Vote for Ammanford Dementia Centre on ITV Wales News - Tonight.

If you have the time please vote for Ammanford Dementia Centre as it hopes to get a National Lottery grant.

As I understand it the vote will be tonight on ITV Wales news at 6pm.

A local parishioner - Bernard - does a lot of fundraising for them and accosted me (as usual!) in Barrie's chip shop as we queued to get our fish suppers. So please, if you get the chance, vote for the Dementia Centre. It isn't a "trendy" charity and needs all the help it can get.

Cuomo - Please Bishops Make a Stand

With thanks to the Catholic Cartoon Blog

Time for Catholic New Yorkers to make themselves heard.



Oh - btw, only 2,500 turned out for a "gay pride" event in Swansea last weekend. It rained on their parade.

That a freebie with pop stars (designed to get as many non-homosexuals along as possible) attracted such a derisory crowd shows that we Welsh aren't as fooled on this matter as other populations (sadly) are.

Another loss-making event propped up no doubt by Council Tax payers and Big Business sponsers. Shame on them.

Liberté, égalité, fraternité: Homosexual "Marriage" in New York

Why oh why oh why?

"Equality for all" is trending on Twitter and it turns out it is a celebration of some "law" allowing homosexuals to get "married."

I am reminded of the Chingford skinhead, Lord (Norman) Tebbitt who said that homosexuals have equality -- they can find someone of the opposite sex and get married, just like the rest of us. Delightfully un-pc and probably a "hate crime" today.

The sad thing is that all these laws promoting the sodomite agenda are, at base, deeply hateful. They are hateful of Mother Church, they are hateful of Our Lord Jesus Christ and his Kingship over society, and they are hateful of Christianity, pure and simple.

A handful of "activists" - and a big banner: says it all.

These laws, that promote homosexuality (a creed steeped in drugs, disease, hatred and death) do so whilst the minority-mob screech about "love." The silent majority just sit back and do nothing, because the politicos and media-moguls all seem to have signed up to this deeply, deeply anti-Catholic agenda.

Sadly the role of a diseased, sick, degenerate minority of primarily homosexuals who were allowed into the seminaries, in the church paedophile scandal has now, in turn, undermined the ability of our Holy Church to denounce such blatant amorality and immorality.

Catholicism must be the bastion of decency, the family and (stating the obvious) Catholic Truth, against the tidal wave of filth dressed up as "love" and using the Masonic battle cry of "liberté, égalité, fraternité" which starts by promising justice, but ends with those seeking to defend the Faith being guillotined.

News:
NY Law on "gay marriage"

P.S. Governor Cuomo who rubber stamped this law sounds like an Italian name. I hope his Catholic family ostracise this terrible man for his heinous act which will lead many souls to damnation.

Michelle Obama - Catholic Church? Please God No

I just caught a 30 second glimpse of Michelle Obama giving a talk in Soweto on AIDS. Nothing wrong with that in and of itself (unless she is promoting condoms which seems to be the world's only answer in this hedonistic age, even though it promotes promiscuity and so the spread of disease and infidelity).

The church she was speaking at is called Regina Mundi (Queen of the World). I purposefully haven't looked on the net to see if it's a Catholic Church. I assume it is.

If you get the chance watch the footage online, on tonight's news.

You will see what I call a roller-disco church. It has the spirituality of a KFC Bargain Bucket. Everything about it screams modernism: the art, the seating, the building. It is just awful. And no I do not mean it inspires awe. It wouldn't inspire the lukewarm, it might just inspire and insipid worldliness, it may inspire people to stay at home and watch TV. It certainly would not inspire belief in the Real Presence of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

I just hope beyond hope that it isn't a Catholic Church. If it is, and it probably is as there's not many others that use Latin titles, then it - in and of itself - explains what is wrong with the Church.

God help us all.

The Treasures of Heaven: Great BBC4 Programme on Relics

There's a wonderful programme on relics and reliquaries on BBC i-player at the moment.

Well worth watching. Not Catholic in origin of course, but for a "mainstream" programme it gives a good insight into our Catholic heritage.

And here's a Catholic site on relics.

Sad News for Catholics Who Love Their Faith

Image from Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice website

In the words of the organisers:

The Pro Ecclesia Et Pontifice 2011 Conference has been torpedoed.

