For the Ordinariate – There’s Just No Escape.

‘Durex’ Has Links with Ordinariate Horror!

As members of the Ordinariate, we are MORTIFIED to discover Durex is advertising RC masses on its website for condoms. We devout Roman Catholics are not allowed to wear rubbers, especially during Divine Service. Yesterday, some of our former-Anglican brethren were ordained RC ministers by wicked Archbishop Vincent Nichols. This “revisionist” clergyman allows Masses for Poofs in a RC Church in Soho, London. This blasphemous service is shown on the Durex site, aimed at promiscuous homosexualists. The reason we joined the Ordinariate was to escape from women, sinners and homos. Pooftahs are allowed their own mass – in Vincent Nichols’ Diocese! As former-Anglicans, our role now is to purify the RC Church of all sin. Having escaped from lesbians and other women in the Church of England, we now discover the RC Church has them as well!. Our aim is to cause the same amount of trouble for the Pope as we did for ++Rowan Williams when we were members of his Sect. We have always been trouble-makers. And we’re not stopping now!

(From Anglican Mainstream / Bible-Believing Anglicans)

Related articles

• Musings On The New Anglican Ordinariate (enlightenedcatholicism-colkoch.blogspot.com)
• Ordinariate roundup (thinkinganglicans.org.uk)
• “Ordinary time begins for ex-Anglicans at Westminster Cathedral” and related posts (anglican-mainstream.net)

Second Senior Bishop Defends Soho LGBT Masses

Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham has publicly defended the Soho Masses, and repeated the criticisms of our opponents that were made some months ago by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who said that those who wished to pass judgement should learn to just “hold their tongues”. Archbishop Longley, who heads the second most important diocese in England and Wales (after Westminster), said much the same thing in a notable interview with The Tablet:

Archbishop Longley has stern words for the (those opposed to the Masses). ‘The Church does not, as it were, have a moral means-testing of people before they come to receive the sacraments and it is very easy to jump to and come to the wrong conclusions about people when you don’t know them.

Soho Masses Congregation

The rule-book Catholics are apoplectic.

A “Culture of Life” and Ferment in the UK Church.

In the UK, as in the US, we have a vociferous band of self-appointed guardians of the faith, who regularly wail about departures from Catholic orthodoxy, wherever they perceive it. Most of the time, I prefer to ignore their bleatings. Just recently though, I have been paying more attention, as they are now meeting strong resistance where it counts.

Soho Masses (and Me) on National Television.

The UK’s rule-book Catholics who so visibly oppose London’s gay Masses have been vocal in their fervent hope and prayer that Pope Benedict’s impending visit will bring order to a wayward flock, and bring “unity” (by which they appear to mean whipping everybody else into conformity with their own, very narrow, understanding of Catholicism.) They will be disappointed. Already it is abundantly clear that our Masses will not be stopped, and may well come out of the Papal visit stronger than ever.

The visit itself has led to a constant stream of news and analysis in the British media, including daily short inserts in the BBC’s “Newsnight” programme. A range of longer programmes have also been broadcast, or are scheduled for the weeks ahead. Some of these programmes have specifically featured teaching on homosexuality, and our Soho Masses. Taken together, they amount to vastly more extensive public exposure, and qualitatively more sympathetic publicity, than we have ever seen before.

Gay Masses: Soho, San Francisco.

Earlier this week, California Catholic Daily carried a piece on San Francisco Pride, and the decision by the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer not to participate. However, the parish did advertise in the Pride pocket guide:

I completely fail to see why a Catholic paper should object to the proclamation of God’s love, but they and their readers were enraged by this. The immediate  trigger was the fact that the publication also included the usual gay ads, like a prominent back page one for a gay hook-up site. Is anyone surprised that some gay men use dating sites? However, it was clear that the real anger was directed at the simple existence of a Mass catering primarily to an out queer community.  I placed a comment – the first in the thread – and for my pains, had a response which suggested that I might be in league with some demon:

Terence Weldon appears on other sites as a rabid perverter of Holy Scripture. If he’s in league with some demon, then it’s a particularly depraved one.

(Relax, it’s not true.) What I found remarkable about the rest of the comments was their complete and utter lack of any thought or understanding, a simple parroting of clichés about the sin of Sodom, and the Sin that Cries Out to Heaven and the like: confirming once again, my firm conviction that what draws a certain type of Catholic to the Church is a simple desire to avoid any need for hard thinking on ethical choices, merely depending on following a rule book and the formulaic repetition of fixed prayers for “Salvation”, or for “favours” to be granted. This form of religion (it hardly counts as faith) is not that far removed from belief in magic.

“Speak the Truth in Love?” No, says Archbishop Dolan.

“God’s Tricksters” at New York Pride.

St Francis Xavier church in New York ranks alongside the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer in San Francisco as one of the world’s best known parishes with an explicitly welcoming and inclusive ministry to gay and lesbian Catholics. New York’s annual Pride Parade is the oldest and best known. It is entirely appropriate that for the past dozen years, parishioners from St Francis  have joined the parade, with a banner proudly proclaiming the name of the church. This year, they marched as before – but the banner was blank.

This year, as for the past 12 years or more, parishioners from St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church have marched under their church banner in New York’s colorful Gay Pride parade.

But this year, there was a difference.

Their banner was blank, missing the name of the church.

Westminster

Several commentators are reporting that the next man to head Westminster will be Bernard Longley.

I prefer to keep out of this kind of speculation, but if true this will be huge for us.  This is the man who led the diocesan negotiations with the SMPC before our move from the Anglican church of St Anne’s into the Catholic parish in Warwick Street.  It has also been reported that he stood up for us and urged their continuation when Murphy O’Connor allegedly wanted to shut us down.

I vividly recall those negotiations. I think we were all impressed with his sincerity and goodwill.  Early in the very first meeting, he spoke of the importance of speaking ‘freely and frankly’.  He proceeded to do just that, expressing clearly some reservations that the diocese had about the gay community in general, and about what they had heard of our Masses in particular.

Following on his example, I then replied with some frank comments about some reservations held by the LGBT community about the Catholic Church and its hierarchy.  From that point onwards, I certainly felt confident that we were able to speak freely and frankly to each other.  We did not always agree, but established very clear common ground in a shared desire for the Masses to continue and to succeed.

He has been widely described as a ‘conservative’.  I have no knowledge on that score, but am confident in this:  if so, he is one conservative I could most certainly work with.

I hope and pray that this rumour is confirmed.

(The most useful report I have found is from Whispers in the Loggia)

Soho Masses

I spent last Saturday with a group of 20 LGBT Catholics on a pastoral planning workshop for the ‘Soho Masses’.  These Masses are now marking a double anniversary:  this week is the 2nd anniversary of their formal recognition by the diocese, and a move into a Catholic church, while April will mark the 10th anniversary of their inception, on a much smaller scale.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to tell you a little more about who we are, and why this journey has been important.