Newsletter page for Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice

IN THIS ISSUE OF ‘THE FLOCK':
A SOHO MASSES UPDATE
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: CRISIS AND REVIVAL
ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMMES
DEAR FRIENDS
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
A PRAYER BOOKLET
A PRAYER CARD

As many of you will know already, the Masses for those living a homosexual lifestyle, while still receiving Holy Communion, have been transferred from the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory in Warwick Street to the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm Street.

At first, Terry Weldon writing on Queering the Church , a SOHO Masses website, seemed to regard this as some kind of victory, boasting that they would now organise Masses every week. Fortunately the Parish Priest of the Immaculate Conception church has made it clear that he is the only person who organises the Masses in his church. He explained that while this group are welcome to attend Mass at Farm Street they will be in the pews like everyone else. So there will be no special treatment.

3rd March; Mass at Farm Street celebrated by Archbishop Nichols to welcome the homosexual group.

You can see that there is still need for our prayers for all concerned, and especially for prayers in reparation.

With this issue of “The Flock” we are enclosing a prayer card with a prayer for all Catholics who receive Holy Communion, that we may all receive Our Lord as worthily as we can.

Every informed Catholic must see that the Church is now in crisis. As long ago as 1993, Pope John Paul wrote in Section 5 of his Encyclical Veritatis Splendor that “the Church is now certainly facing a genuine crisis” This ‘genuine crisis’ must be addressed soon, or it will become a genuine disaster.

The time has come to stop arguing about the cause of the crisis and to start taking steps to solve it. We do know that it is a crisis of Ignorance, for Pope Benedict XVI told us in 2003, when, as Cardinal Ratzinger, he launched the Commission to compile “The Compendium”, “our problem now is widespread religious ignorance.” This means we can only address it by admitting that religious ignorance, and nothing else, is our main problem and then by giving well structured, complete and sound Catholic teaching in our schools and parishes again - whatever the resistance by those who prefer the ‘new’ failed teaching.

We no longer have any time to waste. Latest official figures show that 96% of Catholic school leavers lapse from the Faith every year, so if nothing is done, it will be only a short time before the Church in this country is reduced to small scattered pockets of believers served by a few travelling priests. Already Catholic churches are being sold and even elderly priests are looking after two or three parishes.

How to make this problem known.

We have decided to hold a Conference next May 11th, 2013 in London to show everyone how this appalling ignorance arose when we were once so well taught that H.E. Cardinal Spellman of New York was able to say in 1964 at the second Vatican Council that “Never before has the Church had such a well-informed laity."

Details of the Conference for your diary.

Name “The Catholic Church; Crisis and Revival.”
Date Saturday 11th May 2013.
Venue The Regent Hall, 275, Oxford Street, London W1C 2DJ

Times Doors open 9.30, Talks begin 10.00,
Lunch 12.00 to 1.30. Conference ends 4.00

Tickets £10 each, available on the day or from Graham Moorhouse, 118, Shepherd’s Lane, Dartford, London DA1 2NN       graham @ cathud.com

The programme for the day will include:

Prayers and Devotions led by our Chaplain Father Leaworthy;

10.15 – 11.15 brief talks on

1. How this crisis arose – Daphne McLeod
2. How a victim of Modern Catechetics feels – Paul Smeaton
3. Graham Moorhouse reads two letters -
   a) one from a Catholic Diocesan worker;
   b) one from a Catholic teacher of R.E. dismissed for teaching the true Faith.
4. Why we Home-school our children – Tom Windsor.

11.15 Father Hunwicke – “The Catholic Faith in A Hostile Culture.”

12.00 The Angelus, then break for Lunch.

1.30 Harriet Murphy B.A. D.Phil. – “Feminist Dissent in the Church”

2..30 Michael Voris – “The Future of the Church in Europe.”
You can visit Michael’s web-site at http://www.realcatholictv.com

4 .00 Final Prayers and Close.

