Wednesday 1 December 2010

The Bishops' Conference and the Magic Circle


 Among the comments made by Dominic Scarborough, in an article with the title 'Outside the Magic Circle' , are the following:

"Where an English bishop has dared to step out of line and question the BCEW’s liberalism, the result has been criticism and ostracism by colleagues"

"One of the most controversial issues affecting the BCEW is its continued support for the so-called “Soho Masses” in the Westminster Archdiocese, Masses that minister to “homosexual Catholics.” The current archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has made several public interventions in interviews recently where he speculated as to whether the Church might in time approve gay marriage.

He also confirmed that when the Labour Government introduced civil partnerships legislation, the BCEW made a deliberate and conscious decision not to oppose it 
.He continues to support the “Soho Masses” and told a radio program that those who do oppose them should be silent. He also declined to disagree with a fellow panelist’s assertion in a television debate after the papal visit that the policy of the BCEW on homosexual rights follows a markedly different line from that of the Vatican’s policy."


"The BCEW also organized three-week-long “training” classes for Polish priests and other foreign priests who intended to work in England. These classes were delivered by the then-president of Ushaw Seminary (which is shortly to close), Msgr. Terry Drainey, who has said, “Some foreign priests working in Britain tend to be too dogmatic about the Church’s moral rightness on just about everything.” He added, “That’s not how we do things here. This course shows how we deal with a whole range of issues affecting Catholics, including the role of women, divorce, the lay ministry, and homosexuality.” Shortly after delivering the courses, Msgr. Drainey was selected to be the bishop of Middlesbrough."

 Disturbing? Yes, I think so; the link to this article is above, do take a minute to read it yourself.

I hope and pray  our Bishops would be Shepherds, in unity with the Chief Shepherd, the Pope, thinking with the mind of the Church, teaching what She teaches, upholding the Magisterium and witholding nothing of the Truth.
But, as Dominic Scarborough puts it:

"No observer of Catholic affairs in England is in any doubt that the BCEW in its current form has pursued policies that distance itself from the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI and criticize and marginalize those lay Catholics who openly support papal teaching."

2 comments:

  1. Very disappointing, but I always try to assume the view that my plans may not be God's plans, and perhaps He may be seeing much good coming from things which dismay me, including the legal support for abortion here in the States. (Or, for that matter, the election of our current president.)
    If I can't do anything about a situation, I pray about it, and then trust, and try not to be anxious. He DID say He'd take care of us.

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  2. Pray, have trust/faith, and don't be anxious/afraid- all of those we should be doing, so I fully agree with you there.
    Don't we also have a responsibility to bring injustices, dissent, or worse, to the attention of those who are charged with the responsibility to deal with them?
    How else could these things be dealt with?

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