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Twitch of the mantilla to the Idle Rambler, who actually posted this on Twitter (now that will really have confused some of you...)

BTW, you can find me on Google+ here, if you're interested...

Second Wave Of The Opening Salvo...

I said it before. If the Seal is no longer considered sacrosanct, then nothing is sacred. Literally.

This has absolutely nothing to do with child abuse. That just makes a convenient justification for the attack on the Church.

First of all Ireland. I might be wrong, but, from what I can glean on the internet, this doesn't appear to be something the Irish MPs will get a chance to vote on, it seems to be being added on to other legislation. I seriously hope that I am wrong on this.

And now it seems that Australia wants to join in. If we are silent in the face of this attack, it will gain momentum. Having scented blood in the water, the feeding frenzy will soon be under way.

I'll say it again. Paedophilia is being used as an excuse. And what a great excuse it is! The sexual abuse of children has, after all, been carried out by Catholic priests, and it has been covered up by Catholic bishops. And Catholics all go to Confession. Therefore, it stands to reason, doesn't it, that those priests must have confessed their crimes to those bishops (and other priests) and they were all protected by the Seal of Confession...

That's the logic of Joe Public. It's fuelled by statements in the press such as those given by by the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, which distort and misrepresent the facts. Most of us, faced with this "logic" keep quiet: the issue of child abuse is an emotive one, and any attempt to introduce notes of caution or correction are seized upon and castigated as attempts to downplay or negate the seriousness of the crime.

Child abuse is an appalling crime.

But we have to remove the emotive language, the distortions and the false assumptions in order that we can treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves.

It is important to note that the abuse of children is not peculiar to the Catholic Church. It happens in all areas of society. Research by Dr. Thomas Plante of Stanford University, (reported last year in the Catholic Herald) actually suggests that children who have anything to do with Catholic priests are between 1.6 and four times less likely to be abused by them than by anyone else. That is not to excuse the abuse carried out by priests, and it is understandable that one would expect higher standards from the Church... but, nevertheless, we must not act as if the Church alone is responsible for abuse.

We cannot stand by in silence while the Church is being attacked. We must make our opposition clear.

We also need to pray for our priests.

Many A True Word...

I was alerted to the existence of this amusing new blog by a comment from the author. Multum Incola Fuit Anima Mea chooses to take a swipe at some of the more ridiculous aspects of the world today through the use of wry humour...

I particularly enjoyed the hacking of the Eyerish Toesock's mail and the anti-Dracula group's non-directive counselling...

Ad Multos Annos, Fr. Ian...

On Tuesday evening I was blessed to attend Fr. Ian Vane's Silver Jubilee of Ordination Mass at English Martyrs' Church, Horley.

Here I have a slight confession to make - I hadn't realised that Fr. Ian Vane was no longer at Worthing (it can be a bit difficult to keep track of this sort of thing) but, since I don't know where Worthing actually is, that didn't make any difference. Fortunately, someone else was responsible for navigating. I just drove where I was told. It wasn't until after Mass, when one of the parishioners asked me if I was a visitor from Worthing that I realised we were somewhere else...

The style of the church was quite striking - not to my personal taste, but the Tabernacle was dead centre, which really is all that matters!

The Mass was very moving: I especially liked the torch bearers during the Canon...

Afterwards, there was a celebration in the hall. Bishop Kieran Conry (also celebrating his anniversary of Ordination) helped Fr. Ian to cut a couple of cakes - and there was a little bit of a scrum to get photos, though the cakes were moved to a more convenient spot, which helped to reduce congestion.

I've just realised that I didn't get any cake this time either...

Fr. Tim managed to muscle in on the photography...

Then, the mad axe-murderer pose, as they slice into the cake with the picture of Fr. Ian on the icing...

And then a slightly more sedate pose for the second cake...

Fr. Dominic Rolls, Fr. Hugh MacKenzie and Fr. James Clark, three great priests from the Faith Movement, were easy to round up, and willingly posed for the camera. No doubt they'll feature again on the blog when I post photos from this Summer's Session at Woldingham...

Finally, I managed to corral Fr. Ian Vane and Fr. Roger Nesbitt together for a photo - this was unbelievably difficult to coordinate, as neither wanted to interrupt the other's conversation, and no sooner was one priest ready than I found the other had been buttonholed by someone else! However, eventually...

I'd just like to finish off by offering my congratulations to Fr. Ian Vane, and to say "Ad multos annos!"

A Call To Arms...

Several people have said to me that the latest proposal by the Irish government to make failure to report any confessions of the sexual abuse of children a crime punishable by imprisonment would be completely unworkable, and therefore it isn't something to worry about. It isn't serious, it's just "an expression of disgust" at the crime of paedophilia which was for so long covered up and unreported.

On the contrary, I think that this is the start of a deliberate attack on the Church, because of her moral stance on issues such as marriage, contraception and abortion.

It may well be an unworkable law, but that is no reason to allow it to pass without protest.

Caroline McCamley, who writes the St. Genesius Blog is of the same opinion. She has put up the "Protect the Seal" ribbon with the invitation to share it around the blogosphere. We need to make a stand here and now, and not wait for the first priests in Ireland to be put on trial for refusing to break the Seal.

Show your support. And pray for the Church in Ireland.

(A twitch of the mantilla to Jane for bringing the campaign to my attention.)

Just For Leutgeb...

I thought this little gem might appeal to Leutgeb, who is doing her utmost to drill some basic stuff about square notes into our skulls... and doing rather well, actually...