De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

In the strangest of moves, Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Raymond Burke as an advisor to the Vatican's top court, the Apostolic Signatura. Three years ago he was its' prefect. This time, he will serve not as prefect, but as advisor.

It's a long while since I read The Prince, but I can still recognise a Machiavellian move when I see one!

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But how will it play out in practice? Especially in the working group itself? Naturally this will see Cardinal Burke in Rome more but did the Pope not think of that when he dismissed Cardinal Burke? It seems the most bizarre move. But, after Cardinal Parolin’s call for dialogue, could be seen as peace offering to critics of pontificate? That had me scratching my head as all critics have been asking for is dialogue, it seems to me that it is the pope who has been ignoring such calls?
Some of the most voluble Vatican pundits on Twiiter, both left & right, still silent 2 hours later. P…

A group of loyal Priests have written two letters supporting an authentic, Scripture based interpretation of Marriage, grumbles Christopher Lamb in a rather disparaging piece in The Tablet.

The article states that Priests in England and Wales are being urged to sign a letter calling on the next Synod on the Family to proclaim the Church’s unchanging moral teaching and resist any move allowing Communion for the divorced and remarried.

The first letter is a draft that is to be submitted for publication in the press, while the second, signed by the 12 clergy, sets out the reasons for agreeing to the first.
It urges those who participate in this year’s synod of bishops to end confusion that was caused at last year’s gathering, as well as pledging help to those struggling with the demands of the Gospel in an increasingly secular society.

The 12 priests – who include the Dominican theologian Fr Aidan Nichols, Fr Daniel Seward, Provost of the Oxford Oratory and Canon Luiz Ruscillo, head of …

SPUC have uploaded a great gallery of photos taken at their Youth Conference last weekend, see if you can spot anyone you know!

I think it would be fair to say that there is a great deal of doom and gloom surrounding the prospect of the Synod in October. Back in November, Cardinal Raymond Burke urged Pope Francis to take the issues of Communion for the divorced and remarried, cohabitation and same-sex marriage “off the table” for next year’s Synod of Bishops.

As reported by the Catholic Herald and numerous other news agencies, Cardinal Burke addressed more than 300 delegates at a family and marriage conference, organised by Catholic Voice in Limerick on November 15. Here he said that these issues had distracted the work of the synod in its first session in October.

Warning that Satan was sowing confusion and error about matrimony, the cardinal patron of the Knights of Malta said, “Even within the church there are those who would obscure the truth of the indissolubility of marriage in the name of mercy.”

Voice of the Family, a coalition of pro-life organisations, has launched a "filial appeal" to Pop…

I am starting to really relax into this papacy now. You may be one of those who feels distinctly nervous every time you hear Pope Francis has given a new interview. This may be because every time he does, the press spin his words into a new story about how he is going to change the Church's teaching.

Well, Pope Francis certainly seems intent on changing the Church, but teaching has not changed one jot. Nor will it. Nor can it!

Yesterday, Pope Francis revealed much interesting personal detail in a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Elisabetta Piquè, for La Nacion, the main Argentine newspaper, published yesterday, December 7 and reported in America Magazine's National Catholic Review here. In this interview, he addresses press misconceptions regarding the synod, the vexed question of the divorced and remarried, the reform of the Roman Curia, the resistance to him, the alleged sackings of Cardinal Raymond Burke and the head of the Swiss Guards, and new foreign trips.

He s…

I have blogged before about the wonderful teaching & example of Bishop Athanasius Schneider. I first came across him when his little book Dominus Est!was recommended to me by my Parish Priest. It was one of those books that really changes your perspective, grounded in solid catechesis and deeply personal, it provided me with a profound understanding of the link between the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and personal devotion and relationship with God. It showed me how developing a deeper relationship with Jesus through this precious gift could change and deepen my faith.

As a pastor & leader, Bishop Schneider strikes me as a sincerely humble man who simply promotes Christ in a heartfelt and authentic way, without any agenda or subtext. His purpose & aim is to make Christ known and loved and to show how living a Christian life is powerful and transformative for us, and for these reasons I find his teaching very nourishing.

Bishop Schneider must come in for quite …

The Holy See Press Office has announced on November 8 that Pope Francis has named Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, as the prefect of the Apostolic Signatura.

Archbishop Mamberti replaces Cardinal Raymond Burke, who has served as prefect since 2008.

Born in Morocco in 1952, Archbishop Mamberti was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ajaccio (France) in 1981. He earned degrees in civil and canon law and represented the Holy See as apostolic nuncio to Sudan (2002-06), apostolic delegate to Somalia (2002-04), and apostolic nuncio to Eritrea (2004-06). In 2006, Pope Benedict appointed him the Secretary for Relations with States, and thus the Vatican’s “foreign minister.”


As expected, Cardinal Burke, 66, has been named patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, succeeding Cardinal Paolo Sardi, who is 80.

Pope Francis also named Archbishop Paul Gallagher the new Secretary for Relations with States. Born in 1954, Archbishop Gallagher was orda…

...For with the judgement you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get." (Matt 7:1-2).

This line of Scripture is one of the most misused there is in the whole Bible. It is usually trotted out when someone with faith objects to some immoral action. The accusation is that you are being 'judgemental'. Whether you are dealing with an adult child who’s living with her boyfriend or coping with an adult sibling who has announced that he is gay, we struggle with he dilemma of whether to allow the child or sibling to practice the immoral lifestyle in the family home. Do I have to let them spend the night? What do I tell my kids? How do I deal with this in a loving way? Can I truly love my neighbour while rejecting his immoral lifestyle? Is it any of my business?
The simple answer is to say "Jesus never judged anyone, he loved everyone and love and forgiveness are the path to the arms of our Lord".
This has been the trend for a number …