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FEBRUARY 10 2012 THE CATHOLIC HERALD

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YouTube clip sparks outcry over ‘dissent’ at Soho Mass

BY DAVID V BARRETT

TWO PRIESTS have criticised the “gay-friendly” Masses held monthly in central London after a short video posted on YouTube appeared to show bidding prayers that dissented from Church teaching.

One of the bidding prayers at the Mass in Soho asked “that the various communities which we represent, ethnicity, language, gender and sexual orientations, find means to celebrate this diversity and strive for greater social justice for all people”. Another prayed for “lesbian and gay, bisexual and transgender organisations here and throughout the world, and especially those which gather to support people of faith, that they may reflect the rainbow covenant of justice and integrity which God establishes amongst us”.

Another of the prayers, read by Joe Stanley, chairman of the Soho Masses Pastoral Council, said: “Let the community of the Church, its pastors and people, embrace the challenge with which God is engaging with us, that a joyful and life-giving vision of sexuality be proclaimed that embraces the fullness of human diversity and excludes no one. God in your mercy, hear our prayer.”

One commentator, Fr Tim Finigan, who re-posted the video clip on his blog, said: “Isn’t it about time an end was put to this? It is a scandal to all faithful Catholics and a travesty of the Church’s genuine concern and care for people who have particular problems and temptations.”

Mr Stanley said he did not think Fr Finigan’s view of the Soho Masses was representative.

“Our experience of ordinary Catholics in the pew is very different from the comments in the blogosphere,” he said.

“The Masses keep getting represented as ‘gay Masses’,” he said, emphasising that they are public Masses that extend a particular welcome to gay people and their parents, families and friends. The Masses have a regular attendance of “well over 100” with many more occasional participants.

The Masses began in 1999 in the Convent of the Helpers of the Holy Souls in Camden Town, north London. When the convent property was sold in 2001 they moved to St Anne’s Anglican church, Dean Street, Soho, then in 2007, after consultation with the Diocese of

Westminster, to their present location on the first and third Sunday evenings of the month.

The Masses are served by a rota of 15 priests from several dioceses and religious communities, some of them living or working in Westminster diocese.

Mr Stanley said that when the video was recorded during the Mass without permission, disturbing worshippers, both he and a police officer present specifically asked the young man filming not to do so. When they then argued that the filming contravened the law on freedom of religious worship they were assured by the protesters outside the church that the film would not be published online.

Daphne McLeod, chairwoman of Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, an orthodox lobby group, said: “I don’t want anyone to think we’re homophobic, but they are serious sinners and going to Holy Communion and committing sacrilege, doing it deliberately to make a point that their way of life is fine, which it isn’t.

“It’s fine for them to attend Mass, but not to receive. We pray in reparation for the sacrilege that is being committed in Warwick Street. If you’re in a state of mortal sin you’re excluded from the sacraments.”

Fr Ray Blake, parish priest of St Mary Magdalene in Brighton, said on his blog that he did not object to offering Mass for a particular group, such as “for the elderly, for children, for the sick, for women or men or particular language groups and yes, for men and women who are homosexual, or as the Catechism says, ‘have a same-sex attraction’”.

“What I find scandalous,” he continued, “is that Mass is offered for a group of people who, as this video shows, obviously dissent from the teaching of the Church and gather primarily to challenge that teaching, rather than to worship.”

In a statement the Archdiocese of Westminster said: “As with every Catholic Mass, the bidding prayers celebrated at the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory ask for the intercession of God in the lives of people who may be in need.

“Bidding prayers for every Mass must reflect the teaching of the Catholic Church and this applies to the Mass held every fortnight where a particular welcome is extended to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered Catholics and their families.”

Archbishop Longley, centre, says secularism can offer freedom for believers Jennings/catholicnews.org.uk

Archbishop: secularism offers us more freedom to evangelise BY DAVID V BARRETT

SECULARISM can offer a new freedom for the Gospel to be proclaimed, Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham has said.

The archbishop, who is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation, was speaking to 200 delegates at the conference Crossing the Threshold in Birmingham last Saturday.

“I see our gathering as an important part of our diocesan preparation for the forthcoming Year of Faith,” he said. Pope Benedict XVI will inaugurate the Year of Faith at the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation in Rome this October.

He added: “The year itself will help us to recapture something of the richness of our faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It should encourage us to re-equip ourselves to take the message and the example of faith to those whose faith has grown weaker or who have drifted away from the Church for whatever reason. The New Evangelisation in not only for Europe but is especially for places where secularisation has changed people’s experience and practice of faith,” he said.

