The Society of Pius X is pleased to inform you that at the occassion of its international pilgrimage to Lourdes, Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais shall celebrate Solemn Mass for the Feast of Christ the King in the Saint Pius X Basilica on Sunday, 25th October 2009.
We express our gratitude to Mgr Jacques Perrier, Bishop of Tarbes and Lourdes,and the authorities of the Sanctuary for their hospitality and we assure them of our prayers.
Abbé Régis de Cacqueray, Superior of the District of France 17 October 2009.
The next Traditional Latin Mass, in Newry, will be celebrated on Sunday, November 9th at 11.00 AM.
Venue: Poor Clare Convent, High St. , Newry, BT35 6PN.
Celebrant: Rev Father David Jones, O. Praem.
For further information contact Tommy Price on 028 3026 3861.
This Mass is now being held bi-monthly but an additional Mass will be held next month (DTBD). Activists are currently in the process of petitioning the Bishop of Dromore to consider a weekly provision for the Traditional Rite. If you are supportive, please consider contacting His Lordship Bishop McAreavey indicating your support.
Here are some pics of the SSPX recently celebrating Mass at Cloonfad Mass Rock in Co Roscommon (where Mass was celebrated clandestinely during the Penal Laws of the 18th Century) with the Stations of the Cross later being said at Our Lady Of Knock Shrine:
This amusing tune was sung on the streets of Dublin in 1832 after Daniel O'Connell addressed a Carmelite School Dinner (clearly a product of its time):
According to a report in the Catholic Herald, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales have warned Labour MPs that Harriet Harman's new Equality Bill will force Catholic schools and care homes for the elderly to ban Christian imagery and symbols, because they may cause 'offence' to members of religious minorities.
The bishops complain that the highly subjective definition ( "unwanted conduct ... with the purpose or effect of violating a person's dignity, or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading or offensive environment") will put them in an impossible situation if a person complains about any manifestation of Christian belief, even in Church property.
Mgr Andrew Summersgill, the general secretary of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, wrote in a joint statement to the committee:
The practical consequences of this are that a Catholic care home, for example, may have crucifixes and holy pictures on the walls which reflect and support the beliefs of the residents.
A cleaner may be an atheist or of very different religious beliefs. Nonetheless, if a cleaner found the crucifixes offensive there would be no defence in law against a charge of harassment.
The bishops are worried about the hierarchial nature of rights established by the Bill, which allows 'positive' discrimination in favour of minorities. A fortnight ago, Mrs Harman snubbed Conservative MP Julian Brazier's call for an investigation into discrimination against Christians in the public sector. Mr Brazier cited a string of incidents where Christians were suspended or sacked for wearing Christian jewellery, for saying 'God bless you' and for mentioning their religious convictions.
Professor Stephen Whittle of Press for Change, a transsexual rights group, told the committee that most discrimination against transsexuals occurred because heterosexuals think they look different and urged the committee to "re-focus upon what it is those [..] people see and react to."
The deputy Minister for Equality, Maria Eagle, has rationalized the anti-Christian aspects of the bill, because, according to her:
[religious] communities cannot claim that everything they run is outside the scope of anti-discrimination law. Members of faith groups have a role in making the argument in their own communities for greater LGBT acceptance, but in the meantime the state has a duty to protect people from unfair treatment
Fr Tim Finigan, a parish priest and trustee of The Faith Movement described the bill as the:
erosion of the freedom of Christianity in the UK and the gradual tightening of legal provisions to make it impossible for christian groups to contribute to continue their historically effective work to improve society. For the Government to promote this agenda in the extreme form it is taking in the Equality Bill at a time when the political system is suffering unparalleled contempt
Fr Finigan is concerned that the Bill will prevent Christians from offering sports or social clubs because the Bill explicitly forbids churches from requiring that "a church youth worker or accountant be heterosexual."
Neil Addison a barrister and expert on Equality Law said that the Bill is poorly conceived and:
is tailor-made for people to come up with silly objections and be petty-minded because it puts the emphasis on the person being offended rather than on an objective test of what ought to be considered reasonable
In a new interview, his Lordship, Bishop Zollitsch of the diocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, and president of the German Episcopal Conference, envisages the re-condemnation of the SSPX.
The bishop expressed his concern that the SSPX was proceeding with the ordination of new priests, and said that all new SSPX priests must receive a new sanction of excommunication. He also expressed concern that the future of the SSPX might be found 'outside the Church'.
