Thursday 13 March 2014

Protect the Pope on hold


"What is truth?"
The news is that Bishop Campbell of Lancaster Diocese, has asked one of his deacons, the highly respected Nick Donnelly, to "pause" from blogging for a period of recollection.

I have no wish to pour petrol on the fire but this does seem to be a most unwise decision (on the Bishop's part).

Deacon Nick's blog, Protect the Pope, is one of the most professional and well respected blogs on the circuit.

He focuses, in the main, on providing short, concise news type reports on events concerning the Church on an up to the minute basis.
 I speculate as to whether the Deacon was, in fact, a journalist in an earlier part of his life; his posts are well informed, balanced and to the point.

What is more, as a good man of the cloth, he avoids scandal and gossip but goes straight to the point.

Maybe that is the problem.

 Protect the Pope tackles the more worldly aspects of Church affairs in a straightforward fashion and those who twist and pervert the teachings of HMC "don't like it up 'em" as Lance Corporal Jones would have said.

The Bishops of England and Wales seem very content to allow any manner of liturgical abuses and deviations to take place but, anything that smacks of orthodoxy gets the order of the boot.

There are even other blogs operated by Deacons that portray the sort of church that I have no wish to be associated with.
 It's the church of "Look at me" and "Aren't I clever and humble?"

There are more sinister aspects to at least one of those blogs and I know of four young Catholic women who have been targeted and verbally abused by the person concerned.

Yet, no Bishop has asked him to "pause for a period of prayer and reflection" despite the many representations made to him.

Various odd organisations seem to be springing up all over the place and their aims seem to be to wreck the Church and impose mob rule where the teachings of Christ and doctrinal truths are cast to one side.
No Bishop, as far as I am aware, has attempted to block any of the activities entered into by these dissidents, in fact, resources are placed at their disposal.

I will not attempt to lay the blame on Pope Francis but, it is a fact that, in the past 365 days, a shadow has been cast on the Faith (who knows, it might have taken place even if Pope Benedict had not resigned).

The fact is that the shadow exists and Catholic life seems to grow darker by the week.

What can one do?

Pray for Bishop Campbell and pray for Deacon Nick and his wife; that's the first thing.

Secondly, a note to the Bish politely and civilly reflecting on the good that emanated from the PtP blog and requesting that the "pause" period be lifted might not be a bad thing (provided that such action did not cause concern to the Deacon).


The Bishop's address is:

Bishop Michael Campbell
The Pastoral Centre
Balmoral Road
Lancaster
LA1 3BT


Email communications do not seem to have reached as far as Lancaster, I could see no sign of an email address for His Lordship on the Diocesan website.

See also, Fr Z's post on the issue: WDTPRS

And how it was reported on the PtP blog

10 comments:

  1. The good Catholics are being persecuted for fidelity to the deposit of Faith, including magisterial teaching, and morals. As Robert de Mattei, who was axed from Radio Maria, for continuing to object to things said and done by the Pope, as he did when said or done by others while Benedict was Pope, things speed up as the end nears (can't remember Latin adage, he quoted). Mario Palmaro RIP, is another fine exemplary Catholic, who refused to stop speaking the truth in respect of Faith and morals after Francis became Pope, and was also axed from Radio Maria. If the silence and denial are due to tactics, they are self-defeating and damaging to the Church and souls. If the silence and silencing is due to cowardice or dishonesty, repent and pray for courage and honesty. Who will be next? "First they came for the Jews, but I was not a Jew, so I did nothing ... "

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  2. This is very sad. I totally agree with you. The Bishops of England and Wales sit in their comfort zones and allow liturgical abuses and they feel the smell of Orthodoxy they act quickly to suppress it. Why? Today one of my friends mentioned Monsignor Bugnini and his Machiavellian strategies. I need to do some research on this. St Therese of Avila once said that 'the path to hell is lined with the skull of priests'. Perhaps we are at the end of times and we need to prepare ourselves with more prayers.

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  3. Some members of the church seem to be obsessed with compromise with the world .I am reminded of something that GK Chesterton said"We don't need a church that moves with the world but a church that moves the world"

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  4. Seems that "The good lack all conviction, while the bad are filled with passionate intensity"

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  5. THE
    DEACON’S
    ROAR

    I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
    Scared to rock the Barque and make a mess
    So I sat quietly, obeyed politely
    Ignored what learned in Baltimore
    Forgot the Church that’s marked by Four
    I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything

    You made me sit, but I knelt down
    Dusty sandals brushed on ground
    You hear my voice, you hear that sound
    Roaring Rosaries all around
    You made me sit, but I knelt down
    Get ready ‘cause I’ve had enough
    I see it all, I see it now

    We’ve caught the eye of the Tibre, we’re fighters, dancing through the fire
    ‘Cause we are Catholic and we’re gonna say our “Roar” sries
    Louder,louder than the lion
    ‘Cause we are Catholic and they’re gonna hear us roar

    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    They’re gonna hear us roar

    Blogs are flyin’ like a butterfly
    Stinging like a bee for Truth we’ll die
    They call you zero, but you’re a hero

    They made you stop, but you kneel down
    Dusty sandals brushed on ground
    They hear your voice, they hate that sound
    Like lightening gonna strike Hell’s hound
    They made you stop, but you kneel down
    Get ready ‘cause I’ve had enough
    I see it all, I see it now

    We’ve caught the eye of the Tibre, we’re fighters, dancing through the fire
    ‘Cause we are Catholic and we’re gonna say our “Roar” sries
    Louder, louder than the lion
    ‘Cause we are Catholic and they’re gonna hear us roar

    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh oh oh oh oh
    They’re gonna hear us roar….
    Ro-oar, ro-ar, ro-ar, ro-ar, “Roar”sries!!!

    with apologies to Katy Perry’s, ROAR
    (“even a stopped watch is right twice a day”)

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  6. Why does the Church seem to be inhabited by Bishops that seem to lean to protestant ideals and not be the defenders of orthodoxy that surely they ought to be?

    Patrick.

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  7. There is one deacon in the UK who used his Twitter and blog to stalk and harass a pregnant woman over the course of two pregnancies.

    He described the loss of her baby as an 'excuse' when she refused to engage with his repeated trolling and threatened and bullied her in the days leading up to her baby's funeral.

    It is extraordinary that such behaviour has been brushed under the carpet.

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    Replies
    1. Isn't he a deacon in good standing? (Well he hasn't fallen over yet)

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    2. What has this got to do with Protect The Pope? I really think these personal vendettas are very tiresome and distract from more important things - there are real issues that need to be addressed - ACTA , etc. Protect the Poe was doing a marvellous job .
      Teresa

      Delete
  8. But that was in another country,
    and besides - the wench has "no proof"
    (With apologies to Christopher Marlowe)

    ReplyDelete