Is Iain Duncan Smith the Best Example of a Catholic Politician?

Is Iain Duncan Smith the archetypal Catholic politician?

He is pro-life, pro-family (typically "right wing") yet very sincere in his belief that social justice is a good thing and the effects of poverty need tackling (typically "left wing").

I have long found right-wing MPs to be pro-banks and don't care about communities, etc. whereas left-wing MPs seem to be screamingly pro-homosexual, pro-abortion etc.

What is a Catholic to do?

I would like the input of you, patient peruser of my humble blog.

What other politicians fit the Catholic mould? Ann Widdecombe? What about from the "left wing" side? Are there any genuine pro-life Labour MPs?

Link:
A Catholic Interview with Iain Duncan Smith

Plans For the Weekend? Go See Anthony Hopkins in The Rite

The Rite, released tomorrow in the UK

We are making plans to see the new Anthony Hopkins film The Rite this weekend, so I'm quite excited.

I think my eldest is more frightened of being seen out in public with his poor old dad than any scenes in the film ;-). No, he's a good lad really.

Quite a few people have popped by this blog on searching for info on the film, its star and the relevance of Catholicism to both.

I'm sure it won't be to the extent of The Passion of the Christ, but as I always say when the power of the film industry can be used to promote Catholicism and Catholic Truths, then more souls will be prompted to seek out the Truth.

In a world of chaotic opinions and instant "experts" I do believe Catholics should promote their Faith with the talents God has given them.

Watch this space for a review.


P.S. Why is it in this review of the film, the person who pours cold water on the fact of diabolical possession is "John Allen, writing in the National Catholic Reporter?" As many faithful Catholics have said, Satan's agenda is to make people think he doesn't exist, therefore allowing atheism and false pride to rise (witness modern society).As the review itself states:

Above all the young man grapples with what Fr. Lucas keeps repeating: to disbelieve the devil is what the devil wants. C.S. Lewis, writing in “The Screwtape Letters”  (1942), states this well: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”

Pope's Visit Generated at Least £14m More than it Cost Taxpayers

 The Pope Arrives in Scotland

A Reluctant Sinner has pulled together various sources to prove that not only did the National Secular Society get it woefully wrong when it said the Pope's visit would cost the taxpayer £100 Million (as it actually cost circa £6.9 Million), but that even without the figures for London (so in truth it would be much higher), the visit generated £20.75 for the UK economy.

Might we expect an apology for the (let's be charitable) terrible miscalculations and hysteria whipped up by them against the Pope's visit.

Will they now congratulate the Church and the Holy Father for generating more money for the UK economy than the visit actually cost the taxpayer?

The next time a Pope visits can we expect the secularist lobby and organised atheists to welcome the Holy Father for the economic boost he undoubtedly brings to our hard-pressed economy?

Or will the rationalists be irrational and the liberals be illiberal (again)?

Trads to the Back of the Bus

Another great piece from Linen on the Hedgerow which highlights the dreadful way the Tridentine Mass is treated in all too many dioceses, despite the Pope's wishes.

We are all, as Catholics, missing out on a wonderful gem from Heaven's treasury by sidelining the beautiful 'event' that is the Tridentine Mass.

Even non-Catholics like Agatha Christie recognised its beauty and cultural importance.

Of course for us Catholics it means so much more, raises our very minds, hearts and souls to Heaven and in its most profound form (solemn High Mass) in a traditional setting or in the ruins of a former Catholic shrine etc. it makes one realise, most profoundly, how connected we are to the rest of the Church (Militant, Suffering and Triumphant) and that, in that very real sense, we are just one small part of the Church which is much bigger and leads inexorably to heaven and the Beatific Vision, which calls all of us, despite our fallen nature, to be Saints.

Coming to Mass? Bring your Tambourine and copy of Socialist Worker

Please. Please dear God! Have mercy on us.

What is this? A roller-rink? A social workers' conference? An exhibition on whirling dervishes?

