jasper to explain and it works out that Pat had studied for the priesthood with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart immediately after finishing schooling at a MSH-run campus.

Doesn't he look striking in that cassock! And imagine the figure he might have imposed with his big white beard now!




Pilgrims should stop by the National Library for a full-size pic. You may even catch a glimpse of a photo of Br Prior from the 1960s if you look further back through the archives.

Sth Brisbane - the Archbishop's Letter

In the ongoing South Brisbane saga, (see here and here and here and here and here) we note that Archbishop Bathersby will be returning from vacation "at the end of January" and will then be making a further statement on the situation.

You can view the text of his letter to Fr. Kennedy of 22 December on the Archdiocese of Brisbane website here.

I like Dr Batherby's attention to the full context of Pope Benedict's words which the Sth Brisbane ringleaders have quoted on the banner hanging on their fence.

We have not always been complimentary* to Dr Bathersby here in the Cloister, but it will be a difficult time for him and we recommend our readers to stop for a moment and say a Memorare for his intentions as he faces this situation which can only bring anguish to the heart of a pastor.

*Understatement of the Week

Throw them to the lions...

Sources close to our beloved Holy Father say that he is canvassing all options in his efforts to manage the aCatholic problem...

Priory Motivationals IV

With the patriarchal election, there was some serious Byzantine liturgy. One wonders what the metropolitan is going to do with those candles.

A Lighter Shade of Pale

Click to enlarge.

Credit: mospat.ru

A stimulus without protection?

It probably won't change many opinions throughout The Priory, but the news that Obama is pushing the Democrats to drop a "family-planning" package from his economic stimulus plan is something for us to ponder.

Of course, I'm always one to give credit where credit is due, so pilgrims are free to come to their own conclusions. But I think this is one development well worth watching, especially since the House Democrats don't have the best track record...

Habemus Russian!

The Russian Orthodox have a new patriarch!

MOSCOW (AFP) — The Russian Orthodox Church has selected 62-year-old Metropolitan Kirill as its new patriarch, an outspoken figure who analysts say could prove a headache for the Kremlin.

A seasoned operator after long service as head of the church's foreign relations section, Kirill was elected on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority in a ballot of church leaders in Moscow's ornate cathedral of Christ the Saviour.

Kirill, Metropolitan of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, received 508 votes in a secret ballot of the Church Council in Moscow while his challenger Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk won 169 votes.

"I accept and thank the Church Council for my election as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia," Kirill said solemnly after the results were announced, before leading the congregation in an Orthodox liturgy.

Addressing the incense-filled gathering earlier, Kirill had made a strident call for church unity and urged the faithful to resist Protestant and Catholic proselytizing, dampening hopes of a transformation in poisonous ties with Rome.

About 700 bearded and robed bishops and laity from both Russia and diocese abroad had the right to participate in the first such vote of the post-Soviet era, following the death of Alexy II last month.

Br Momus is waiting to set eyes on a non-bearded and robed bishop and the ignorant Sr Magdalene is advocating more open papal elections with broadcasts of contestants and votes - she is pining for the return of So You Think You Can Dance (Liturgy).

A Very Sad Podcast

If you haven't already listened to the ABC radio "Conversations" interview of Fr Peter Kennedy of St Mary's, South Brisbane then you can download it here.

But it makes very sad listening. Tragically, Kennedy comes across as the very epitome of all that is wrong with quite a few priests ordained around his time (mid 1960's), for he sounds in the interview to be theologically incompetent, emotionally damaged, spiritually zonky. He has, as they say, more hang-ups than the cloak-room at an opera theatre. He has hang-ups about clerical dress, clerical titles, clerical identity. He has hang-ups about authority- not just Church authority - and structures. He has hang-ups about Irish piety. And he doesn't actually seem to believe in very much. Tragically, we've all met priests like that.

He says himself in the course of the interview that he doesn't believe in hell, nor in heaven, nor, in any usual sense, in an "afterlife" at all. He uses the "pre-Vatican II" cliche to describe things he doesn't like about the Church. He abuses that most abused expression "models of church" by suggesting that the "better" model of Church is the "people of God" model (clearly he has forgotten, if he ever read it, the provisos and subtleties of Avery Dulles' book) and ascribes to the 2nd Vatican Council a desire to see the Church "run by the people". He quotes "full, conscious and active participation in the liturgy" in support of abandoning approved rites. And all the woolly thinking, unfulfilled searching, illogical thoughts and psychological dysfunctions are couched in terms of "spirituality".

I notice that he avoided going into any detail about the baptismal formula / validity question. That might be TOO easy for the audience to side with "them".

