Another "round up" style post I'm afraid, there's really very little I can add to the excellent coverage going on across the internet...

As ever, if you read nothing else, read John Smeaton: Faith schools must promote abortion, Ed Balls confirms

Kate points out that the name of Archbishop Nichols has been dragged in to the debate with Ed Balls suggesting that Archbishop Nichols is in favour of the bill. That was two days ago and still no response from the Archbishop. Qui tacet consentire.

Damian Thompson is equally unimpressed... "Bishop Malcolm McMahon, who holds the education brief in the Bishops’ Conference: not available." "Oona Stannard, head of the Catholic Education Service (CES): not available."

Damian also asks "Archbishop Nichols, tell us: will Catholic schools provide abortion information, as the Government insists?" A question all Bishops will need to ask themselves as they are all ultimately responsible for the schools in their own diocese.

Laurence England asks "Where are they now?" (Bishops McMahon and Nichols that is) while I might ask the same of Bishop Drainey.

Jackie Parkes and Richard Marsden have more on Balls radio appearance this morning.

Fr Ray Blake suggests we should direct more of our ire at the Bishops involved... "There has been serious criticism of the Catholic Education Service, at least on the blogosphere and amongst "thinking" Catholics. Really the criticism should be aimed at Bishop McMahon, and his predecessor Archbishop Nichols, who is responsible for the CES."

For a bit of light relief, read the comments on atheist Free Thinker magazine where they are all terribly dissapointed in Ed Balls saying things like "This is no surprise from our corrupt and lying government; they cravenly give in to the demands of the religious zealots just to chase votes.", they really are deluded.

I have saved the gravest of questions until last: Fr Tim Finegan: Can Catholic schools co-operate in killing babies or not? And I agree with Mullier Fortis: "The Bishops have got to decide whether they wish to follow God or Caesar. To be silent any longer is to cooperate in grave evil."

As many blogs have said already: St John Fisher and St Thomas More, pray for us!

So now Archbishop Nichols is talking about government, but he could be talking a about CES...

Archbishop Nichols said: "Many today tell us that there is a crisis of trust in some of the institutions of this country. They point first to the Houses of Parliament and the political process itself. Then they may well include the financial institutions whose crises have brought such hardship and austerity to people all over the world."

The Archbishop of Westminster stressed: "In political terms this means that we have to refashion a project, a vision, to which all can be committed and which can help to overcome some of the corrosive cynicism of today."

[link]

Speaking as one of the corrosive cynics, I can easily tell you what will help to overcome some of the corrosive cynicism of today and it's not refashioning a project or a vision.

The only thing that can overcome cynicism is clear, public, moral integrity. Unfortunately, Archbishop Nichols doesn't seem to realise that this begins at home and Archbishop Nichols has one hell of a record in that regard...

• When Archbishop Nichols was Bishop of Birmingham he approved the All That I Am sex education project which includes images of computer generated full frontal nudity for children as young as ten years old.
• When Archbishop Nichols was in charge of Catholic Education Services they welcomed the Connexions agency in to Catholic Schools - an agency who refer under age girls for abortions without parental knowledge.
• Archbishop Nichols didn't seem to bat an eyelid when Terry Prendergast, the Executive Director of Marriage Care said that it makes no difference to children whether parents are married (Archbishop Nichols is president of Marriage Care).

It's no wonder some of us end up a tad cynical about whether Archbishop Nichols is really ever going to do anything about anything.

Archbishop Nichols, if you want to do something about cycism, do your job. Until you do you have no business telling anybody else, even MPs, how to do theirs.

Ad Limina a bit stressful was it?

[Image Source]

Pope Benedict sums up everything that is wrong with the Catholic Church in England and Wales...

In a social milieu that encourages the expression of a variety of opinions on every question that arises, it is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate.

It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free.

link

In other words... Goodbye Terry Prendergast?

We are pleased...

Is there anything they wouldn't be pleased about?