We have some alarming figures for the present shortage of Catholic priests in
English and Welsh Dioceses.

While Modern Catechetics is allowed to continue in our schools and 96% of
school leavers lapse, this situation can only grow worse.

ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

As this failure to pass the Truths of the Faith on to the next generation
has now lasted for forty-four years, it is not only children we have to
worry about as we have adult Catholics who have not been properly
instructed in the Faith. Some, to their great credit, have realised their need
and have studied the Catechism of the Catholic Church to make Church
Teaching their own.

Too often others don’t realise that they were cheated out of understanding our
Glorious Faith as fully as they could and need help. Fortunately, good parish
priests have begun to recognise there is this need and are providing Courses
for those already Catholic who want to learn more about the Faith they
practise.

One of the best of these Courses is Evangelium. It has been compiled by two
of our good young priests and it consists of a series of video presentations
followed by refreshments and discussion by the parishioners. It is on sale
from the CTS at £75.
There is also the EWTN Series Discovering our Glorious Faith.

This consists of thirteen half hour video presentations, also allowing time for
refreshments, questions and discussion. The sessions cover -

Disc 1: Almighty God, How we are made in God’s Image, And the Promise
of our Divine Redeemer.

Disc 2: The Blessed Trinity, Our Blessed Lady, Jesus’ Life on Earth.

Disc 3: Sanctifying Grace,The Church and the Bible, the Mass and Holy
Communion.

Disc 4 The Moral Law, The Sacramental System, Our Life of Prayer,
The Four last Things – Death, Judgement, Hell and Heaven.

This series costs £15 and is available from us at 4, Fife Way, Bookham.
Surrey KT23 3PH.

Lord, help us to know You more clearly, love You more dearly and follow You
more nearly.

Dear Friends
I make no apology for this issue of “The Flock” being mainly about the
Crisis in the Church in this country for it is a Crisis we must resolve if the
Church is to have a viable presence here for our children and
grandchildren. However, the picture is not all gloomy. We have, almost
miraculously, some excellent young priests who have informed themselves
about the Faith and who are doing wonderful work. We must thank God for
them and also keep them in our prayers. There are good young people, many
of them parents who are so determined their children will not be misled about
the Faith as they were, they home-school them.

We owe these brave Catholics, many of them young, our support as well as
our prayers as they are often facing fierce opposition. Let’s support them by
resolving that we will never allow any dissent voiced by a Catholic,
especially a Catholic in authority, to pass uncorrected. Our corrections
should be uncompromising and well substantiated but always courteous and
extremely charitable. Remember that our misguided friends may, through
no fault of their own, be ignorant about the Faith.

With this in mind -

Always be ready to write letters to the papers, Catholic as well as secular,
putting the record straight whenever the Truths of the Faith have been misrepresented. Don’t worry if your letters don’t get printed because someone
will read them. If they are printed they will reach a wide audience, because
people who buy papers and magazines read the Letter Page even if they don’t
read all the articles.

Challenge dissent if you hear a Catholic Talk where the Faith is not honestly
presented. You will probably not convert the speaker but other Catholics in
the audience will hear sound Catholic teaching correcting the dissent.

If it is ever necessary, correct your own priest with a kindly note or a word
in private - but don’t assume he will always be grateful.

Complain to the B.B.C. or Independent TV and radio when you find the
Church maligned. They need to know that Catholics in their audience expect
their beliefs to be treated with respect. At the same time reward any good
programmes with a grateful “Thank you.”

Include the Internet in your campaign if you have access to it.

Praise Good Things as well.

Write in support of Truth when you see a good article or hear a good Talk.
Remember that the writer or speaker may well receive harsh criticism for
his/her brave stand and your support could encourage them to keep up their
good work.

Encourage good priests and good bishops with your thanks and your
promises of prayer. They may be fighting quite a battle on our behalf.

