Letter To The Grauniad

The incorrigible and incomparable Bones (aka Laurence England) is preparing to send a letter to that bastion of all things anti-Catholic, The Guardian (also referred to as The Grauniad because it is famous for having loads of typos and spelling mistakes!)

The Grauniad printed a letter protesting the Holy Father's State Visit to the UK.

It will be interesting to see if they allow Bones's letter to make it into print... don't hold your breath. Just in case they don't, here's what he plans to send...

We, the undersigned welcome the His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI to the UK as both Head of Vatican City and as leader of the World's one billion Catholics and to the Catholic community of the United Kingdom. We believe that his presence in our country comes at an urgent and pressing time, highlighting the trends in our country that serve only to denigrate human rights and human dignity. We support him wholeheartedly because in guarding the Deposit of Faith he:

Opposes the destruction of human life in the womb and values human life from conception to natural death.

Opposes the trend towards refashioning the institution of Marriage, thereby denigrating its inherent stability, rooted in the natural order, as being between one man and one woman.

Opposes the trend in the UK towards testing on human embryoes, experimenting upon them and stripping the unborn of dignity, under a hitherto illusory and deceitful justification that this form of experimentation will yield medical benefits for mankind.

Has worked tirelessly to change the culture of the Catholic Church to take very seriously allegations or incidences of child abuse. He has, in his Church career, made the scourge of child abuse an issue which should be brought to the attention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to be investigated and acted upon effectively, setting up child protection procedures and policies which now make the Catholic Church the safest place for a child to be. He has offered his time, his prayers and has met personally victims of child abuse and has made statements of the Church's penitence regarding crimes committed by clergy against the child, promoted reconciliation and healing of the victims.

Promotes a vision of humanity which advocates a culture of life, stability, marriage, lifelong fidelity and love in which children are welcomed, rather than destroyed, in which human beings are open to new life, rather than treating the possibility of new life with contempt.

Upholds the innate, God-given dignity of all human beings regardless of their sexual orientation and upholds the rights and dignity of society's most vulnerable, the poor, the starving, the outcasts, the mentally ill and distressed, the disabled, elderly and sick and those who are so often disregarded by the rest of society. We thank him for encouraging the Faithful regularly to serve those who are on the margins of society and in whom Christ is served.

Established within the worldwide Catholic Church a mechanism by which the Traditional Latin Mass can be celebrated by Priests in Churches in which it is requested, thereby restoring to the Church a traditional liturgy, the loss of which has been a wound in the Body of Christ.

If you would like to have your name appended to the letter, say so in the combox over Bones's Blog.