For more details see their website.

It seems that a regular Mass for practicing homosexuals, which helps promote sinful, active and promiscuous homosexual activity is acceptable to the Westminster Archdiocese. Yet a conference to defend our Faith and its Traditions is "torpedoed" first by seeking the withdrawal of Cardinal Burke, then by applying pressure on the protestant landlords of the venue.

Quo Vadis Archbishop?

Long Live Christ the King

Los Cristeros

Many thanks to Richard of Linen on the Hedgerow for being so kind as to send me a book on the Cristeros - after my recent post on them.

He really is a good egg. And he's not even Welsh! Just imagine! ;-)

His latest article on kneeling to receive Communion is up to his usual high standard of defending Tradition with that GKCesque sparkle in his eye.

I haven't started the book yet because of the avalanche of work I've been engulfed in over the last few weeks (as the dearth of postings on this blog show - sorry).

But I intend to (actually reading a chapter on the Virgin Mary lent to me by our Parish Priest re. Co-Redemptrix etc. -- and I haven't even finished the last Christian Order yet and it is a humdinger of an issue on Pope Paul VI) as soon as I can and will report back on my findings.

What Makes a Catholic Church Catholic?

I was chatting to a friend the other day and we started discussing films and TV series, and we got onto those with Catholic themes: typically redemption, wages of sin, forgiveness and so on.

Of course there are some great Catholic films out there. And some less well known. Some of my favourites, for different reasons, are The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Mission, and Braveheart. Others are famous for carrying Catholic messages such as The Exorcist and Clockwork Orange.

One thing that strikes me about films and TV series is that when they want to put across a truly spiritual feeling, whether it is someone needing a place of prayer and sanctuary, whether it is an exorcism, or whether it is a family funeral -- more often than not they will use "old school" Catholicism. You know - "smells and bells."

There will be statues of Our Lord, Our Lady and the Saints. There will be stained-glass windows. There will be lots of lit candles. There will be a high altar. If a priest is present he will have traditional vestments, or be all in black with dog collar.

Yesterday I watched a Spanish film called 'Rec 2' and it featured images of Our Lady, First Communions  etc. - all thoroughly traditional. And today I watched Stuart Little 2 and in it the eponymous hero flies a plane into a group of nuns - all in the "full regalia" with rosaries.

Why?

I have come to one conclusion and that is that producers, writers, directors and various execs are no fools. They know what sells and they know what carries an audience.

"Fr Bobby" in a Marks n Spencer's pullover singing Kum-by-ya in a hollowed-out Roller Disco with a modern art cross and a table with a chair behind it, does not convey religion, spirituality, grace and faith.

These people are not idiots. They may not be Catholics. They may even be vaguely or overtly anti-Catholic. But they know that when a film calls for a spiritual presence, for the power, presence and strength of 2000 years of Christ's Faith -- you cannot beat the feel, look, presence and ambiance of a traditional Catholic Church.

It's very look screams out faith, forgiveness, prayer, sacrifice.

We all know it. We all feel it. That is why film-makers use it to convey that inner feeling. If they used a roller-disco 'church' they would have to work harder elsewhere to make it feel 'spiritual' and even then could fail miserably.

So why, given this is self-evident and obvious, does the Church not recognise this?

Over 1,950 years the Church perfected its Churches. The altars. The statues. The windows. The very feel of a Church would immediately raise your mind and soul to Heaven. The feel of a roller-disco 'church' makes your mind wonder "is it fish fingers for tea?"

Why do you think the Protestants went out of their way to replace the altars, whitewash the murals, pull down the statues? They knew this was the way to undermine the Catholic Faith of the (ex-)faithful.

We are frail and failing humans -- even the very best of us (i.e. the Saints). That is why we need all the help we can get. The Church knew this. That is why they perfected their Churches. They helped us focus on the Sacrificial nature of the Mass, the Real Presence of Our Lord, the history of the Church, the Militant, Suffering and Triumphant parts of the Mystical Body of Christ, and so on.

Is it coincidence that so many people have fallen away from the Church since Altars were replaced by tables? No I don't mean at the 16th Century "Reformation" - I mean in the 1970s. And the Altar Rails removed? And roller-discos erected? And the Liturgy and Vestments changed? I don't think so.

