Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office: New Director, Same Old Message
“Faith should be allowed to play a role in public life” writes newly-appointed Director of the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office.
Writing in today’s Scotsman (Thursday 4 August) Anthony Horan counters claims that society is becoming less religious simply because increasing numbers of people no longer tick a “church” box on census forms suggesting this doesn’t mean they are not interested in the spiritual dimension of life or religious belief. Rather, the national census still shows that most Scots consider themselves Christian, while an overwhelming majority describe themselves as “spiritual”. 
Quoting Pope Francis, he says, “Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life, liberty and happiness”.
Whilst pointing to an increase in the number of Catholic in Scotland and across the world, Anthony sets out his mission to promote the Catholic faith and Social Teaching “in a way that positively engages secular society.”
The above extract is taken from the Scotsman article, reproduced in full below on the website of the Scottish Catholic Media Office…
Anthony Horan, Director, Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office
The political landscape in Scotland and the UK has rarely transfixed global media and international audiences as it has in recent weeks. The outcome of the Referendum on membership of the European Union has dominated the news cycle endlessly and engaged voters of all ages, creeds, nationalities and backgrounds.
Inevitably, given the nature and scale of the challenges at home and abroad facing our elected representatives, including economic security and trade, migration, education and medical ethics, it is unsurprising that their values, track records and proposals have been subject to intense scrutiny. Indeed, it seems society is in a state of flux. Faith and belief in a constant and ever-loving God can guide us in such times of deep uncertainty, and opportunity.
Yet whilst issues of belief and faith, in how human beings perceive the world have rarely been so important in society, they have perhaps never been so poorly understood. Indeed, increasing calls for the removal of religion and faith from public life continue to fill columns in our newspapers and social media. But faith in and of itself is not just important for human flourishing and the renewal of society, rather society can best flourish if faith is given freedom to make its unique contribution.
As Pope Francis has said, “Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life, liberty and happiness”.”Religious freedom” he said, “certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our consciences dictate. But religious liberty, by its nature, transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families.” Indeed, Pope Francis has warned against modern tyrannical societies which “seek to suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a sub culture without right to a voice in the public square.”
Faith should be allowed to play a role in public life. The legacy of Christianity is to uphold the respective competencies of the spiritual and the temporal.
Unsurprisingly, however, some commentators have sought to exploit recent Scottish Social Attitudes survey figures which suggests that over half of respondents do not identify with a church or religion, as an indicator of society’s declining religiosity – a reason to remove God, once and for all, from public life. However, the fact that increasing numbers of people no longer tick a “church” box on census forms doesn’t mean they are not interested in the spiritual dimension of life or religious belief. Indeed the national census still shows that most Scots consider themselves Christian, while an overwhelming majority describe themselves as “spiritual”.
Globally the Catholic Church continues to see growth. In Scotland, there are currently more students studying for the priesthood than at any time in the last ten years, while the number of Catholics measured by the National Census increased between 2001 and 2011.
As newly appointed Director of the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office, my mission is to promote our faith and Catholic Social Teaching in a way that positively engages the secular society in which we live. We need to reach out to all people and an important part of this will be working with young people to tap into their energy and enthusiasm; they are the future of our Church and of our country.
I am looking forward to meeting politicians and other stakeholders and building positive, friendly relationships with a view to developing ways to promote Church teaching in the political environment. The Catholic Church in Scotland is devoted to the common good and has the wellbeing of all people at her heart.
Enshrined in our Catholic faith is a commitment to bear witness to Christ in our daily lives, at home and in public. In my role I will work for the Bishops of Scotland, the Catholic church and people of all faiths and none, striving to respect and uphold the dignity of each person, particularly the weakest and most vulnerable; upholding the value of all human life from conception to natural death; cherishing the family as the fundamental unit of our society; advocating social and economic justice for all; and caring for the common home we inhabit.
