Thursday 28 February 2013

Farewell to a hugely unpopular Pope


Who would turn out to wave farewell to a very unpopular, conservative, out of touch Pope?




 


Well, a few turned out........


Well, maybe just a few more turned out...


OK, OK.....maybe it was several hundred thousand of his minority following who just happened to be in Rome that day - tsk!






The Holy Father ate my post!



"Das Leinen auf die Hecke-Blog ist ganz lustig (manchmal)"

I have often idly wondered who the mystery commentator, 'Vatcom' is.

The stats analysis frequently flag up a single viewer from Vatican City, apartment 10, room 6 (second from the top, third left).

And now I can reveal that it is indeed the great man himself.

What an honour. I feel duly humbled.

For the Holy Father to base his farewell address on one of my posts is the greatest compliment I could wish to receive.......trouble is, I think that, out of 1.2 million Catholics, something like 1.999 million of them would have already worked out the topical significance of the parable of the storm as posted HERE

Ten points for the Papal election press kit


There is so much misinformation and ignorance (wilful) out there with regard to the election of the new Pope that I can hardly bear to listen to a broadcast let alone read a newspaper.

And much of it, shamefully, comes from Catholic journalists and, of course, the unmentionables (the bishops).

I am heartily peeved at the constant whine of "Perhaps we will have an African Pope...." well read your history, we've had three already.

And then there's the democracy aspect. It does my liver no good at all to hear comments such as "...the Church is not behaving very democratically..."

Good. The Church was not designed to be a democracy.
Christ did not say: "Hands up all those who think that it's a good idea to go forth and teach all nations".

He did not say: "Do this in memory of Me if you agree with the principles of transubstantiation".

What He did say is: "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church" - a line that is guaranteed to induce buttock clenching mode in any Protestant present when the subject comes up.

The Vatican really does need a Press (not Public) Relations Director as a secular counterpart to Fr Lombardi, the press supremo; someone who is as cunning as the media serpents and as wise as a Piazza pigeon.

One of his/her first duties might be to produce a media information pack.

Brief the press firmly and clearly and you stand a very good chance of at least ten per cent of what they state about the Catholic Church being accurate.

Here is the idiot's guide version of the Papal Election press kit:-

1. The new Holy Father will be a Catholic male.

2. The whole election process is under the control of the Holy Spirit - and no, He will not be available for photocalls.

3. Latin will be used a great deal in the days ahead  - it's much better than Esperanto.

4. It is normal for all official Vatican posts to fall vacant when a new Pope is elected - think new leader, new team.

5. No, a new Pope does not mean that we will have women priests; it can't happen, please move on.

6. There will be no changes, repeat, no changes to Catholic doctrine; abortion, homosexuality, euthanasia, IVF, contraception, adultery and fornication are all mortal sins and will remain so.

7. The Catholic Faithful will still be obliged to believe in the Sacraments, the Virgin birth, the Immaculate Conception, the Resurrection of the body (see The Apostle's Creed) and also that the devil exists and requires our constant vigilance in order to protect ourselves and HMC.

8. The new Pope may be a Benedict XVII or a Pious XIII or, even, a John Paul III. What he will not be is a Craig, a Del or a Jimmy.

9. There will not be two Popes; only one as normal.

10. The Catholic Church will remain the Mystical Body of Christ, the one, true Church.

In brief, normal service will be resumed as usual when you see the white smoke.


Wednesday 27 February 2013

It's a hard concept to grasp (according to The Daily Telegraph)

Yes, it's going to cause chaos and confusion, the days of the two popes are back with us again and (panic, panic) how will the Vatican and the wider world cope?

In mean two popes.....how will we tell them apart?