The conversation is peppered with references to this or that person who used to be a priest or used to be a nun. And he is assured by several "scripture scholars" and "priests who are married" in his congregation that his Masses are valid.

As to whether or not he or his "community" are in communion with the Catholic Church, he seems to think that the determining factor of that is not what the pope and archbishop say but what the community (of which he admits quite a few members are in fact Anglican and Uniting Church and other non-Catholic folk) say, and they see themselves as part of the "Catholic tradition". Whatever they conceive that to be. Apparently the touchstone for catholicity in South Brisbane is the informed opinion of ex-priests and protestants, in preference to the informed opinion of the pope and bishops. I guess ex-priests, being laicised, must be "people" rather than "them".

I've never met Fr Kennedy but I have met parts of him in many priests of his age. Actually, I've met parts of him in priests of all ages. Probably there are parts of him in me too, but not many of the wrong sort, I hope. Compassion, yes, good; sense of social justice, yes, good. But the other stuff...

I never really understood why Archbishop Bathersby didn't correct Kennedy's external errors years and years ago, because despite what Kennedy says in the interview, ordinary Catholics (not extremists) have been disturbed by what they've witnessed at South Brisbane for a long, long time.

Listening to the interview, I wonder if maybe the archbishop has simply been unwilling to crush the bruised reed. But in failing until recently to act decisively in the public forum, - chastising, correcting, suspending or removing - more harm than good has been done - to the man himself, internally, and to the Church.

Anyway, if Kennedy wants to keep doing social work that's nice, but he should certainly resign from any priestly ministry in the "Roman Catholic" Archdiocese of Brisbane, since he has manifestly ceased to believe and teach what the Church believes and teaches in crucial areas.

The Church is big, and there is room for diversity. But not that much. You do actually have to believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as such. And the Creed.

Doppelganger XXVI

Interview with a Boomer

'Twas late Tuesday morn in the Priory.

The novices were hard at work. Br Pelagius was fixing the fan (prayerfully, though, singing a dirge, putting the ora into labora), while listening to the radio, as is his worldly wont.

Sr Magdalene was practising her newest liturgical dance, which she hath tentatively namest 'The Dance of the Seven Habits'.

Br Jasper was sampling his offerings in the herborium (and beginning to float).

Br Prior was shovelling snow, and wondering how it ever came to get there.

Br Momus was burning a heretic.

But your humble correspondent! Your humble correspondent was labouring away in the scriptorium, saving civilisation by transcribing the classics of modern theology, like Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir, by one of our older (much older) sisters in monasticism.

When suddenly, what was that rush? A whirlwind hath gushed through the door of the scriptorium! The whirlwind had a face. It was Br Pelagius, our resident commie, and ... but what is this our brother brandisheth! Our radio!

"The ABC!" cried Br P, "It's my good comrades! They're interviewing Kennedy! Listen!"

Your correspondent dropped his quill and listen he didst.

"Transcribe! Transcribe!" cried Br P, and threw his brother a keyboard.

Your correspondent began to play that Paul McCartney classic, Let It Be.

"Wrong keyboard!" cried Br P, panicking now. "Use this!"

"Ah, 'QWERTY'!" I readst.

We were all sorted now, and tappeth away didst I.

Richard Fidler: Hello welcome back from the Australia Day weekend. I hope you had a lovely time. This morning my guest for you is Father Peter Kennedy. Father Kennedy is a local parish priest in South Brisbane who enjoys one of the largest congregations in Australia, and it’s still growing. He also presides over a very successful charity that works with homeless people and has done for about fifteen years. So, why then is Peter Kennedy on the verge of being excommunicated from the Catholic Church? Well, it’s because Peter Kennedy runs a different kind of church at St Mary’s. The liturgy and rituals have been changed, women are allowed to preach, gay couples have been blessed, and the parishioners have designed their own prayer for the Eucharist, which is the most sacred of all Catholic rituals. Peter Kennedy’s not some young guy who’s burst straight out of the seminary full of bright new ideas [No, indeed. Not young, not straight from the seminary, no new ideas]. He came to his parish after many years as a chaplain in the navy and as a chaplain in the infamous Boggo Road prison. And his story raises the question – what does it really mean to belong to a church, or to any organisation? Father Peter Kennedy, good morning.

Father Peter Kennedy: Good morning, Richard.

Fidler: I’m just wondering if you think of that old Groucho Marx phrase that you wouldn’t want to be part of any club that would have you as a member!

[Both laugh]

Fidler: That occurs to you, that thought! Who’s actually at risk of being excommunicated here, is it just you or is it your parishioners as well?

