De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

From Rome Reports: Fr. Lombardi makes it explicit that no Cardinal supports changing Church doctrine, their concern is with how best to communicate Church teachings to the world:

Apologies if I am a few days late, but I just wanted to add my congratulations to the chorus of well wishers offering their felicitations to Archbishop Vincent Nichols on his nomination to the sacred council of Cardinals. What an extreme honour and privilege this must be for him, and what an incredible and experience. The weight of history must really press down on you when you realise you are the next in line for this important role.


A Cardinal is not a type of holy orders (these are deacon, priest and bishop) but rather his is an honorific title which denotes the most senior clergymen (priests) in the Church below the Pope.

Although historically they were the local clergy of Rome, today they are Bishops of important ‘sees’ (dioceses) from throughout the world, or heads of departments of the Vatican, or some priests or bishops whom the Pope personally wishes to honour. The title of Cardinal is given by the Pope as a personal decision.

The word ‘cardinal’ comes from the Latin word for…

After the high emotion of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's departure from the Vatican yesterday, which seemed to move so many people, there is a tremendous turning to prayer which I can sense all around me. All our priests locally in Southend Deanery arranged evenings of prayer and adoration in thanksgiving last night. I was aware of many other gatherings throughout the country as well. In Leigh we had our Lenten Reflection evening and of course the Pope was mentioned warmly and frequently. We had Benediction and Compline afterwards as always and this presented an opportunity to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and pray in thanksgiving for so gentle a leader as Benedict XVI, and to express our longing for a future leader as wise and as humble.

Of course this is reflected on the internet as well, with many prominent Catholic bloggers either overtly calling the faithful to prayer, or mentioning it in passing, because it is, of course, the natural response of us all now to turn to God …

Following the allegations in Sunday's Observer newspaper that the Cardinal had acted inappropriately some thirty years ago, it has been announced this morning that the seventy-four year old, who is in poor health, is stepping down.

This feels like another blow to the Church. There will now be no representative from the U.K. in the Conclave.
The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has accepted on the 18 February 2013 the resignation of His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh. This information will be announced and published in the Osservatore Romano of Monday 25 February 2013.

The Cardinal had already presented last November his resignation in view of his 75th birthday on 17 March 2013, and it was accepted by the Holy Father with the formula 'nunc pro tunc' (now for later). Given the imminent Vacant See, the Holy Father has now decided to accept the said resignation definitively.

I have had th…