Why is the Catholic hierarchy so slow to recognise what even Hollywood directors (and look at the circles they move in!) know to be true?

The "Spirit of Renewal" has emptied the pews and wrecked many churches.

How long before this lesson is learnt?

Schools and Sex Ed: Are Times A Changing?

Sorry for the dearth of posts recently. Being self-employed, a dad and it being exam-time and the start of our family's "birthday season" all has combined to makew everything a bit of a whirlwind this week.

I listened to BBC Radio 4's Any Questions and I have to say there seems a groundswell of support for the moves by Conservative MP Nadine Dorries to promote abstinence in "sex ed" lessons. of course we get the usual backlash from the "usual crowd" but isn't it funny that most people think the idea of sex and promiscuity being pushed on children of 13 or 14 years of age (and sometimes younger) just is not right.

Deep down we all intrinsically know that. Even the "usual suspects" (with a handful of contrarian exceptions) don't want their own young children being promiscuous at an early age.

We have put up with Revolutionary anti-Christian, anti-societal and anti-child ideas being pushed as "mainstream" values in our schools for too long. usually it is just a handful of activists, via education authorities and councils, who have warped whole generations of innocents.

I really hope things are changing. We all want it to change. So why not?

Cristiada: Andy Garcia and Eva Longoria in a Film About the Catholic Mexican Cristeros

Andy Garcia in Cristiada

Like the Passion of the Christ, I hope this film will show the true heroism of the Faith and the evil, twisted hate of our demonic-influenced enemies, from those Pharisees who caused the crowd to shout "Free Barabbas" to the Masonic movements today who seek to shut down the Catholic Church or limit its influence via "human rights" legislation "hate laws" and similar.

The more times change, the more they remain the same.

Today,we do not see churches barricaded, priests banned from wearing clerical garb outside churches, armies turned against the Faithful. No.

But the Masonic war against God and His Holy Catholic Church goes on.

Priests have been bamboozled into 'choosing' not to wear clerical garb and so we see "Father Richard" shopping in Tescos in his Hawaiian shirt and Bermuda shorts (and sandals, of course). Today we see the Mass of All Time banned purely because Catholics have to jump through hoops to get to it and most Diocese officials ensure it is not freely available (despite the reported wishes of the Pope). And the armies? Well we see armies of lawyers and politicians using Masonic-EU laws to shut down Catholic adoption agencies. How long before Catholic schools are forced to teach anti-Catholic lessons (condoms, evolution, homosexuality)? Oh wait. They (or some) are already.

No we don't have recusants, apart from those who have to seek out semi-secret Latin Masses. No we don't have priest-hunters, apart from the lawyers who look for any chink of sound Catholic social and moral teaching outside of the weekly homily. We don't have Churches bulldozed -- because the 1970s saw that and now we have so many churches that look like roller-discos.

The Mexican Masonic government fought against our Faith, and the Cristeros rose up in heroic counter-revolution.

The powers-that-be have learnt the lessons. You can destroy a Faith through insidious means far more effectively than by open warfare. The click of a TV on-button is to be feared more than a click of a gun. Today's Catholics just "go with the flow" and so the Masons have (seemingly, temporarily) won.

Oh for heroism. Oh for Martyrs. Oh for the Rights of Christ the King!

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Bl Miguel Pro and Emiliano Zapata

This is the banner carried by Miguel Hidalgo and his anti-Spanish insurgent army circa 1810.

Now my knowledge of Mexican politics is minimal at best. Less than that really. I know (?) the early anti-Spanish, Mexican regimes were Masonic. The Mexican rebels against the Masons were the Cristeros. My understanding is that these were heroic forces (Blessed Miguel Pro? was in their number) but were told to lay down their arms by Rome.

That's as good as it gets for me really. You could fire peas through the holes in my knowledge of Mexico.


One item I found most interesting was that the (1914) rebels led by Villa and Zapata carried banners of Our Lady of Guadalupe (see above video). Yet today the Socialists and Communists seem to use Zapata as a war cry, so were these Catholic Peasants fighting a Masonic regime, or early Communist-led peasants conned into a Red revolution by the guile of wicked leaders?