Kennedy: Well Richard the archbishop would say that we have put ourselves outside the Roman Catholic Church now and that it’s up to us to bring ourselves back into communion with the Roman Catholic Church. He’s not necessarily talking about excommunication. His point is [laughs] we’ve already done it. We’ve put ourselves outside the Church. We of course, as a community, dispute that and say, “No, we belong”, and we’ve told him that and we’ve written a letter to him a couple of times and we’ve responded to his initial letter and we’ve – as a community – we believe we belong to the Catholic tradition.

Fidler: So the decision you’re awaiting from him, which is likely to happen any day now, is to his mind just formalising that decision that you’ve taken?

Kennedy: I guess so, that’s what he’s said. He’s coming back from leave next week, and he’s said that he doesn’t hold out much hope that we’ve fallen into line sufficiently, and that he wants to be able to explain his decision, which is why he didn’t bring the boom gate down if you like [laughs] before he went on holidays

Fidler: I’ve seen footage of your masses on the 7.30 Report. It looks very different to other Catholic masses. To be honest it reminds me almost of – dare I say it – a Protestant mass or something like that [Out of the mouths of babes ... ]. It’s much more informal. What’s different, specifically different, about the mass that you hold at St Mary’s compared to the other, more traditional masses?

Kennedy: Well Richard let me just use last Sunday evening if I could. Recently as you know we signed a treaty with the indigenous people of that area, with Sam Watson and Denis Walker. So they now see St Mary’s – because that’s a very Aboriginal, cultural area, South Brisbane – they see that area as sort of more or less a sacred site, where they can come and with our community celebrate their rituals. And so on Sunday evening prior to Australia Day, which they call Invasion Day, we celebrated a liturgy with the indigenous people. And it began with Denis’ son, Raymond, known as Nunka [Who was ordained when?], and Nunka and he had a number of dancers, who danced. So the mass actually began not with the priest [Who? Nunka?] coming out and saying, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” [But, I thought ...] , but with Nunka coming out [the priest?], coming from outside into the sanctuary area with the dancers. And then from the sanctuary area he led the ceremony – the songs and the dances – and they were very, very moving, very spiritual, he talked about God [God got a guernsey!], and like it was very ‘religious’ if you want to put it that way [Well why not!].

Fidler: So you adapt the mass to the circumstances?

Kennedy: Exactly. Exactly.

Fidler: In one of the letters that the archbishop, Archbishop Bathersby wrote to you, he referred to a statue of Buddha that you had in the church. Was it really a statue of Buddha? There seems to be a bit of confusion over this.

Kennedy: No it wasn’t a statue of Buddha at all and in fact we – Terry Fitzpatrick and myself – we got it just by chance one day, we had no intention, we went into a shop and there was this, this praying monk, a monk at prayer, and you could confuse it as a Buddha [Why? The habit, the breviary, the tonsure?], but …

Fidler: The round belly, the bald head …

Kennedy: Well it wasn’t actually, it was more like a young, a young monk, a shaved young monk. It wasn’t a Buddha. It was sort of just a statue or a symbol of a monk at prayer. And there’s a Buddhist group that actually meet in the church, about fifty people come on a Monday night for a Buddhist meditation hour or two.

Fidler: So you’re seriously ecumenical then, in other words you reach out to Buddhist groups and share services within the church?

Kennedy: Why not?

Fidler: He does say, it’s interesting that the archbishop says “I won’t be closing down St Mary’s”, as you say he says it will be closing itself down by practices that separate you from communion with the Roman Catholic Church. Do you feel like you’re out of communion with the Church?

Kennedy: Not at all [laughs], not at all [laughs]. And I mean that example of the Buddha [He means the monk at prayer] , I mean that’s hardly saying you’re out of union with the Catholic Church, by allowing a Buddhist Christian group to meet there. That’s hardly out of union. I mean it’s about fostering inter-faith dialogue, inter-faith ritual.

Your correspondent paused, thoughtfully. "Fostering inter-faith ritual." Does that extend to Satanists?

But hark, what was that, dear pilgrims? The bells! The bells! Summoning us to prayer!

For what remains, dear pilgrim, of the dear Father's interview, hearken to the podcast!

Scoring Goals for the Lord

The basketball coach at the Covenant School in Dallas, Texas was sacked in for refusing to apologise for his team's 100-0 win.

Last week, the school posted a message on its website apologising for the win. "It is shameful and an embarrassment that this happened. This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honourable approach to competition," the message read.

What is Christlike? An 80-0 win? A 40-0 win? A 30-0 win? Or do you have to give them at least 2 points?

