Trip to Liverpool

I've just got back to Hull after my first ever trip to Liverpool, which was fantastic. I went across yesterday to cover the visit of theologian Peter Phan from Georgetown University for the Universe. Prof Phan is originally from Vietnam and fled to America during the Vietnam War. Three years ago he became the first non-white president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He specialises in social justice and inter-religious dialogue. I'll blog again when I get chance about what he said later.

His trip was organised by Liverpool Hope University, a joint Anglican and Catholic venture. I shadowed him has he made a whistle-stop tour of an Everton parish then a community centre. It was absolutely riveting. We heard about the troubles between the Protestants and the Catholics and how people of both faiths now work together for the betterment of the city. At the community centre, we were treated to a bowl of the famous local dish of "Scouse", a delicious hot beef stew accompanied by crusty bread. This is apparently where the term "Scouse" comes from.

I really enjoyed the visit, not least because the Universe kindly offered to cover the expenses of a hotel last night. I stayed in the wonderful Adelphi hotel. This meant that after Prof Phan's address at the University of Liverpool Catholic Chaplaincy, I had the opportunity to meet up with a good (Scouse) friend of mine from university, Mark, last night.

This morning, before travelling back, I visited the Anglican Cathedral but unfortunately couldn't get into ours because of the funeral of Sergeant Major Michael Smith, killed in Afghanistan. The police wouldn’t let members of the public in. I really had to get back to Hull (a long journey) so I left slightly short changed. It was a shame as I don't envisage going back in the near future.

I must say I had really strange feelings when getting on the train to come back. I liked the city so much I wanted to explore and discover more of it. I wanted to check in for another night at least. Even before making the trip across, I was of the opinion that the Scouse accent was the best in the country, definately much better sounding than the droney, flat voweled Hull accent! This visit confirmed my opinion. It is a unique way of speaking, coupled with some intensely amusing phrases. I definitely want to go back there soon if I can.

In terms of religion, there is a church every few hundred yards. But sadly, a lot of them have closed down and are boarded up. We're talking here about grand, beautiful listed buildings that can no longer survive.

On another, lighter note, whilst walking between the two cathedrals this morning, I stumbled across and managed to take a quick cheeky snap of this place, the "Liberal Catholic Centre":




I’ve done a quick internet search but it doesn’t reveal anything about the place. Does anyone know about it? Are they self proclaimed “liberal” Catholics or are they Catholic members of a liberal party?

Either way, I wonder what it’s like inside? This is my guess:

Sexual orientation regulations railroaded through parliament

As far as I can gather at the time of blogging, no mainstream media organisation or blog has yet picked up on this story, so here goes:

The Sexual Orientation Regulations were today debated in a “Delegated Legislation Committee” in the House of Commons, amidst several protests by Conservative MPs.

Yesterday, the Government announced the meeting would take place this morning beginning at 8:55am.

It was held in a crowded committee room and commenced with several points of order, mainly by Conservative MPs, arguing against the decision to hold the meeting at such short notion. They argued there was no time for members to read the regulations which have been revised three times in the past week.

Several MPs also argued it was against democracy to not have this debate in the Commons chamber.

Catholic MP Iain Duncan Smith said: “ I discovered yesterday evening that at least more than one member of the Labour Party was given an assurance by the Secretary of State that there matters would be bought to the floor of the House. That is a guarantee which has clearly been breached.”

Another Catholic Tory MP, Edward Leigh said: “The obvious solution is to have this debate on the floor of the House. That is what the public want and demand so we can have a proper debate where all sides of this question can be heard.”

Amongst many other considerations, the Regulations mean that Catholic adoption agencies cannot opt out of placing children with same sex couples.

At this morning’s meeting, many Conservative backbench MPs used point of order to try and wreck the minister’s speech. The minister lost her train of thought on several occasions.

Only members of the committee (17 cross party MPs) could vote on a motion to approve the regulation, although several non-members attended.

Members approved a substantive motion that the committee had considered the draft Sexual Orientation Regulations by 14 votes to 2.

As I understand it, within the next few days, a Motion from the committee will be put before the House of Commons to approve the dreaded SORs.

