The Fit for Mission stuff seem to be quite good here is a coming soon on Marriage Preparation.

Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue of Lancaster Diocese recently gave a talk to the Newman Society at Oxford University.

It's a very interesting talk to those of us living in the crazy-topsy-turvy-upside land of English Catholicism where people who read documents and try to do what the pope says are controversial outcasts.

He begins by talking about his four motivations to write Fit For Mission: Church?

1. The desire to celebrate the great blessings we all receive through the Church.

As I wrote in this week's Catholic Herald, the documents of Vatican II are the Magna Carta of the Holy Spirit for this generation of Catholics.

Pope John XXIII firmly believed that he called the Council as a direct inspiration of the Lord. I believe that God, in His provident and merciful care of the Church knew the apostasy and suffering, humanity was about to endure in the late 20th and 21st centuries.

Through the Second Vatican Council He has given us the graces and tools to face the challenges. It's now up to us to fully embrace the 'true' teaching and decisions of the Council, and abandon the 'fictions' foisted on us by some clergy, religious and laity who are disobedient and arrogant in their will-to-power. So, I am calling for an enquiring fidelity to the teaching of the Council.

The 'true' teachings and decisions of the Council have been buried away and 'fictions' have been foisted on us by clergy and laity who are disobedient. That is definitely true! How often have we been told that "Vatican II got rid of Latin" when it actually says (Sacrosanctum Concillium) "the use of the Latin language is to be preserved in the Latin rites" and "steps should be taken so that the faithful may also be able to say or to sing together in Latin". That's the 'true' teaching of the council. Don't get me started on Gregorian Chant.

Bishop O'Donoghue calls for an 'enquiring fidelity' to the teaching of the council, but this doesn't rest on him. This isn't a "do you agree with the Bishop of Lancaster?" situation. Anybody who claims to be a faithful Catholic and then flagrantly disregards the authentic teaching of the council is ignorant or a liar (or a raving traditionalist nutter). Simple as that. They are also depriving my family of our patrimony and heritage. They either don't know what they are doing, or they are thieves and liars. Either way it's not good.

I mention the Latin only because it's a clear example. There are dozens of other things.

2. To openly and honestly acknowledge as a Bishop the trials and troubles facing us all in the Church in England and Wales.

Good Pope John's purpose for the Council was to guard and better present the 'precious deposit of Christian doctrine in order to make it more accessible to the Christian faithful and to all people of good will'.

Looking around at the pathetic situation of catechetics in this country, and the extent of ignorance and apostasy among generations of Catholics since the Council, we have to ask ourselves, 'Why has Pope John's vision for the Council not been realised in this country?'

One conclusion I've come to is that, simply put, I am convinced that we will only experience the full renewal heralded by Vatican II when Catholics – particularly in positions of leadership in schools, seminaries, parishes, and dioceses – no longer place obstacles in the way of the authentic implementation of the Council but positively engage with it.

Why for instance, are some Catholic education authorities, even bishops in this country, so fearful of Fit for Mission Schools? After all, it only re-iterates the teaching of the Church and it is has been widely and publically welcomed by the Vatican and many bishops, clergy and laity around the world?

I wish more Bishops would openly and honestly acknowledge the "pathetic situation of catechetics in this country" and "extent of ignorance and apostasy among generations of Catholics since the Council". Perhaps they are not aware? All this talk of the Priestly Vocations Crisis has distracted us from the real far more problem: The "most Catholics don't know what a Catechism is" crisis. The "most Catholics stopped learning Catholicism when they were Six" crisis. Thank goodnes for Jane, Caroline and Co who are doing what they can to eliviate this problem but it's an uphill struggle.

Then Bishop Patrick points to the real problem... Catholics in positions of leadership in schools and diocese "place obstacles in the way of the authentic implementation of the Council". Face facts. The teachers in the so called Catholic secondary school, St Mary's College in Hull only reluctantly "embrace" Catholicism.

If our Bishop wants to test that theory here is a suggestion: St Mary's College allows Connexions to come in to the school and hand out a materials with web address for a website where young people can procure advice on how to get an abortion without parental knowledge. That is clearly a very dodgy situation. If I am wrong and the school is truly Catholic, there will surely be no resistance if the Bishop makes a friendly suggestion that perhaps the School should find an alternative careers advice service...

Bishop O'Donoghue then goes on to suggest obstacles that have blocked the true vision and grace of the council...