Where is Our Lord? Where is the deference to the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord in His Tabernacle? Where is the Tabernacle?

Who is the social worker condemning sexism, who talks over the priest as he declares Ite Missa est (I wish)?

I am scandalised by this! I do not wish to be presumptious, but the Holy Father must surely act to close down these monstrosities pretending to be Masses?

Are these the scandalous Masses the kind that gave rise to heresy, pride and division before Luther took advantage of them to promote his dreadful ideas, on the back of some geuine grievances?

If we do not act as the Church acted to codify the Mass at the Council of Trent, to stop the liturgical abuses (one cannot help but think of the Soho Masses) and other scandalous actions/inactions of Bishops and priests (albeit, as ever, a minority) then it is the Church itself that is damaged, and souls that are lost by falling away from Holy Mother Church.

Is this "Mass" really what the Saints and Martyrs lived and died for?

Medjugorje: The Church Says IT IS NOT MARY

So many times I have heard well-meaning Catholics talk about Medjugorje in the most glowing terms. Many have been and/or will go there on pilgrimage.

Many priests praise Medjugorje, allow it to be promoted in newsletters or on parish notice boards.

As such I was interested to read an article on the Catholic Herald website, by Francis Phillips, which contained the following gem:

what I think as a private person, or what the late pope wrote in a private letter to two friends who had sent him literature about Medjugorje, or indeed what the saintly Mother Teresa is said to have said, is neither here nor there; it is what the Church thinks that matters. What the Church thinks about alleged apparitions is left to the local Ordinary to investigate and pronounce.
Four years after the Lourdes apparitions of 1858, and after a lengthy investigation, the local bishop pronounced them authentic. In the case of Medjugorje, both Bishop Zanic of Mostar and his successor, Bishop Peric, fully investigated the phenomenon and decided that nothing supernatural was taking place.

(emphasis mine).

The Church having pronounced what some friends have labelled MegaForgery as "nothing supernatural" is damning in the extreme.

The best course of action for Catholics (lay and religious) is to leave the site and the seers especially, well alone.

Again, to quote from the article, a Canadian priest says:

“The Devil doesn’t mind a few thousand people becoming better Catholics after going there if, as a result, he’s got millions of Catholics being disobedient to the authority of the Church.”

Redemptorists Promote Relativism and Religious Anarchy

Remember the Redemptorist Publication Sunday Plus? In a recent post I showed how it was used to promote Buddhism, horoscopes and make young Catholics feel that their Faith was unnecessary.

Well I just came across another edition of Sunday Plus, again by the Redemptorists and again from October 2010 (I think I must have stuffed it in a pocket in disbelief and forgotten about it).

There relevant section in this one is again the "Meet" section. In the last one we met Amy, who was embracing horoscopes and Buddhism, whilst all but denouncing Catholicism. A great example for the Catholic children where this bilge was dished up.

In this other issue of Sunday Plus we get to meet Hannah. Here instead of Buddhism and horoscopes we have relativism in all its cafeteria Catholicism scope - just the kind of relativism the Holy Father attacked on his visit here last September.

Hannah, well as it says:

• She's not sure about the the need for an organised religion.
• She... is happy to pick and mix the bits of her Catholic upbringing which still make sense to her.

Got that?

Now the Redemptorists are promoting religious anarchy.

Who will ensure the Sacraments are there for us? Who will ensure we have priests to Consecrate the Sacred Species? And even if Catholicism survives this free-for-all that Hannah proposes, we are still free to "pick and mix."

That's what Woolworths specialised in - and we all know what happened to them.

Yet again all this is given over without proviso, without a Catholic defence of the Church (i.e,. organised religion) and all of her Sacraments, Sacramentals, the Creed etc. which we are not free to "pick and mix."

This kind of insidious propaganda is designed to weaken the faith of our young, to plant seeds of doubt and rebellion against Holy Church, the Blessed Sacrament, the Papacy and all we hold dear.