Obamarama on the Move

Obamarama has decided, like Clinton, to move for funding to be given to those aid agencies and groups who promote abortion, and, as our Cloister brethren examined, a lacklustre attempt to have the same ideas has been promoted here. We would like to promote the following video as a response to Fairfax and Obamarma's proposals, in union with Monsignor Rino Fisichella (who heads the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life), who recently said that Obamarama is acting with "the arrogance of those who, being in power, believe they can decide of life and death."

Tennis and Ageing and Fifty Years since Vatican II was Announced.

You know that time is marching on when Yvonne Goolagong-Cawley is now appearing on TV ads for the Pensioners Insurance Agency. There must be an ecclesiastical equivalent.

Caption required

The House of Cards: Strong New Cross-Party Pressure

Fairfax irritates me no end. We're now looking at the question of Australian foreign aid being used to fund abortions; a question which no doubt arises from Obama's pathetic excuse for a magnanimous incoming act. Whatever of that - the Age is running a story in today's edition which opens with this beauty (with my emphases):

"FOREIGN Minister Stephen Smith is under strong new cross-party pressure to lift the ban on Australian foreign aid being spent on abortion services and counselling following US President Barack Obama's action on the issue."

So the article professes to be about the pressure being applied by various party members to the Minister to change policy, not legislation. Two questions: Who is applying the pressure? What makes this particular pressure strong?

Michelle Grattan reports the position and comments of the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance before those of any of the party officials the article is supposedly about. After mentioning the position of the ARHA, Grattan refers to Jane Singleton as "Alliance CEO Jane Singleton". I understand the brevity for reasons of print editing, but I just wonder whether the Alliance is a household name at the Fairfax's place. Once Grattan dealt with the Alliance, the cross-party pressure is reported in fact to be coming from three people, all of whom are on the end of their party's spectrum:

Senator Claire Moore, Qld Labor - chair of the Parliamentary Group on Population Development, a cross-party lobby and not a committee of the Commonwealth Parliament. Senator Moore hasn't been given portfolio responsibilities in the party since she was elected in 2001, only committee work. She's a backbench senator, whose first speech mentioned women's issues, the republic, women's issues, the ABC and women's issues. She's hardly the one in the Labor party who could apply the pressure needed to make the Minister sit up.

Mal Washer, Liberal MP for Moore (WA) - since he was elected in 1998, Dr Washer (retired GP) is also a member (Vice-Chair) of the Parliamentary Group on Population Development, a backbencher who has concerned himself with environmental issues. Other committee work he's done has been on party policy. Once again, not the dynamo you'd need to put the wind up the Health Minister.

Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, SA Green - another member of the Parliamentary Group on Population Development, she is the youngest senator elected since she was elected in 2007.

Michelle, we're afraid that this strong new cross-party pressure you speak of is just the musings of a few pollies who have a band wagon. Rather than "strong new", we suggest the pressure is rebranded "excited irrational", but that might show up that the House is one of cards.

God Bless Australia

After Morning Prayer today we chanted the Jack O'Hagan piece to remember Australia Day.

Here in this God given land of ours, Australia
This proud possession, our own piece of earth
That was bult by our fathers, who pioneered our heritage,
Here is Australia, the land of our birth.
REFRAIN

God bless Australia, Our land Australia,
Home of the Anzac, the strong and the free
It's our homeland, our own land,
To cherish for eternity, God bless Australia,
The land of the free.

Here in Australia, we treasure love and liberty,
Our way of life, all for one, one for all
We're a peace loving race, but should danger ever threaten us,
Let the world know we will answer the call
REFRAIN

While we are all patriotic, we don't usually have the desire to paint out faces or wear nothing but an Aussie flag. Rather we celebrate Br. Prior's way - readings of excepts of the diaries of Captain Arthur Phillip.

Over a roast rack of lamb that Sr Magdalene is preparing for a late lunch we'll probably belt out a rendition of Advance Australia Fair complete with the third verse:

With Christ our head and cornerstone, we'll build our Nation's might,
Whose way and truth and light alone, can guide our path aright.
Our lives, a sacrifice of love, reflect our Master's care
With faces turned to heaven above, Advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing, Advance Australia fair.

Just because we are religious...

Happy Australia Day.

God Bless Australia!

"A suppliant at Thy feet O Lord, Australia kneels to Thee"...

or at least some of us still do!

Mordor

From our friend at Whispers, covering the Russian patriarchal election:

"Ever more over these next days,

the eye of the Vatican will be focused squarely on Russia."

Doppelganger XXV

Following on from Hardman's coverage of the Milingoings:

Gary Coleman never really did grow out of that baby face.

Lesson: Never Underestimate Her Influence...