Rejection of the past

Many Catholics in this country have interpreted the Council as signalling a wholesale rejection of aspects of the Church's identity, out of a desire to be open to modernity.

We have seen the diminishment of the Catholic understanding of sin, man's need for redemption, the sacrificial nature of the Mass. Correspondingly, we have witnessed the virtual abandonment of Confession, the marginalisation of devotion to Mary, the intercessions of the saints, and adoration of the Blessed sacrament.

Rejection of the moral authority of Church in favour of the authority of conscience.

As a consequence for some Catholics the objective authority of the Church's doctrine, morality and discipline has been replaced by a subjective, personal judgement of the so called 'pick and mix' generation of Catholics.

In some circles the infallibility of the Pope has been replaced by the infallibility of individual conscience.

Influence of secularism in the Church.

Rejecting much that is essential to Catholic faith and practice, relentlessly criticising the Church's past, placing their own judgement above the authority of the Church, these 'Catholics' advocate, and import into the Church, what the secular world holds up as 'good' as being in keeping with the 'tolerance' and 'compassion' of Jesus – divorce, contraception, abortion, IVF, homosexual acts/unions, embryonic stem cell research.

They also attempt to impose a political model of decision-making on the Church, misusing the term 'Sensus fidelium' to mean the democratic rule of the majority. The unspoken assumption is that the Church develops doctrine like a secular government, through lobbying, protest, and pressure groups.

This is a travesty of Lumen Gentium's understanding of how the 'sense of faith' operates (LG 12): It always operates under 'the guidance of the sacred teaching authority', and never apart from or contrary to it.

Scepticism or at least down playing of the supernatural.

Hand in hand with the infiltration of secularism into the Church, the secular mindset has gained a foothold in the lives of many Catholics, clergy and laity. This is characterised by a certain scepticism or embarrassed reserve about the supernatural dimension of the Faith. Some central aspects have been abandoned as superstitious relics, such as the Church's teaching on Angels and demons, even though they play such an important role in the Gospel.

The supernatural dimension of Jesus' identity and role has been eclipsed on occasions by an emphasis on His humanity, emphasising His role as a great moral teacher. The trouble with this is that once you downplay the Incarnation, His self-consciousness of being God, the atonement, it's an easy step to portray Jesus as just one great moral teacher among the other moral teachers of the world religions.

Where we find this secular humanism, we see essential doctrines of the Church downplayed or ignored, explaining the ease with which teaching the Trinity, the Real Presence, the Immaculate Conception, the sacrificial nature of the Mass are dropped. These bedrocks of the faith are either ignored or passed over quickly as unintelligible, irrelevant to our young people.

Humanity becomes the measure of everything.

For all the above reasons, many Catholics are not able to get beyond the human in their understanding and practice of the Faith. We have the community Mass, whose sole function is to build up the sense of community solidarity. We have clergy and laity criticising the Church as if she were only a human institution, not one that originates in the divine will, we have theologians arguing that Jesus' claims to divinity are only the product of second century Christians, we have Christianity reduced to an agency for the social betterment of mankind.

There is too much to comment on it all... "the virtual abandonment of Confession", "the marginalisation of devotion to Mary", "'pick and mix' generation", "essential doctrines of the Church downplayed or ignored", "the Trinity, the Real Presence, the Immaculate Conception, the sacrificial nature of the Mass are dropped", "bedrocks of the faith are either ignored or passed over quickly as unintelligible, irrelevant to our young people", "the community Mass, whose sole function is to build up the sense of community solidarity", "Christianity reduced to an agency for the social betterment of mankind"...

Sound familiar? So reads the epitaph. Here lies English Catholicism.

3. To make clear the need for us all – bishops, clergy, religious and laity – to re-embrace sacrifice as the hallmark of Catholic life.

I am convinced that the remedy for all these trials and troubles in the Church in England and Wales is for each one of us to embrace sacrifice as the hallmark of our lives in the world and in the church, the hallmark of our spirituality. In Christ, we come to resurrection, new life, through the Cross.

I want to propose to all of you here tonight the following acts of sacrifice to counter the trials and troubles I have just outlined to you.

The following suggestions are excellent...

Embrace the Tradition of the Church.

To counter the rejection of the past, I want you to sacrifice the modern compulsion for novelty and fashion through embracing the Tradition of the Church, which is nothing more than the source of God's revelation, along with Scripture.