It's high time the Redemptorists were made to print Catholic material or told to shut up.

Souls are at stake - even, but not just, Amy's and Hannah's. But at least they can plead ignorance. The Redemptorists responsible have no such defence.

New Film out Soon: The Rite, Starring Anthony Hopkins

An interesting new film is out late February (it's already out in America).



This film looks like a must for Catholics aged 15 and over.



I had to put these trailers up after reading an interview with the priest (Fr G Thomas - sounds Welsh!) on the sublime Linen on the Hedgerow blog. The link with the Vatican exorcist Fr. Amorth means a solid Catholicism is assured in these matters and when Fr Thomas says the film is in all essentials true to his book, which is factual, then we can look forward to an interesting film (perhaps in the vein of The Exorcism of Emily Rose).



P.S. Anthony Hopkins: now he is Welsh! ;-)

The Homosexual Militant Who Organises Eucharistic MInisters

As if the whole Eucharistic Ministers debate weren't bad enough, one of my favourite blogs, A Reluctant Sinner has published a devastating account of attempts by homosexual militants to canonise a Ugandan homosexual activist who was murdered, without bothering to check the facts, because it now seems he was murdered by a fellow homosexual whom he refused to pay for his "favours."

One man responsible (read the blog post linked to above Mr Lazy!) for this instant canonisation of a homosexual militant engaging in sodomy, is also responsible for organising the Eucharistic Ministers at the infamous homosexual 'Soho Masses' in the Westminster Archdiocese.

Do you think a homosexual militant, with an extremist agenda, who publishes a blog entitled Queering the Church, will pick fellow homosexuals to be Eucharistic Ministers or not?

Yet more evidence that the idea of Eucharistic Ministers is open to abuse.

Do We Need a Second Counter Reformation?

No, no, no! Where Protestant ideas end: yuch.

One of my favourite books about the Reformation, possibly after Cobbett's History of the Protestant Reformation in England and Ireland, is Rev B. J. Kidd DD's The Counter-Reformation 1550-1600.

I would say to any decent (or half-decent) Catholic: it's a book you simply must read! Originally published by the SPCK in 1933, it tells the story of Saints called to defend the Catholic Faith across Europe, in the shadow of the Protestant Revolution against the Catholic Church.

The Protestants had already won over vast tracts of Germany, Bavaria, Hungary, Poland... much of Europe was under threat (even France and Italy!) Only Spain seemed to stand firm in the Faith, and it was that nation which gave the world the Jesuits, a Holy Order that won back so much of Europe for the Catholic Faith -- a role which Protestants and Freemasons have still not forgiven the many Saints and Martyrs of that Order for (hence all the ridiculous Jesuit conspiracies).

One aspect of the Counter Reformation was, of course, the Council of Trent. That heroic Council of the Church which codified (not invented!) the Mass of Centuries, to stop abuses (sound familiar?) and gave us the Tridentine Mass which was the Mass for another 400+ years until the experiments of the 70s, which have seen Churches half-empty out... but I digress.

The Council of Trent saw so many Holy Souls gather to defend Holy Mother Church from many abuses that had given fuel to the Protestants who (as with all false creeds) use justifiable qualms to push through their despicable aims, in their case undermining Tradition, ripping apart the Sacraments, and trying to make 'everyman a priest' (talk I heard recently from a Catholic priest) which I consider totally against what Christ established His Church for. We have a Holy Priesthood (even if some sadly fall short of what is expected) in order to enable us to receive the Sacraments.

I am a Catholic. I may be a Saint (I don't think I am, but the possibility is there for us all). But I am not a priest. I am a Catholic. I am a father and a husband. I have my vocation in life.

And this, in a kind of circuitous route (how atypical of me) brings me back to this wonderful book.