This Motion is always heard at the end of the parliamentary day. The Speaker of the House moves that the Regulations be approved.

If any MP declares they do not approve then there is a 'deferred division' which is a vote that will probably take place next Wednesday between 12 and 2pm, according to the Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship.

It seems that this government is going to railroad yet another Act, opposed by so many Christians, through the Commons without giving any time even for MPs to object vocally in on the floor of the House.

The 90 minute meeting can be listened to at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/?Meeting=6979.

Apostolic Exhortation: The Liturgy

Use of Latin (Section 62)

The Pope endorses the proposal from the Synod that at international Eucharistic celebrations, such as those at the World Youth Day, such liturgies “could” be celebrated in Latin. This is with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful (62).

Significantly, the document goes onto say that “ the better-known prayers of the Church's tradition should be recited in Latin and, if possible, selections of Gregorian chant should be sung”.

In advice to priests and seminarians, the Pope says: “I ask that future priests, from their time in the seminary, receive the preparation needed to understand and to celebrate Mass in Latin, and also to use Latin texts and execute Gregorian chant; nor should we forget that the faithful can be taught to recite the more common prayers in Latin, and also to sing parts of the liturgy to Gregorian chant.”

Divorced and remarried Catholics (29)

The Pope confirms the Church's practice, “based on Sacred Scripture (cf. Mk 10:2- 12), of not admitting the divorced and remarried to the sacraments”. This is because “their state and their condition of life objectively contradict the loving union of Christ and the Church signified and made present in the Eucharist”.

The Pontiff did describe these situations as “painful”.

“Yet the divorced and remarried continue to belong to the Church, which accompanies them with special concern and encourages them to live as fully as possible the Christian life through regular participation at Mass, albeit without receiving communion, listening to the word of God, eucharistic adoration, prayer, participation in the life of the community, honest dialogue with a priest or spiritual director, dedication to the life of charity, works of penance, and commitment to the education of their children.”

Where there is doubt about the validity of the prior sacramental marriage, “the necessary investigation must be carried out”. Benedict XVI emphasises the need to ensure, “in full respect for canon law, the presence of local ecclesiastical tribunals, their pastoral character, and their correct and prompt functioning”.

Positioning of the Tabernacle (69)

“The correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament.”

With reference to new churches, the Pope says: “It is good to position the Blessed Sacrament chapel close to the sanctuary; where this is not possible, it is preferable to locate the tabernacle in the sanctuary, in a sufficiently elevated place, at the centre of the apse area, or in another place where it will be equally conspicuous.”

“The correct positioning of the tabernacle contributes to the recognition of Christ's real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Therefore, the place where the eucharistic species are reserved, marked by a sanctuary lamp, should be readily visible to everyone entering the church.

“It is therefore necessary to take into account the building's architecture: in churches which do not have a Blessed Sacrament chapel, and where the high altar with its tabernacle is still in place, it is appropriate to continue to use this structure for the reservation and adoration of the Eucharist, taking care not to place the celebrant's chair in front of it.”

The Pope goes onto say that “the final judgment on these matters belongs to the Diocesan Bishop” and that “it is necessary to follow the provisions of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal”.

Sunday as “the Lord’s day” (73 and 74)

“It is particularly urgent nowadays to remember that the day of the Lord is also a day of rest from work”, the Holy Father says. “It is greatly to be hoped that this fact will also be recognized by civil society, so that individuals can be permitted to refrain from work without being penalized.”
“Christians, not without reference to the meaning of the Sabbath in the Jewish tradition, have seen in the Lord's Day a day of rest from their daily exertions. This is highly significant, for it relativizes work and directs it to the person: work is for man and not man for work.

“Participating in the Sunday liturgical assembly with all our brothers and sisters, with whom we form one body in Jesus Christ, is demanded by our Christian conscience and at the same time it forms that conscience.

“To lose a sense of Sunday as the Lord's Day, a day to be sanctified, is symptomatic of the loss of an authentic sense of Christian freedom, the freedom of the children of God.”