“We should be cautious not to adopt a wholly negative attitude towards secularism and we should distinguish it from secularisation. Secularism can certainly have some negative impacts but the phenomenon can also offer a new freedom for the Gospel to be proclaimed.”

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Organ donation proposal is opposed Education chief: we must lobby councils

Continued from Page 1: government. Up until now there has always been an agreement, but because of the squeeze councils are saying saying they cannot afford it. This is going to be a real problem for many families and schools.

“We are pressing for a working party with Government,” Mgr Stokes said.

He dismissed claims by secularist groups that Catholics were asking for special treatment.

He said: “I don’t know of any secularist group that buys the land and pays the extra money for schools. We have invested thousands and thousands of pounds in these schools, which were set up for Catholic pupils. We are partners in education, not just consumers.”

Cheshire East Council has also proposed scrapping subsidies, as has Brighton and Hove City Council, which held a three-month consultation ending on January 13.

Charles Wookey, chairman of governors at Cardinal Newman Catholic school in Hove, said: “The school is naturally very concerned. The council has already received over 500 letters and so has extended the consultation. There is more time to put in a representation, and we’re obviously encouraging people to do so. It is essential that the pressure is brought to bear locally.”

BY STAFF REPORTER

CHURCH leaders in Wales have described government proposals for “presumed consent” on organ donation as “ill-judged”.

In a written response to the Welsh government’s White Paper on Organ and Tissue Donation, leaders of the Catholic Church in Wales said: “Our main concern is that the positive ethos of donation as a free gift is being endangered by an ill-judged if well-intentioned proposal to move from voluntary donation to presumed consent.”

They urged the Welsh government “to revisit the process and establish a crossparty committee that could consider all the evidence submitted to the previous enquiries of the last three years”.

Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff has previously expressed serious reservations about the ethics underpinning a system in which the deceased’s organs are automatically donated unless they choose to opt out in advance.

The Church’s written submission was co-authored with the Church in Wales and the Wales Orthodox Mission.

The submission stated: “If organs may be taken without consent, this is no longer ‘donation’. This is not just a health matter but concerns serious human rights issues such as personal autonomy.”

Bishop clashes with charity head over faith schools

BY DAVID V BARRETT

BISHOP Joseph Devine of Motherwell has reacted strongly to criticism of faith schools in Scotland by a director of a Scottish charities lobbying group, calling his comments “reckless” and “offensive”.

In his blog on the website of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), which represents around 1,300 charities and voluntary groups, John Downie wrote last year that “one [of the] key causes of sectarianism is Scotland continuing to have separate denominational and non-denominational schools”.

Mr Downie, who was appointed SCVO’s head of public affairs in 2009, said that “the reality is that separate schools foster estrangement between Catholic and Protestant communities and influence the behaviour of children.

“Yes, the attitudes of parents and grandparents don’t help and need to change but, like it or not, separate schools are a huge factor.”

He went on: “The reality is, it doesn’t matter if a school is Catholic, Muslim or non-denominational, it is the attitudes of difference that separate schools perpetuate.”

Sectarianism is seen as a major social issue in Scotland, particularly at football matches.

The governing Scottish

National Party had made tackling sectarianism a top priority,

Mr Downie wrote that “if they really want to get rid of sectarianism then getting rid of faith schools would be the bold and right action to take”.

But Bishop Devine, who is president of the Scottish Catholic Education Commission, described Mr Downie’s statements as “contentious”, “ignorant”, “irresponsible” and “untenable” as well as “reckless” and “offensive”.

The bishop said: “Mr Downie has misused the SCVO website to make offensive and untenable claims that Catholic schools are a cause of sectarianism in Scotland.

“Such an intervention is not what one would expect to read on the official website of a respected social agency that is expected to champion cooperation, harmony and tolerance.” A spokesman for the bishop said that expressing such controversial personal opinions on the SCVO’s website “really is not proper”.

Bishop Devine said that Mr Downie’s views “not only contradict but manifestly insult a significant percentage of the Scottish population namely Roman Catholics many of whom, one would imagine are active supporters of many of the charities and voluntary organisations associated with SCVO”.

NEWSBULLETIN Cardinal Scola to speak in London on Muslim relations CARDINAL Angelo Scola of Milan is to speak at Heythrop College in London this April.

The cardinal, considered a possible future pope, will talk about the work of Oasis, a group he founded that promotes understanding between Christians and Muslims.

Cardinal Scola, the son of a truck driver in Lombardy, Italy, served as

Patriarch of Venice for nine years before being moved to Milan. He is regarded as one of the Church’s leading theologians and has conducted book-length interviews with Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar, two of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. He has also been active in the Communion and Liberation movement.