You see, at the Council of Trent, some Catholic laity and priests turned up with an agenda. Some were powerful men of the world (especially from the 'German' sphere of influence) and they wanted the Catholic Church to move partway towards the Protestant stance on certain things, as a way to 'heal the rift' and bring the two sides back together.

Would this have worked? Give them an inch and they'll want a yard? There is no doubt the Council overturned many abuses and that in and of itself should have pleased any genuine souls who were irked with the Church. Let's face it, genuine Catholics can take umbrage with some Church policies, especially if they are seen to harm the Church, turn souls away, make the Church look grasping or underhand. We only have to look at the recent paedophile scandal in the Church. If the Church had reacted correctly, nipped it in the bud, acted in the best interests of souls (priestly and laity), routed out homosexuals in the priesthood and much else besides - it would have spared the Church another scandal, and more injuries.

Yet the Council of Trent reacted to the Protestant Revolution not only by ending genuine abuses which gave genuine grievances, it acted to solidify the Traditional Latin-Rite Mass, it sent the Jesuits, Dominicans and others to fight back for the Faith in the heartlands of the "enemy" -- we know that full well with Saint Martyrs created right in here in Wales.

I remember seeing a plaque at the bottom end of Crwys Road, where Cathays and Roath meet in Cardiff, showing the spot where our beloved Saints Philip Evans and John Lloyd were martyred. To quote the Real Cardiff site about the spot:

Here, in a plot known as 'the Cut Throats', more or less where the Road has its junction with Albany, stood the town gibbet. Nearby were plots called Cae Budr (the defiled field), Plwcca Halog (the unhallowed plot), and Pwll Halog (the unhallowed pool). Today they've got side streets built across them and are happily called Strathnairn, Glenroy and Keppoch. 

So we have, today, the examples of so many Holy Saints and Martyrs from this time on which to call for help and intercession on, in these worried times.They came to Welsh soil to win souls back for Christ and His Church through the Sacraments.

One of the aspects of the Council of Trent, as I said earlier, was the attempt of some to get Protestant "demands" from the Church. One of these was Communion in both kinds for the laity. As usual with these demands, there was the Protestant propaganda that hitherto the priests had been keeping something to themselves, and (especially with the idea that "we are all priests") then why should we all not partake in Communion under both kinds?

This always stuck in my mind on reading the book, because in more and more Catholic parishes today, we are seeing Communion in both kinds to the laity, and it is something, I have to say, I feel deeply uncomfortable about.

Now I am not a theologian, not even a lukewarm one, so I do not know all the theological reasons for this, but common sense tells me that Communion in both kinds is open to so much abuse. We all know of accidents with Communion in the form of the wafer: dropped and spilled hosts etc. How much more worrying would it be to witness drops and spills of the Chalice?

The other aspect of Communion in both kinds is that it gives the impression - especially to the young, immature, gullible and foolish - that the Communion host is not the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in its entirety. That is, it gives/promotes the false idea that we have to receive the Body ("wafer") and Blood ("wine") together in order to have 'full communion' - i.e. that the Host in and of itself is somehow "not enough," and I think this comes back to the Protestant idea of "we are all priests" and therefore we all have the 'right' to Communion in both kinds, otherwise we are somehow 'cheated.'

My last bug-bear about Communion in both kinds is that it has given rise to what I personally consider one of the worst abuses of the post-Vatican 2 age (whether V2 instigated it is another matter). That is the appearance of the 'Eucharistic Minister.' Some non-priest given the green light to administer Communion to the laity. In many circles these have earned themselves the nomenclature Eucharistic Monsters for various reasons (and abuses).

For me personally the idea of someone who is not a priest administering Communion is an absolute sacrilege. And I mean that literally.

I do not like the idea - as I've outlined above - of the laity receiving Communion in both kinds, even at the hands of priests, but the idea that non-consecrated hands should administer Communion is just a non-starter. It seems such an abuse of the Holy Sacrament that I still find it difficult to believe that it is allowed and the idea of witnessing it fills me with dread and despair.