Community in the absence of a priest (75)

“The Synod recommended first that the faithful should go to one of the churches in their Diocese where the presence of a priest is assured, even when this demands a certain sacrifice.”

“Wherever great distances make it practically impossible to take part in the Sunday Eucharist, it is still important for Christian communities to gather together to praise the Lord and to commemorate the Day set apart for him.”

“This needs, however, to be accompanied by an adequate instruction about the difference between Mass and Sunday assemblies in the absence of a priest. The Church's pastoral care must be expressed in the latter case by ensuring that the liturgy of the word – led by a deacon or a community leader to whom this ministry has been duly entrusted by competent authority – is carried out according to a specific ritual prepared and approved for this purpose by the Bishops' Conferences.”

The Pope reaffirms “that only Ordinaries may grant the faculty of distributing Holy Communion” in such liturgies

He says that “care must be taken to ensure that such assemblies in the absence of a priest do not encourage ecclesiological visions incompatible with the truth of the Gospel and the Church's tradition. Rather, they should be privileged moments of prayer for God to send holy priests after his own heart.”

Celebration of Mass on television (57)

“Those who hear or view these broadcasts should be aware that, under normal circumstances, they do not fulfil the obligation of attending Mass”, Benedict XVI makes clear. “Visual images can represent reality, but they do not actually reproduce it.

“While it is most praiseworthy that the elderly and the sick participate in Sunday Mass through radio and television, the same cannot be said of those who think that such broadcasts dispense them from going to church and sharing in the eucharistic assembly in the living Church.

Despite these warnings, the Pope encourages these broadcasts but says particular care should be taken to ensure that the Mass takes place in suitable location and that “the celebration respects the liturgical norms in force”.

Apostolic Exhortation: Martyrs of the Eucharist

This is something which I'm quite keen on. I usually pray after Mass to St. Margeret Clitherow of York, whose devotion to the Mass and commitment to harbouring priests during penal times, like many of the English and Welsh Martyrs, led to her horrific execution.

So naturally, I think this is an excellent reflection in the conclusion section:

95. "At the beginning of the fourth century, Christian worship was still forbidden by the imperial authorities. Some Christians in North Africa, who felt bound to celebrate the Lord's Day, defied the prohibition. They were martyred after declaring that it was not possible for them to live without the Eucharist, the food of the Lord: sine dominico non possumus. (252) May these martyrs of Abitinae, in union with all those saints and beati who made the Eucharist the centre of their lives, intercede for us and teach us to be faithful to our encounter with the risen Christ."

Apostolic Exhortation: Relationship between the Eucharist and the Cosmos

This looks like yet another remarkable convergance with the vision of the Faith movement, known to some of you.

"92. The Eucharist itself powerfully illuminates human history and the whole cosmos... The eucharistic form of life can thus help foster a real change in the way we approach history and the world. The liturgy itself teaches us this, when, during the presentation of the gifts, the priest raises to God a prayer of blessing and petition over the bread and wine, "fruit of the earth," "fruit of the vine" and "work of human hands." With these words, the rite not only includes in our offering to God all human efforts and activity, but also leads us to see the world as God's creation, which brings forth everything we need for our sustenance.

The relationship between the Eucharist and the cosmos helps us to see the unity of God's plan and to grasp the profound relationship between creation and the "new creation" inaugurated in the resurrection of Christ, the new Adam. Even now we take part in that new creation by virtue of our Baptism (cf. Col 2:12ff.). Our Christian life, nourished by the Eucharist, gives us a glimpse of that new world – new heavens and a new earth – where the new Jerusalem comes down from heaven, from God, "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband" (Rev 21:2)."

In additon, this section also give a good reflection on the recent Catholic blog debate surrounding the environment"

"The justified concern about threats to the environment present in so many parts of the world is reinforced by Christian hope, which commits us to working responsibly for the protection of creation. (250)

"The world is not something indifferent, raw material to be utilized simply as we see fit. Rather, it is part of God's good plan, in which all of us are called to be sons and daughters in the one Son of God, Jesus Christ (cf. Eph 1:4-12)."

