SEARCHING FOR THE ARCHBISHOP (12.3.1); Re: His Grace and the subject of "women priests"; our analysis finally triggered by matters arising from the Roscoe Lecture, October 2015; this time considering the blurred lines of the Nottingham period from 2002-07; third in a short sub-series; Notes #15

Advice: this post (12.3.1) is the third of a sub-set within a broader Series. It can be read either as a standalone commentary or in the light of the first two parts (Link 12.1), (Link 12.2) 

We pick-up our Series by beginning to concentrate roughly on the period immediately after the confusing events of 2001, as explored in our last post, until circa 2007, i.e. the first half of His Grace's 13.4 years as the ninth Bishop of Nottingham – his first episcopal appointment following his consecration in December 2000.

In theory, this should have been a delicate time for the still relatively new and episcopally inexperienced Dominican bishop given the confusion that, apparently, he knew had wrongly been spread about his views during his first year in Nottingham. For as we later learned (but not until 2008) the disturbing events of 2001, when His Grace was publicly proclaimed to be pro so-called "women priests", apparently stemmed from a misquotation in a botched interview first published in a local diocesan youth magazine and then in the (apparently independent) diocesan newspaper. Therefore, based on the clarifications given in 2008 – when His Grace unequivocally stated that he was against the ordination of females and furthermore that he had clearly stated as much in 2001 only for the complete opposite to be printed – it is a reasonable retrospection to say that, from 2002 onwards, he would have been keen to ensure there were no further erroneous perceptions about him spread around.



That should have especially been the case concerning the issue of female ordination which was in even heightened media vogue that year given that it was the 10th anniversary of the Church of England's vote to allow so-called "women priests".

Further, in the absence of any public clarification (until 2008) of His Grace's true views concerning the priestess matter, he will have been acutely aware that orthodox Catholics, and not just in the Nottingham diocese, will have been unjustly labouring, from 2001, under a disturbing double misapprehension. Namely that he was in open dissent against both Church doctrine and the then reigning pontiff. For His Holiness Pope St John Paul II (1978-2005) only seven years earlier, had emphatically re-asserted the Church's infallible (Link) teaching founded on Christ's obvious Truth regarding the all-male priesthood and had forcefully shut-down debate on the matter in his apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (1994).

So, any retrospective analysis of those immediate years post-2001, you'd imagine, should reveal a bishop assiduously avoiding any hint of being even in the slightest bit lax or ambiguous on the issue.

Instead, what occurred was quite the opposite. In fact, what the period of 2002/03, in particular, reveals is a bishop acting consistently with one who had been said to have been pro-"women priests", rather than one who had been scandalously misquoted and was allegedly categorically orthodox.

Surely the last thing that the then Bishop McMahon would have wanted was a series of events that seemed to further underline his erroneously published stance on female ordination?

But that's exactly what happened.

For the entire episode of the infamous Nottingham Diocesan Assembly that first surfaced in 2002 not only suggested that the diocese was being shepherded by a bishop who, at the very least, was ambiguous about female ordination but was also tolerant of some sickening views on the attributes of God the Father.

Moreover, these weren't the only ultra-Modernist signals sent from His Grace in those years. So, although the primary purpose of this post and this Series sub-set is to explore his views on the matter of female ordination, we feel that to properly set the context of the first half of his Nottingham episcopacy it is instructive to consider, what we believe to be, two other critical aspects that were to the fore in this period. These were: His Grace's promotion of so-called "Gay Masses" which was not only a scandal but also demonstrated a startling lack of prudence given some very specific and raw local circumstances which we will discuss in our next post; and his growing and continued connections to the notoriously dissenting and liturgically aberrant annual assembly known as the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress (LAREC).

* It should be noted here that His Grace later firmly declared the cessation of these Masses and, as far as we are aware, is still the only English bishop to rightly expose the true and screamingly obvious duplicitous agenda behind these scandalous occasions. 

Incidentally, whilst we were pleased to note that His Grace will not be attending this year's LAREC event (the last weekend in February) it was disappointing – though not surprising (it undoubtedly will be for some onlookers) – to see that instead he will be attending a week-long retreat in Rome with the Christ-foreshortening and false ecumenism-peddling One World Religion deceit known as Focolare (its "Becoming One" positions: on Judaism, on Buddhism, on Islam and on Hinduism). That matter, however, notwithstanding our links, is certainly beyond the scope of this post and Series sub-set.