We all tend to think that people won’t take any notice of our praise or our
criticism so we might as well play safe and keep quiet. This may sometimes
be true, but we should remember Ezekiel, who, when he pointed this out to
Almighty God, was told not to worry. The important thing for Ezekiel was
that he should do his duty by speaking out and if he was ignored it was not
his fault. However, if he failed to speak out then he would be partly
responsible for any evil committed later. ( See Ezekiel Chapter 3 vv 18,19.)

We should be grateful when the opportunity to defend Our Lord, who is Truth
Itself is given to us, for it is a tremendous honour and privilege to be allowed
to speak up for true teaching and to protect our Holy Mother Church when
She is defamed. If you feel ill-equipped for this important lay Apostolate
then use the Catechism, the Bible and other sound resources to equip yourself
and always surround any action with prayer.

I do see some of your names on the Letter Pages of our Catholic papers.
Hopefully now I will see even more.

God Bless,

Daphne McLeod

These Retreats have been recommended to us by Dr Roy Sherman –

March 8-10 at Pantasaph Retreat House, Wales.
March 22-24 at Craig Lodge, Scotland.

We have been asked to print the following notice –

The Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon Committee requires nominations
for this year’s “Catholic Women of the Year.”

A short letter should be sent explaining why the woman you are nominating
should be honoured. Address it to CWOY, 22,Milton Road, WARE SG12
OPZ or email to mijamajoye @ ntlworld.com by 30th April 2013.

Why are Church Critics Scared of What This Science Proves?
By Simon FitzGerald

Among Catholics the story of the appearance of the miraculous image of Our
Lady of Guadalupe is fairly well known. However, what is not generally
appreciated is that in recent years scientists have discovered some amazing
new images depicted in the eyes of this Madonna. Using highly sophisticated
magnifying techniques that NASA employs with satellite research, these
scientists have been able to magnify by 2,500 times photographs of the
original image found on Blessed Juan Diego’s tilma.

These discoveries show that no fewer than 13 people can be seen perfectly as
a reflection in both our Heavenly Mother’s eyes, just as they would appear in
real life. It is no great stretch of the imagination to interpret these figures as
being the likely witnesses present when Juan Diego first unfolded his tilma
to show the Bishop the image of Our Lady. In this group can be seen a
balding Spanish man who would correspond to His Grace the Bishop. There
is an Indian, who would have acted as the interpreter for Juan Diego and the
Bishop; a young Indian woman, likely to have been a serving maid, and a
family grouping behind them, including a mother with a baby in her arms.

Scientists can provide no explanation for what can be clearly seen in the
Madonna’s eyes. Inexplicable, too, is the discovery made with infra-red rays
that no paint has been used in creating the portrait on the tilma. A further
aspect of this miracle is that the colours appear to change tone depending on
the angle at which you are looking at them, a phenomenon called iridescence,
that is found in nature but which is impossible to recreate with human hands.

Would it be reasonable to suppose that God has something to say to our
modern world as the reflection, which appears in of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s
eyes, has only now become apparent with the advent of modern technology?
And what a responsibility we, who love Our Lady, have to listen to such a
message. For at a time when the media frantically chases after every scrap of
so-called ‘celebrity’ tittle-tattle, interest in the remarkable image on Juan
Diego’s tilma is confined to so few. Perhaps at least part of what God and our
heavenly Mother wish to tell us is that however bad things look in the
Church, we are to remain confident that we are not abandoned for we are all
kept as the apple of our Mother’s eye. This, in turn, should remind us of that
promise this powerful Mother spoke at Fatima; that in the eye her
Immaculate Heart would triumph.

Holy Mother Church & Contraception

An inability to appreciate the goodness that lies at the root of all church
teachings seems to be a huge factor in the shuffle of Catholic feet away from
the pews. It appears that a great number of baptized Catholics find the
church’s teachings on contraception to be morally repugnant; however, The
Catholic Church, ‘like any good mother, wants what is best for her children’.
Even secular sources seem baffled by the efficacy of Catholic moral teaching
against epidemics like HIV/AIDS(chastity.com). ‘As God's sun shines on
every human face so His laws knows neither privilege nor exception. Rules
and subjects, crowned and uncrowned, rich and poor and equally subject to
His word…whoever they are’

Chastity.com quotes the British Medical Journal noted that ‘the greater the
percentage of Catholics in any country, the lower the level of HIV/AIDS
infection’.

