Wednesday 26 September 2007

Inclusiveness—Clifton-style.

According to a footnote on Damian Thompson's Holy Smoke blog, I read that Bishop Declan 'Crispian-made-me' Lang has decreed that no music whatever written before 1963 is to be used in his hearing. Ah, how good it is to live in this brave new liberal open inclusive Church, where everyone is made welcome!
'No friends—only strangers we haven't snubbed yet.'
The triumph of the West Country Catholicism-Free Zone moves another step closer. God help whichever poor man is appointed successor to Hollis, Lang or Budd. How is one ever going to begin to rebuild after all that these three are doing?
A young man I knew from the Bristol area began a few years ago to explore his vocation with the Clifton (Crispy-fried Lang's) diocese. He was sent to the vocations team, where one priest on the team, in the pub with all the potential seminarians (and, I believe, some then current seminarians), boasted of his homosexual conquests and deplored the Church's teaching in this area. Now, I think that this was an unhappy man, for he left the Catholic priesthood not long after (and the Catholic Church too). As for the young man I was acquainted with, fortunately he is made of sterner stuff than some others, and persevered with his vocation—though firmly in another diocese.

In the interests of fairness, I should add that I read on Fr Tim Finigan's blog that Bishop Budd has taken a measured approach to Summorum Pontificum, and not knee-jerked. This is very much to be welcomed from the man who once said to me 'for 500 years the Church was celebrating Mass in the wrong way; now it is celebrating the right way', and in the presence of the friends and family of a priest known for his love of the Traditional Mass, as he threw earth on his coffin: 'and that's the end of the old Mass in my diocese!' Well, we live in interesting times, don't we? It goes to prove the truth of the saying autre temps, autre moeurs. I'm very happy that Bishop Budd has decided to be moderately friendly. Despite what you have read in this paragraph, I think that at root he's a nice man, and when I knew him in the past, I personally liked him while deploring his opinions. I'd just like to see more effort to rebuild the faith in his diocese.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

It's a shame to see us Catholics at odds with each other...

Anonymous said...

They are all nice men, Father, that is the danger but they undermine the Church, and those who belong to Christ.
There is only one thing worst than a rotten liberal, that is a nice liberal because they do more damage.
The guy who did the Vatican retreat said that the anti-Christ is an ecologist, a theologian etc., because essentially they are not orientated to Christ!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. This is all very shameful. The struting triumphant ignoramuses will have their moment. All we have to do is rattle them a little and the pus begins to manifest itself. Much prayer needed.

Paulinus said...

This is very much to be welcomed from the man who once said to me 'for 500 years the Church was celebrating Mass in the wrong way; now it is celebrating the right way', and in the presence of the friends and family of a priest known for his love of the Traditional Mass, as he threw earth on his coffin: 'and that's the end of the old Mass in my diocese!'

What a nice guy

Anonymous said...

To be fair, on the issue of pre-1963 music, this was an allegation made in a single comment which has not been substantiated, despite Damian's explicit request for evidence and his statement "I'm not convinced it's true."
If it does turn out to be true, of course, it's something much worse than mere philistinism or poor musical taste - an outright attempt to erase from the Church's memory the traditio and all its works. Very worrying - but let's not jump to conclusions without evidence.

Anonymous said...

"no music whatever written before 1963 is to be used in his hearing"

Sound like His Lordship is at odds with Tradition, Catholic music especially Chant is a form of prayer, not just music of a particular period or taste.

Anonymous said...

I thought most priests were gay and that's why they became priest and as long as they were not 'practicing' that was OK.

Fr Justin said...

Green—does this have any relevance, or is it just a random nasty comment?

Dr. Peter H. Wright said...

No music written after 1962 is to used in my hearing.

And you can quote me.

leutgeb said...

No music before 1962? Even Christmas Carols. Tough.

Phil said...

Maybe I'm being stupid, but I feel I have to choose between loyalty to the Holy Father or my bishop, Crispian Hollis.

How a traditional seminarian would present himself to Bishop Hollis is beyond me? In my opinion, if he wanted to stand a chance, I think he'd have to lie about his loyalty to the Pope and the Church and pretend that the only agenda that mattered was the one pushed by the arch-liberals in the diocese.

I'm sad also, because I grew up in Clifton diocese and don't like the way things are going there either. But as you say: "Who made you?"
"Crispian made me."

Anonymous said...

The days of Hermione Hollis and Rose Budd will be over soon. Unfortunately their clones, Lily Lang and Conman Conry have some years to go. True Catholics to the West of Southwark are in dire straits and need our prayers.

But the truth will out in the end. We need the gift of perseverance.

Fr Justin said...

I'm not convinced that Kieran Conry is the same, to be honest. Yes, he's a liberal, but he has not the same savage agenda. There is more of the genuine liberal about him, and he has a real kindness which shows through from time to time.

Anonymous said...

Fr Justin says of Bishop Budd " I think that at root he's a nice man, and when I knew him in the past, I personally liked him while deploring his opinions. I'd just like to see more effort to rebuild the faith in his diocese."

He is a very nice man, and would have made a caring parish priest.

He is weak, and indecisive. Plymouth Diocese statistics show 10% decrease in Mass attendance between 2004 and 2006. I suspect the decisions are made by the Vicar General.

The parishes are run by old women suffering from empty nest syndrome.