You think I'm joking?

Here's an excerpt from the actual Catholic Education Services press release...

CESEW responds to proposals relating to Sex and Relationships Education and parental rights

Whilst disappointed that legal encumbrances mean that a blanket right of withdrawal can no longer apply, we are pleased that the Government has recognised that the right of withdrawal in formative years is most critical and is therefore providing for the ability of parents to opt-out of SRE up to the age of 15.

CESEW will continue to firmly uphold the position that parental rights remain vital, particularly but not exclusively, in those most formative and critical years up until the age of 15.

[link]

I wonder if Archbishop Nichols has anything to say on the matter?

Thought not.

Parents. Betrayed. Again.

The Sacred Made Real is an exhibition of spanish painting and sculpture at the National Gallery.

Archbishop Nichols went along and did some talks on the sculptures which are well worth a watch.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has sent a clear message to Married Catholics...

In July Terry Prendergast hit the headlines for his opinions which the Bishop's Conference's own spokesperson said "are clearly not a reflection of the Church's teaching". Three months later Terry Prendergast is still the head of Marriage Care, taking your money from the collection plate and using it to undermine the Christian vision of marriage.

In three months, Archbishop Nichols who is the president of Marriage Care has done nothing. Message received and understood.

Now we know where we stand.

Update:

After speaking with priests, receiving several emails and considering the comments below I have removed the offending image. My view remains that Archbishop Nichols has stuck his fingers up to married Catholics everywhere and that my image is nowhere near as shocking as the reality it reflects.

Ella has expressed a desire that this be a "family friendly blog" and I agree with her. In future, I promise I will keep things clean.

If anybody has a suggestion for an a more appropriate graphic then let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Fr Ray Blake wants to know why western governments don't do something about the terrible human rights abuses in China.

I don't want to underplay the seriousness of the situation, but which is easier...

A) For heavily indebted western governments with a need for cheap electronics to attempt to push around the worlds largest superpower over which they have no authority or control and which could very well turn nasty and lead to world war three?

or...

B) For Archbishop Vincent Nichols to do something about Terry Prendergast, the director of Catholic Marriage Care who said that Marriage makes no difference to Children?

Because if the Archbishop of Westminster himself cannot do anything about a member of an organisation of which he is the president, it's a bit rich for anybody in the Church to expect western governments to do something about a nation of more than a billion people on the other side of the world.

In other words: When you turn a blind eye to Terry Prendergast, we as a Church lose the ability to criticise anybody for blind eye turning.

Nice one.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has used his first pastoral letter to Westminster Diocese to encourage Catholics to pray daily. He says that "our relationship with Christ, expressed in prayer, is central to the stability and fruitfulness of our lives" and that "A sound practice of daily prayer is essential for our well-being". This is very good.

Archbishop Nichols goes on to give three examples of people who illustrate this truth. The first is St Thérèse of Lisieux, the second is Cardinal Newman and the third is St John Vianney. Independent Catholic news has the full text of the letter but unfortunately due to an editorial oversight (perhaps they didn't realise the letter continued on the other side of the page) they seem to have ommitted the second half in which Archbishop Nichols suggests three worthy intentions for our prayer...

At the conclusion of this letter, I would like to suggest three worthwile intentions for your prayers.

Firstly, please pray for all the children in our Catholic schools. Many of these have been visited by Connexions, the government agency welcomed in to school by the Catholic Education Service back when I was in charge of it, they will have been given trendy literature with a phone number and instructions to phone that number if they need the sort of confidential advice that you can't ask your parents for. Some of those children will have phoned that trusted number (given them in a Catholic school) and have been told how to attain free contraception. Sadly, it is quite likely that out of the many thousands if Catholic school children in England at least one of them called that number and attained an abortion without parental knowledge. Pray for the parents who sent their child to a Catholic school and ended up with a murdered grandchild. Pray also for all those children who have been subjected to the All That I Am sex education course that I approved when I was Archbishop of Birmingham, complete with it's computer generated gratuitous full frontal nudity.