‘On the basis of data from the World Health Organization, in Swaziland,
where 42.6 percent have HIV, only 5 percent of the population is Catholic . . .

In South Africa, 22 percent of the population is HIV infected, and only 6
percent is Catholic. In Uganda, with 43 percent of the population Catholic,
the proportion of HIV infected adults is 4 percent. In the Philippines, over 80
percent of the population is Catholic, and only .03 percent of the population
has HIV!’

In the Philippines, the Bishops have consistently condemned contraception
publicly, and until January 2013, there has been no AIDS awareness
programme and only restricted public campaigns of independent ‘family
planning groups’. Apparently, ‘public health officials say they are stumped
by a paradox in the Philippines, where a very low rate of condom use [4
percent] and a very low rate of HIV infection seem to be going hand in hand.’
(New York Times article, Low Rate of AIDS Virus in Philippines Is a Puzzle).

The British Medical Journal concluded that ‘If the Catholic Church is
promoting a message about HIV in those countries, it seems to be working’.

Hypothetically, the article author asks parents If they would be willing to
entrust their child’s life to a piece of latex, should they have the opportunity
to be sexually active with a HIV positive person. Would they buy the child a
packet of condoms and then attempt to deliver a convincing abstinence
message? When the question is so close to home, the odds are that ‘every
loving parent would deliver an uncompromised message about abstinence’.
And why would the Church do any less for her children?

Would anybody be willing to take ‘the pill’ if it was known it was a class one
carcinogen? In 2005, the World Health Organisation released a report by the
International Agency for Research on Cancer where it was found that
combined oral contraceptive pills (that contain both estrogen and
progesterone or progestin, a synthetic form of progesterone) increase
mutations within the DNA of breast tissue, thereby leading to an increased
risk of breast cancer. These findings were presented by Dr. Angela
Lanfranchi, a breast surgical oncologist and co-founder of the Breast Cancer
Prevention Institute in Washington D.C in 2010. The surgeon explained that
the extra estrogen received by taking the pill not only encourages excessive
10
multiplication of breast tissue - usually a normal occurrence in the
menstruation cycle - but, when metabolized, can also directly damage breast
tissue DNA. Because breast tissue remains susceptible to cancer until it
undergoes a stabilizing transformation in the childbearing process, said
Lanfranchi, the pill is particularly dangerous to women who have not yet had
their first child. In 2006 the Mayo Clinic concluded that breast cancer risk
rises 50 percent for women taking oral contraceptives four or more years
before a full-term pregnancy. Even more shocking, Swedish oncologist
Hakan Olsson concluded that pill use before the age of 20 increases a young
woman’s breast cancer risk by more than 1000 percent. ‘It’s like you took this
molotov cocktail of a group one carcinogen and threw it into that young girl’s
breast,’ said Lanfranchi.

Personal Liberty?

Implicit within pro-contraception campaigning is the message that human
beings, most especially those who come from under-developed nations, or
‘poor’ socio-economic milieus, are incapable of self-control. Somehow the
legal system manages to cope with people who cannot control their impulses
to kill, steal and maim: it’s called prison. For those who cannot control their
finances, insolvency follows. But when it comes to matters pertaining to the
bedroom, no responsibility is to be taught or encouraged. The Church, whilst
abundantly aware of human frailty and the subsequent weakness of the will
arising from original sin, has consistently condemned the notion that there
are some peoples who are too stupid to govern their own affairs. Indeed,
‘Liberty, the highest of natural endowments, being the portion only of
intellectual or rational natures, confers on man this dignity - that he… has
power over his actions’ (Liberats, Liberty, Pope Leo XIII). Nonetheless,
Pope Leo XIII warns in Immortale Dei (On the Christian Constitution of
States) that ‘liberty which begets a contempt of the most sacred laws of God
[i.e. natural law]… is not liberty so much as license, and is most correctly
styled by St. Augustine [as] the ‘liberty of self-ruin’.