Our next post (12.3.2), therefore will address three intertwining issues prominent in the first half of His Grace's Nottingham episcopacy whilst his diocese was still under the un-clarified impression that he was pro-priestess:

i) The Nottingham Diocesan Assembly of 2003 and the subsequent Diocesan Pastoral Plan;

ii) the implementation (and subsequent cessation) of Masses in his diocese, celebrated by his Dominican brothers, for the pastoral care of so-called "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered" (LGBT) Catholics;

and

iii) His Grace's support for LAREC, an annual gathering which, particularly under the tenure of the thoroughly discredited and notorious dissenter, His Eminence Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, became a key seedbed for the global agitating movement known as ACTA (A Call to Action) which campaigns for the Church to abandon its teaching on a range of issues, not least regarding the non-ordination of women, abortion and contraception, and same-sex activities (see some of our previous posts on LAREC and His Grace's involvement with it here and here). Indeed, as our regular readers will now know from our previous posts, His Grace – on the very same weekend that many local Traditionalists in this territory were being informed of the abrupt cessation of their cherished Sunday and Holy Days Extraordinary Form Mass – scandalously and overtly (to almost complete silence across this archdiocese and beyond) welcomed the British wing of the ACTA set to Liverpool for its so-called "National Conference". Again for balance, it has to be conceded that His Grace is not alone in supporting this rebel group, for as exposed earlier this month by the indomitable Torch of the Faith blog (which is also based in this archdiocese but categorically has no connection with Liverpolitanus) both Their Lordships The Rt Revv. Bishops Peter Doyle and Philip Egan, of Northampton, and Portsmouth, respectively, have also been conspicuously promoting ACTA or implicitly endorsing its legitimacy). Further, it is to be noted that Cardinal Mahony, who was embarrassingly silenced, disciplined and removed (Link - New York Times) from public speaking in January 2013 by his successor, His Grace The Most Rev. José Horacio Gómez, fifth Archbishop of Los Angeles, is a long-term friend of Archbishop McMahon. Indeed, as our previous post in this Series sub-set showed, His Grace sent an immediate – and we believe deliberate – signal that was surely to be received by those with eyes to see, by inviting Cardinal Mahony to his "installation Mass" as Archbishop of Liverpool and is clearly pictured (much like at many liturgically-aberrant occasions at LAREC) standing alongside him on the cathedral sanctuary as a distinguished guest of honour; n.b. this being 14 months after the Hollywood-born Cardinal had been humiliatingly censured. Some things are hidden in plain sight. By their friends...
  

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Prior to our next post, however, we wish to state a couple of things:

Firstly, a reminder as to why we are retrospectively examining these issues. There are two points primarily:

i) We have been repeatedly told by many commentators that His Grace is an orthodox, Tradition-leaning, liturgically-conservative blessing not only to the whole Archdiocese of Liverpool but particularly those attached to the Church's former liturgical traditions. This is based on the fact that he has undoubtedly shown himself, in the last half decade or so, to be friendly and accessible to Traditionalists, with an undoubted highlight already demonstrated in his short time so far in Liverpool i.e. his generous invitation to the archdiocese of the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP) in order for them to take ownership the former Benedictine church of St Mary, Warrington. Despite this, and counter-intuitively, we – and many of our fellow Traditionalists both in this archdiocese and beyond – still have good reason for being anxious about His Grace's true Church-view, his real leanings and the broader direction that he would wish to steer the local Church towards, particularly in the wake of the 2015 Synod on the Family in Rome and the ensuing (imminently expected) communication concerning the same from His Holiness Pope Francis;

ii) Even in this relatively new (less than two years) archbishopric, His Grace has shown worrying tendencies towards the issue of female ordination and, as such, we have felt the need to consider the headline moments across his entire episcopacy (since December 2000) which suggests a conflicting record, at best, by anyone's standards. We are deeply anxious about His Grace. We appreciate that we are unlike some other local Traditionalists in this regard and we respect that. However, we believe there are strong grounds for our position and therefore it has been, and is, our intention via this Series – and especially this specific sub-set – to demonstrate them. We see this a service both to those who share our fears and those who don't so that they can all reach or reinforce their own conclusions. We repeat what we have said before: we are not undertaking these studies gratuitously or maliciously; we actually have no real desire to do so at all but we reluctantly feel that it is incumbent upon us. We are deeply confused and concerned about His Grace's true views. As such, we very much are "Searching for the Archbishop..." in this finite Series. Certainly, though, the sooner that we complete our exercise the better for all concerned, not least His Grace.

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Secondly, before our next post looks at (among other things) the lamentable episode of the "God is She" - Nottingham Diocesan Assembly of 2003 and the subsequent Diocesan Pastoral Plan, we express a view, informed by history, that suggests we should be very concerned about the coming period in the Archdiocese of Liverpool. For we can't escape the lesson that His Grace, less than two years into his Nottingham bishopric – so roughly at the same juncture he now is at in Liverpool – decided to call a diocesan "Assembly". Nothing intrinsically bad in that of course. However, in the endlessly agitating, falsely ecumenical, rampantly progressive, furiously feminist, equality saturated and mercy-sans-justice-obsessed post-conciliar era, the concept of a diocesan "Assembly" is enough to freeze the blood.