Scotland is a diverse, vibrant and politically engaged nation with a rich social, economic and political history. Faith and religious belief in the public square can play a role in shaping a resilient Scotland in the future. It should be welcomed and valued, without fear or favour. As Pope Francis said: “We are all Political animals, with a capital P. We are called to constructive political activity among our people.” Visit Scottish Catholic Media Office website to read more.
Comment:
The following commentary on the recent appointment of Anthony Horan, Director of the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office, is published in the September edition of our newsletter, which will in the post early next week:
To date, the Scottish Government has not been challenged at all, either by the Bishops themselves when invited to offer a “reflection” in the Parliament, or by their spokesmen in the Parliament. Despite the evil legislation already passed, the Bishops have remained silent, with Pontius Pilate as their Patron Saint. It took, remember, families and a pro-active Protestant organisation (The Christian Institute) to mount a legal challenge to the intrusive Named Person Scheme.
It does not augur well, therefore, to hear the new official Parliamentary spokesman for the Bishops set himself the goal of developing positive and friendly relationships with parliamentarians. Let me assure him, from firsthand experience, that when there is a stark divide in religious beliefs and morals, there cannot be “positive and friendly relationships” between a fully believing Catholic and those who seek to overturn God’s law in the name of equality and diversity. Just as there is no “diversity” for drivers on any motorway you care to name, so there can be no alternative to God’s law. We keep it, or overturn it at our eternal peril. And any Bishop or lay spokesman who does not spell that out to the politicians with whom they interact, will make VIP friends, sure enough – but with the following blunt warning ringing in their ears: “For, what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul? (Matt 16:26) To quote Archbishop Fulton Sheen: “A religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it.”
Additionally, having read the Scotsman article since penning the above commentary, I would add two points: firstly, the idea of “Faith” (The Church) seeking permission to “play a role in public life” is ludicrous: secondly, the quote attributed to Pope Francis is in stark contradiction to Christ’s command to “baptise all nations”. Pope Francis apparently thinks it’s better that “Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life, liberty and happiness.” The entire tone of Mr Horan’s article reflects this “inter-faith” mentality. Thus, there will be no grace in this new appointment. In summary, there is, in effect, no change at the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office. A new Director, no new direction. Same old “diplomacy” with the politicians laughing all the way to their next piece of evil legislation, aware that there will be no meaningful challenge from the Catholic Church. Perhaps you disagree? Let’s hear it…
Comments (31)
Pontius Pilate as patron saint indeed, Editor!
“…it remains to restore to their ancient place of honor the most holy laws and counsels of the gospel; to proclaim aloud the truths taught by the Church, and her teachings on the sanctity of marriage, on the education and discipline of youth, on the possession and use of property, the duties that men owe to those who rule the State; and lastly to restore equilibrium between the different classes of society according to Christian precept and custom.” (from E Supremi)
vs.
The warm and fuzzy religious indifferentism of Francis echoed by his lackies and fellow-travelers, the inoffensive generic corporate-speak/group-think of the conciliar Church, the confusion of the Catholic Faith (the only real faith) with an unspecified “faith” or “spirituality,” the reduction of The Great Commission to a smiley-faced sociological outreach, and…oh, you get the idea.
Well, at least he mentions the Catholic Faith and Catholic Social Teaching in passing, but God only knows what his version of that Catholic Social Teaching actually is. BTW, last I knew the seminary in Scotland was closed. Where are these “more students studying for the priesthood than at any time in the last ten years”? And his description could mean, actually, that there is ONE such student!
Mr. Horan’s article reminds me of Paul VI’s infamous 1965 speech to the United Nations, wherein he all but asked the permission of that satanic masonic body for permission for the Church to exist, and referred to them as the “last hope of concord and peace.” It also reminds me of Fr. Malachi Martin’s thumbnail sketch of Paul VI’s liberalism: ‘Be nice to everyone and they’ll be nice to you.”
RCA Victor,
Whoa…! You’re WAY off the mark there with the suggestion that the Scots College in Rome (our only seminary now) produced only one ordination this year – there were three! Assuming that the third went ahead as advertised…So less of the gloom and doom, please and thank you! Or should that be “thank thee”?