Apostolic Exhortation: Entry I

The race is on to blog after the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation an hour ago. I'm in the process of skim reading it and will blog a bit later. However, here is a fantastic bit in the "Eucharistic consistency" section (83), which seems to be addressing politicians in particular:

"Worship pleasing to God can never be a purely private matter, without consequences for our relationships with others: it demands a public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet it is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms (230). These values are not negotiable. Consequently, Catholic politicians and legislators, conscious of their grave responsibility before society, must feel particularly bound, on the basis of a properly formed conscience, to introduce and support laws inspired by values grounded in human nature (231). There is an objective connection here with the Eucharist (cf. 1 Cor 11:27-29). Bishops are bound to reaffirm constantly these values as part of their responsibility to the flock entrusted to them (232)."

Apostolic Exhortation

In case you're trying to find it, it will be published on http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/apost_exhortations/index_en.htm. Keep refreshing the page!

Crazy priests dancing

Many of you may have seen this one from St. Mary Magdalene, Brighton, but here's the link if you haven't http://marymagdalen.blogspot.com/2007/03/leaping-priests.html.

I don't really know whether to laugh or be outraged.

Hull Faith Forum

We’ve had three Hull Faith Forum’s in the last three weeks on very interesting subjects. I have the pleasure of chairing this series up to now, entitled “Re-forming Catholic culture”.

FIRSTLY, we had Cyprian Blamires, the Catholic writer, translator and author. He also works part time for the St Barnabas Society, which operates in Britain to provide pastoral and financial help to former clergy and ministers of other denominations who have come into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. His talk was “Pius XII and the Jews: retrieving truth from propaganda”.

He gave an excellent account defending Pius XII from claims made in horrid books such as “Hitler’s Pope” by John Cornwell (an ex-seminarian) that Pius XII assisted in the legitimisation of the Nazi regime and failed to do enough to prevent the Holocaust.

Cyprian, who has edited an encyclopaedia on fascism which came out recently, described several occasions when the Pope actually directly helped those in danger of being sent to the concentration camps. He said as many as 860 thousand lives were saved by the Roman Catholic Church. On one occasion, the Pope gave protection in the walls of the Vatican to some Eastern Europeans in danger of being caught.

His main point was that authors who have written very unfavourably about Pius XII were anti-papal in the first place. Therefore these theories were forwarded by the liberal agenda and were intended to undermine the papacy.

He also made the point that the fact that thousands of Catholics died in the holocaust is massively overlooked.

THE WEEK after it was the turn of Fr Philip Miller, a hospital chaplain in London. He spoke on: “The Dawkins Delusion: The path to God through science”.

Fr Miller ridiculed Dawkin’s book “The God Delusion” but also made some points on which Catholics can agree with him, namely:

1) The theory of evolution
2) Creationism – that the world is only a few thousand years old
3) Criticism of fundamentalism – We don’t believe in a literalist interpretation of the Bible (We believe that only the Church has the authority to interpret scripture)

But that’s about as far as it goes. Fr Miller said that “sometimes it’s hard to make a response” to what Dawkins says. His concept of Catholicism on which he bases his arguments is largely inaccurate, a false interpretation of Catholicism. So, in a sense, to argue with him is pointless. “It’s almost like pub talk,” Fr Miller put it. Dawkins has no metaphysical understanding of God.

ON MONDAY, Fr Michael Brown made the trip down from Hexham and Newcastle Diocese. He has a PHD in Prudentius, the 4th Century Christian poet. His has an impressive CV including a degree in Latin and Medieval History, one in Theology, a Cannon Law Licence and an MA in Classics as well as his PHD. The wealth of his historical knowledge was incredible. He spoke about the evangelisation of culture in the 4th century, particularly with reference to St Ambrose.

Next is the turn of our new diocesan youth officer, Sarah Holmes, who will arrive in Hull in the next couple of weeks. We all can’t wait for her to come so we can get loads of stuff on the go for youngsters in the city and beyond. The evangelisation of Hull and the bashing of secularism starts here!

The talk will be on 26th March at the usual place, The Endsleigh Centre on Beverley Road at 7:30pm.