They will both be wearing white (horror of horrors)

They will both be male (sorry LGBTs)

And they will both celebrate the Mass on a daily basis (swoon)

                                       
                                               After tomorrow this  man will not be the Pope                                      
                                    

              
                                 
                                                        In a few week's time the Pope may     
                                                         look like this, but a little chubbier


OK, OK, settle down media pundits; here is how it will work:-

Pope Benedict XVI (after tomorrow) will be known as Pope Emeritus (not 'The Pope' and not 'The Holy Father'

His successor, (hopefully a rather amiable and holy American Cardinal), will be the one wearing the red shoes.

He will also speak with an American rather than a German accent (Deo volente)

He will be addressed as "Your Holiness" referred to as 'The Pope' or 'The Holy Father' and he will be the one not eating bratwurst.

They will live not too far apart from each other but reports so far indicate that Fr Lombardi, Vatican PRO will be issuing photofits of each so that the Bishops of England and Wales can be absolutely sure that the person they are slagging off is definitely THE POPE.

"The Deacon's busy......

......the Deacon's ill......we are all under a lot of pressure right now.....the priest in the parish adjoining ours has asked for help from our deacon....I'm sure she could get to a church somehow...."

                         Even clowns can juggle successfully

This is a transcript from a phone conversation I had with a parish administrator in my hunt to arrange for the Blessed Sacrament to be taken to an elderly and frail relative.

The real problem is that my relative will only receive Holy Communion from a priest or, at a push, a deacon (provided that they look like a priest and are not in civvies).

I would have precisely the same attitude in a similar situation.

I have some sympathy with a parish who has a decent PP but who is suffering with illness himself at present. I have sympathy with busy deacons.

But, I do not have sympathy when nothing is done, over a long period of time.

I do not have sympathy when I am told by a voice over the phone that: "Your mother (sic) was seen at Mass with another relative so we assume she is alright".

One, she is not my mother. Two she is housebound (more or less) and three she would rather conduct a self appendectomy with a rusty saw blade and a coat hanger than attend a novus ordo Mass.

To me this is a snapshot of the modern Church.
All shallow, smarmy pc talk, cant and hypocrisy but no intention of practising charitable works.

Not just charitable works but works at the very heart of a priest's vocation (sorry, are we allowed to use the 'V' word still?).

I regard the current 'deacon' status with some reservations.
 Yes, yes, I know we had 'em years ago but we also had the bubonic plague years ago so it does not follow that everything is hermeneutically sealed.

And yet the problem of too few priests and too many demands on them is not going away, if anything, it's getting worse.

Of course, our Holy Father (whose reign most bishops now seem to regard as some sort of Petrine aberration) had a very good solution some two or three years ago.

He asked for priests and parishes to be federated; clustered in other words.

Instead of four separate parishes in a rural area, the HF suggested that they should be brought together so that two or three priests could live together as a community, reducing the housing and living costs elements by up to 75% and creating a vibrant hub of fraternal support and round the clock pastoral care.

It makes sound sense in both human resource and spiritual management terms.

But then, what does an 85 year old 'conservative' 'blinkered' Pope know about parish life?

The Bishops know what's what and they are following the example set by their brothers in France who employ priests on a peripatetic basis to visit a parish on a six weekly rota.
For the rest of the time the parish church gathers dust and the associated overheads that attend large, old, semi used buildings.

And for those who have not yet guessed, my mother/aunt/cousin/sister-in-law/stepmother, lives in the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, home to the pin up of Eccleston Square, Bishop Kieran Conry.

Say no more.

What do you call men who are disloyal to their leader?

Men who stab their general in the back; men who do not wait for the stage to be cleared before they put the boot in by talking of needing a change, of moving away from a 'conservative Church'

Would you place these men in that category? -



Cardinal Emeritus Cormac Murphy O'Connor    



                         
                                              Bishop Kieran Conry, Arundel & Brighton


Bishop Thomas Burns, Menevia             


Would you use these words to describe the character of any of the above?

Integrity/Faithful/Loyal/Obedient/Visionary/Decent/True

Tuesday 26 February 2013

How green was his valet?






