Nottingham to get Liverpool?....breaking news.....

UPDATE: Announced at 11am 21st March......Damian was right! Bishop Malcolm McMahon gets Liverpool!

                                        A Dominican for Liverpool?

Picture: Hermeneutic of Continuity

Damian Thompson of The Daily Telegraph has just posted on his blog that he believe Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham Diocese may be the new Archbishop of Liverpool Archdiocese.

If my memory regarding Damian's past tips is true then it is highly unlikely to be Bishop McMahon.

Was it not the Holy Smoke blog that told the world that the new Archbishop of Cardiff was going to be Bishop Thomas Burns of Menevia when, a few days later it was announced that Westminster's George Stack had got the job?

On that basis alone DT must be off beam........but who will be the next man in Liverpool?

Maybe it's time to roll out Bishop Burns again....or is that wishful thinking on my part as a Menevian?

Here is how Damian posted (on his behalf I apologise for the awful grammar and, to be fair, he does say that there is a good chance that he is wrong - compelling journalism)

OK. This is Kremlinology – I'm repeating a RUMOUR and there's a good chance it will be proved wrong. Got that?

Fine. There are folk out there who say Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham, a Dominican, will be promoted to Liverpool. And for orthodox Catholics that's far from bad news. +Malcolm is a bit of an old Lefty, but a holy man with a lovely pastoral ministry. I think I'm right in saying that he's celebrated in the Extraordinary Form.

Let's wait and see.

Actually, I don't rate + McMahon as being a good choice for orthodox Catholics.

 "Old Lefties" generally rate slightly below shoe level when it comes to being orthodox in my experience.

Looking under stones and Padre Pio

It happened in his lifetime when he was accused and rejected and, of course, it was bound to happen after his death and canonisation.

An Italian journalist has done an investigation into the stigmata of the Saint and, in turning over stones, has dug up some murky alleged facts.

It is a sad fact that any journalist of any competency, and, most especially, Italian ones, can create a nuance out of innocence, weave a prejudice into a belief, distort the truth with half truths.

Damian Thompson has the full story and speculates that the real harm done by this latest accusation, will be the fall-out that will only add to the other snide cases made against the holy and not so holy.
I am thinking (as is Damian, I believe) of the Nazi slurs against Pope Pius XII (holy man) and the paedophilia scandals (not so holy men).

You may read his report here and then pause awhile to read Paul Priest's comments which are, as always, so very sound.

A Prayer

 

by Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

  

May Jesus comfort you
     in all your afflictions.
     May He sustain you in dangers,
     watch over you always with His grace,
     and indicate the safe path
     that leads to eternal salvation.
     And may He render you always
     dearer to His Divine Heart
     and always more worthy of Paradise.   

 Amen 

 

A plague on.......

I am a great fan of Damian Thompson who writes for The Daily Telegraph and has a very good blog, Holy Smoke.

I used to be a commentator in his combox but then it all got a bit too trollish for wimpish me and I stopped.

I was not doing any good and it was not doing me any good.
But I do occasionally drop by and see what people are saying. Paul Priest (OTSOTA) keeps the flag (and the flak) flying for the faith and for sanity and I also enjoy the comments made by one, Benedict Carter.
I know not whether he bloggeth or not.

Benedict's comments, I think under Damian's Archbishop Nichols post are very interesting.

I am not an ' end of the world is nigh' merchant, and neither, I am sure is BC but he does have a post of significance...here it is:


"A French nun, Sister Madelaine Porsat, who died in 1843, was a seer. She had a vision of seven plagues coming before the end of the world and the Second Coming.


The sixth one is universal bankruptcy.


"Voici la sixième plaie, la crise du commerce. Le commerce marche à sa fin, parce que la roue du char n'a plus son pivot, la confiance.


("Here is the sixth plague, the crisis of commerce. Commerce approaches its end because the wheel of the cart no longer has its pivot, confidence.")


The only link I found in a quick search online was to a book in French, 'Voix prophétiques: Prophéties modernes proprement dites' by a JM Curique.


Can anyone tell me if they have read this book, and what are the other 6 plagues, including the seventh to come?"

Time to get planting out those cabbages, I reckon!


And please spare time to visit this blog by Charlie J who is, dare I say it? The world's youngest blogger - I await contradiction.

Young Catholic bloggers need our encouragement so please drop by on Chasubles and Chalices to say Ni Hao!

"Could do better" - Vaughan School Chairman's letter leaves much to be desired

This is really Damian Thompson's story and it is so rich that all I shall do is direct you to Holy Smoke so that you may read it first hand.


But......if you would care to lend a prayer of support to the Vaughan in their battle for freedom from draconian powers, please join them on Saturday morning 11th June on the Piazza at Westminster Cathedral, to assist them in completing their novena...I will let you have a time as soon as possible.

IT'S 11.30AM - CAN YOU SPARE HALF AN HOUR? OR, MAYBE, SAY THE ROSARY FOR THE CAUSE, WHEREVER YOU ARE!

The Cardinal Vaughan issue just will not go away

I blogged on the battle that the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School was having with Archbishop Nichols and the Diocese of Westminster quite some time ago.
Since then, the parents of this excellent school (who are fighting to maintain their legitimate control of the school and its affairs rather than having a group of Governors from Westminster thrust upon them) have formed an action group and are to organise a candle lit vigil at the school on February 2nd at 6.15pm (H/T Damian Thompson)

Here is their latest press release.....

For immediate release: Saturday 22 January 2011

PARENTS GRANTED LEAVE TO APPEAL

Parents at one of the country’s best performing Comprehensive schools who are embroiled in

a bitter dispute with the Roman Catholic Church authorities over the make-up of the School’s

Governing Body, have been granted leave to appeal a recent High Court judgment which

went in favour of the Diocese.