If Mother Teresa considered Communion in the hand the worst thing in the world, because it offends God for the Sacrament to be in unconsecrated hands, how much more might we say Eucharistic Ministers might do the same?

The Council of Trent did much to shore up the Catholic Faith, to reinvigorate a Faith which had been under attack for decades, with all the scandals (real and invented) used to attack the Church, with its enemies seeming to have the upper hand, with calls from within and without the Church for liberalisation in the Mass and the distribution of Communion... for some years we must have looked (from a worldly view) to be on the way out.

Does anyone else see the similarities with today?

Candlemas and our Catholic Traditions

Candlemas is another Catholic celebration that should make our separated brethren in the anglican church realise that their True Home is Rome!

Let us celebrate Candlemas and keep alive many centuries of Catholic Tradition.

If Christmas Day is "day one" then Candlemas is "day forty" with all that resonates in Biblical history: the flood, Christ in the desert, and from that the 40 days of Lent.

Indeed by the 17th Century Candlemas was seen as the very end of the Christmas season, and the Holy Father this year has said he will keep the crib on display until Candlemas.

from oremus.org:

But the strongest attraction of Candlemas is the 'bitter-sweet' nature of what it celebrates. It is a feast day, and the revelation of the child Jesus in the Temple, greeted by Simeon and Anna, calls for rejoicing. Nevertheless, the prophetic words of Simeon, which speak of the falling and rising of many and the sword that will pierce, lead on to the passion and to Easter. The scriptures and the liturgy of the Christmas season have several pointers to the suffering of the Lord, but none more potent than the words of Simeon. Coming as they do at the very end of the Christmas celebration and with Lent nearly always very close, they make Candlemas a kind of pivot in the Christian year. It is as if we say, on 2 February, 'One last look back to Christmas, and now, turn towards the cross!' On such a reckoning, the liturgical colour changes after the Eucharist at Candlemas from the white of Epiphanytide to a more penitential colour as Lent approaches.

In the old liturgies some of the 'bitter-sweet' flavour of the day was sometimes expressed through a striking change of liturgical colour, the procession in purple vestments and the eucharist in white. In origin this probably reflects little more than the habitually penitential nature of Processional rites, even when associated with a feast. It is this tradition that we have tried to use creatively in the Eucharist of Candlemas. We have moved the procession to the end of the Eucharist, where Nunc Dimittis in any case seems more appropriate, given it a penitential feel and made it, especially by the Responsory that follows it, the point of transition from Christmas to Easter. As such it is a very powerful ending to all that The Promise of His Glory celebrates.

In addition to the eucharist, a Vigil Service for Candlemas is provided. This is on the same model as the other Vigil Services in this book but, in some ways, is the greatest of them, building as it does on the light theme that belongs to this festival. Instead of psalmody, biblical chants, mainly from the Byzantine rite, have been used between the readings, and, as at the Eucharist, a procession with lighted candles may be made at the end, as Nunc Dimittis is sung.

From missionstclare.com:

By the seventh century it had become the custom to begin the worship service on February 2 with candlelighting by the congregation gathered outside the worship area followed by a procession into the Church with all carrying their lighted candles. This was to relive Simeon's experience of meeting the "light of nations" at the temple. The pastor Sophronius wrote in that century

Everyone should be eager to join the procession and to carry a light.
Our lighted candles are a sign of the divine splendor of the one who came to expel the dark shadows of evil and to make the whole universe radiant with the brilliance of his eternal light. Our candles also show how bright our souls should be when we go to meet Christ.
So let us hasten to meet our God.

In 2010, Christ's College, Cambridge University, held a Medieval Torchlit procession for Candlemas. What a sight it must have been:

On Tuesday 2 February, the Christian church ends its traditional period of celebration for Christmas and Epiphany with Candlemas. In Christ's we will be celebrating this special day by throwing ourselves back into the 16th century period with a mediaeval torchlight procession, with the blessing of Candles and Compline. This event coincides with the 500th anniversary of the consecration of the College Chapel in 1510.
Everyone is welcome to what will be a spectacular occasion and everyone will be given a processional torch or candle to carry.
Mediaeval music accompanied by drumbeat will be provided by members of the College Choir.