Speculation grows about many things at present and I have no wish to sling grappa on the flames but I liked this link from Fr Athanasius McVay on Facebook


Not quite a Lazarus moment

That would be endowing my release from hospital (on bail, pending further tests and then an op to remove something that should not be there), with more importance than it really deserves.

However, I am both startled, humbled and very, very grateful for all of your prayers and Masses. And please keep Mrs L and myself in your daily prayers as we are not out of the wood just yet.
Of course, the great Catholic thing under the circumstances is that we shall, in turn, remember you all in our daily Rosary.

Frustratingly, the hospital did not have wi-fi, so in the midst of the latest crises in HMC, I have had to rely on the BBC Radio Four programme for my news.
And that was very bad for my blood pressure (both the news and the prejudiced
way the Beeb presented it).





It seems very much to me that we have entered an era not so very distant from Germany's Weimar Republic of the 1920s and 30s.

Recession and economic disaster are on every corner, secularism enjoys an unparalleled resurgence, everywhere one looks there are images and acts of evil (pornography, violence, war, infanticide), degenerate humanity carries on drinking and carousing generally indulging itself in every perversion known to man and even the pillars of Holy Mother Church are shaking as what is, undoubtedly, an onslaught from below carries on apace.

It is slightly out of a time context but I cling to Archbishop Fulton Sheen's phrase of the late 70s:

"THESE ARE WONDERFUL TIMES TO BE A CATHOLIC"

For those unfamiliar with His Grace's context, he meant that, as a child he enjoyed something of an age of comparative innocence.
Front doors were left unlocked, bicycles could be parked in the garden unchained and free from fear of theft and so on.

By the time he was an old man, the world had moved on and society was suspicious, selfish and jealous; charity had grown cold. The Church and all of her members were under attack and it meant something to stand up and state 'I am a Catholic' under those circumstances.

And now, we have entered an Ice Age as far as goodness and charity is concerned. It is hard to stand up and make a claim to our Faith today; battered and despised by many.

But, we are the Church Militant! This is what we do!

It is  indeed a wonderful time to be a Catholic.


Saturday 23 February 2013

Due to a small health problem.......

...... there will be a brief intermission.

Mrs L and I would be most grateful for your prayers.

Thank you.

Wednesday 20 February 2013

More on the 1969 report of a baby being incinerated alive


Extracts from the archives of The Catholic Herald 18th July 1969 (with grateful thanks to my nephew Michael who did the digging)

We believe that it was this report that prompted my brother to write this poem.

Are aborted babies being burnt alive? asks woman M.P.

BY A STAFF REPORTER

CONCERN that aborted foetuses were being put into hospital boilers while still alive was expressed by Mrs. Jill Knight, Conservative M.P. for Edgbaston, at a meeting of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children at Caxton Hall, London, this week.

"One of my main concerns is for the aborted foetuses." she said.
"The fact that these arc foetuses which look like babies. which kick and even cry like babies, is neither here nor there to people who term them 'aborted foetuses.'

"What about the Glasgow baby who cried after being taken off the surgical table on its way to the hospital boiler? This baby was aborted after 28 weeks and was quite strong enough to cry.

"But what about babies not strong enough to cry? Are they putting babies into boilers alive? I believe that they are."

HEARD WHIMPERING The baby referred to by Mrs. Knight was heard whimpering in a disposal bag by staff outside the operating theatre after it had been sent to the incinerator at a Glasgow hospital in January.

'Ilse (sic) baby survived for only a short time after its cries were heard.
The Glasgow jury inquiring into the baby's death found that no one was to blame. hut recommended legislation prohibiting abortion when an unborn child was "approaching viability."

Mrs. Knight said Mr. Crossman. Minister for Social Services. had recently told the House of Commons that ins foetuses of 28 weeks had been aborted last year.
"How many of these were alive?" she asked. "Too many abortions arc being carried out for cash only."

A Department of Health spokesman said later this week it could not find figures to support these figures.