Given the Zapata revolt led to the government which enacted the Masonic anti-Catholic laws (which are still on the law books of Mexico) it seems strange to have Zapata rebels carrying the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

If anyone out there can put me right and give me a basic intro to Mexican history and politics I'd be mightily obliged. I did just find this Wikipedia entry on the Cristeros which answers some of my questions, but other input gratefully accepted (especially as Wikipedia cannot always be taken at face value).

In closing, we all see the images (in the media) of Mexico as a violent place, where drug cartels use machine guns etc. In my opinion this is often used (especially in America) to decry Catholicism, viz "look, Mexicans are almost 100% Catholic and the country is a cess pit of violence, drugs, crime and corruption." are the problems in mexico due to the Masonic regime there? American politics - the war on drugs and the huge American drugs markets? Or the Mexicans as a people?

Link: Wikipedia on Our Lady of Guadalupe.


P.S. It seems a film about the Cristeros is due out this year....

Abortion on Newsnight

What it's all about - abortion at 8 weeks

Just watching last night's Newsnight on BBC iplayer -- and I cannot believe the chutzpah of the BPAS "spokeswoman".

BPAS are as biased and as pro-abortion as you can get, yet she decries LIFE having any role in debating healthcare, abortion provision etc.

BPAS advise women on abortion, then provide many of those abortions. Isn't that what used to be called conflict of interest? No wonder abortion numbers grow year on year.

As an aside you would think militant feminists would want more women to say "no" when pressurised by men to have sex, especially (but not exclusively) at an early age.

BPAS and others have had centre stage in government policy for far too long - and just giving up one seat on a panel of 10 has them worried. Tough!

btw - this is also one reason why Tony Blair should never have been allowed to receive Communion. It was under his government that BPAS and others advised the NHS on abortion provision. Blair must have known this (he certainly took a hands on role in pushing through laws promoting homosexuality). It is still canon law that a public sinner cannot receive Communion.

Catholics: Defend Your King

I came across this great picture on the Being is Good blog.

This summarises Catholicism for me - and what we, as "pew Catholics" should be about: defending our Faith, educating the ignorant about the beauty of our dogmas, and the surety and safety they give in a chaotic, amoral, lawless world.

When our media tells us the "Choice" is king, on all matters from killing one's child to what religion we should follow, it is vital that Catholics should defend the Truth. Our King, Christ the High Priest, Christ the Sacrificial Lamb, is being assaulted. Catholics: Defend your King!

The Pope Wishes EVERY PARISH to have the Latin Mass

On June 17th 2008 The Times reported:

Pope Benedict XVI wants every parish in the West to offer believers the Mass in the Tridentine or Gregorian Rite, the Latin-language liturgy used until the 1960s by every Catholic church in the world. 

Three years on and the availability of the Latin Mass across Wales is pitiful! As I understand it the same picture is true in most dioceses, with some better than others - but nowehere coming closed to "every parish" especially for Sunday Mass.

Why are the Pope's wishes being ignored? Why is this wonderful Liturgical treasury of Heaven's Graces being denied to the Faithful? Why are the Faithful being treated like obstinate children when many of us simply want to do what the Holy Father wants, for the benefit of the Church, the faithful, our priests and our parishes?

The Pope wishes every parish to offer both rites for Sunday Mass, an eminent Vatican Cardinal announced in London on Saturday. Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, said: “The Holy Father is willing to offer to all the people this possibility, not only for the few groups who demand it but so that everybody knows this way of celebrating the Eucharist in the Catholic Church.”
It was a “gift” and a “treasure,” Castrillon Hoyos said, hours before celebrating a Tridentine liturgy attended by some 1,500 worshippers at Westminster Cathedral on June 14. “This kind of worship is so noble, so beautiful – the deepest theologians’ way to express our faith. The worship, the music, the architecture, the painting, makes a whole that is a treasure.” 

Amen to that.

Catholic Politician - Stephen Pound

I recently write of the example of Iain Duncan Smith being a great Catholic politician, especially in his work for the poor (not always a given in Tory circles).

It seems another Catholic politician is Stephen Pound, who recently donated funds to help a group of young Catholics make a pilgrimage (read story on Catholic With Attitude blog) to Madrid.

How pleasant to read of a politician helping a Catholic good cause. I know I always seem to be moaning about the state of the Church and suchlike, so never let it be said I don't give credit where it is due.