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A Step Too Far
A number of weeks ago, I was walking past one of the major hospitals in Glasgow. Standing outside the perimeter wall were a number of women who were silently protesting against abortion. One or two of them were quietly praying the Rosary, while a couple held up placards saying what they were doing and why. When the women are approached, they are very happy to be engaged in conversation and will very politely explain the purpose of their actions. Similar silent protests are in place outside at least one other very large hospital in Glasgow. There is no aggression, no hostility, no shouting – they are simply, quietly there. At…
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Pope Francis – Ten Years
Ten years ago this evening, I sat watching the white smoke rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, indicating that a new Pope had been chosen. Millions of others around the world were similarly watching the news broadcasts with great interest and curiosity, wondering who this newly-elected Holy Father might be. And then Cardinal Tauran, the Cardinal Protodeacon, came onto the loggia of the Basilica and uttered those words we all recognise – “Habemus Papam..” – ‘we have a Pope’. There was a momentary pause and then the name of the new Pope was declared – “Franciscus”. It was the first time a Pope had ever taken…
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Fortress Catholicism
Reading many of the online descriptions of Catholicism, it is easy to believe that we all have a siege mentality, that we are living within ‘Fortress Catholicism’. Of course, this is not the case at all – but the minority who espouse this warped view are both vocal and well-funded. Catholicism is not a fortress. It is not something we need to protect – the Holy Spirit is perfectly capable of doing that and He continues to do so as He has done throughout all these centuries. Neither is Catholicism a state of mind characterised by a sense of siege. It is not simply a way of thinking, but a…
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The Things We Tell
A friend of mine is dying. She has perhaps a few months left. I visited her recently and we spoke at some length. When I left her, I was deeply touched by her strength and her courage and her selflessness. None of these qualities are the result of her illness – they have always been present – but her current situation does seem to have refined and crystallised them. She is quite extraordinary and yet she thinks of herself as nothing special. She could not be more wrong. Our conversations were private and not for repeating here, but she did tell me one thing which I can’t stop thinking about.…
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Church vs Church
You would think it ought to be fairly simple to describe what, precisely, constitutes ‘the Church’. But over the course of the past week it has been abundantly clear that the question is anything but simple – and any attempt to answer it is unbelievably complex. An American Cardinal had written an article which looked at various points which either come from or feed into the question. In particular, he ventured into the landmine-filled territory of ‘inclusion and exclusion’. He would have been safer had he just crossed a barbwire fence or three, before dancing through a field of hungry leopards and then playing Russian roulette with a psychotic murderer. Many…