The Abortion Law Reform Association accused Mrs. Knight of creating a "scare story." It had investigated the incident at the Glasgow hospital and was satisfied the foetus was dead when taken to the incinerator and had not responded to efforts to keep it alive.............

Tuesday 19 February 2013

The Tablet is toast!



"Mickens who?"

Several bloggers have carried this news so I'll keep it brief.

The move is to finish off The Tablet. OK, no real arguments there.

But it needs to be done with good taste (I'm sure it will be) and with Christian charity.

Write to the PP, pray, lobby the Bishop but, most of all, tell other Catholics that what they buy at the back of the church on a Sunday is not an intellectual mag several stages up from a Catholic newspaper but pap......yes pap (and a word that rhymes with it).

Here is the email from the group, go to Facebook to join up....

I notice they have a penultimate line for the geriatric bloggers of Birmingham!

A group of my friends mainly young people started up this Facebook page and I would be grateful if you could post it on your site to encourage our bishops to stop the anti-Catholic Tablet from being stocked in our parishes.  It may seem like a silly venture and won't do anything, but more and more I am seeing people begin to see behind the lies of The Tablet, CAFOD and the Roehampton Institute.

We have also got a good few oldie's liking the page too now!

God bless you in what you are doing for the kingdom,

Mel

http://www.facebook.com/events/555094327848389/ 

Good news - an idealogical clone is on order

I am trying to keep out of the melee of comment regarding the Holy Father's resignation and as to whom will replace him but I thought that an article in today's Daily Telegraph was worth a punt.

It states that the likelihood is that an idealogical clone of Benedict will be appointed.

You may not like the terminology but most, I suspect, that read this blog, (all eight of you), will welcome that view.

You may read it HERE.

"I'm a Catholic priest of the 21st century........





.....I like my folk group at Sunday Mass, my team of Eucharistic Ministers, I do a great deal with my brothers and sisters in the Anglican, Methodist and United Reform churches.

We have lots of jolly get togethers, prayer meetings (but not with Catholic prayers you understand), Lent lunches and inter parish quizzes.

And we regularly share the same church for a joint service; it's all very ecumenical and pally.

What's that?

The SSPX?

I wouldn't be seen dead in one of their churches let alone share a service with them!"



Thanks to GM who prodded me on this one.

Pray for Cardiff and, if you can....

......come and join the 40 Days vigil this Wednesday 20th February from 2pm onwards.

One of the founders of the movement, David Bereit, will be there and the forces of those who are for abortion are also planning to be there in force.

The organisers have asked, as always, that attendance is peaceful and prayerful.

Those pro abortionists have a Facebook entry that clearly shows their hatred. It also shows that they are planning to collect cash from the passing public to support the abortion clinics. This is, of course, illegal without a special licence.

The main activist appears to be a Hannah Austin, a feminist and activist on behalf of women's rights (but not as far as their physical and mental well being apparently) and I suggest that Rosaries are offered up on this woman's behalf.

Hannah and her friends have produced a banner stating 'Get your Rosaries off our ovaries'- that tells you the level of their debating abilities.

 Register beforehand if you are able, on the 40 Days for Life Cardiff website.


Our Lady of Wales, pray for us and those who oppose the right to life, especially life in the mother's womb.





Monday 18 February 2013

No, no, not Room 101, please......


                                   What could be more terrifying in Room 101?


"Richard is confined in Room 101, strapped to a chair in a way which rendered him completely immobile. In front of him were two tables on which stood two covered wire cages. O’Brien was holding a lever which would operate the cages. 

Impassively, O’Brien explains that what Room 101 contains is quite simply, “the worst thing in the world.” 
This varies from individual to individual. 
For some it may be torture, fire for some one else, drowning for yet others. 
For each individual, Room 101 held his greatest fear. 
When confronted with that, courage and cowardice lose their meaning, one will do whatever one has to do to avoid the horror in Room 101 as naturally and automatically as one will grab at a rope to keep from falling.