At a pilgrimage on the Feast of Christ the King in November 2008 to the sanctuary in Lourdes, France, Bishop Fellay initiated a rosary campaign for the removal of the excommunications, receiving in excess of 1 million pledges. It would seem Our Lady has acted...

Saturday, January 24, 2009

CONGREGATIO PRO EPISCOPIS

By way of a letter of December 15, 2008 addressed to His Eminence Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Mons. Bernard Fellay, also in the name of the other three bishops consecrated on June 30, 1988, requested anew the removal of the latae sententiae excommunication formally declared with the Decree of the Prefect of this Congregation on July 1, 1988. In the aforementioned letter, Mons. Fellay affirms, among other things: "We are always firmly determined in our will to remain Catholic and to place all our efforts at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept its teachings with filial animus. We believe firmly in the Primacy of Peter and in its prerogatives, and for this the current situation makes us suffer so much."

His Holiness Benedict XVI -- paternally sensitive to the spiritual unease manifested by the interested party due to the sanction of excommunication and faithful in the effort expressed by them in the aforementioned letter of not sparing any effort to deepen the necessary discussions with the Authority of the Holy See in the matters still open, so as to achieve rapidly a full and satisfactory solution of the problem posed in the origin -- decided to reconsider the canonical situation of Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta, which arose with their episcopal consecration.

With this act, it is desires to consolidate the reciprocal relations of confidence and to intensify and grant stability to the relationship of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X with this Apostolic See. This gift of peace, at the end of the Christmas celebrations, wishes also to be a sign to promote unity in the charity of the universal Church and to try to end the scandal of division.

It is hoped that this step be followed by the prompt accomplishment of full communion with the Church of the entire Society of Saint Pius X, thus testifying true fidelity and true recognition of the Magisterium and of the authority of the Pope with the proof of visible unity.

Based in the faculty expressly granted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, in virtue of the present Decree, I remit to Bishops Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta the censure of latae sententiae excommunication declared by this Congregation on July 1, 1988, while I declare deprived of any juridical effect, from the present date, the Decree emanated at that date.

Rome, from the Congregation for Bishops, January 21, 2009.

Card. Giovanni Battista Re

Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops

=====

Letter of the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X
Dear faithful,

As I announce in the attached press release, "the excommunication of the bishops consecrated by His Grace Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, on June 30, 1988, which had been declared by the Congregation for Bishops in a decree dated July 1, 1988, and which we had always contested, has been withdrawn by another decree mandated by Benedict XVI and issued by the same Congregation on January 21, 2009." It was the prayer intention I had entrusted to you in Lourdes, on the feast of Christ the King 2008. Your response exceeded our expectations, since one million seven hundred and three thousand rosaries were said to obtain through the intercession of Our Lady that an end be put to the opprobrium which, beyond the persons of the bishops of the Society, rested upon all those who were more or less attached to Tradition. Let us not forget to thank the Most Blessed Virgin who has inspired the Holy Father with this unilateral, benevolent, and courageous act to. Let us assure him of our fervent prayers.

Thanks to this gesture, Catholics attached to Tradition throughout the world will no longer be unjustly stigmatized and condemned for having kept the Faith of their fathers. Catholic Tradition is no longer excommunicated. Though it never was in itself, It was often excommunicated and cruelly so in day to day events. It is just as the Tridentine Mass had never been abrogated in itself, as the Holy Father has happily recalled in the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007.

The decree of January 21 quotes the letter dated December 15, 2008 to Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos in which I expressed our attachment "to the Church of Our Lord Jesus-Christ which is the Catholic Church," re-affirming there our acceptance of its 2,000-year-old teaching and our faith in the Primacy of Peter. I reminded him that we were suffering much from the present situation of the Church in which this teaching and this primacy were being held to scorn. And I added: "We are ready to write the Creed with our own blood, to sign the anti-modernist oath, the profession of faith of Pius IV, we accept and make our own all the councils up to the Second Vatican Council about which we express some reservations." In all this, we are convinced that we remain faithful to the line of conduct indicated by our founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, whose reputation we hope to soon see restored.

Consequently, we wish to begin these "talks" -- which the decree acknowledges to be "necessary" -- about the doctrinal issues which are opposed to the Magisterium of all time. We cannot help noticing the unprecedented crisis which is shaking the Church today: crisis of vocations, crisis of religious practice, of catechism, of the reception of the sacraments ... Before us, Paul VI went so far as to say that "from some fissure the smoke of Satan had entered the Church", and he spoke of the "self-destruction of the Church". John Paul II did not hesitate to say that Catholicism in Europe was, as it were, in a state of "silent apostasy." Shortly before his election to the Throne of Peter, Benedict XVI compared the Church to a "boat taking in water on every side."