Thus, the consequences of living against the natural law are especially
pronounced in the case of contraception wherein the fruits of the ‘sexual
revolution’ are now rotting on the ground. As Pope Paul VI predicted in
Humanae Vitae (On Human Life) the use of contraceptives would 'open wide
the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards'
especially among the youth who often need 'incentives to keep the moral
law'. Going on, he says that 'a man who grows accustomed to the use of
contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and,
disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a
mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering
her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection'.

Contraception throughout History

Far from being a modern phenomenon, contraception has been widespread
since as early as 1000BC, and reached a zenith in the Roman Empire during
the first three centuries of the Christian era. The Apostles explicitly
mentioned the illicitness of contraception when it forbade the use of ‘potions’
(which were used as contraceptives) or to procure an abortion. The Apostles
remind us that there are two Ways, one of Life and one of Death, ‘and there
is a great difference between the two Ways’. Even The early Christian writer
Tertullian points out that the law of Moses ordered strict penalties for causing
the death of an unborn child. ‘If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman
and … there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot’ (Ex. 21:22–24). And even in Genesis,
Onan was condemned for spilling seed to prevent impregnation of his late
brother’s wife.

St. Clement of Alexandria (c. 150- c. 215AD), one among many, taught that:

Marriage in itself merits esteem and the highest approval, for the Lord
wished men to “be fruitful and multiply.” He did not tell them, however, to
act like libertines, nor did He intend them to surrender themselves to pleasure
as though born only to indulge in sexual relations. Let the Educator (Christ)
put us to shame with the word of Ezechiel: ‘Put away your fornications.’
Why, even unreasoning beasts know enough not to mate at certain times. To
indulge in intercourse without intending children is to outrage nature, whom
should take as our instructor (Paedagogues, 2, 10; 95, 3, GCS, 12, 214).

Not only did many of the great theologians address abortion and
contraception, but so did the councils. The Council of Elvira in Spain (305
AD) ruled that if a ‘catechumen should conceive by an adulterer, and should
procure the death of the child, she can be baptized only at the end of her life’
and if she was already a Christian, the Eucharist was to be withheld until
death, because ‘after the act [adultery] she destroys [the child]’ and has thus
‘doubled her crime’. This was restated at the Council of Ancyra (314). None
of the Fathers or councils offer contradictory opinions on contraception or
abortion.

Conclusion

The first commandment found in the Bible is to ‘increase and multiply, and
fill the earth’; This was not an accoutrement of the ‘Old Law’ that was
rendered obsolete by the ‘New Testament’, for Our Lord desired greatly that
‘the little children … come unto’ Him, ‘for of such is the kingdom of God’
(Mark 10:14). In raising marriage to the dignity of a Sacrament, the church
affirms that ‘amongst the blessings of marriage, the child holds the first
place’ (Casti Connubi, On Christian Marriage, Pope Pius XI).

To those who cry that the Vatican needs to move with the times, it would be
a wise thing to consider that we must enter in at the ‘narrow gate: for wide is
the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are
who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth
to life: and few there are that find it!’ (Matthew 7:13-14). Since the ‘Church
was founded by Jesus Christ to be the loving mother of the whole human
family and minister to its salvation’, she can never cease from witnessing to
the truth of God which heals all and from declaring it’ (Vatican I, Dogmatic
Constitution of the Catholic Church). The mystery of the Church is not a
truth to be confined to the realms of speculative theology. It must be lived’
(Ecclesiam Suum, Pope Paul VI).