I want you to re-discover the joys and beauty of personal prayer, as well as family and community prayer. Also, to re-discover liturgical prayer, to counter an undue focus on our own human activity. So often the sacred is swamped by the volume of words, noise and activity!

I want you to re-discover the devotions of the Church, such as praying the rosary, the Stations of the Cross, Benediction. I want you to embrace the discipline of praying the daily Office of the Church; the practice of regular confession. The Holy Father goes every week, so why not us also. I want you to know the four Constitutions of the Second Vatican Council inside out, start with the wonderful Constitution on revelation, Dei Verbum.

He's talking about embracing tradition, not being traditionalist. That means not spitting out your dummy at the merest suggestion that perhaps the average Catholic in the average parish aught to at least occasionally hear a tiny bit of Latin.

Praying the office is an excellent suggestion, again, perhaps an example could be given by using the office when leading prayers at adult formation meetings, parish councils and "Who Do You Say I Am?". Night prayer takes all of six minutes, the priests involved will be saying it anyway. I don't understand why these so called "Spirit of Vatican II" priests who are usually so enthusiastic to have laypeople live out their "priestly ministry" are not so keen to involve laypeople in night prayer. Instead of takign on the added burden of having to write something, why not encourage laypeople join in the prayer of the Church?

As for confession, it's very simple. In his 2007 apostolic exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis Pope Benedict wrote... "it is important that the confessionals in our churches should be clearly visible expressions of the importance of this sacrament". There is a parish in our deanery where the confessional is being used as a cupboard. That's a pretty clear expression of the importance of this sacrament in our deanery! I wonder why the Bishop (who has visited that parish) doesn't simply tell them to sort it out?

Embrace a self-critical conscience:

To counter the rejection of the authority of the Church, I want you to sacrifice the notion that 'if it feels OK, and it doesn't seemingly harm anyone else, it's morally right to do'.

I want you to re-discover the ancient Catholic attitude of a self-critical conscience that includes suspicion about the obsessions and cravings of human nature. Notice I say, 'obsessions and cravings'. Of course, there are good and natural human desires, like the desire for trust and commitment in sexual love that can only come through life-long commitment in marriage that is open to life.

But so much that is held up nowadays as harmless and 'good' is really unbalanced and distorted, such as pornography, lap dancing, homosexuality, so called 'comfort' sex between friends. Obsession and craving are at the heart of this unbalanced and dehumanising behaviour.

A self critical conscience is a hard thing to maintain. That's why we should regularly go through a good examination of conciense and go to regular confession. Of course, it's even harder when priests are wandering around saying things like "Don't waste my time with confession, you've never done any real sins"

Embrace obedience to the teachings of the Church.

To counter the infiltration of secular ideas such as relativism, utilitarianism, and hedonism into the Church, sacrifice the automatic assumption that your ideas about doctrine and morals must be right, and the Church's 2,000 years reflection on God's revelation must be wrong.

I want you to take a leap of faith, based on trust in the person of Jesus Christ, and start from the assumption that the Church has good reasons for teaching the doctrines and morals that she teaches. Search out those reasons, make the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church the most thumbed and creased books in your libraries. Go, read the Fathers of the Church and St Thomas Aquinas' Summae, with a good guide. Go, study the books and homilies of Pope Benedict XVI, and other good Catholic literature.

And if you hear any Catholic say or teach something that goes against the teaching and discipline of the Church, as safe-guarded by the Pope, politely, but firmly, challenge them, be they a lay catechist, teacher, deacon, priest or even a bishop.

"start from the assumption that the Church has good reasons for teaching the doctrines and morals that she teaches. Search out those reasons, make the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church the most thumbed and creased books in your libraries."

"And if you hear any Catholic say or teach something that goes against the teaching and discipline of the Church, as safe-guarded by the Pope, politely, but firmly, challenge them, be they a lay catechist, teacher, deacon, priest or even a bishop."

Read the Catechism. Challenge people who go against it.

Do that and see how popular you are with the local clergy (not very?).

Embrace the total Catholic world view.

To counter the modern embarrassment about the supernatural and the sacred, sacrifice the comfort of silence and conformity, sacrifice the safety of mental reservation and secular 'commonsense, and accept the fullness of God's word in revelation which speaks of a reality beyond sense-data.

