Something Truly 'Crook'ed About Wymyn Bishops...

Coo-ee pilgrims... Mother Mirabilis here again!

Miss Patricia Fresen, a 70-year-old former Dominican nun, says she is a Catholic woman bishop, properly ordained by a male bishop in the sacrament passed down by laying on hands from the first apostles.

In Australia to speak to an aCatholic constituency, Miss Fresen claims her error is no worse than Catholics using artificial contraception, or who remarry outside the church or who are sexually active homosexuals. She claims to have been ordained a priest in 2003, a bishop in 2005 and excommunicated in 2007. That's a long period of denial!

The WomenPriests movement was launched in 2002 and now boasts 200 women priests in North America and Europe. Miss Fresen suspects they may soon be joined by some Australian women saying the group constitutes those "on the fringes of the church, who want to be Catholic but are very critical of some aspects."

The Cafeteria may be open to you now Miss Fresnan but happy hour will soon finish when as all 'Catholic' bishops must, you offer the Holy See your resignation in 5 short years time! Or is this another aspect of the institutional church that you feel discriminates against you?

"For future reference, I usually prefer briefs for their security and peace of mind." (Maxwell Smart)

The Wollongong Diocese it seems is hosting a liturgy festival in October according to 99.

The keynote topic is "Liturgical Theology - Eucharistic Spirituality." Rev Brian Nicholls and Cathy Murrowood will present input and facilitate the discussion. Nicholls, a member of the National Liturgical Council, is Administrator of the Hobart Cathedral while Murrowood, a consultant to the National Liturgical Council, is Coordinator of the Hobart Liturgy Office.

The festival includes stalls featuring liturgical art, music and other resources. Workshops are provided for Cantors, Singers, Musicians, Readers, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion, Acolytes, Servers, Sacristans, Children‟s Liturgy teams, Youth liturgy teams, Parish liturgy teams, Hospitality teams, and those who facilitate the use of projector presentation technologies during liturgy... or Hymies!

The Sydney and Melbourne Liturgy Offices must be thinking... Missed it by that much!

Greens Want to Value Difference and Diversity by Imposing Sameness... Tasmanian House Passes a Stone!

"We should value difference and diversity, and devalue discrimination" according to Tasmanian Greens leader Nick McKim's in his most recent advocacy stunt for redefining Marriage from that which is between a man and a woman.

In what has been hailed in the media as an unprecedented move, the Tasmanian House of Assembly, passed a motion (13-9) to give in-principle support to marriage equality. In doing so, the last state to decriminalise homosexuality, is now being heralded as the first, at least in part, to endorse full relationship equality for same-sex couples.

But the reality is that the House of Assembly engaged in a shallow publicity stunt and for want of Green representation in the State's Upper House that's where it ends. While Labor's minority government might have voted contrary to Party policy in support of the Greens in the House of Assembly they are not volunteering to take it into the upper house on their defacto's behalf!

Instead, we have a shameless beat-up by the media of a no-momentum motion, passed by a Greens-heavy lower house in a State which nobody really cares about anyway. Even the Holy See has yet to make up its mind which Melbourne Auxiliary it is going to exile there!

One for the History Books...

Coo-ee pilgrims... Mother Mirabilis here again!

Benedict XVI imposed the pallium on Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy, on the 20th anniversary of the cardinal's ordination to the episcopate. In a ceremony that took place today at the pontifical residence of Castel Gandolfo, the Pope made an exception to the traditional practice of imposing the pallium on all new archbishops on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

A pope bestowing the pallium on an Eminent Archbishop-elect on the 20^th anniversary of the episcopal ordination of the latter.

So it is Written. So let it be Done!

With all the installations due to come in our part of the world in the next year, the Cloistered recommend to their future Graces the manner of taking possession by Cardinal Scola as Archbishop of Milan.

Here the Consultors have read to them and are shown the Pope’s letter of appointment, which means Scola is now the Archbishop of Milan. This means the Mass Cardinal Scola will soon celebrate is merely his official entry into the Archdiocese.

May the days of the coronation installations be gone!

So let it be written. So let it be done!

For He Cannot Deny Himself...

