De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

The flock is struck, it is in disarray. Wounded and confused, the faithful cling to the Barque of Peter for a variety of reasons. Pastors have been breeding confusion for a number of years. They seldom seem to do the work of a priest; calling the people to repentance. It is far easier to be lovely to the people than to shock them into any kind of real change.

Speak to a mature Catholic in Brentwood Diocese today about their faith and you tend to hear a confusion of progressive Protestant theology and secular reasoning. If they practice, they have filled the void of any sound Catholic teaching with these ideas which bridge the gap between what they feel is the unrealistic demands of the "old" Catholic Church and the constant social reprogramming of the modern secular state.

Discussions I have tend to result in shock that I believe what the Church has always taught, assertions that the Church "has moved on", or "we don't believe in *insert doctrine here* si…

Further to the announcement of Mgr John Armitage's forthcoming move to Walsingham, as reported here, the new Vicar General for Brentwood Diocese has been announced as my friend, the Dean of Southend and Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes & St. Joseph, Leigh-on-Sea, Fr. Kevin Hale!

This is great news for the Diocese as Fr. Kevin has developed a reputation for orthodoxy, excellent management skills, and gentle pastoral touch. Most importantly for a VG, he loves the priesthood and he loves his fellow clergy. He has achieved a great deal in his twelve years at Leigh-on-Sea, including the building of our magnificent Parish Centre. He has always played an important role in the diocese and is Chair of the Council of Priests.

This is the function of a VG according to the Code of Canon Law:
Can. 475 §1. In each diocese the diocesan bishop must appoint a vicar general who is provided with ordinary power according to the norm of the following canons and who is to assist him in the gov…

How wonderful to hear that our Diocesan Youth Retreat Centre, Walsingham House, which is managed by two fine Catholic young men; Michael Barwick and Leighton Walker, recently received input from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) who help highlight the suffering of persecuted Christians. 
The Walsingham House team in their retreat work often speak about persecuted Christians, with reference to ACN.
Leighton has written some excellent things about the persecution of Christians on his blog, see here. He writes: 
As Christians, we are witnessing the persecution of our brothers and sisters throughout the world. We are not bound by blood, but we are bound by spirit. Let us not forget the words of St Paul about how we are one body with many parts. When one part suffers, every part suffers with it. I also want to commend Westminster Diocese’s Youth Service for entering into partnership with ACN and highlighting their important ministry: see here.
I believe it so important for more of our diocesan y…

The week before last was the Brentwood Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes and I must apologise that I have only just managed to finally finish my blog on the trip. This event annually coincides with Brentwood Catholic Youth Service's annual Summer Lourdes Pilgrimage. The Youth Service goes to Lourdes in Spring too, but Summer is the big pilgrimage, with four coach loads of young people heading off to help our VIP's in whatever way they can. There's a nice bit on BBC iPlayer here, from Peter Holmes' show on Sunday, which features the Bishop, Fr. James, Roisin and my son Michael (amongst others).

Both of my oldest sons joined them for the second time, but the pilgrimage also coincided with the 5th anniversary of my daughter Ruth's tragic death and we really did not want to be apart as a family for this day. As much as I want it to fade into ignominy as a date, it never fails to sneak up on me with the power to elicit a sickening sense of loss. The loss of course, is alw…

Today in Brentwood Diocese, we received our first Pastoral Letter from our new Bishop, Alan Williams SM.

Louise and I have had a rather busy and joyous weekend attending the Priestly Ordination of Stefan Kaminski, the son of some dear friends of ours, Marie-Claire & Daniel. Marie-Claire and I studied together for five years at Maryvale. Subsequently, we have followed Stefan's progress through the English College in Rome with prayer and joy. We were very privileged to be invited and really did enjoy it—I'll write on it separately when I get a second—I have several posts in draft now and haven't finished any of them! The Ordination was such a joy, it needs to be shared, also in order that you might pray for Stefan and his family, as he begins his priestly ministry.

I was also fortunate enough to meet Bishop Alan properly for the first time on Wednesday, when he visited St. Peter's Parish in Eastwood in order to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation. Again, I have a pos…

Habemus episcopum!!!
Welcome the new Bishop of Brentwood the Rt. Rvd. Alan Williams...






A new era begins for the diocese of Brentwood after 34 years, we have a new bishop. Deo gratias!

I will continue to add pictures as I come across them.

So, the day has finally arrived. The episcopal ordination of bishop-elect Alan Williams will take place today, week 13 of ordinary time and the feast of St Oliver Plunket, Bishop and Martyr, at noon in Brentwood Cathedral.


