A sinister feeling...

...somehow seems to hang over everything. The current cliche being parroted is that there is a need for a "complete overhaul" of our constitutional system, that we need " a whole new set of structures". Instead of grasping the point that dishonesty and cheating among Members of Parliament is wrong, people are swallowing the message being put about that Parliamentary democracy is somehow itself to blame. I find this scary.

The ballot being held on Thursday for the "Euro-Parliament" will confuse people further, as the country is divided into massive Euro-regions, for each of which a lengthy list of candidates has been drawn up, with large numbers of minority parties. It's all daft: a Euro-MEP recieves vast sums of taxpayers' money: £83,262 a year plus £34,000 - yes, you read that figure correctly - for attending, and for food and drink (!) plus £229,000 for staff and then the staggering sums for travel which can reach practically any amount.

Fringe nutcase groups do well when there is public confusion and cynicism, so weird things may emerge when Thursday's votes are counted and analysed. And meanwhile the hot weather is bringing out the fights and the drunkeness, the ambulances rushing teenagers to Accident and Emergency units through the suburbs as the "binge-drinking" sessions conclude with kids collapsing in the street on Saturday and Sunday nights...the British Humanist Association has been given £135,000 of taxpayers' money to organise a system for showing employers how to check on their staff under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations...

A place of sanity: a packed Sunday morning Mass, and the due-to-be-ordained deacon solemnly making his public affirmation of faith "I believe in God, the Father Almighty..." Even though we say it together Sunday by Sunday, and had sung it earlier "Credo in unum Deum...", it was powerfully moving to hear him repeating the words and ending with his formal statement of belief in the doctrines of the Church and the supremacy of the Roman Pontiff. A sense of unity with the Church around the world and down the generations. In a hot church packed with all sorts of people, a family with wriggling children in the pew in front of me, a child sucking an orange drink alongside, a piously veiled lady plus two rather skimpily-topped teenagers behind, it somehow felt as if here was, after all, something real and important.

Acheery note...

...from the team at Youth 2000, about whom I wrote a feature for the Catholic Times recently. They got quite a response, including a donation from an enthusiastic reader....they ask me to mention their Summer Prayer Festival at Walsingham, and also the big fund-raising Ball, which takes place this Saturday. It sounds terrific,reception, dinner and dancing and fun...

New evidence...

...as the old Soviet archives open up, that the campaign to smear Pope Pius XII was started in 1963/64/65 as part of the general work against the Church. It was in no way generated by Jewish people, who on the contrary were admiring of the man whose efforts had ensured the survival of so many during against all the odds during the Holocaust, by opening up the Vatican and its associated convents and monasteries as places of refuge and hiding. The next two to three years will see intense battles between historians and campaigners on this, as history vindicates truth...

Watch out, incidentally,for a new campaign: this one is against the canonisation of John Paul II. The line being pushed is that all those "Santo Subito" calls in St Peter's Square, the home-made banners etc were "just an orchestrated thing" by "people who had been organised to do this". All part of some plot, you see. And presumably Papa Benedict is part of the plot too with his immediate reference to "the great John Paul" his waiving of the five-year-rule etc. Meanwhile, says the campaign, JPII wasn't really holy, it's all a Polish thing really, he's been over-hyped...all that stuff about his role in defeating Communism, the gathering of the young at those vast prayer-rallies, the fostering of vocations, the revival of Confession and the Rosary, the outreach to people of all faiths,the devotion to Mary, the fresh vigour brought to the notion of the Church centred on a rock, the inspirational teachings on love and marriage and family, the staunch upholding of eternal truths in a world with so many tired agendas. All just, um, "an orchestrated thing"...

And at last...

...I had time to watch the latest excellent DVD from Mary's Dowry Productions. It's a life of St Edmund Campion and it's very good. Would work very well for a school group, or a Confirmation class. Order it from the link given. It explains the background and sets the scene well for the life of this extraordinarily heroic saint, and shows the tragedy of what took place in Elizabethan England - the horror and the heroism. This man should have been a leading public figure in the life of the nation, instead of a fugitive ministering where he could...the most glittering light of his generation at Oxford, a man of generosity, great intellect, humour, and charm as well as energy and courage. The scenes of the English countryside, coast etc, are an effective backdrop for the story, and convey an evocative message...

Auntie is busy...

...with a good many projects (one book has now gone to the printer. Another is slowly gestating. Diary rather full with various speaking engagements. Australia trip at planning stage). But never too busy to read.

Here are two books you shouldn't miss: Michael Burleigh's Sacred Causes: Religion and Politics from Europe's Dictators to Al Quaeda; and Peter Seewald's Benedict XVI: an intimate portrait The latter is a cheering read, full of interesting details. It's also rather touching, including as it does some frank glimpses of the author's own spiritual journey.