In Richard’s case, his greatest fear, his worst nightmare was Bishop Kieran Conry and it was it was the Bishop  there in the cage in front of him.
 O’Brien informs him that he is going to open the cage and set the Bishop onto him.

The Bishop is rabid for the blood of a traditionalist, he will sense Richard’s helplessness and devour him inch by inch. 
Richard cries out in terror asking O’Brien to only tell him what he has to do to avoid this. 
O’Brien vouchsafes no answer and lays his hand on the lever which would open the cages.
 In a total frenzy Richard sees the Bishop behind the bar and with a sudden flash of intuition realizes what he has to do to save himself.

He has to take the final step of degradation, he has to betray Tina.
It is no longer a matter of choice, before this threat, he is helpless.
He cries out “Do it to Tina! Not me!” 
Repeating that cry he is aware that the lever has clicked back into place, the cage is closed. 
His degradation is finally completed in Room 101"


With apologies to George Orwell

Bishop Conry is due to speak at a seminar in Carmarthen Tuesday 19th February - abandon hope all ye who enter here.

All those who want to kill life in the womb should watch this clip





Not a 'bunch of cells' - not a 'blastocyst', and most certainly not a 'parasite'.....it is a life, human life, created by God and sacred until such time the Almighty reclaims it.

And from the Facebook page of Gail Mills comes this enlightenment for those who cling to the belief that the child in the womb "is only a parasite"
                         Photo: Do you agree? Please "Like" AND "Share" this graphic. —

But Bishop.......the bridges are closed to traffic....


 
 
.....both Severn bridges are closed due to high winds.......
 
 
....and the M4 motorway has been shut due to massive subsidence.....
 
 
......the side roads are all clogged with cattle and sheep....the natives are restless and putting on their woad.....wild Welsh tribes have come down from the hills.......the Demetians are armed and dangerous........there's an outbreak of smallpox....
 
.......rough gangs roam the countryside.....
 
 
A warm welcome on  the hillside awaits you 
 
.....a meteor is due to hit Carmarthen town on Tuesday morning.....
 
 ....there has been an outbreak of the plague at Pont Abraham.......and a sighting of  herds of African buffalo on the rampage.
 
  So, really Bishop Conry, there's no need to come to give a talk in Carmarthen next Tuesday....we only have your personal safety at heart.
 
We would hate it if you came to any harm (yes, really)...it would be most inadvisable to travel under these conditions.......
 
 .....and, anyway,  people are pulling out after your latest remarks about the Holy Father.
 
So, you see, you would only be talking to yourself.
 
 But then, you're used to that.

Sunday 17 February 2013

We fly to thy protection......



H/T to Kate Edwards at Australia Incognita for this very timely prayer





Last 'Mass' for Warwick Street

Today the last homosexual 'Mass' will be held in Soho's Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory (sob).

In the future, such Masses will take place at Farm Street, so no change there then.

It is a great pity that the group who support these Masses do not grasp the fact that the Catholic Church embraces all regardless of colour, gender or their place in society.

We do not need 'gay' Masses any more than we need Masses for divorced people or eccentric people or bank robbers. We are all sinners and all in need of God's grace which is not distributed according to sexual inclinations but is freely available to all who are deserving of it.

The Tablet's spokesman on the subject, one, Christopher Lamb, stated on this morning's Radio Four news, that Archbishop Nichols had stopped the Masses due to "pressure from the authorities in Rome".

I know not Christopher Lamb but he needs to feel the firm grip of a crozier around his neck to haul him back into line for making such silly statements; failing that perhaps the Archbishop should sling out copies of the said rag from the back of the Cathedral.

Saturday 16 February 2013

86 year old CEO to resign

In a surprise move the 86 year old chief Executive of ICI (International Cheese Industries) has announced his resignation and will leave the corporation at the end of the month.