“Following a ‘fallow’ year for ordinations, the community join in celebration with the families and friends, with the priests and people of their Dioceses as two of our students are ordained this month. Jamie McMorrin from the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh was ordained alongside a student of the Beda College, Anthony Lappin, on the evening of the 24th June in St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh. On the 30th June, Matthew Carlin from the Diocese of Paisley, will be ordained to the priesthood in his home parish of St John’s Barrhead.” From the website of the Pontifical Scots College in Rome
PS – the newsletters are going out in the post early next week, and Mr Horan’s name has been added to our mailing list, with a pointer to this thread. Hopefully, assuming he visits, he will be educated by the knowledgeable comments of the bloggers here, in the courteous, but forthright custom by which we are known, if not exactly loved 😀
Editor,
I stand corrected, all one of me! What are the odds that any of these three will be saying their first Mass in the “Extraordinary Form”? They probably never even heard of it.
RCA Victor,
There is no chance that any of the three newly ordained will offer the traditional Mass as his first Mass. We’ve had a couple of newly ordained offering traditional Masses AFTER they’ve been ordained in the new Mass, under the auspices of Una Voce, but, while of course that is welcome in the category of “better than nothing, I suppose”, it’s not the fabulous news that the Una Voce people appear to think.
Just looking at the photos of one of these recent Masses, seeing those in attendance, brought home to me the massive divisions that now exist within the Church. Attending these traditional Masses (and therefore thinking of themselves as “traditional” Catholics) were people who range from papolatrists (don’t criticise the Pope) to anti-SSPXers (they really ought to be under the authority of the [modernist] bishops) to I LOVE these sung Masses but I still attend my parish novus ordo to… well, you’ll get the picture. There are still far too many people, ordained and lay, trying to keep a foot in both camps – traditional and modernist. Can’t be done long-term but it’s kinda fun watching the show in the meantime…
And just as there is no chance that any of the three newly ordained will offer the traditional Mass – at least not as their first Mass (they might get caught!) I think we can safely bet that the new Director of the Scottish Parliamentary Office – Anthony Horan – will not be found fulfilling his Sunday obligation at an SSPX chapel any time soon. I don’t know any of these people – the newly ordained or Mr Horan – but I hope that, sooner rather than later, they do come to embrace the traditional Catholic Faith – and that has to begin with the Mass.
http://g01.a.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1J80OKVXXXXX4XpXXq6xXFXXXu/Wall-Art-Decal-Vinyl-font-b-Quote-b-font-Sticker-Courage-is-font-b-Fear-b.jpg
RCA Victor,
I wish all these young priests and Anthony Horan would read this book to open their eyes to what they think of as being the Catholic Church
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Fa%C3%A7ade-Novelty-Catholic-Vatican/dp/1621381498/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
Josephine,
I haven’t read that book yet, but it is somewhere on my reading list. But now that Editor has ended the discussion I might have time to start reading it! 🙂
Scots College in Rome (our only seminary now)
I hope I don’t get a pay deduction for this Editor (!) but you are forgetting about The Royal Scots College in Salamanca, Spain:
http://scots-college-salamanca.org/
(from a glance at its blurb, it seems candidates for the priesthood are sent here for a period of initial formation).
Gabriel Syme,
Salamanca was closed, then re-opened not long ago (last year?) to provide a preparatory course for students before going on to the Scots College in Rome, as far as I can recall, but I don’t think of it as a “seminary” in the usual sense.
Still, I have to admit that I didn’t even think of it when answering RCA Victor, so you are correct in that I was “forgetting about the Royal Scots College in Salamanca, Spain”… 😀
Gerrourathatone!
Editor,
After attending my first TLM in 2002, I was one of those people who tried having a foot in both camps, for about 4 years, until I finally started having visceral reactions during Novus Ordi (hives, sweating, watering eyes, the almost irresistible urge to start screaming “THIS IS LUTHER AND CRANMER!”…) and realized what an anti-Catholic abomination that liturgy really is.