The elected Parent Governors of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in West London

took the Diocese of Westminster, trustees of the School, to court over its failure to appoint

any current parents in the School as Foundation Governors, and the imposition of its own

Director of Education, Paul Barber, on to the Governing Body. They say this represents a

conflict of interest.

Mr Barber was the Diocesan official responsible for referring Cardinal Vaughan to the Office

of the Schools’ Adjudicator, in a recent row over admissions policy at the heavily oversubscribed

School.

But, in a judgment in the High Court on 25 November last year, the Diocese was ruled to

have acted lawfully. Now, Lord Justice Sullivan has granted the Parent Governors leave to

appeal on both counts. He said the case raised important points of principle which could

affect the composition of the governing bodies of all schools where the governors are

appointed by a foundation.

Meanwhile, the Governing Body at Cardinal Vaughan is pressing ahead with the process for

the appointment of a new Head. It is only the third time in sixty years that a new Head will

have been appointed at CVMS. Interviews are to be held by the Governing Body shortly.

The Cardinal Vaughan Parents’ Action Group, which was set up to support the Parent

Governors, is planning a candlelit vigil outside the School on 2 February, the day of the next

governors’ meeting. The purpose is to pray for the future of the School which parents fear the

Diocese is trying to take over, with a view to changing its character and weakening its strong

Catholic ethos.

CARDINAL VAUGHAN MEMORIAL SCHOOL PARENTS’ ACTION GROUP

USEFUL WEBSITES

https://sites.google.com/site/vaughanparentsactiongroup/home

http://www.cvms.co.uk/default.aspx?id=354

Areas of dispute between the Vaughan Parents’ Action Group and the Diocese of

Westminster include:

·

consultation before appointing Foundation Governors

The Diocese’s consistent failure, over the past few years, to observe its own policy on

·

many as seven highly able and dedicated Governors, and two Chairmen in succession

The Diocese’s failure to provide a cogent explanation for its refusal to reappoint as

·

The Diocese’s referral of the School to the Office of the Schools’ Adjudicator

·

The Diocese’s appointment to the Governing Body of its own Director of Education

·

The Diocese’s failure to appoint current parents as Foundation Governors

·

already Chairman of Governors of a nearby Catholic secondary school, and Vice-

Chairman of a local Catholic primary school.

Background Statistics:

The election by the Diocese’s representatives of a Chairman of Governors who is

·

including English and Mathematics last summer was 90% (national average 55%)

The proportion of CVMS pupils who secured five or more A*- C GCSE passes

·

79.5% of CVMS A level passes last summer were graded A*- B

·

including Mathematics and English last summer was 83%

The proportion of Free School Meals pupils who secured five or more A*- C GCSEs

·

49% of pupils come from minority ethnic groups. (National average 21%.)

·

The pupils in the School speak 44 different languages.

3.1%. (Royal Borough Kensington and Chelsea average 2.4%; national average 2%.)

· The proportion of children with Statements of Special Educational Needs stands at

·

For further information, please contact:

Anna Brown 07950 021042

Sarah Johnson 07747 075340

Catherine Utley 07984 12248428% of the Sixth Form receive the Educational Maintenance Allowance.

CARDINAL VAUGHAN MEMORIAL SCHOOL PARENTS’ ACTION GROUP

Urgent Appeal for Funds The five elected Parent Governors on the Governing Body have been granted leave to appeal. They are fighting for greater parental involvement in the running of the School. They are personally liable for the costs of the legal action. It is vital we support them now.  Please give what you can. If 300 families gave £100 each that would raise £30,000 Any donation, however small, will be of great help to their campaign and every penny will be put towards the costs of the legal appeal.  If you have a Paypal account you can donate by sending money directly to vaughan.parents.action.group@gmail.com Please donate online via Paypal here. We also can accept cheques. Please make cheques payable to “Vaughan Parents’ Association” marked on  the back “Parent Governor Action” and send to: Vaughan Parents’ Association Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School 89 Addison Road London W14 8BZ Our Aims  The Vaughan Parents’ Action Group has been set up by a number of parents worried about radical changes the Diocese of Westminster has made to the School’s Governing Body. We now have not a single current parent Foundation Governor. Parents are woefully under-represented. The Diocese has made its own Director of Education, Paul Barber, a Governor. This appointment creates a clear conflict of interest, we believe. It also means that he will not be able to give as much attention to the many other Catholic schools in the Diocese. Paul Barber is a Governor of no other school in the Diocese. John O’Donnell has now been elected Chairman of Governors at the Vaughan. He is already Chairman of Governors at neighbouring Sion Manning School. He is also Vice-Chairman of Governors of St Charles’ Primary School. This is another conflict of interest. Besides that, how can he possibly give the Vaughan School the attention it needs and deserves? We believe the Diocese wants to change the way the school operates, to dilute its Catholic ethos and to turn it into a local comprehensive.  We do not believe this will help the school to continue to provide a first-class education to young people of all abilities and backgrounds from across the whole of London. We want above all to protect the School’s Catholic ethos. We want to protect its distinctive identity. We want to protect its high spiritual, moral, educational, cultural and sporting standards. Our aims are these: To persuade the Diocese to appoint Foundation Governors who are parents of children at the School. To persuade the Diocese to remove Paul Barber from the Governing Body. To seek the election of a Chairman who will have time to devote to the Vaughan, and who will not have a conflict of interest.  Michael Gormally, the school’s highly-respected former Headmaster, shares our views and vigorously opposes the changes that have been made. He has also resisted strongly Archbishop Nichols’ attempts to gain his support for the changes. His recent letter can be viewed on our documents page here.