Shareholders of the company are outraged and scandalised that their CEO is leaving, despite the fact that he has worked for more than twenty years past the commercial retirement age and has a variety of severe health conditions.

Many employees of ICI are, however, are pleased at the news on the grounds that the Chief Exec has made life distinctly uncomfortable for them by leading them back to the company's core mission statement:

"To produce the best of cheeses, faithful to original recipes".


        Unbeatable. The company's original mature cheese is making a comeback



    ICI's low in flavour cheese is popular with the mass market
 (but not the EF Mass market)

Production Manager, Casey Conroy, complained that:

"We like producing soft, low flavour cheeses and our customers, who have lost all sense of taste, like them also.
But, for the past eight years we have been told to produce our original cheese range that is high on flavour, it's called 'The Extraordinary Flavour' range.
Now, with a new CEO we are hoping we can go back to the bland methods of production that we perfected in the 1960s."

Shares in the company have slumped as the media has entered into mindless speculation as to the reasons for the CEO's departure and have missed the major issues such as the company's Succession Planning policy known as the 'Paraclete' method.
This policy was designed to be flawless and is what the company PRO describes as a 'black and white' procedure:

"Sometimes we get black smoke and sometimes we get white"

But Bishop - Arundel and Brighton needs you!

How selfish are we?

We take a Bishop from his own diocese and plonk him down in the wilds of west Wales (Carmarthen) and ask him to be guest speaker at a seminar on 'The Year of Faith and the New Evangelisation'.

Yes, there seem to be no bounds to our greed to have Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel & Brighton Diocese, come and speak to us here in Menevia Diocese (Carmarthen).

We care not that Laurence England and others will be deprived of Bishop Conry's steadying hand for a few days or that his charitable and kind comments on the Holy Father will not resound along the eastern boundaries of England in his absence.

There will be crying in Crawley, weeping in Worthing and unseemly bawling in Brighton.

How can this much loved shepherd leave his flock with such apparent gay abandon?

And can Menevia Diocese cope with the anticipated influx of pilgrims from all points of the compass, anxious to hear words of wisdom from +KC?

The event of the year is due to take place at St Mary's Church Hall, Carmarthen next Tuesday and all are welcome, light refreshments are provided and the day is free. Heady stuff for us west Walians who are starved of any intellectual, theological discourse (let alone egg and cress sandwiches).

Shall I be going?

Sadly, no.

I have already committed myself to washing the car that day.

Friday 15 February 2013

"I quite like abortion"

Yesterday's 40 Days for Life Vigil in St Mary's Street, Cardiff was a lively affair (at least from 3pm onwards when we joined the little group who prayed so fervently outside the abortion clinic).

                                  Those against Life.....................

Mrs L and myself had booked in for a one hour slot from 3pm until 4pm. We sang the Salve Regina, prayed the Rosary, recited the Divine Mercy Chaplet and, in between, chatted and laughed among ourselves; after all, for the general public to see Christians keeping vigil with smiling faces, must be almost as good as praying.
We also got soaking wet from the incessant rain.

Being an inveterate people watcher I found the response of passers by fascinating.

Most expressed a look of disgust or even anger, a few gawped vacantly, some were obviously in mental tutting mode and one young man called out as he went past at pace: "God bless you all".
That was a most welcome blessing and may God bless him also.

And then, on the stroke of four, just as a sit down and a cup of hot coffee beckoned, a young woman appeared and entered into debate with Colleen the local organiser present and Mrs Linen. Due to traffice noise I could not hear all of what the young woman was saying but, apparently the gist was:

 " This is only the concern of the woman herself and it is her perfect right to choose abortion if she so wishes, and, what is more, she is only getting rid of a parasite"

A Parasite? - I have never heard that word used to describe an unborn child. In truth it shocked me.

Meanwhile, Mark from Perth came under fire from a couple of young men who then transferred their attention to me. They took a theological approach claiming that there was no such thing as a soul and then they went on to why the Holy Father was retiring ("because of his links to child abuse").