But I think our modern clergy are attempting to have their feet in both camps in a different way: they are trying to please the world whilst clothed in the vestments, as it were, of the Church. That is, they are, at best, trying to serve two masters – though at worst, trying to replace their former Master.
As we can see throughout the Church, the result is apostasy, chaos and confusion, heterodoxy, heresy, blasphemy and sacrilege. If Mr. Horan is merely going to be a mouthpiece for the collective will of your feckless Scottish bishops, then I’m afraid there is little hope for a return to the Faith in Scotland. If, on the other hand, he through some miracle is repulsed by the spinelessness of their policies and actions, then…..
RCA Victor,
What do you say to people who say that the new Mass is closer to what happened in the first Mass at the Last Supper and in the earliest years of the Church?
This is what I keep meeting with and when I quote Quo Primum I’m told that no one pope is more important than another and so the Mass of Paul VI is every bit as acceptable as the Tridentine rite.
I’m interested in your comments on this, and other bloggers, because nothing I say seems to convince people.
Lily,
I would tell them five things:
1. The Novus Ordo has nothing whatsoever to do with the First Mass at the Last Supper, and to claim that it does is a bald-faced lie. Ask whoever tells you this to cite their source!
2. The Novus Ordo is, as I said above, a Bugnini-engineered re-hash of how Luther and Cranmer destroyed the Mass – and both of those despicable men, along with Bugnini, hated the Mass, the Papacy, the Magisterium and the Church.
3. Pius XII, in Mediator Dei, condemned this phony antiquarianism in 1947, as the winds of this aspect of “the winsome doctrine” (Modernism) were already wafting through the underground. The smoke of Satan, as it turns out, had been circulating underground for quite a few years before the Council allowed it to the surface to take over the Church.
4. If no one Pope is more important than another, then ask them what happens when the current Pope, or one of the Conciliar Popes, contradicts a previous Pope, the Magisterium, the Sacred Deposit of Faith, etc. Obviously, then, one of those Popes is wrong! (BTW, Fr. Gruner claimed that the NO was never really promulgated, only made it look as though it had been. That was the way, apparently, Paul VI got around Quo Primum.)
5. Ask your conversationalists how a liturgy that was specifically devised to avoid offending heretics – as stated publicly by Bugnini – could possibly be pleasing to God!
One more comment: I gather from your brief description of your encounters that the people to whom you are speaking are thoroughly ignorant, and mouth the party line to cover up their ignorance. You shouldn’t be discouraged in your dealings with such people. If they refuse the truth that you offer them, shake the dust off your sandals and move on…
RCA Victor,
Well said.
Oddly enough, I had this conversation only a few days ago with someone who dismissed, not Quo Primum (I didn’t mention that) but Mediator Dei and made this same argument about “why should one pope have more authority than another” or words to that effect.
The problem is, I suspect, that those with an interest in the matter (priests, possibly some teachers) are probably reading the latest “expert” who is no such thing.
What a life!
RCA Victor,
If Mr Horan were of the type likely to be “repulsed by the spinelessness of [the bishops’] policies” he wouldn’t have been appointed. End of discussion.
Editor,
“End of discussion.” And here I am trying to spin it out! 🙂
Excellent point: if he weren’t a company man, he wouldn’t have been hired. Might there be the equivalent of a road to Damascus somewhere in Bonnie Scotland?
RCA Victor,
I think this is the nearest we have to the road to Damascus…
http://dadomatic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Fotolia_4500866_XS.jpg
I read about the new Director of the Scottish Parliamentary Office when he was first appointed and I thought the same as the headline of this article, that there is a new person in the job but the same policy of diplomacy, not ruffling feathers amongst the MSPs.
I’m afraid my feeling is that they wouldn’t hesitate to ruffle feathers if they really believed the truths of the faith about evangelisation as opposed to ecumenism and inter-faith, and if they really believed in Catholic teaching on sexual matters. That’s my take on it, although I’m praying for Mr Horan. He has a very important position in the country and could make a really big difference if he does the right thing and doesn’t just go with the flow. Maybe we should all say a prayer for him to the patron saint of communications, Archangel Gabriel.