Safeguarding officials resign SEVERAL members of Clifton diocese’s safeguarding team have resigned reportedly following a disagreement over how to deal with a priest convicted of downloading child pornography.

Roger Bird, the chairman of the diocese’s safeguarding commission, Jane Dziadulewicz, the safeguarding co-ordinator, and Eugene Gallagher, the safeguarding officer, all announced they were leaving last month.

According to reports, friends of a priest had complained to police that Mrs Dziadulewicz had7 treated him unfairly after he was accused of breaching the terms of his sex offences order.

An internal diocesan grievance procedure found against Mrs Dziadulewicz but a second one cleared her of wrongdoing.

The acting safeguarding co-ordinator for the diocese is Tony Domaille.

Secularists defend bishop THE NATIONAL Secular Society has said it opposes a complaint by a Humanist who claimed that a bishop’s homily incited hatred against secularists.

Terry Sanderson, the lobby group’s president, said the complainant, John Colgan, a Fine Gael election candidate, should “grow a thicker skin”.

He said: “If he doesn’t like what the bishop said, he should argue with him, not seek his prosecution.”

Diocesan official sacked BISHOP Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has dismissed the chief executive of Shrewsbury Diocese Commercial Company following what the diocese calls “serious allegations of harassment”.

Mark Hale, 51, who had managed social clubs for the diocese, was dismissed after Merseyside Police charged him with harassment.

Mr Hale will appear in court later this month.

Ex-priest convicted of child abuse A FORMER priest, Alexander Bede Walsh, has been convicted of 21 counts of child abuse while working in children’s homes and churches in the 1970s and 1980s.

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THE IRISH Church is not ready for a papal visit, the Archbishop of Dublin has said.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin was speaking about the forthcoming International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in June.

Archbishop Martin said that although a papal visit was unlikely this year, Pope Benedict XVI would visit Ireland “soon rather than later” and was “actively considering” an invitation from the Church in Ireland.

But the archbishop said the Irish Church was not ready for a papal visit.

It had been hoped that Pope Benedict would be in Dublin for the Eucharistic Congress this summer, as popes have in the past

Archbishop: Irish Church is not ready for a papal visit BY ED WEST

always attended previous events held in Europe.

But last Sunday Archbishop Martin said that such a trip was unlikely owing to various problems, including the Pope’s reduced traveling schedule and the clerical abuse scandal that still needed a “healing process” for victims.

Archbishop Martin told the Irish Independent newspaper: “The Pope is in his 80s. His travel will have to be reduced and there’s a very big event on the week beforehand to which he is certainly going, so we’ll just wait and see.”

He said there were “still many steps to be taken” and that a papal visit would only be seen as appropriate once they were finished.

He said: “It would require a lot of work, ensuring that people who feel wounded by the Church would have the opportunity for healing, and I don’t think this would be something that was imposed.”

Archbishop Martin also told RTÉ television that a papal visit was unlikely while “many of these issues of our past” remained to be addressed.

“Short-circuiting that renewal process probably wouldn’t bring the fruits that a papal visit would bring. I’m not sure that we are at that stage yet,” he said.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend the congress, and the Church has still made contingency plans for a papal visit. There will be 20,000 people at daily events at the Royal Dublin Society in Ballsbridge every day from June 10, and 80,000 for the closing ceremony in Croke Park on Sunday, June 17.

Archbishop Martin said the Pope had told him he was open to coming to the Eucharistic Congress and would give it “serious consideration”.

Archbishop Martin said: “But he said – and this I agree with – that his coming would have to fit in with the overall programme and timetable of the renewal of the Church in Ireland.”

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has told Archbishop Martin and Cardinal Seán Brady of Armagh that the government would be willing to invite Pope Benedict.

Last week Mr Kenny also reassured Fine Gael backbenchers that the decision to close down Ireland’s embassy to the Holy See would be reviewed.

At a meeting of the ruling party’s parliamentary representatives Mr Kenny spoke of his personal good relations with the Catholic Church, despite the very public fall out last summer over the Cloyne Report.

He also gave public support to Lucinda Creighton, junior minister for European affairs, who said that the closure of the embassy would be reviewed.

At the meeting more than 30 TDs and ministers spoke in favour of a motion by Sligo-North Leitrim TD Tony McLoughlin to review the closure and there were no dissenters.

But Mr Kenny has said that there would be no change in the government’s decision to close Ireland’s embassy to the Vatican in the short term.