A NEW PAGE FOR THE CHURCH

As we go to press, news is breaking of Pope Benedict XVI’s
unexpected resignation. We thank him for all he has done for the
Church as priest, Cardinal and Pope and we pray that he will have
the opportunity for the quiet prayer and contemplation he seeks in
preparation for meeting his Maker.

We also pray for the Conclave who will elect our new Pope that they will
choose wisely. The Church needs a Pope who will make it a priority to
address the enormous problems in the Church today, such as the widespread
religious ignorance and confusion. This crisis calls for a Pope like St
Gregory the great, St Leo the great, or St Pius X. Lent is a good time for
prayer and sacrifices for such an important cause.

Once we have our new Pope we should pray for him daily, that the Holy
Spirit will guide him to rescue the Church as quickly as he can. For if we
continue to regard our fast falling numbers and our lack of priestly vocations
with complacency, we will soon find that the Church in Western Europe and
other places has virtually vanished.

When He founded the Church, Our Lord told His first bishops to ‘Go and
Teach everything I have commanded…” So only a return to teaching the
full Truth on Doctrine and Morals in parishes and schools can guarantee our
recovery. As Pope Benedict has said, ‘partial teaching of the Faith only
brings it into contempt.’ Our failure to teach the Faith fully in recent years
has led to our present crisis.

The Truth on Doctrine and Morals was taught in its entirety for centuries and
that gave us a thriving, fast growing, Church. Our parishes churches were
packed with Catholics of all ages for Sunday Mass, we were always
collecting to build new churches for our fast growing congregations and the
beautiful spiritual books written by priests and laity at that time show that this
was all founded on Love for Our Lord who is Truth itself.

People are fond of saying that we can’t put the clock back, but as
G.K.Chesterton said, “Of course you can put the clock back and if it is wrong
you have to put it back.” So, lets return to teaching the Truth in our parishes
and our schools. Lets make sure the faulty R.E. textbooks are removed from
our schools and those who promoted them dispensed with. Mercifully we
have sound books from America like the “Faith and Life Series”, available
from Ignatius Press, San Diego. California. USA.

We need to follow the advice St Ignatius gave us and “Pray as if this (the
return to teaching the full truth again) all depends on Almighty God – as it
does, and work as if it all depends on us – as it does.” Let’s invoke our
saintlly Popes to pray with us -
St Peter our first Pope, pray for us -

St Peter our first Pope, pray for us
Pope St Gregory, pray for us
Pope St Leo, pray for us
Pope St Pius V, pray for us
Pope St Pius X, pray for us

A Little Lenten Prayer Book
The following prayers are from
THE RACCOLTA OR
COLLECTION OF INDULGENCED PRAYERS
& GOOD WORKS
by AMBROSE ST JOHN
of the Oratory of St Philip Neri, Birmingham, 1910 Edition.

This prayer booklet is 12 pages in length and would make the newsletter disproportionately long to be sent out as an e-mail attachment. Consequently it has already been posted to the Internet, and the above link enables you to download it in .pdf format to read or print out for yourself.

This prayer card is designed to be printed on both sides of a sheet of A4 paper or photocard and then cut into four pieces giving you spare copies to share around.

It has been pre-loaded to the Internet in .jpg format so that its proportions are maintained and so that you can print it out for yourself.

On matters relating to Seminaries, Catholic Schools and Colleges:
Prefect of the Congregation for Education
Piazza Pio XII, 10
00120 Vatican City State, Europe
Phone: 011 39 06 6988 4167 Fax: 011 39 06 6988 4172
Secretary:Most Rev. Archbishop J. Michael Miller, C.S.B.

Contacting the Papal Nuncio for Great Britain (especially about proposals from the Magic Circle):

His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Mennini
The Apostolic Nuncio for Great Britain.
54, Parkside, London. SW19 5NE

TO ASSIST YOU WHEN WRITING TO YOUR BISHOP, FIND THE NAME AND ADDRESS HERE, LISTED ALPHABETICALLY BY DIOCESE.