The final paragraph of Anthony Horan’s article shocked me to the core:
“Scotland is a diverse, vibrant and politically engaged nation with a rich social, economic and political history. Faith and religious belief in the public square can play a role in shaping a resilient Scotland in the future. It should be welcomed and valued, without fear or favour. As Pope Francis said: “We are all Political animals, with a capital P. We are called to constructive political activity among our people.”
There is just nothing of the Catholic faith in the whole article but that closing paragraph is just unbelievable. “Faith and religious belief” are to be used to build a better society, is what he seems to be saying. I presume the new Director is a young post-Vatican II Catholic, so we can’t be too surprised. It’s just frustrating to see this opportunity to influence the Parliament, going to waste.
Josephine
What Mr. Horan quotes from Pope Francis about religious politics sounds very much like Liberation (Marxist) theology to me. And we know that Pope Francis is very friendly with one of South America’s most notorious Liberation Theologians.
Normally, the introductions to topics on the CT website do not trigger an adverse reaction injurious to my health but unfortunately I can’t say that about this particular one. Reading Anthony Horan’s article was so mentally draining that I can feel a migraine coming on. In fact, it made me feel like my brain was slowly being pickled in a vat of lukewarm blancmange.
Just a few points:
He talks about “society in a state of flux”. Well, not really Anthony, as flux is ‘continuous change’ which could entail improvement but I’m really struggling to see things getting better. I think ” society in a state of ever increasing degeneration” would be more accurate.
He mentions ” faith is…important..for human flourishing and the renewal of society.” How about going further and really cutting to the chase by proclaiming that the Catholic Faith is the ONLY answer to the myriad ills afflicting the world.
“Christianity upholds the relevant competencies of the spiritual and temporal”. Huh? Well newsflash: the temporal can never hope to be competent without employing the ‘spiritual’ at the beginning, middle and end of all its affairs. The Social Kingship of Christ, though not really in the current Pope’s lexicon, remains a (much) more than valid concept.
“The Catholic Church has the wellbeing of all people at heart”. Not just the wellbeing – their eternal salvation, but saying that might give the article too much of a religious slant and we don’t want that from the Scottish Catholic Parliamentary Office.
I know no one can as it would be a lie but please tell me that he didn’t use that phrase “people of all faiths and none” and the ‘d’ and ‘v’ words (diverse and vibrant).
Lastly, I feel it would be a dereliction of duty on my part if I didn’t end by giving Mr.Horan a little bit of advice: Be careful when you’re trying to build positive and friendly relationships with the stakeholders – especially if they’re carrying flambeaux in their other hands.
Spudeater,
Yes, it seems that Mr Horan is going along with the fashionable (but entire UN-Catholic) notion that religion is here to prop up the political life of the nation, without actually causing any waves, or, worse, setting any heather on fire.
Mind you, if there are waves in the vicinity, the heather isn’t likely to go on fire, is it? Silly me 😀
“As Pope Francis has said, “Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life, liberty and happiness”.”Religious freedom” he said, “certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our consciences dictate. But religious liberty, by its nature, transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families.”
This, my friends, is a statement of syncretist heresy. There is not a shred of divine truth in these words. Who needs enemies when people proclaiming to be Catholic can come away with trash like this? It would be better that religion was silenced in the public domain than that these inter-religious ecumaniacs be permitted to continue perverting Catholic doctrine and harming the mission of the Church founded by Our Lord. Smiling assassins is what they are, more hypocritical than the anti-religion people they appeal to, always willing to burn a grain of incense before the false deities for peace’ sake.
“Our various religious traditions…”
But there is only one religious tradition that matters, the Catholic one, outside of which, says the infallible dogma, there is no salvation.