Michael Burleigh's book is gripping, well-researched, well-written and rather worrying.

I have never really liked...

...hot weather, and as the sun shimmers on hot metal and railway carriages get stuffy, and London pavements reflect back the glare, I hurry to meetings feeling depressed and bothered. As well I might: this is a depressing city in a worried country.The scandals about Parliamentary expenses continue and - in a society now incapable of understanding that the issue at stake is people's morals and the lack of them - the buzzwords now are all about "completely changing or Parliamentary system" and "recognising that the whole system needs to change." It is horrible watching a nation's institutions slither away...

Among the more sinister phrases being spluttered is about the need for a "watchdog on Parliament". Unelected, presumably. Under "strong leadership", perhaps. With "real powers" to "get things done". Ugh.

At the weekend...

...happy times with young relations, the delight of small children running about, a toy railway, a great-granny dispensing chocolate doughnuts, Auntie hugely enjoying herself.

Here is a blog...

...full of excellent things, with some new features just added. Try it here

Lunch with the Speaker...

...on Sunday, after meeting him at Brompton Oratory.

Yes, really.

The Speaker of the Parliament of South Australia, Jack Snelling, has been visiting London. He is a family friend and I took him and a colleague for an Auntie Joanna's London History Walk and for lunch. Along the Embankment, not far from the Temple, you can stand with each foot in a different city one in Westminster and the other in the City of London. Most satisfactory. We also looked at the magnificent Battle of Britain memorial. Its creator - whom I have met and who is a very talented artist - is now working on a new project, the memorial to the Marian shrines destroyed at the Reformation, which will be erected at Willesden, site of the great London Medieval Shrine to Our Lady.

At Mass at the Oratory, the present state of things in Parliament was mentioned in the sermon - including a reference to the Speaker. I bet the priest didn't know there was a Speaker there listening to it.

The word "Westminster"...

...has not had good echoes in recent days.The Parliamentary financial scandals are reverberating around, and the sense that Parliament has in recent years lost its authority is much discussed: we are only just beginning to grasp the full implications of all of this.

But there is another Westminster in the news today, as the new Archbishop was installed at Westminster Cathedral. Yesterday evening I attended the Solemn Vespers attended by the Archbishop - evening light pouring through the Cathedral windows, voices chanting. Lots of lovely titles of Our Lady in the litany - Our Lady of Hal, our Lady of Westminster - and lots of English saints: Erconwald, Elphege, Etheldreda...

Today, the Mass was broadcast to people outside in the piazza, and with a young relative I dropped by...it was rather marvellous to hear the prayers pouring out into London, and to be caught up in them. The new Archbishop took up, in his sermon exploring St Paul, the theme of faith and reason, echoing the H. Father on this subject.

London was bathed in sunshine - we spent the afternoon in St James Park, our sandwiches the first picnic of the year.

Summer plans...

...include involvement in the Summer School launched some years ago by the late David Foster. It will be held at the Oratory Prep Schoo, in a lovely setting in countryside near Reading. All young Catholics are welcome. The focus is on exploring all sorts of subjects including history, music, general knowledge, from a Catholic perspective. Details - email here.

In a rush...

...yesterday, to St Mary Magdalen's, Willesden Green, to give a talk to a (large) group of young engaged couples, preparing for marriage. Spoke about celebrating feasts and seasons at home, how the calendar works,"domestic church", praying together, customs, traditions, origins of pub signs, nursery rhymes, etc. Interested? Contact me via this Blog if you'd like a talk for your group,school, Confirmation class...

This is a v. good parish, with Fr Hugh Mackenzie as parish priest - also edits Faith magazine...

Too busy...

...to do much blogging. Wonderful weekend at Maryvale, lectures on Revelation by Fr Tom Norris of Maynooth., plus an excellent visit to Birmingham Cathedral: magnificent Pugin building, interesting history (Bishop Ullathorne, and his heroic campaign to stop the cruel transportation system for convicts), some of the most glorious stained glass I've seen, and we sang Night Prayer in a small chapel...

A friend emailed me the other day to enquire about doing a Maryvale degree course. I'd say to anyone: go right ahead. It is is hard work, and there are essays to tackle, it's intellectually demanding, exams loom...but it is so hugely interesting, and my only regret is that I didn't do it years ago.

Domestic note: could the kind American lady who sent a Comment to this blog following my report on the Oratory School Mass contact me again? I have been unable to reach you on the email address you gave me....

Political scandals...