Famous Welsh Baddies #1: Katie Hopkins

This is going to be an occasional series, as with my 'Famous Welsh Catholics,' but in this instance to act as a national Mea Culpa to fellow Catholics and 'men of goodwill' across the UK and the world, for the actions of what I consider to be Welsh people who have had or are having a detrimental effect on the world.

After all, we all know that to be Welsh is a grace from God, but (Original Sin and all that) some of us have let the side down.

My first choice (as with my first Famous Welsh Catholic) isn't Welsh per se, but with a name like Hopkins she must have a Welsh connection along the way - and that's good enough for me!

Yes Katie Hopkins, famous following her appearance on The Apprentice.

Why has she stirred my righteous ire?

Well, she is one of those 'rent-a-gobs' who pops up with worrying frequency throughout the media, usually on BBC programmes, to present her views as those of the uber-Capitalist. You know the kind: the markets must dictate everything; you snooze you lose; survival of the fittest.

It's a kind of Darwinian, Nietzcheist, Thatcherite melting-pot of a worldview. Cuddly it ain't.

This sort of lady wears the trousers. She knows what she wants and it's world domination for businesses who have the strength and power to brush aside all opposition. It's all very testosterone-fuelled bully-boy business in the school of Gordon Gekko. It's The Apprentice writ large.

I am sure that Ms. Hopkins plays up her image as a bone-crusher (yes, I've cleaned that up) in order to become a rent-a-gob for the Beeb and others (the more controversial or absolute in outlook, the better in order to go toe-to-toe with another rent-a-gob of the 'opposite' persuasion), but by her own arguments, the banks should have been allowed to crash during the 'Credit Crunch' and so her own Business-Darwinian outlook is flawed in the extreme, because to her and those like her, the banks are the new gods of Mammon, the big power brokers with the billions who 'oil' the business world and allow businesses to plough money into expansion.

She doesn't see the debt bubble of the banks as a burden on "the people," she sees more banking, more debt, more uncontrolled growth as the answer. The world is afire and Ms Hopkins would readily pour on more petrol.

If your very gods should have fallen, but for the "bail out" by tax-payers (their private debt being taken on by the public), how can you keep your religion?

Not that this worries Katie Hopkins and her ilk. Like the scientists who overlook the "missing link" in their evolution-religion, they too ignore the elephant in the room and quickly revert back to their default position, viz that 'the market' must dictate all, and be free to dictate all (such aberrations as morality, the Common Good, the right to a decent wage and other fuddy-duddy Catholic principles being as popular to these people as a faecal deposit in a swimming pool).

As the poor get thrown into unemployment through no fault of their own, with whole families facing penury, Ms. Hopkins still kneels at the altar of Mammon. No doubt, to her, the newly unemployed need to "pull up their socks" and get on with things!

It's ironic isn't it? The mega-rich (and I mean the millionaires and billionaires) get bailed out by successive governments, whilst those being thrown out of jobs by the downturn the bankers created, receive no such largesse.

I can hear a strange noise emanating from Beaconsfield. Why 'tis Mr. G.K. Chesterton spinning in his grave.

From the 19th Century to the 21st Century, in so many ways, so very little has changed.

Let's spare a moment and offer up prayers for the families whose head has lost his job in the last few months. As much as I wish it were the case, I don't think Ms. Hopkins will be praying for the many thousands of them.

The Welsh Valentine: Happy St Dwynwen's Day!

A St Dwynwen's Day Card

As the wonderful blog A Reluctant Sinner states:

St Dwynwen's Day (Diwrnod Santes Dwynwen) used to be kept with great joy and merriment during the Middle Ages, though fell out of fashion, for obvious reasons, after the Reformation.