“They call individuals and communities to worship God, the source of all life…”
Do they indeed? And what about the Son of God, Jesus Christ Our Lord? Do they call all individuals and communities to believe that He is the only Saviour of the world and the only means of reaching heaven? Did the Apostles teach what Mr. Horan now echoes? I think not. Nor did the Church for nearly two thousand years up to Vatican II teach this rubbish. She constantly and firmly reprobated any religious claim to fidelity in worship where Jesus Christ and His true Church are rejected.
”Religious freedom” he said, “certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our consciences dictate…”
Not so! I fear Mr. Horan and Pope Francis confuse the Church’s teaching on Religious Tolerance with the heresy of Religious Liberty.
Pope Gregory XVI has this to say in his Encyclical Mirari Vos: “…Now we consider another abundant source of the evils with which the Church is afflicted at present: indifferentism. This perverse opinion is spread on all sides by the fraud of the wicked who claim that is possible to obtain the eternal salvation of the soul by the profession of any kind of religion, as long as morality is maintained. Surely, in so clear a matter, you will drive this deadly error far from the people committed to your care. With the admonition of the Apostle that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:5), may those fear who contrive the notion that the safe harbor of salvation is open to persons of any religion whatever. They should consider the testimony of Christ Himself who said “He that is not with me, is against me” (Luke 11:23), and that they disperse unhappily who do not gather with Him. Therefore “without a doubt, they will perish forever, unless they hold the Catholic faith whole and entire.”
“…This shameful font of indifferentism gives rise to the absurd and erroneous proposition which claims that liberty of conscience must be maintained for everyone. It spreads ruin in sacred and civil affairs, though some repeat over and over again with the greatest impudence that some advantage accrues to religion from it. “But the death of the soul is worse than freedom of error,” as Augustine was wont to say…”
In his Encyclical Quanta Cura of 1864, Pope Pius IX concurs: “…they do not fear to foster that erroneous opinion, most fatal in its effects on the Catholic Church and the salvation of souls, called by Our predecessor, Gregory XVI, an insanity, viz., that “liberty of conscience and worship is each man’s personal right, which ought to be legally proclaimed in every rightly constituted society”…But, while they rashly affirm this, they do not think and consider that they are preaching liberty of perdition…”
Further, in Mortalium Animos we read: “”Certainly such movements as these (ecumenical and inter-religious, my emphasis) cannot gain the approval of Catholics. They are founded upon the false opinions of those who say that, since all religions equally unfold and signify – though not in the same way – the native, inborn feeling in us all through which we are borne toward God and humbly recognize His rule, therefore, all religions are more or less good and praiseworthy. The followers of this theory are not only deceived and mistaken, but since they repudiate the true religion by attacking it in its very essence, they move step by step toward naturalism and atheism. Hence it clearly follows that anyone who gives assent to such theories and undertakings utterly abandons divinely revealed religion.”
The following are heretical statements condemned in the Syllabus of Errors – Pius IX – 1864.
1). “Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.” Allocution Maxima Quidem, June 9, 1862; Damnatio Multiplices Inter, June 10, 1851.
2). “Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation.” Encyclical Qui Pluribus, November 9, 1846.
3). “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.” Encyclical Quanto Conficiamur, August 10, 1863.
4). “Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church.” Encyclical Noscitis, December 8, 1849.
5). “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship.” Allocution Nemo Vestrum, July 26, 1855.
Other instances of Church teaching:
“Cut off from the Church: One must neither pray nor sing psalms with those who are cut off from the communion of the Church, whether clergy or layman: let him be excommunicated” (Council of Carthage)
“No one shall pray in common with heretics and schismatics” (Council of Laodicea).
“We decree that those who give credence to the teachings of heretics, as well as those who receive, defend, or patronize them, are excommunicated… If anyone refuses to avoid such accomplices after they have been ostracized by the Church, let them also be excommunicated” (IV Lateran Council).
The 1917 Code of Canon Law states: that: “It is not permitted at all for the faithful to assist in any active manner at or to have any part in the worship of non-Catholics.” [Canon 1258]
And again: “How does a Catholic sin against faith? A Catholic sins against Faith by Apostasy, heresy, indifferentism and by taking part in non-Catholic worship.” (Catechism of the Council of Trent, Catechism of Pope St. Pius X and The Baltimore Catechism).