...dominating the news. And as I was thinking about all this while doing the housework, more literature plopped through the door for the Euro-elections. Bright snazzy leaflet from an extreme right-wing group, making popularist noises. But this group actually has sinister and nutty origins with conspiracy theories, racial rubbish, anti-Jewish ranting etc...it is horrible to see this sort of thing being able to gain ground in the present climate.

A lot depends now on the Tory party - as the Opposition, they are the only team that can show that Parliamentary democracy and our conventions and traditions can work...yes, yes, I know their own slate is dirty too, and those involved must go. But there is still scope for the formation of a team that presents a realistic alternative to the present Govt, which according to our traditions and conventions must resign and now.

We need a General Election before extremist groups can get themselves funded. Some wise Parliamentary work needs to happen next, to get the PM in a car to Buckingham Palace to admit to the Queen that his Govt has lost power and authority, and he's resigning.

As I was chatting on the phone...

...to a friend and inevitably discussing the news about Govt ministers and other MPs lining their pockets with our money, there was a knock at the door. Local canvassers for the Euro-elections! Poor dears, a thankless task at this time.

Now: revealing some of the details of the quite extraordinary corruption within the EU: that's the next task. Euro-MPs can claim quite fantastic amounts of money for doing, well, nothing in particular in Strasbourg and Luxembourg and Brussels, and then on top can claim all sorts of "expenses", meals and overnight stays and so on and so on...

The Holy Father snubs Williamson...

... with a direct reference to the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust, saying, in his first speech on arriving in Israel,that his visit is an opportunity to honour their memory, and that every effort must be made "to combat anti-semitism wherever it is found".

The Holy Father was received warmly and graciously in Israel, as in Jordan. View here, and also here, , a moving ceremony at Yad Vashem as the Holy Father lays a wreath and reads from the Old Testament, and says of the six million that "they have lost their lives, but they have never lost their names...may their suffering never be denied, belittled, or forgotten"

Recently...

...I've been to Bath for a reception given by the University chaplaincy in the glorious surroundings of Prior Park College, where we were made most welcome by the Headmaster. Fr Bill McLoughlin, the Chaplain to Bath and Bath Spa Universities, is a Servite priest, and it was rather fine to see him with his Servite colleagues in their traditional black caped cassocks, against the backdrop of the superb gardens and valley at Prior Park in the evening light, a scene worth painting...the Reception was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress, wearing their golden chains of office - it was all perfectly splendid, and well-attended by the students - a good crowd, who come from all parts of the world and I enjoyed chatting to some from France and from Poland...

And at the weekend I was in Brentwood Essex, speaking at the Essex Recusant Society (ie Catholic history). A warm welcome, and a chance to visit Brentwood Cathedral, which is the only modern cathedral I've visited which could honestly be described with words like "grand" and "splendid"... and it does feel as if it is meant to be used for the worship of God, and also as if it will last.

Government corruption...

...revealed in the expenses Ministers and Members of Parliament have been claiming, is horrific. What kind of moral universe do these people inhabit? Of course some of the ways they have been fiddling expenses to get the maximum out of taxpayers' money are quite amusing, in a ghastly kind of way. One MP claimed £7,000 for gardening, another didn't like the decorative ceiling of her new home so claimed public funding for it to be replaced...and the way they've all been claiming for gigantic quantities of food!! They and their families must have the most gargantuan appetites...exceeded only by their ability to rush about from house to house as the MP designates first this, and then another, residence as the "main home" in order for it to be funded by the taxpayer. Oh, and many of these describe themselves as "socialists"

No use saying "Ah, all politicians are just cheats" or "Oh, it's the system". No. The system is this: those who, currently holding Government office, have been telling untruths and cheating to get money from public funds should be sacked by the Prime Minister. Now. And if that doesn't happen, we get the chance to sack the PM and the present Government at a General Election. That's the system. Take note, and act accordingly.

To Liverpool's Hope University...

...for a conference sponsored by the Catholic Union, on the subject of Catholic schools. A large attendance, mostly teachers, with school governors, clergy, and representatives from various organisations. Speakers included Professor Gerald Grace who gave a detailed and effective defence of the right of the Church to run Catholic schools, and to have support from public funds in so doing. His talk was an analysis of a paper he originally delivered to the - somewhat hostile! - Socialist Education Conference. We also heard from Dr Andrew Morris, whose excellent book Fifty Years On: The Case for Catholic Schools I read on the way home and warmly recommend. I was impressed by the quality of the people at the conference - there are some great teachers out there. An atmosphere of realism about the day-to-day life of Catholic schools in modern Britain, a sense of honesty and openess in discussion, lots of good humour, an absence of jargon or cliches.