The diocesan website announces:
Finishing touches are being put to preparations in the Cathedral in Brentwood as the long-awaited day looms. This rare and momentous event – the ordination of a bishop - will take place at noon on 1 July: Fr Alan Williams SM will become Bishop of Brentwood 34 years after the building last witnessed such a ceremony. A member of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers), Bishop-elect Alan is currently the director of the National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham. Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, will ordain the new Bishop in the presence of the Papal Nuncio, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, the Bishops of England & Wales, priests and deacons from the Diocese, church leaders from Churches Together in Essex and East Lon…

At this stage, I hope you've read the title of this post and are thinking to yourself, "I can't wait to see how he joins these things together!". I've given myself a bit of a job eh? In reality, this may well provide you with some insight as to the way in which my mind wanders from one thing to another, as it sketches out my thoughts over the course of a couple of days.



If you enjoyed Father Kevin's homily on the Ascension, as well as my own, rather melancholic reflections, you might well be interested in the irrepressible, rambunctious, Cardinal Timothy Dolan's blog from yesterday:
What did the bewildered, scared, confused apostles do upon Our Lord’s Ascension into heaven? They took our Blessed Mother Mary, locked themselves into a room, and . . . prayed! That prayer demanded perseverance, because it took nine days for Jesus to reply. The response He gave to that patient prayer of His Mother and best friends was beyond their most exalted hopes: the Ho…

There is a great feeling of hope growing around Brentwood's new bishop-elect, Fr. Alan Williams SM, MA, PH.D, who is currently Director of The National Shrine of our Lady at Walsingham. Everything I hear is positive and exciting about our new appointment. This weekend saw the diocesan pilgrimage to Walsingham, but also the National Association of Catholic Families' pilgrimage weekend also to Walsingham.

For example, Bishop-elect Williams gave a talk at the pilgrimage yesterday where he spoke about the role of Mary and the teaching of the Church. Religion is about conversion, or it's about nothing at all stated the soon-to-be-bishop of Brentwood. He holds that we need to convert people to the Catholic faith because it's true. Wow! This is the sort of stuff we are longing for isn't it? It confirms Father Kevin's comments on Sunday:
It is a great comfort to us all, and to me personally, that our new Bishop Alan Williams - has been not only the Director of the Natio…

On Saturday our diocese of Brentwood went on pilgrimage to Walsingham. I would have loved to have joined them, but having just returned from a very busy pilgrimage to Lourdes I was, frankly, rather exhausted!

I was represented by the best possible ambassador however, in my son Michael. He met our Bishop-elect Fr. Alan Williams SM, MA, PH.D, and shook his hand, telling him we were all praying for him. He also walked the last mile in from the Slipper Chapel carrying the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham bare-foot!

Here is his take on his first pilgrimage to Walsingham—England's Nazareth:
On Saturday, May 24th I travelled to Norfolk with the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service to visit the Shrine of Walsingham. Upon arriving we entered the Catholic Shrine of Our Lady in Walsingham which was overflowing with pilgrims; we gathered for holy Mass together, which was concelebrated by our Bishop-elect Father Alan Williams SM. After Mass we were greeted by our Bishop-elect and had the chance to…

Brentwood Catholic Youth Service oversees Walsingham House, Brentwood Diocese’s Youth Retreat Centre, located on Canvey Island. The ethos of the House is based on the spirituality of Our Lady of Walsingham, whilst also recognising her role as the Star of the New Evangelization, the model disciple, and intercessor for souls like no other.

The House is managed on a day-to-day basis by a permanent staff team and the Diocesan Youth Chaplain has oversight of the liturgical life of the House. The staff team invite young people aged between 18 and 25 from our diocese to volunteer to undertake a year of Discipleship and Mission in their on-going conversion to Jesus Christ and their growth in the saving truths of the Catholic faith. In turn they evangelise the young people who come on retreats from our Parishes as part of their Confirmation Programme and Schools as part of their Religious Education Curriculum.



Every Tuesday the ‘volunteer disciples’ spend time in prayerful formation, often ai…

Further to what is widely being referred to as "The Butler Affair", where the Chairman of Brentwood Diocese Liturgy Commission wrote a letter to The Tablet in an official capacity attacking the New Translation and then, because said letter was considerably edited, sent a full version to every priest in the diocese, the excellent and erudite Fr. John Hunwicke has taken him to school here.

Fr. Hunwicke has built up quite a reputation on the blogasphere for sound judgement and intellectual excellence. He was for nearly three decades at Lancing College; where he taught Latin and Greek language and literature, was Head of Theology, and Assistant Chaplain. He has served three curacies, been a Parish Priest, and Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House in Oxford. He is now incardinated into the Personal Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham.

Fr. Hunwicke writes:

A big Thank You to Fr M J Butler, liturgical supremo in the diocese of Brentwood, for a Tablet letter which he then sent to…