There are numerous other clear declarations of the Popes, Doctors and saints of the Church throughout history, all consistent with each other, condemning and reprobating what Mr. Horan and Pope Francis are pushing today, and what the liberals in the Church have been pushing since that revolutionary, merely pastoral, Council.
Athanasius,
That’s a fantastic post – thank you. If Mr Horan reads that he must surely be troubled in conscience.
Margaret Mary
Thank you. Maybe editor has an email address she could give me for Mr. Horan so that I can send that information. The only thing is I don’t even know if he’s a Catholic. And even if he is, will he have a properly formed conscience? It seems to me that they are all deaf to the Church’s pre-conciliar teaching, as though the Church only began with Vatican II.
Athanasius,
I think he’ll be housed in the media office in Glasgow – that’s where his predecessor, John Deighan, worked.
You can email from the SCMO website here marking the message for his attention.
However, when he receives his newsletter later this week (in post today) Mr Horan will find a note from moi pointing him to this thread…Still, wouldn’t hurt to email anyway. A clear case of “don’t buy one, still get one free”!
Thanks, Editor. I’ll get on to it tomorrow.
Or rather, later today!!
I enjoy reading your web and finding out what is happening North of the Border. Horan uses the usual phrases to delude himself that he represents something powerful. ‘Positively engaging the secular Society’ When has the Church done this in the last forty years. Yes, out faith should challenge society in the message it proclaims but what exactly is that message. All he gives us is that God loves us and something about Catholic Social Teaching. Well I suppose in a well paid job he has to say something. Catholic Social Teaching is about the rights of human life. It starts off with protecting the baby in the womb, it goes on to the rights of the family and the protection of the family, but does he believe in the family. Does the Catholic Church in Scotland fight for the rights of thousands of children to grow up in a family blessed by the love of a father of mother or is it too frightened to promote marriage Does the population see in the Catholic Church loving families as a guideline to God’s love. Does it care enough about its children to teach as Christ taught that divorce and re-marriage are wrong. Does it care about the thousand of children who are hurt and suffering because they never had the benefit of a father and envy it on others, children who without the experience of love will also be unable to maintain a stable relationship. I think that before they talk to their congregation again that Jesus loves them they should reflect on just how little they love Jesus..
John K,
“Positively engaging” society: apparently even the word “evangelize” has come into disrepute amongst the feckless politically correct – even in its new dimension, aka “the new evangelization,” it’s just too offensive!
“Positively engaging” is just another way to say “dialogue,” I’m afraid. You know, that process whereby the human representatives of the Church sell her down the river in order to obtain human respect.
I hope they learn, before it is too late for their souls, that the river they are sailing down so happily is the river Styx…
Quoting Pope Francis, he says, “Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the message they proclaim.
Ridiculous, is he the Catholic Parliamentary Officer or the Various Religions Parliamentary Officer?
If a businessman or woman said that in public, regarding their employer and its competitors (if you will), they would be regarded as being incompetent and fired. OK, business isn’t a wonderful analogy, but you can see what I mean.
All this equating the Church will false religions, to receive praise from secular politicians, will eventually come back to bite.
Well, the Hierarchy have noticed that the number of priests available to say Mass on a Sunday is falling year on year. It hardly seems possible that the number of Catholics is rising. Although some Bishop or other (Tagliatelle?) did mention that they would be bringing in more foreign priests. Formerly, this meant Irishmen. Perhaps he means Poles? Is he failing to make a distinction between falling numbers of native Catholics and rising numbers of Polish Catholics in Scotland? Or is he on another planet?
Andrew Paterson
They should have anticipated the tragedy when the last seminary in Scotland was closed for want of vocations. They just don’t seem to see the bitter fruits of their post-conciliar Reformation. Everything and everyone is to blame for the decimated priesthood and parishes but the bishops!! Yes, they are living on another planet!
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