Liverpool Hope University was created from various teacher-training colleges, Anglican and Catholic, and has a rather fine set of buildings set in green lawns and with a peaceful atmosphere. It was a good place to be discussing these things.

Today...

...is a Bank Holiday. Our holiday system has gone loopy in recent years. First came the abolition of the Whitsun weekend - we now have a random holiday weekend which is meant to be called (I think) the Late Spring Bank Holiday which is too muddly and bureaucratic, so people tend to call it Whitsun even though it isn't. Then today we have the May Day Weekend, but we've never celebrated the horrible lefty-MayDay-socialist drivel here,DG, and the ancient Catholic pre-Reformation dawn gatherings of branches and flowers to decorate houses with greenery etc are a thing of the past, banished 450 years ago, so the day doesn't work very well. Catholic parishes and schools honour Mary in May, but the Bank Holiday isn't a suitable day for doing so - as all the schools are closed - so it al falls a bit flat. There are still some May Queen celebrations and Maypole dancing, and it would be nice to see more of that...

And soon Ascension Day will be coming up....so....

...while on the subject of holidays...we know that Govt bureaucrats are hopeless but what about the Church? Please, please dear Bishops: GIVE US BACK OUR HOLY DAYS! The plan for moving them to "the nearest Sunday" hasn't worked. Most people don't notice an Ascension Sunday as being particularly different from any other Sunday....what makes a difference, especially to children, is having a special attendance at church on a THURSDAY! Oh, and PS: lots of children at our Catholic schools don't get taken to Mass on a Sunday anyway, so having a Feast Day on a weekday was an opportunity for taking them, and showing them something of the glories of the Church...and now they have been robbed of that chance.

The excellent...

...FIRST THINGS website has just started a new section on art and curiosities. Enjoy it here. Actually the whole website has much good reading, especially on American current issues...

Teachers!!

If you are a teacher in a Catholic primary school, you ma\y be interested in the STUDY DAY ON ART AND MUSIC IN RE being organised by the Association of Catholic Women in June. Book yourself in now! It is hosted by the Westminster Cathedral Choir school - right next to the Cathedral in Ambrosden Avenue - and the day is FREE for teachers and includes lunch, and an opportunity to learn Gregorian Chant...see here for further details....

I've just been watching...

...the newest DVD from Mary's Dowry Productions. It's about St Edmund Campion, and is rather good. A thoughtful and reflective presentation: a narrator telling the story as though by Campion himself, while the drama unfolds with actors in scenes ranging from glorious countryside,an Oxford college, Elizabethan manor houses, and then to the final horror of the Tower...while Campion's cruel imprisonment and death are presented accurately, there is nothing that would be unsuitable for, say, teenage viewing, and the whole message is one of courage and faith. Worth buying for school or parish use: a VI form or Confirmation group would benefit...

John Henry Newman...

...founded The Oratory School 150 years ago, and on Saturday I was privileged to be present at a glorious Mass in Westminster Cathedral to mark the anniversary. Archbishop Vincent Nichols celebrated the Mass - he had been invited to do so as Archbishop of Birmingham, the diocese in which Newman lived and worked and in which the school stands - and of course is now Archbishop-elect of Westminster, so rather beautifully he made a special early arrival at Westminster, as it were, for this special event...and will be returning in his new official capacity in a couple of weeks' time...

It truly was a glorious Mass. The Head Boy of the Preparatory School, and the School Captain of the main School did the first two readings, there was some fine singing from the school choir, pupils from the Prep school brought up the Offertory, and there was a grand attendance of the entire school plus friends, supporters, parents, past pupils,past staff, and more...there was a splendid sermon quoting some of Newman's most luminous words, and the Mass ended with a beautiful Te Deum in thanksgiving for all that has been achieved in this school down one and half centuries...

Afterwards a most convivial gathering in the Cathedral Hall over wine and food. Much talk, a wonderful atmosphere: among those present were the Sisters of The Work at Littlemore, governors of the School including Antony Tyler who runs Fisher Press, and of course the distinguished preacher at the Mass, Bishop Philip Boyce, Bishop of Raphoe,. along with many other clergy including the school Chaplain Mgr Antony Conlon ...

May is beginning...

...month of devotion to Mary...

Enjoy this:

Every week...

...a Christian group concerned with, among other things, defending human rights, sends out a round-up of news. The latest included this worrying news. Pray for this courageous teacher, who appears to be enduring most unjust treatment.

If you want to know...

...about my next EWTN series (starts this month), or want to see how Auntie looks after her TV tidy-up (remember that Blog post about going to a makeup lady?), then click on here