"If the bishops of this Fraternity go on ordaining new priests, this is contrary to canon law. A new excommunication should be considered".
Bishop Zollitsch has a history of controversy with traditionalists. In a highly publicized interview in April he denied that Christ died "for the sins of the people as if God had provided a sacrificial offering, like a scapegoat". The bishop instead emphasized the 'solidarity' dimension of Christ's crucifixion. The SSPX said the bishop's comments were heretical. He has also courted traditionalist criticism for supporting same-sex civil unions and for asserting that Protestant churches are part of the church.
Today's report from the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse makes harrowing reading for all persons of rectitude. The 1,200 page report documents the appalling treatment of children in industrial schools operated by religious orders during the last 5 decades. Savage brutality and abject inhumanity are expressed in vexatious imagery, and the quiescent countenance of the authorities (both religious and secular) are exposed for all the world to see. The document provides palpable testimony to the moral bankruptcy among those who were lamentably charged to uphold the welfare of these children, and the insentient indifference shown to their vein cries.
The most imposing characteristic of this document's constitution is the frightfully long period it covers. Another point that cannot be missed is the huge amount of space taken up by complaints against the Christian Brothers. Indeed, there are a greater quantity of complaints directed at the Christian Brothers than all other orders combined. The lamentable state of Brother Rice's order and the abominable betrayals of his charitable charism would surely induce their illustrious founder to despair.
Upholding the moral law and exercising the sword against its transgressors is a divinely endowed prerogative of the civil authorities. Here too a string of failures are cited and it becomes patently evident that the Irish government has abdicated its responsibilities in a most reprehensible manner.
We should not heed their collective protestations that they weren't warned. In the 1940s a Nebraska-based priest who had established the United States' main orphanage network described the state of Irish industrial schools as a 'scandal to the nation'. His claims were attacked in the Irish newspapers. Doubtless some of those publications will in tomorrow's editorials attack others with great sanctimony while carefully ignoring their own shortcomings.
It is important to remember that Industrial schools were originally established for charitable purposes. They trace their origin back to the British government's attempts to eradicate urban poverty through funding corporate institutions to ameliorate the plight of the working poor. The nascent Irish Free State was penniless and conveniently devolved the task of operating these institutions to religious orders, whose members were suitably under vows of poverty. It is unlikely that many would have received an education, or even any humane standard of living had this not happened, but was it really worth the cost? The report also highlights accounts given by people who have mostly or purely positive recollections of their time in these institutions. It would of course be grossly unjust to impute blame to the blameless, and we should keep in prayer that the vast majority of religious are completely innocent of this whole affair.
The Irish Church has a disgusting record in its treatment of child abuse. Damian Thompson highlights Archbishop Nichol's perfectly judged response on ITV News. The Irish hierarchy must scrupulously endeavour to ensure that these heinous crimes against God are never repeated. I would suggest the civil authorities tighten up their penalties too - not excluding the reintroduction of the death penalty for this offence. Let all contemplate the sobering words of Our Lord: "he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Ireland's Anglican bishops are voting this weekend on whether to insert a declaration in the Book of Common Prayer aimed at clarifying perceived anti-Catholic language in the Church's historic doctrinal formulations.
The Book of Common Prayer contains the Church's 39 Articles of Religion. Established in 1563, the Articles set out the Church's teaching on the sacraments, ecclesiology, and its relationship to the Catholic Church. It condemns Catholic Masses as 'blasphemous fables and dangerous deceits', the Latin liturgy as 'repugnant' and attacks the 'Romish doctrine' of purgatory.
Rev. Patrick Rooke, the Dean of Armagh, passed a motion at last year's Synod calling for the inserting of this Declaration. Speaking to the Irish Catholic, he said:
The language of the 39 Articles was written in another century for another century. The language is outdated and we simply would not use it now. I hope that this clarification will be seen by other Churches, not just the Roman Catholic Church because other Churches are affected, as making a foundation document relevant to the times we live in and particularly relevant to where we are ecumenically.
The proposed Declaration states that "negative statements towards other Christians should not be seen as representing the spirit of this Church today" and regrets that "words written in another age and in a different context should be used in a manner hurtful to or antagonistic towards other Christians".
Containing 365,000 members, the Church of Ireland is the largest Protestant denomination on the island, and was the official state church up until 1871.