Pop by his blog to read the full story.

It always saddens me that the Welsh - who ensured the survival of Catholicism and Monasticism via the conversion of Ireland by St Patrick and others - were conned into embracing Protestantism via the publishing of the Bible in Welsh (by the same forces who, before and since, sought to make Welsh a museum-piece).

The dour nature of Protestantism just does not fit in with the Welsh national character. We love songs, tales, heritage, traditions and in that sense are far more like the Catholic Irish than the dour Protestant characteristics of suppressing song, Saints and pilgrimage.

If any other evidence is needed, the National Museum of Wales's site says:

Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and was, by all accounts, one of the prettiest of Brychan Brycheiniog's 24 daughters. 

Did you ever here of a Protestant with 24 daughters? That's positively Catholic! ;-)

Brychan Brycheiniog, was the King of Brecon and again referring to the National Museum of Wales, his part-Irish dynasty left a lasting legacy on Welsh history and Welsh princes. You can see news on the Museum's excavation of the King's artificial island palace here.

Llanddwyn Island today

The place on Anglesey where the Welsh Saint built her hermitage became known as Llanddwynwen (today it's Llanddwyn), literally the "Church of Dwynwen" along with all the many Holy places throughout Wales with the prefix Llan.

Her Holy Island became so popular as a place of pilgrimage that a new church was built on the site in Tudor times, the remains of which can still be seen on the island today.

So Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus (Happy Saint Dwynwen's Day) to you all.


 "Nothing wins hearts like cheerfulness" - St Dwynwen.

300 More Converts to Catholicism

The BBC is reporting that 300 Anglicans are converting to Catholicism.

According to their report, "300 members of six congregations" from "three parishes in Essex, and three in east London" will join the Ordinariate.

Quite frankly that is an incredible number, circa 50 per parish (I know... all those years sat in Maths classes finally paid off!).

I have to say, despite my hopes and fears regarding the Ordinariate, this is wonderful news.

It does show that a large number of people, even in that small area of east London and Essex, are sick to death of the creeping liberalism and its 'good intentions pathway to Hell' agenda.

The handful of nutters who call themselves Catholics who call for women priests, homosexual "weddings" and so on can see for themselves the damage their agenda does.

Thank God the Pope had the courage to move ahead with his plans for Anglican converts without endless conflabs with a man who pretends to be an Archbishop, otherwise these 300 souls (and the many others who will follow) would have been left in the wilderness.

Let us all pray for the fortitude of the converts, that may grow in the Catholic Faith. Their forefathers in the Church Triumphant will be overjoyed!

Crime Does Pay: The Pontarddulais Example

From the Walls of Jericho to Pontarddulais

I remember reading an article several years ago written from a Protestant point of view, which stated that the Bible dealt with many societal issues, not least governance.

Included in the latter category was crime and punishment.

The author concluded (if I remember right) that circa 25-30% of the Bible was dealing with personal issues, but 70-75% of it dealt with society, government etc.

Naturally as a Catholic I found this very interesting, not least because Catholics (should!) believe in the Kingship of Christ, viz that societies should be officially Catholic, their laws be Catholic etc.

I found the article very interesting, but wondered in later years (without the original piece to reference) if he had included Old Testament laws ( I am 99% sure he did) and if so, would these kind of societal laws be made null and void by the Birth of Our Lord.

But didn't Christ Himself say:

Do not think that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 

Does this mean the Old Testament (OT) laws still stand? I know Catholics still use the OT, for example, to oppose the Sodomite agenda. But on the other hand don't we chastise the Pharisees and their descendants for their rigid adherence to OT laws, even to the extent they sought the death of Christ. or was this because they had twisted the OT laws?

Anyway, forgive me for digressing. That's just me thinking aloud.

Where am I headed with this (I hear you plead).

On the local news last night there was the story of Pontarddulais Brass Band who had their instruments stolen and sold for scrap. The story was that the "head thief" went to jail.