Paul tells us that we fight “not against flesh and blood but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness” (Eph 6:12).

Leo XIII was so convinced of Satan's efforts in the world and against Christ's church that he penned the Saint Michael prayer. Paul VI called it “The Smoke of Satan”. Even Rome's principal exorcist, who revealed earlier this year that invoking the intercession of Blessed Pope John Paul II proved particularly powerful against Satan, is convinced of the evil one's existence.

But those learned souls over at aCatholica... they remain in denial!

Matthew 23 says Helen... 2 Timothy springs to the mind of the discerning who are not easily taken in by Satan's greatest deception nor collaborators in it!

It Is Rumoured...

...that several of the people in this picture will have a new job in the very near future.

Xenophobia as the Amazing Mr X Furthers his Attacks on Religion...

Coo-ee pilgrims... Mother Mirabilis here again!

Xenophobia they say can manifest itself in many ways involving the relations and perceptions of an ingroup towards an outgroup, including a fear or suspicion of its activities, aggression, and desire to eliminate its presence. It can even manifest itself in a crusader like the Australian Senate's own Amazing Mr X!

X (Senator Nick Xenophon), has publicly taken up the plight of the now Primate of the Traditional Anglican Communion, Archbishop John Hepworth and last night named the priest allegedly involved in the abuse of Hepworth when the Adelaide church refused to stand him down from his duties by the vigilante's deadline. Though Hepworth states he doesn't require the assistance, Xenophon claims he had no choice but to name the priest.

It is not unusal for Australian bishops to stand priests aside or request that they stand aside while allegations are investigated, and Adelaide has certainly employed the option in such cases as the spurious allegations against Fr John Fleming. But is it really the stuff of parliamentary privilege and indeed threats?

This is a parliament still reeling from the allegations arising out of the Craig Thompson fraud and prostitute scandal and the Prime Minister's own circus of failures and deceit. A matter which the dutiful X has by comparison remained rather tame in his remarks.

Indeed, Xenophon's passion has an edge to it which is apparent in his calling on the Federal Government to reconsider its appointment of Monsignor David Cappo as the chairman of its new Mental Health Commission, claiming he failed to properly investigate the sexual abuse allegations.

Apparent in July this year when Xenophon had the secrecy of the Catholic confessional in his sights, calling for mandatory reporting on child abuse to include that disclosed to priests. And apparent in June last year when he was on another crusade with his Public Benefit Test Proposal,investigating the tax exempt status of charities and religions.

Archbishop Wilson may well have invited interest in the Hepworth situation through his inconsistent applications of the established norms and principles in dealing with such cases but far from the public interest, Xenophon's treatment of parliamentary privilege is base and self serving!

In his eyes the threat of terror; in his hands the power to destroy and all in the public interest... or not!!

The Signs of the Times

The wise can read "the signs of the times", but where to find those signs?

In the Cloister we think the job advertisments which accompany the daily CATHNEWS bulletin give an interesting sign of the state of the Church in Australia at this moment, especially regarding the congregations of Religious.

Here's yesterday's offering:

BUSINESS MANAGER for the Presentation Sisters (Wagga congregation) at Berala in Sydney - works with the "Leadership Team" on property and finance;

COORDINATOR OF HEALTH AND WELLBEING for the Sisters of the Good Samaritan nationally "to work collaboratively with the Congregation to nurture coordinate and plan the health and well being of the Sisters" .

COORDINATOR for the Dominican Sisters in New South Wales to "co-ordinate the care of a community of elderly religious sisters"

YOUTH MEMBERSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR for the Society of St Vincent de Paul in Queensland.

PARISH SUPPORT MANAGER for the Archdiocese of Brisbane,"seeking a full time enthusiastic and committed outside-sales oriented Parish Support Manager to assist Parishes in offertory giving programs,capital campaigns and bequest marketing."

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS for the Diocese of Bathurst.

From this we can discern that the "established" congregations of Sisters are no longer able to maintain themsleves; Likewise the St Vincent de Paul Society; Likewise many parishes. But there is at last some life in Bathurst.

Caption Competition

This new seminarian for Perth just received tonsure.