Our Lady of Fatima

This feast is included as an optional memorial in the universal calendar of the revised missal of Pope John Paul II. Our Lady first appeared to the three children Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco on this day in 1917. Also on this day in 1981 Pope John Paul II survived an assasination attempt in St Peter's Square thanks to the protection of Our Lady of Fatima.

Pope Benedict is in Fatima right now. When he arrived in Portugal on Tuesday, he said:

I come as a pilgrim to Our Lady of Fatima invested from on high with the mission of confirming my brothers and sisters as they advance on their own pilgrimage towards heaven.

The Virgin Mary came from heaven to remind us of the truths of the Gospel which for humankind - lacking in love and without hope of salvation - represent a source of hope... The relationship with God is a constituent part of man who was created and ordained for God, who seeks for truth within his own cognitive structures, who tends towards good in the sphere of volition, and who is attracted by beauty in the aesthetic dimension.

A conscience may be described as Christian in the measure to which it is open to the fullness of the life and wisdom we have in Jesus Christ. The aim of this visit, which I am now beginning under the sign of hope, is to be a proposal of wisdom and of mission.

In an interview with the Press on his flight to Portugal, referring to the current scandals afflicting the Church the Pope said the greatest threat to the Church comes not from without but from within. He also identified himself as a suffering Pope.

Apart from the great vision of the Pope's suffering, which we can primarily ascribe to Pope John Paul II", said Pope Benedict, the apparitions "indicate events of the future of the Church, which develop and are revealed little by little. Thus it is true that, apart from the moment indicated by the vision, we see the need for a passion of the Church, a passion naturally reflected in the person of the Pope, but the Pope stands for the Church and thus it is the sufferings of the Church that are being announced.

As for the novelties we can discover in this message today, we may see that attacks against the Pope and the Church do not only come from outside; rather, the sufferings of the Church come from inside the Church, from the sin that exists in the Church. This was always common knowledge, but today we see it in truly terrifying form: the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from external enemies, but is born of sin within the Church. Thus the Church has a profound need to relearn penance, to accept purification, to learn forgiveness but also the need for justice. Forgiveness does not replace justice.

The Vatican is updating its coverage of the Pope's visit here.

Raquel Welch blames the pill for breakdown in morals

In yesterday's Daily Telegraph, Simon Caldwell reports that the former Playboy favourite has distanced herself from the sexual revolution of which she was a protagonist. John Smeaton of SPUC compares her words as reported by Simon Caldwell:

Miss Welch said the widespread use of oral contraceptives had led to a breakdown in norms of sexual morality and fuelled the growth of rampant promiscuity among the young.

with those of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae:

Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings—and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation—need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is 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. (HV17)

Will people listen?

Could our new Parliament be more pro-life than the previous one?

Several anti-life MP's have lost their seats and been replaced by more pro-life ones. John Smeaton of SPUC analyses the gains and losses.

Abused, but still loves priests

So there we were, two priests, invited to join two women in Derry's City Hotel foyer as we had a late night drink before retiring.

The ladies, from Belfast, had come to Derry for a shopping trip. They remarked on the number of priests and sisters they had noticed in the hotel and we explained we were here for the Canon Law Society of Great Britain and Ireland annual conference. We talked about their love for Padre Pio, their interest in Medjugorje, their doubts about Charismatic Renewal, their respective families and, in my case, our mutual Irish origins.

After a while, I asked them how they were finding things in the current climate of the clerical abuse scandal. One of them replied: "I was a victim of abuse." Well, you can imagine how that reply hit me! And yet she loves the Church. They both said that God meant them to meet us last night. They asked us to pray for them - I said I'd offer Mass for them the following day - and we asked them to pray for us and all priests.

I was touched and humbled by the faith of these good Irish Catholics who continue to believe in God and the Church, continuing to ensure their children prepare for First Communion etc. And yet this has been my constant experience - that Catholics love and pray for their priests, especially when they are in trouble.

The mass media are not reporting the faithfulness of loyal Catholics and the love they have for their priests. Of course, the abuse of priests (a very small number of them) is a terrible thing. But the witness of these two women testifies to faith and grace and to light (without which there would be no shadows).

I should also add that I had an interesting conversation with a Methodist gentleman on the flight from London to Belfast. As I was clearly identifiable as a priest in my clerical collar, it didn't take long for the conversation to come round to the current troubles. This man was full of admiration for us as priests, remarking on the challenging mission we have, and the privilege also of sharing in people's lives and therefore the terrible effects when that trust is betrayed. I was very able to assure him, as he questioned me, that I have never had any doubt about my calling to the priesthood.

I would encourage every priest never to seek to hide his priestly identity. People need to witness this certainty and absence of ambiguity in our calling. Being identified as a  priest marks one out as a servant, available for the people at all times, even if, sometimes, one may become the subject of abusive comments. (Maybe some people have just cause to vent their anger at Christ's representatives just now, who knows?) I have no problem in priests dressing down, having some 'time off' as it were retreating from the crowd by sometimes being one of the crowd. I do so myself. But we should never set out to conceal our identity day to day, whether we are travelling, shopping or just taking a walk.

Irish TD almost right on abortion

I found out via my subscription to Family and Life's ezine that Leo Varadkar, a young 31 year old half-Indian half-Irish TD with a medical background and apparently a somewhat controversial figure, accepts "a lot of Cahtolic social teaching" even though "not a practising religious person", specifically that abortion in the case of rape should not be legal since the child is the innocent party.

So reports the Irish Independent. This particularly significant given the Irish Labour party's intention to modify the Irish Constitution to make abortion legal if it gets into power at the next general election.

Despite his medical background, his views on some controversial medical issues are quite black and white -- such as abortion. "I would accept a lot of Catholic social teaching. I'm not a practising religious person, but I would accept that. I wouldn't be in favour of abortion. The only thing that would be a grey area is if there's a genuine threat or risk to the life of the mother."

What about the provision of abortion services for rape victims? "I wouldn't be in favour of it in that case, and, you know, first of all, it isn't the child's fault that they're the child of rape. You can say the same thing about disabled children. You know, some people would make that argument in favour of abortion. It's not their fault they're disabled. I wouldn't be in favour of it in those circumstances either.

"Even, how would that work practically? Would someone have to prove that they've been raped? I think where that's been brought in in countries it has more or less led to abortion on demand," he adds.

Is it not double standards to have more than 5,000 women a year travelling to the UK and elsewhere for abortions? "I don't think that's double standards. People travel overseas to do things overseas that aren't legal in Ireland all the time. You know, are we going to stop people going to Las Vegas? Are we going to stop people going to Amsterdam? There are things that are illegal in Ireland and we don't prevent people from travelling overseas to avail of them."

Mr Varadkar can be contacted via email or post (37A Main Street, Ongar, Dublin 15).

May: a month of Rosaries for priests

This from Mayfeelings

Mgr Harbart on the New Translation of the Missal

As Father Finigan informs us. An excellent 11 minute video - well worth listening too.

There's a fault with the embedded code so click on this link