Secondly, pray for all the Catholic couples who get their marriage preparation through Marriage Care. Mainly because the president of Marriage Care doesn't actually think it matters to children whether their parents are married and I don't think it's worth doing anything about it. Many of the couples who get their marriage preparation through Marriage Care will never hear the Church teaching on contraception and as Humanae Vitae says "a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires". It's not easy living out a vocation to marriage and family life in modern Britain but fortunately we think that home is a holy place absolutely independently of how people live so there's no point doing anything to help anyway.

Thirdly, pray for all those Catholics who out of reverence and devition to the eucharistic sacrifice of the Mass find themselve frustrated and scandalised by the way the ordinary form of the Mass is celebrated in their parish. After a few complaints to their Bishop who will probably do nothing about it (we are busy people), many of these Catholics will find refuge in the extraordinary form of the Mass where the priest usually does things properly. Unfortunately, the sort of Catholic who is willing to drive for hours every week in order to go to Mass is inexorably distancing themself from the Church. Pray for all those Catholics who can't trave; very far and have to endure their local parish no matter how much liturgical abuse goes on. We at the Bishops conference would live to do something to help those Catholics but we would rather have a fancy meal with Tony Blair.

May these coming months bring blessings on our families and parishes. And from those sources of strength and encouragement, may we be renewed in our faith and in our generosity towards all in need.

Archbishop of Westminster

On September 17th it will have been two months since Terry Prendergast, head of "Marriage Care" (which receives funding from the Catholic Church and whose patron is Archbishop Vincent Nichols) stood up and said that Marriage makes no difference to children. So far, Archbishop Vincent Nichols has seen fit to do nothing.

I can see why Archbishop Nichols would be happy with Marriage Care, after all, they make such handy leaflets on Catholic Marriage....

This leaflet is great because it successfully tackles difficult questions such as the Church's view on birth control...

Q. What about the Church’s view on birth control?

A. The Church states positively that one purpose of the gift of sexuality is for a couple’s love-making to be open to having children. The Church also recognises that couples want to make responsible decisions. Some further information for making decisions on family planning is offered in Section Three of this guide under the heading, ‘Catholics and Sex’.

Hmmm... "The Church also recognises that couples want to make responsible decisions." Ambiguous. So are we allowed to use birth control or not?

It says there is "further information for making decisions on family planning" in Section Three. Let's see what it says there...

Christians not only believe that sexual enjoyment strengthens a couple’s relationship but also that it is a gift for sharing in God’s ability to create new life. In the wedding ceremony, you will be asked to be faithful to each other in love and also to be ready to accept children as a gift from God. Equally you have the freedom to make responsible decisions about when to have children so as to be able to give them the love, care and attention they deserve.

Ah yes. Positively brimming with clear information on birth control... The phrase "avoiding the question" comes to mind. In fact it looks awfully like a deliberate attempt to make sure that those who intend to use contraception are not made to feel uncomfortable.

This marvellous leaflet can be found on the front page of the Marriage Care website.

You can download the full leaflet in all it's tedious glory here.

Q. What's the difference between Terry Pratchett and Terry Prendergast?

A. One has been heard speaking about a bizarre fantasy world of his own creation and the other is Terry Pratchett.

Alternative ending...

A. One of them gives talks at conventions to people who like to dress up in costumes and act out fantasies with other men and the other is Terry Pratchett.

Another alternative ending...

A. Archbishop Vincent Nichols has heard of Terry Pratchett.

Oh no! Not another alternative ending...

A. When Terry Pratchett features in the news as contradicting the Catholic Church, you can find mention of Archbishop Vincent Nichols objection in the next paragraph...

Terry Prendergast made his comments on marriage over seven weeks ago and Archbishop Nichols has done nothing!

Now that's a joke.