I want you to take seriously the Church's teaching – based on revelation – that you have a totally unique, immortal soul directly created by God, that when you die you will experience purgatory, and heaven, or hell. I want you to take seriously – because Jesus did – the reality of angels and demons, but do it lightly, not in an obsessive way. I want you to pray to the saints and pray for the souls in purgatory. I want you to deepen your adoration and love of Jesus really, truly and substantially present in the Blessed Sacrament.

Why is it important to take the supernatural seriously? Because we are like amphibians, made of body and soul and meant to live both in the material world and in the spiritual world. If you ignore either world, you miss the whole point of human existence.

To deepen your appreciation and experience of the supernatural, go on retreat, go on pilgrimage to holy sites in this country and around the world, and you will gradually become more attuned to this dimension of reality. Experience God among the hills and lakes, in the forests and fields – nature too, can help to lead us to God.

Soul. The last time I heard anybody give serious catechesis about the soul it was me in my talk to the Hull Faith Forum. Before that...? I can't remember. Traditionalist speak of the soul as if it is a lifeless white/dirty rag, cleaned at confession, dirtied by sin and checked by a grumpy suspicious God. Progressives speak of the soul as if it is a little ghost that follows us around, something we have to "find". They talk about "getting in touch with it". Both views are totally wrong. The soul is you. To quote CS Lewis... "You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

The fact that most Catholics have no idea what the soul is, demonstrates the catastrophic failure of catechesis in our parishes.

Embrace the divinity and humanity of Jesus.

To counter making humanity the measure of everything, sacrifice the attitude that your limited experience of being human is the rule against which to measure everything. There is only one human being who knows and shows what it means to be truly human, and that person is Jesus Christ, both God and man.

I want you to reject that wrong-headed view that dominates academic theology and New Testament studies that Jesus did not know himself to the divine, the incarnate Son of God. I want you to read Pope Benedict's book, Jesus of Nazareth, and the work of scholars that are rejecting that the New Testament claims about the divinity of Christ are 'holy fictions' created by second generation Christians. Nothing can be so destructive of faith than this unfounded and speculative heresy.

Pray and study the Scriptures, study good Catholic commentaries and literature, go to Mass regularly, study the account of Jesus in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and Jesus will grow clearer and more present in your life.

Read Pope Benedicts book. Read the Bible. Read the Catechism. A lot of reading going on here. That's because Catholicism is an adult faith that needs intellectual nourishment at an adult level. We are fools if we think we can be adult Catholics if we do not bring our faith education at least to the level of our regular education. It is appalling that young people capable of A-Level maths are not given something meaty to chew on theologically beyond "sing this song and light a candle".

Finally, Bishop O'Donoghue moves on to his fourth reason for Fit For Mission: Church?...

4. A passion that – as Cardinal Newman puts it – the truth is spread to a wide extent among this people of Great Britain.

It is a sad truth that many people are so alienated from the Church, the language of the Bible, and their need for salvation, that they are either indifferent or violently allergic to Christianity. Also, it is heart-breaking to admit that the behaviour of some Catholics, such as paedophile priests and the failure of some in authority in the Church, has damaged the credibility of the Church.

I am convinced that in order to evangelise this generation we must follow the advice of Newman and de Foucauld and concentrate our missionary efforts on showing the unconditional love of Christ for suffering humanity though practical acts of justice and peace. In particular, we must act in solidarity with the poor and all those on the margins of society, migrants, drug addicts, alcoholics, men and women in the sex industry, those suffering mental illness.

We must do this without any ulterior motives, such as seeking converts. We must only undertake this work to show them the love of Jesus Christ.

It is only when or if they ask us why we do this work, that we can gently begin to talk to them about Jesus, and only at the pace that they want. If they reject Jesus, but accept His practical love through our actions, we must be content with that.

Sadly, so much of the social justice work in the Church today is reduced to the level of fundraising, with the poor kept at arms length. Thank goodness for the fantastic work of people who work in places like the St Charles drop in centre. People like me should spend less time writing our blogs and spend some time going down there and helping out.

You can read the full text here. Thanks to Catholic Action UK for the heads up.

This is the second time that the Bishop of Lancaster has received a nice letter from Rome and a pat on the back for his "controversial" (e.g. realistic) Fit For Mission? documents.

I wonder if the people who made Reclaim the Future will be able to produce a letter like this.