Thus, during these discussions with the Roman authorities we want to examine the deep causes of the present situation, and by bringing the appropriate remedy, achieve a lasting restoration of the Church.

Dear faithful, the Church is in the hands of her Mother, the Most Blessed Virgin Mary. In Her we place our confidence. We have asked from her the freedom of the Mass of all time everywhere and for all. We have asked from her the withdrawal of the decree of excommunications. In our prayers, we now ask from her the necessary doctrinal clarifications which confused souls so much need.

Menzingen, January 24, 2009
+Bernard Fellay

Won't that get the aCatholics talking...

Peter 'don't forget I'm a Christian' Costello

Pilgrims in Melbourne to celebrate Australia Day might do well to represent the faith at a prayer rally at the Town Hall - at least if you are into the ecumenical thing.

Thousands of Christians from all denominations will unite to pray for our nation on Australia Day. In support of this prayer celebration, the Hon. Peter Costello (former Federal Treasurer) will bring a special greeting to around 2000 Christians at Melbourne Town Hall on Monday 26 January.

In this era of economic downturn, the prayer meeting which brings together Christian leaders from many different denominations will be held from 10am to 1pm at the Melbourne Town Hall focusing on prayer for the Australian Government, the faltering Economy, Armed Forces, Farming Communities (and the need for more Rain), Unity of the Church and Christian Pastors / Leaders, the Media, Indigenous People, and the Youth generation, as well as general stimulation to the business sector.

Pastor Danny Nalliah, President of Catch the Fire Ministries – an interdenominational Christian ministry, said he had specifically asked Mr Costello to bring a message to them on the day because he is ‘a man of integrity’.

“We wanted Peter to bring a special message to this gathering because he is a man of integrity who constantly demonstrates good moral values. He also is very genuine and loves his country. He’s a man who is willing to stand his ground for the truth. We’ve not seen him flip flop to please people, rather he is a man who stands for Australian values based on our Judeo Christian heritage,” Mr Nalliah said.

Sorry, but PC a man of integrity? Good moral values? Truth?

Sure he was a pretty good Treasurer by all accounts, but remind us, how did he vote on RU486 and the two stem cell bills? Maybe he has rediscovered the faith of his university days or considering a return to the fore of politics.

Regardless, it's a good excuse to post this classic:

Juxtaboxing

The web for the morning news is a great place to loiter, and today is particularly fascinating. The inclusion of these three stories on News.com.au just pixels away from one another:

In the red corner:

A New Contraceptive Pill Trial which will reduce discomfort experienced by women on the pill;

and in the blue corner:

The Death Penalty Announcement for the Chinese Tainted Milk Episode

Islamic Cleric Calls Australians on Their Immorality

Is this a very strange Pro-Life 2-1? How very dare you!

¡Milingo!

It's January in Rome and that means it's time for the annual visit of Archbishop Emmanuel Milingo and his putative wife!

This time they made an appearance at the Russian Ecumenical Centre: Which got me searching for some Milingo movies, and I found the following:

Number crunchin' at Catholica

Never let it be said that Brian Coyne, our favourite aCatholic, ain’t a methodical chap.

Grumpy, yes. But methodically so!

In one of the first Priory posts, way back in August, when Sr Magdalene still had long hair (as did Br Pelagius), we wished those booming aCatholics well.

And how well they have done!

In the latest aCatholic editorial, The Excitement of the Coyne is palpable:

"The extraordinary growth of Catholica in 2008! For the past few days I have been up to my eyeballs studying the readership statistics for Catholica over 2008. What the study has revealed is a strong confirmation of my original intuition that we could create a community with significant outreach to the educated sectors of the population who have become disenchanted with institutional Catholicism.

…

All up the approx 2000 commentary pages on our website were read 489,339 times over the year. The statistics mentioned so far mainly refer to the daily lead commentaries. The discussion forum attracts even more interest. Over 2008 the forum attracted a total of 858,508 reads over the year with the most read string attracting 22,773 visits. There were a total of 341,280 visits to the website during the year (28,440 per month averaged over the whole year or now running at 37,322 per month averaged over the last three months of the year).”

But come, come, Mr Coyne! One never wants to pour cold water over an aCatholic’s joy, but are you sure all of your readers are as disenchanted as your booming self?

It is not the Chapter of Faults yet. I know this. But I accuse myself, gathered brethren and pilgrims, of frequenting the aCatholic lair.

I go there for a chuckle.

A bit of illicit fun.

General naughtiness.

I will kick the habit yet. But even your good brother confesses himself bemused at this bit of naughtiness:

“Catholica seems to have found a niche that has not been previously targeted by any other organisation or community.”

Oh, yes it has!

