Here is what Catholic Education Services have to say about Connexions...

Since its gradual introduction through countrywide pilots, the work of the Connexions Service is making an increasing impact on young people in Catholic schools and colleges. It is a service to be welcomed.

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Here is the Connexions website...

No problems there then.

Catholic Education Services say that...

the work of the Connexions Service is making an increasing impact on young people in Catholic schools and colleges. It is a service to be welcomed.

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Connexions is a brand (the government uses this language) with a distinctive logo and when we tell young people in Catholic schools to listen to and trust Connexions advisors we are selling them that brand. It's like telling them to go to the McDonalds advisor for dietary advice.

When they go to Connexions they are going to find things like this...

Yes. Clearly a service to be welcomed.

You can view the full video here.

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

I just can't believe how "cool" and "with it" the front cover of The Tablet is this week. They are definitely down with the kids...

Rainbow people in a circle around planet earth, it's like the 1960's never ended!

The lovely rainbow people at The Tablet are gushing with praise for Pope Benedict after his recent Encyclical. One of them writes...

This remarkable and intelligent man, now in his eighties, seems to have regained the originality of mind that once made him one of the most innovative voices at Vatican II. Half a century later he still has new things to say, well worth hearing, well worth waiting for. And no stereotype could even begin to describe him.

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Here's a stereotype for you: Ageing hippies getting all carried away with excitement because the Pope said something about global warming while studiously ignoring everything else he's had to say about, like, everything.

Have they even read the Encyclical?

Pope Benedict quotes Evangelium Vitae (When a Pope quotes a Pope it's Pope²) saying...

"a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized."

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Is that not basically the Catholic Church in England and Wales in a nutshell?

We assert "values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace", oh yes, we're very good at that. Cafod, LiveSimply, Reclaim the Future... Hooray!

But then, on the other hand, "we tolerate a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated"...

Archbishop Vincent Nichols with his approval of outrageous sex education materials. Our very own Diocesan Youth Service with it's deafening silence on anything that's not Ubuntu. Most disgustingly of all, Catholic Education Service (Archbishop Vincent Nichols again) with it's arms wide open to welcome Connexions advisors to come in to Catholic schools and help teenagers arrange abortion and contraception without parental knowledge or consent.

I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the Catholic Church in England and Wales "lacks solid foundations".

Update: Mark points out in the comments (not sure how I missed it) the headline "You can blog but you cannot hide".

Which is funny because while the majority of Catholic blogs are not anonymous at all, the majority of iffy priests and lay pastoral people are very quick to insist that their very public office is a private matter when I blog about their dodgy doings...

My Story

I know quite a few people who work at St Mary's College in Hull so I can tell this story and the person concerned can remain anonymous.

They were in school one day when somebody enters the room and says they are from Connexions. For anybody who isn't familiar, Connexions is the UK Governments careers advice service. Anyway, person from Connexions starts to put posters in the room. My friend looks at the posters. There are a few about jobs but there is also one about always using a condom. In a Catholic school. Great. My friend takes it down.

Jackie Parkes Story

So I go into parent's evening last night. Comment on the fabulous Newman display in the entrance hall apparently borrowed from the Oratory. As I go in the hall notice a Connexions stand with 2 women seated & various booklets. Make a mental plan to check on way out.

So out we go & I stop by & ask ' Excuse me can you tell me if yr Connexions service is adapted to the needs of this being a Catholic School?' Well they were dumbstruck.. 'what do you mean?'.

So I pick up the main Connexions booklet.. 'your daughter should have had one of these' I said she did & we sent it back to school because of the information contained in it & the school apologised saying it shouldn't have been sent out!'. I asked could I keep their copy...'err no!'. So I pick up another booklet..I don't think this was Connexions..so I flip to the back & read in a very LOUD voice ( by this time Mary & Rosie had legged it!)..' Marie Stopes, Brook Adivsory, Family Planning Association..descs of abortion & contraceptive services..etc'

The 2 women didn't know where to put themselves..went pale in fact..so I walk off with that one..catch the Head Teacher on way out ' can I have a minute? ' sure..' can u just take a look at this?' HT ' Oh I'm really sorry...that's the NEW girl'. Yeah right!!

Conclusion

Connextions are the UK Governments 'careers advice service'. As part of this careers advice they hand out free condoms and promote contraception. UK Catholic schools welcome them in with open arms - Connextions promise not to promote contraception in the school but then, oh, sorry, oops, they keep forgetting.

Even if Connexions had a perfect track record for never accidentally promoting Contraception in Catholic Schools, what the Schools are doing is allowing Connexions to promote themselves to students as a great place to turn for all kinds of advice. They give them a national free phone number to call (where I am quite sure they don't ask if you were referred by a Catholic school) and there is a website to visit.

The Connexions website has links through to the lovely Sexperience website from Channel 4 and r u thinking? featuring this lovely page.

If we have a proper Catholic school I expect that the governers will mention this and the school will bend over backwards to provide an alternative careers service, perhaps in partnership with the Diocesan Vocations people.

Don't count on it.