Mr Kenny also emphasised that the closure of the embassy was unrelated to his speech on the Cloyne Report last July, in which he strongly criticised the Vatican for allegedly failing to co-operate with state investigations into clerical sexual abuse. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he insisted.

Last July Mr Kenny told the Dáil that the Cloyne Report illustrated “the dysfunction, disconnection and elitism that dominates the culture of the Vatican to this day”.

Any review of the decision is likely to lead to difficulties with Fine Gael’s coalition partners, Labour, which tends to be more hostile to the Church.

Last week a Labour backbencher apologised for supporting a constituency proposal that senior public servants be screened to ensure they do not show “inappropriate deference” to the Church. Party activists in the Dublin North Central constituency of Aodhán Ó Riordáin had issued a report on schools which argued that: “All senior official appointments in state bodies which are likely to have to deal with the Catholic Church should be screened to ensure that they will not show inappropriate deference to the Catholic Church.

It was reported that Mr Ó Riordáin planned to bring a motion on the issue to April’s Labour Party conference. But he has since said: “I admit it, I didn’t read it. I do not support or endorse this recommendation in any way and it will not appear in any motion at the National Labour Conference in April.”

Canonesses are blocked from selling sculptures

BY ED WEST

ENGLISH HERITAGE has blocked an application by the Augustinian Canonesses of the Mercy of Jesus to remove and sell Greek and Roman marbles from its home in Ince Blundell Hall to raise funds for renovations.

The Sisters, who have run a nursing home at the hall for 50 years, applied to Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council for Listed Building Consent to remove the embedded marbles, which are deteriorating due to climatic conditions.

The application is to remove, conserve and replicate the artefacts with the aim of selling them to a public buyer.

Any funds raised will be used to renovate two listed buildings in the grounds – the Old Hall and the Stable Block – which are near the top of the Heritage at Risk Register and are used to provide nursing care.

Initially English Heritage gave its support to the application, but then imposed conditions, to which the Sisters agreed. English Heritage has now refused the application.

The Sisters bought Ince

Blundell Hall in 1959 and converted the house into a nursing home. The hall had been the ancestral home of the Blundell family, and still housed a collection of 600 Roman and Greek marbles acquired by Henry Blundell during the 18th century.

In 1959 the Weld-Blundell family and the Sisters arranged for Liverpool Museum to take the marbles, the museum removed 500 pieces between 1959 and 1961. About 70 bas reliefs embedded in the walls of the buildings were left behind with a few minor pieces in the grounds, most of which have since been stolen.

A spokesman for the order said the Sisters were “fully aware” of the significance of the sculptures and were distressed to witness their deterioration.

“The reliefs are now in danger of deteriorating to the point that it will no longer be possible to conserve them. Those on the outside of the Pantheon are crumbling and their condition is so poor that they ‘sugar’ on touch,” the spokesman said. Last year English Heritage said that the Sisters had been “excellent custodians” of the Hall.

Ireland caps benefits to families for First Holy Communions

THE IRISH government has cut grants to families on benefits to cover the cost of First Holy Communion and Confirmation expenses, writes Ed West.

Until now 14,000 families were paid €242 (£200) each to cover the cost of the events, which could include a white dress, veil, shoes and bag, but might cover additional expenses for a professional haircut and, in some cases, make-up, a spray tan and fake nails.

But last week the Department of Social Protection said the payment would now be capped at €110

euros (about £91). “They are designed to meet essential, once-off, exceptional expenses,” a spokeswoman for the department said.

Irish First Holy Communion and Confirmation celebrations have become commercialised, with some families spending large sums on clothes and parties. The Irish Church said in a statement: “The primary focus of First Holy Communion is the reception of the Body of Christ by the child for the first time; and, on the continued growth of the spiritual life of the child.”

Queen’s cousin: 1967 Act ‘doomed’BYDAVIDVBARRETT

ABORTION is “the great elephant in the room in our culture” and the 1967 Abortion Act was “defeatist, unjust and doomed to fail horribly in the long run”, Lord Nicholas Windsor, a cousin of the Queen, has said.

Lord Nicholas has become a pro-life campaigner in recent years. He came to public attention when he argued that abortion was a bigger threat to Europe than al-Qaeda in an article in the American journal First Things.

In an interview with The Catholic Herald this week Lord Nicholas says: “The death of so many unborn children, a good part of my generation, is the great elephant in the room in our culture. It is no good us going on thinking we are a compassionate, caring society when we accept what is really a tyranny, the abortion licence, thinking it’s a settled question and frowning on any questioning of it.”