A Message from Fellay

With the rumours of the lifting of the SSPX excumminications being imminent Br Momus and I decided to take a look at the SSPX Australia websites just before lunch.

Naturally we gravitated towards the blog which had the following notice:

Message from His Excellency Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X

Dear faithful,

The Rosary Crusade, to which we invited you in Lourdes, during our memorable pilgrimage of Christ the King, at the end of last October, has by far exceeded our expectations. In less than two months, one million seven hundred and three thousand rosaries were recited throughout the world to obtain from Our Lady the withdrawal of the decree of excommunication of 1988.

We would like to thank you all wholeheartedly. Considering such a generosity, we dare to ask you to continue your efforts in praying that this Crusade may bear its fruits for the good of the whole Church.


+Bernard Fellay
Menzingen, 20 January 2009



Less than two days ago…

Br Momus and I immediately retreated to the chapel for a rosary of our own.

Cooees' Official Reaction

Just because I can't stand that pretentious poster done up of a man who will inevitably disappoint. At least ours is the Vicar of Hope.

*With cowl tip to those Whapping fellows.

Habitual Tartan

We avidly read Cardinal Sean O'Muddley's blog each week.

Recently His Eminence celebrated Mass for Religious Sisters in the rather icky-looking chapel at Boston's "Pastoral Centre".

The Sisters nearest the camera must belong to a Scottish congregation....

Too Late & Too Left

Certain daily papers this morning carry a large paid advertisement condemning Israel over the recent war in Gaza for, among other things, "murdering families having picnics at the beach."

Now there is much to criticise Israel's conduct, and not just in the recent war, but the matter is not so simple as all that.

Anyway, the advertisement is "signed" by a dozen or two persons who no doubt consider themselves the great thinkers and social consciences of our time, including:

John Pilger....

Pilger (R)

Tom Keneally....

Keneally (R)

Pat Power....

Power (L)

Thanks, Bishop Pat, that'll be of special help to the Pope's diplomacy in the Holy Land!

Change we can believe in

Well at least until the financial crisis.

I Have a Dream

With all that has happened today in the U.S.A, it is worth remembering what James Cardinal Stafford had to say about what is to be expected in the next faze of the Western World.

"For the next few years, Gethsemane will not be marginal. We will know that garden...On November 4, 2008, America suffered a cultural earthquake.”

Hold on to your hats, hope and pray.

The Great Black Hope...

Today an African American, so labelled because of the colour of his skin, took office as President of the United States. Indeed something for the history books.

Having witnessed the assassinations of JFK and Martin Luther King Jr, participated in anti-war protests, social experimentation, sexual freedom, civil rights movement, environmental movement, women's movement, protests and riots and of course experimentation with various intoxicating recreational substances; the now aging Baby Boomer has at last achieved nirvana.

A black man is at last President of the USA and while perhaps unsurprisingly he is a Democrat, he is nevertheless the personification of the liberal ideal, a sort of Great Black Hope?

His inauguration speech had all the déjà vu of a surely stale Baby Boomer's Manifesto, and yet its appeal to significant quarters of Generation Y would seem to lie in what was so strategically not said than any one tangible motherhood statement...

"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost."

So what does the Great Black Hope promise? Reading between the lines you would have to say that Gay Marriage, Abortion on Demand and Embryonic Stem Cell Research are just some of the front runners.

And yet buried in among the secular platitudes is indeed one point of hope for the rest of us. An apparant recognition of such worth that in its simplicity the potency of its message from so few words could conceivably surpass even that most historic of short presentations the Gettysburg Address...

"It is ... a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

How true Mr Obama!

Perspective

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
6 Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:
7 Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
8 The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous:
9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down.
10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

Ps. 146

New tapes & CDs

This morning we are in the process of reviewing the various CDs, tapes and even the old vinyl we have in the music collection of The Priory.

When The Priory wasn't such a conservative, neo-con, traditional and charismatic place, the brothers and sisters used to listen to more modern music - The Beatles, Patti Smith, Billy Idol, Nirvana.

It is rumoured that one or two compositions of rock may have even made it into the liturgy in our chapel during the pontificate of John Paul II.

But not anymore, and from today you won't find a copy of a U2 album either - not after they played for the president-elect yesterday.

Br Belvedere also took delight in tearing down the following poster from Sr Magdalene's wall (why wasn't there a painting of Our Lady?) never to grace the Priory's walls again.




Perhaps we will purchase a copy of The Priests latest album to replace the Irish rebels.

Deckchair Rearrangement

Commodore Connors is rearranging the deckchairs on the S.S. Ballarat - see here.