I try to avoid such debates because I have a very short fuse that becomes even shorter when faced with banal arguments. I tried hard to hold on to the fact that these young men were much loved by God, and it seemed to work as we entered into a bantering sort of debate with a great deal of smiling and laughter.

Finally, thet set up an impromptu counter vigil opposite proclaiming: "I quite like abortion" - but they lasted less than ten minutes before they moved on.

By then it was around 3.45pm but before we could take our leave an uproar broke out as gangs of homeless young men, with cans of extra strong lager in their hands, clashed violently and bloodily opposite.
An event unconnected with the vigil but somewhat unnerving nonetheless.

                                     .........and those for Life

How could we walk away with so much action taking place?
 By now, our numbers were down to four in total.
We held on until Mary arrived but then a middle aged woman began to harangue us in a most unpleasant fashion. As always, the organising representatives, were cool and, to all appearances, unconcerned, the prayers continued without pause; there are some that are beyond reason and this woman was one of them, please pray for her and the others who opposed the vigil and the cause.

Finally, at 5.40pm we broke off and limped away, determined to return to fight another day.

The Cardiff organisers have put out a call for male volunteers to register for the 4pm to 8pm slot on Saturday night - at present they only have women signed up and it looks like being a rough slot.

It would be a wonderful thing if a parish group could respond so that the numbers were into double figures, please pray that this will happen.


A "parasite"
                           

           


Thursday 14 February 2013

A prayer and a poem.....


....off today to pray outside an abortuary with the 40 Days for Life Cardiff group, please remember the cause in your prayers.

And, following yesterday's poem on the aborted child crying out, Ben Trovato has posted on GKC's poem, you may see it at Countercultural Father.

Ben has suggested that a series of pro-life poetry should be developed and featured on the web, an excellent idea......any contributions?

Please post them or pass them on to Ben or myself.

Wednesday 13 February 2013

The cry of an aborted child

This poem came to light recently courtesy of my nephew who found it hidden among the usual family documents.

It was written in 1969 by my late brother John who was a great influence on my own Catholic faith and whose example probably was the main guide to my own orthodoxy.

John wrote the poem following a newspaper report (22nd May 1969) regarding an aborted baby crying out while on its way to the incinerator - a thought that is hard and abhorrent to contemplate.

So, on the first day of the 40 Days for Life, on behalf of my nephew, Michael, I dedicate this to those attending vigils being held throughout the world.


Hear me O God.  Hear.
From the depths of my condemned cell I cry.
None will hear me but You because You see,
I have no vote.
I did not murder nor did I steal or wound.
Yet I am held here helpless before the sterile steel.
Or the poisoned needle.
A death too brutal for murderers is a death
reserved for me.
No comforting breast nor loving Mother's arms await me.
My body will be given to be burned.
What have I done? I have not earned
this sordid unlamented end.
In sin was I conceived. Unwanted I die
before I shall be born.
O when the metal enters my brain,
when I shall kick my last convulsive agony,
take me, take me to Your arms.
None will console me, none cherish me.
None hear my last suffocated
shriek from the traitorous womb.
Save You, save only You.
O love me God.

John Francis Collins RIP


Please help this poem gain coverage in the hope that it may reach into the hearts of the politicians, doctors, nurses and others who are involved in this barbaric practice.

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Take a Card(inal)



                                    Take any one, go on, just pick one -


Francis Cardinal Arinze
Raymond Cardinal Burke
Carlo Cardinal Caffarra
Velasio Cardinal De Paolis
John Cardinal Tong Hon
Juan Cardinal Sandoval Íñiguez
Antonio Cardinal Cañizares Llovera
George Cardinal Pell
Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith
Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard
Franc Cardinal Rodé
André Cardinal Vingt-Trois

Why this list?

Because they have all celebrated the one true Mass of the one true Church.

Where's Cardinal Ouellet? I'm sure he has celebrated the Latin Mass......no?