Here's how the BBC reported it online:

Four men have been sentenced for stealing £15,000 of instruments from Pontardulais Town Band, which were sold to a scrap dealer.
Andrew Beer, 39, was jailed for 24 weeks at Swansea Crown Court. Christopher Davies, 23 and Jason Power, 36, were given suspended sentences.
Dealer Marcus Egan, 34, was given a suspended sentence for handling stolen goods.
The instruments, sold on for £61, were crushed at Egan's business.

One of the band members on the BBC last night decried how the total fines levied were £500, yet their insurance head risen to £700 p.a. because of the theft.

So let's study this:

1. Thieves steal and scrap instruments worth £15K.
2. As a result the band's insurance rises to £700 p.a.
3. The main thief gets 3 months (he'll serve circa 1 and a half months).
4. For stealing £15K's worth they are fined £500.

Doesn't something seem wrong there? The thieves (assuming they are on benefits) will pay a pittance, unnoticed for months to come, and the ringleader will get B&B for 6 weeks ate tax-payers' expense.

The only ones seriously out of pocket will be the honest brass band members who will have to pay extra insurance for years to come, leaving them hundreds (if not thousands) of pounds out of pocket, not to mention some of their original instruments may have held sentimental value and so be irreplaceable to all intents and purposes.

Now, again from memory, the article I read which dealt with The Bible and society said that:

• If items are stolen and returned the thieves must pay the victim the value of the item(s).
• If the items are stolen and not returned (eg destroyed/damaged) then the thieves must pay the victim twice* the value of the item(s).
• if the thief did not have the money, then he would be forced to work until he had earned the money to repay the victim.**

Now in a land when a thief steals a car (eg worth £3K) smashes it up, gets a smack on the wrist (often to re-offend ad infinitum), leaving the victim to claim the loss on his insurance, rarely getting the value of his car, and facing increased insurance bills for years to come, wouldn't it be a great idea to implement something like the above (Biblical or not)?

It seems to me as a Catholic, that the current state of affairs not only flies in the face of Christian values and common sense, but also natural law.

I am not (Deo Gratias!) a lawyer, and I am no expert in the laws of the land, I can only speak out on what I see, and when I see injustice am I not (are we not!) honour bound to speak out? Especially when the weak, vulnerable, and victims in society are being unjustly targeted by the justice system that should not only be protecting them in the first place, but giving them succour and (obtaining for them) remuneration after any crime.

It's easy to be populist when dealing with crime (why do bank robbers get 15 years for taking bits of paper and paedophiles get 5 years for ruining the lives of dozens), but regardless of cheap point scoring (rightful or otherwise) we must surely seek the implementation of a justice system that is intrinsically fair and just, with victims and criminals.

I have long thought that at the moment we have a system that uses a sledgehammer to crack a nut (intrusive laws, Orwellian tactics etc. against the innocent majority) yet when criminals are eventually caught, as in the Pontarddulais Brass Band case discussed herein, they are not given sufficient reprimand to make them reassess their lives and realise the harm they have done.

We owe it to the victims of crime to make the criminal justice system fair, correct and just; inasmuch as we it to the criminals to make the criminal justice system fair, correct and just.

I believe the only way to make it so for the victims to make sure the thieves et al recompense the victims; just as to make it so for the perpetrators is to make the jails places where they can get an education and become rehabilitated.

At the moment the criminal justice system fails on both counts, leaving victims worse off and leaving criminals in a cycle of crime.

I would be interested in knowing what other Catholics think, as well as examples of Biblical laws or the teaching of the Magisterium of the Church on victims and criminals.

I apologise for the rambling nature of this piece, but I am thinking aloud on this matter and searching for answers...


* This may have been 1.5 times the value of the item(s)
** I think it may have mentioned selling his property to pay, but that may be wishful thinking on my part.

Link:
Scrap Dealer Crushes Brass Band's Instruments