Novice Doppelganger XII

Br Pelagius' recent post on the Liberal Catholics had us wondering what Fr Georg Ratzinger was doing lurking in the background.

Viewers Have an Important Decision to Make, says Vatican official

Reuters has released some news which brings joy to us Cloister-types who are good at wasting time:

The Vatican will soon have its own channel on the video sharing site YouTube where the Catholic faithful or the curious will be able to see Pope Benedict or Church events, a Vatican source said on Saturday.

For us, who spend time each day scouring the cyber-Church looking for novelties, an important decision will have to be made as to whether we are among the faithful or curious. Who is to make that call for us? Perhaps the Warden will oblige, who has a penchant for weeds waving in the breeze at the moment.

Sancta Maria of the Lava Lamp, Ora Pro Nobis

There is such a spate of apparitions lately that the Vatican have issued what seems to be a "code of conduct" for all visionaries. Apparently one of the tests of authenticity is the fact that they can remain easily silent on the matter of their heavenly visitor(s).

However, it big news today is that Mary has appeared in a lava lamp and changed a young man's life forever.

“Only a couple of weeks after Holy Mary appeared to me in the lava lamp every facet of my life began to miraculously transform.”

His website has more.

We do wonder if the USA will also follow with guidelines regarding visions of St Barack Obama. People will definitely be seeing him in their corn flakes soon considering how 'Messianic' he has become.

Our resident mystic Br Jasper recently let out a gasp of awe as I had him stir the gravy for our Old New Year celebrations.

He beckoned me over and pointed into the brown lumpy mess (no, he's not very good at even stirring, but Br Belvedere was busy).

"Look!" said he, "Can you see her?"

I looked at him. I looked back at the appalling excuse for gravy - which although not gravy did look more like gravy than Our Blessed Mother - and in a solemn tone told him that I thought it best not to speak about it. Turning back to the roast in the oven I shook my head. I some times worry about that boy. Our Lady of the Gravy? Well at least it sounds better than "Our Lady of the Lava Lamp". Perhaps I was too quick to judge I thought.

Then, I heard the following outside the kitchen window.

"Br Prior! Did you hear about the great visitation Br Jasper had? He told Br Pelagious who told the gardener who mentioned it to the Milkman who told the mechanic who was fixing the car who told..."

Right. Well. Perhaps not.

Move over Zwingli and Luther its Serial Heresy 101 with Fr Dresser!

I am sure you have heard the story about St. Augustine walking along a beach contemplating the mystery of the Trinity when he comes upon a boy who having dug a hole in the sand is attempting by means of numerous trips to transfer in a small bucket the contents of the ocean to a modest hole in the sand.

You will recall from the story that when Augustine challenges the boys capacity to achieve his objective the boy rebukes him, suggesting that he is no less adequate in his task, than Augustine is in conceiving of the magnitude of the Trinity with the limited human brain. The story concludes that the boy who immediately vanishes from Augustine’s sight is an angel of God.

Certainly no angel of God, Fr Peter Dresser has been stretching his intellect again, and the fastest way to commit heresy to print in this century is to publish something over at aCatholica...

Having already denied Christ’s divinity, Dresser has more recently turned his pen to God's omniscience stating it is not as previously supposed by earlier theologies, while at the same time making the following observations about the Doctrine of Transubstantiation…

“The original language used to describe the substantial presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist by using terms such as 'substance' and 'accidents' simply does not gel with contemporary thinking... why not simply state that Christ is substantially present in the Eucharist as in a Sacrament? It is a "Sacramental presence". This, I believe, is a much more appropriate theological way to explain such a sublime mystery."

Indeed Dresser asks...

"why not try to express Christ's substantial presence in some other meaningful way for their ... intellectual ability and knowledge of concepts? "

Keeping to his general theme of dumbing things down for the new age intellect, Dresser says...

"if the Tridentine Mass is now an optional way to celebrate the Eucharist and is obviously beneficial for many people, why not allow for the other end of the spectrum and allow a more informal public celebration of the Eucharist in a way that is fitting, meaningful and relevant for those wishing to participate?"

So gentle pilgrim lets recap so we know where we are...

1. Jesus is NOT the Son of God he is just an ordinary sort of bloke in thongs who likely played cricket and hung out with his mates Peter, Judas and the rest;
2. God does not know everything infinitely, or at least everything that can be known about any of us including thoughts, feelings, life and the universe. In fact, God is the last to know!
3. "Sacramental Presence" is the new Transubstantiation;
4. Having given the Tridentine option to the Traddies over and above the Novus Ordo Missae enjoyed by the Neo Cons we really need something a little less structured - a Novus Novus Ordo Missae' for the aCatholics who dont want to be tied down by rubrics and doctrine;