In 2001 Lord Nicholas Windsor became the first male blood member of the royal family to convert to Catholicism, following the conversion of his mother the Duchess of Kent in 1994. The turning point, he said, was the voice of Blessed Pope John Paul II.

“He was my entry point. Obviously there was something extraordinary about him.” Lord Nicholas said. Interview: Page 7

Television series about Catholics to air on BBC BY DAVID V BARRETT

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The three documentaries, produced by acclaimed filmmaker Richard Alwyn, will focus on priests, women and children.

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The Latin Mass Society

The first, entitled “Priests”, and based on six months’ filming at the Allen Hall seminary in London, focuses on men who are called to the priesthood. One, Rob Hunt, is a former roadie for a heavy metal band who ignored his faith for many years before deciding that his life was off course – though, with little education, he says he thought he had as much chance of becoming a priest as an astronaut.

In contrast Andrew Gallagher, who previously worked for a City law firm, says he had a lifelong calling, even being known as “priest” at school.

The second film, “Children”, focuses on St Mary’s primary school in the village of Chipping, Lancashire, in an area with a strong Catholic heritage. Filmed through Lent and into last summer, the film follows six of the school’s 33 pupils as they prepare to make their First Holy Communion. The children are encouraged to celebrate the riches of the natural world, to remember those less fortunate than themselves, and to reflect on

Christ’s death and resurrection.

The third documentary, “Women”, concentrates on the female staff, volunteers and congregation at Westminster Cathedral, exploring how Catholicism shapes women’s lives. One, Rose, is secondin-charge of the Cathedral’s sacristy, preparing the altar for the six daily Masses and ensuring that the priests have all they need to minister to the faithful. A convert, Rose is responsible for the smooth running of the Cathedral’s worship and devotional life. In contrast, a retired doctor finds herself alienated by the Church’s teachings and unable to practise her faith, though her Catholic identity is still strong.

Mr Alwyn, whose previous documentaries have been nominated for Bafta Awards, and who won a Prix Italia for his 2005 documentary on the Beslan school siege in Russia, said: “It’s inevitably been a very troubled time for the Catholic Church in recent years. So we are particularly proud of the access that we have gained to make films which reveal the complex reality of being Catholic away from the tabloid headlines.

“Catholic Christianity is at the very centre of many of the western world’s cultural and institutional sensibilities and yet Catholics today can feel at times like they are set apart from mainstream society,” Mr Alwyn said.

HELP THE LITTLE WAY GIVE NEEDY CHILDREN A BETTER

START IN LIFE

THE LITTLE WAY ASSOCIATION receives many appeals throughout the year from missionary Sisters who have dedicated their lives to working with needy families and children in developing countries and who plead for funds to provide nourishing meals and healthy housing for them. Lack of adequate food, water or shelter are hard to bear at any stage of life, but for a small child they quickly become life threatening, and even if survived, they can cause weakness and ill-health for many years to come. There are schools run by Sisters where the youngsters have their one and only full meal of the day. We hear of families where children have to take it in turns to go to school because they do not have enough clothes for each child to attend the school together. It is hard to imagine how a child can study even basic subjects in these circumstances. Sometimes the Sisters ask for help to buy desks or other essentials, and water and sanitation is sometimes lacking in remote areas. There are many ways that we can help missionary Sisters give needy children a better start in life, but to do so we need your help.

“More than ever I realise that the smallest happenings of our lives are guided by God.” St Therese

£25 will provide a child with a uniform, books and pens,

school fees and a daily meal Please send us a gift for needy children and we will send it, WITHOUT DEDUCTION, where it is needed most.

Crossed POs and cheques should be sent and made payable to: THE LITTLE WAY ASSOCIATION, CH/02/10 119 Cedars Rd, Clapham Common, London SW4 0PR (Registered Charity No. 235703) Tel. 020-7622 0466 I enclose £ ...............to be allocated for: £........ NEEDY CHILDREN / £........ WATER AND SANITATION £........ FOOD FOR THE HUNGRY £........ MASS STIPENDS (please state no. ) £........ LITTLE WAY ADMIN. EXPENSES

DONATIONS FOR THE MISSIONS ARE SENT WITHOUT

DEDUCTION FOR ANY EXPENSES.

Name (Rev. Mr. Mrs. Miss) (Block letters please) Address

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WELLS AND

WATER Missionaries constantly appeal to The Little Way for funds to sink wells in order to provide clean water, the lack of which causes much illness and many medical needs.

The sum of £1,500 would enable a missionary to supply a whole village with water for drinking, washing and irrigation. HOLY MASS is offered each day in the Missions for the intentions of all Little Way benefactors and friends.