Friday 2 May 2014

No Further Comment

Bishop Campbell maintains there will be no further comment from His Lordship on the shutdown of Protect the Pope blog, which the Bishop states was by no means closed by him. Read it and feel free to comment here.

For me, it clarifies and reveals the particular situation of Protect the Pope in the eyes of the Bishop, but not the particular principle the Bishop expounds, that which seems to me to be, the need for unity before truth. I am not convinced that, at all times, charity is served by not naming individuals who are publicly contradicting the Infallible Magisterium of the Church. Would they need to do so, if Bishops were showing a measure of indifference to the problem or ignoring dissent?

It raises several questions, the most obvious one to me being, why would Bishops be more afraid of revelations of dissident activities in their Dioceses - activities that, at times, involve their complicity or at least indifference - than the urgent need for them to exercise their authority in their Dioceses to maintain, safeguard, teach and defend the Magisterium in its purity? In order to do such at this current time would surely involve a more muscular response from Bishops towards those who publicly espouse those doctrinal positions that are incompatible with the Catholic Faith that they are charged with the duty of teaching. It gets to a point at which those who wish to see Bishops defend that which they are commanded to teach are left wondering whether there is not just indifference to the Truth, but tacit consent in the falsehood being propagated in areas of the Church's life.

With the passing references Bishop Campbell makes to the need for unity and service of the truth in charity, it just so happens that the closure of Protect the Pope will mean less coverage of, say, the activities of ACTA in the Dioceses of England and Wales. Now that The Catholic Herald article has been updated to include the Bishop's statement on the matter, you can still comment upon the issue there.

It would appear it would be better for those who tell the truth about what's really going on in Dioceses of England and Wales to be silencde, or at least rendered silent by requests from their Ordinary, than for Bishops to take seriously their responsibilities to 'recognise dissent for what it is' and to 'teach all nations' - starting with their own Dioceses. If there is one thing St Athanasius taught us (there were many things he taught us), it is that you don't become a Saint by siding with the wrong crowd and I am pretty sure, nay convinced, that if St Athanasius was the Bishop of the Diocese of Lancaster, he would pull Deacon Nick Donnelly to one side and say:

"Well done, thou good and faithful son and servant of the Church. Let every heretic in this Diocese tremble! Give me more names of those who are defiling the purity of the One True Faith!"

10 comments:

Long-Skirts said...

His Lordship said:

"To be clear: I have not closed down Protect the Pope."

I don't understand? WHO closed the blog by the Deacon down? What is the truth?!

Eccles said...

ACTA is meeting in Lancaster on Tuesday. Unfortunately, Bishop Campbell, being old 72, is considered to be too old to attend.

Wake Up England said...

Good.

The bishop has made it clear that he has not closed-down PtP; so now it can continue.

What a marvellous answer to prayer. Thank you Almighty God.

William Weber

Anonymous said...

Did you ever hear such utter obfuscation, and innuendo?? I have not closed down PtP - but I have refused Deacon Donnelly permission to resume posting!!! It is clear the Bishop is concerned only with protecting those in positions of authority in the Church that "oppose the Magisterium"!!! What perverse notion of charity and unity in the Church. It is a mockery of Our Lord and His Teaching.

Annie said...

Long-Skirts,

Bishop Campbell is doing an Orwellian bait-and-switch. It's true he didn't order Nick Donnelly to close it down. Instead, he told the Deacon - when the man asked the Bishop if he might go back to blogging - that ,no, he is to continue the period of "prayer and reflection" that he has been ordered to do. So the Bishop is correct that he hasn't said "No". It's also true that the Bishop won't say "Yes". Clever, isn't he? Also, duplicitous. Also, disgusting.

Mary Kay said...

Well said! In a more sane time, the bishops would be praising such assistance from an ordained deacon. I just don't understand what is happening in the Holy Church (or I do , but don't want to believe it...).

Eccles said...

Oops, my previous comment was garbled.

At 72 Bishop Campbell is considered to be too YOUNG to attend the ACTA meeting in Lancaster.

Stephen said...

I understand a further ACTA meeting is planned for Arundel and Brighton - this time to be held at the Diocesan centre in Crawley. Can someone try and confirm this?

Long-Skirts said...

Annie said...

"Long-Skirts,

Bishop Campbell is doing an Orwellian bait-and-switch... So the Bishop is correct that he hasn't said "No". It's also true that the Bishop won't say "Yes"."

Thank you, Annie. So abominable!

John Vasc said...

'Crawley' - Hm - sounds like an eminently suitable choice of venue for ACTA.

(Just to make it clear: I am not a homophone :-)

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