Also, now that we're in the Franciscan papacy, with all things synodal firmly on the buzz-list, and whilst we also fear what may shortly emerge from the Vatican, it is disquieting to note that His Grace seems to be a firm champion of decentralisation, certainly if his Nottingham years and ACTA involvement are any indication. For we know that His Grace is a "big event" man, whether they be "Assemblies", "Synods" or "Congresses", such as the Modernist-mayhem he is strongly attached to in Los Angeles. He is also a firm advocate of the type of "big gatherings" associated with the new-era Church movements such as the aforementioned Focolare and the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (which we will look at in a later post) both are which are notorious proponents of some of the most wretched liturgies you will see this side of LAREC.

Also, he clearly sees "big statement, big screen" events – replete with meaningless modern-marketeering, and always with trumpetz-tambz-n-trianglz aplenty – as another great driver of Nu-Church renewal e.g. the high-percussion and Latin rhythms at the recent Embrace 15 "Build My Kingdom" event last November at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King (though he was far from the only national bishop in attendance; e.g. His Lordship The Rt Rev. Mark Davies, Bishop of Shrewsbury, considered by many to be one of the two most orthodox bishops in England & Wales – the other being the aforementioned Bishop Egan of Portsmouth – was conspicuously present, although it has to be said, if photographic and video evidence is anything to go by, he bore the "roped in" diplomatic countenance of a man who really wished he was anywhere but his present surroundings...but don't take our words for it, that's only our subjective take on things).

Indeed that Embrace Mass was notable for two things (apart from the usual zany liturgy which we now expect as the norm); for, firstly, as evidenced by the rows of empty seats (see the linked video at the very bottom) it showed the youthful "fruits of Vatican II" to be the pipe dream it always has been and always will be except for those most determined to deny this long-since unfolded reality; secondly, this was the second Mass that His Grace attended that particular autumn Saturday, having earlier assisted at the throne for the Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving for the inauguration of the FSSP-England's mission at St Mary, Warrington. We'll leave readers to decide which set of truly depressing Flickr photos (Link) were breathlessly uploaded on to the official archdiocesan website homepage within hours (as though there was much to boast about!). We've given up waiting for the "other set" to be uploaded.

Like we've said before, we fear that, given His Grace's clear predilection for the "new Spirit", this archdiocese – so battered for decades by the long-lasting deleterious effects and the "Easter People" legacy of the 1980 National Pastoral Congress (NPC) – infamously held in this very territory – is headed for yet another synod-congress-assembly-council type of dissent fest that we were assaulted by 35 years ago and that the Nottingham diocese was treated to only 13 years ago. For the best dissection of the long-reaching events of the 1980 NPC, we here provide a portal link to a thorough deconstruction of that most lamentable episode in modern English & Welsh Catholic history (as codified in the above link by the referring, Clifton diocese-based Traditional Catholic blog "An Honour and a Responsibility" but which was published by "Ttony" on the long-running and consistently excellent British Traditional Catholic blog "The Muniment Room"; the link connects both of these greatly respected sites).

Finally, for now, as a sidenote, we note from the Embrace Facebook page that its organisers have suddenly opted not to hold a 2016 event. This is in order to take a year "break" to "ensure that the next conference is even better". Attendees from the 2015 event are currently being surveyed as to how that aim can be achieved.

If any of them are reading, then our advice is simple given that they will now all have a free Saturday in November. Form yourselves into a Juventutem group; contact the FSSP at Warrington, and request that they give you some basic instruction on the theology of the Traditional liturgy and what – and more specifically Who – a Catholic church sanctuary is designed for; and then ask that the Fraternity priests at St Mary celebrate at least a Low Mass for you (but preferably a Solemn High Mass) and soak up the endless bounty of graces that Christ wishes you all to receive.

It will be the best decision you will ever make.

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• Just hours but Catholic worlds apart – contrasting the two Liverpool archdiocesan events of just one late November Saturday afternoon in 2015, both attended by His Grace The Most Rev. Malcolm McMahon; (top) - screenshot of the cover of the winter issue of the FSSP-England quarterly periodical Dowry showing the Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving at noon for the inauguration of the FSSP-England's mission at St Mary, Warrington; (bottom) - a screenshot extract of the Flickr photo home page for the Embrace 15 "Build My Kingdom" event (a YouTube video of the Mass at this event is shown at the foot), held some 28 miles away, at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King 

(* public domain, fair usage: n.b. no inference of support for, or connection to, this blog should be drawn by our presentation of materials relating to either FSSP-England or Embrace 15, neither of which has any connection to Liverpolitanus which is a strictly lay-run and purposefully independent platform, predominantly hailing in any case from the City of Liverpool in the Archdiocese of Liverpool). 

• Oh and just one last word of advice, to the young man in one of the utterly depressing pictures above, and those who think like him: when you enter a Catholic church – and especially if you're afforded the monumental privilege of entering the sanctuary (however inexplicably that is granted to you!), then TAKE YOUR DAMNED HAT OFF, LAD! God is present! Have some awareness! Show some respect! And be grateful that we weren't there (hardly likely) for you can be assured as flatly as your cap sits that it would have been publicly removed for you and thrust firmly into your chest!

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