SEARCHING FOR THE ARCHBISHOP (11) - Re: Anticipating His Holiness' decree by 10 months; washing the feet of women at the OF mandatum; Notes #12

We've been holding-off from publishing this for a while.

Well, 10 months to be exact (*).

Today seems as good/bad a day as any to do so, though.

"Anneye got three Hail Marys off der Bishop of Liverpewl! LOL!"; more "Cillagate"

Our first post of the new secular year (Deo gratias for safe delivery).

Sadly, we find our first duty is to report further fallout from "Cillagate" (pew nod to the prodigious team at Torch of the Faith for originating that pithy short-hand for this local and national [well, it should have been!] Catholic scandal).

We'd hoped that our last word on this, still all-too-depressing, mess had been written with the last of our three posts dissecting the repulsive, episcopally-approved occurrences that were permitted in this archdiocese late last summer. We use the term "our last word" with no little irony, for it was an equal scandal that, apart from this parish – and the aforementioned Torch of the Faith blog, and the superb Catholic Collar and Tie blog – one of this land's biggest public sacrileges and insults to the Lord Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in years, certainly one of the most widely broadcast, was completely ignored not only across the Catholic media but also by the Traditional Catholic blogosphere. We're tempted to say something about "the unreported north" but we'll let it go; let's face it, near everyone else has!).

Eight Months into 2015 – State of the Disunion Address; Re (amongst other things): attitudes towards abuses of the Blessed Sacrament; and broader matters "in light of recent events"

If we're correct in assuming that our local Ordinary – His Grace, the Most Rev. Malcolm McMahon OP – was fully consulted about (as he should have been) and then approved the recently televised, radio-broadcasted and cyber-relayed liturgical scandals, Eucharistic abuses and sacrileges that occurred in these parts, all of which can objectively be proven by video evidence, then it's perhaps appropriate to now revisit footage of another event held earlier this year.

We refer to the publicly available recording of a gathering, as publicised in early summer on Liverpolitanus, which had been held in February 2015 far from this archdiocese. On the west coast of the USA, in fact. We chose not to comment fully about the footage at that time. Rather, we felt that the actions purposefully caught on camera – indeed promoted on YouTube for worldwide witness, no less, presumably with some intent towards "evangelisation" – were best left to speak for themselves.

For a while.

Who it's all about...Re: the "Requiem Mass" for Priscilla Maria Veronica Willis OBE (aka "Cilla Black" - the UK celebrity singer and TV star) at the Catholic church of St Mary, Woolton, Liverpool - August 20th, 2015 (#3); Scrutiny

This third post on the subject follows our previous two here (1) and here (2). The posts should be considered as a set.

The "Order of Service" produced for Cilla Black's funeral (a BBC link to the document is here) is all that's needed to prove that a potential public scandal and Eucharistic sacrilege lay in wait. Many alert Catholics saw it coming a mile off. We did. The team at Torch of the Faith can even provide documentary evidence (provably published just two hours prior to the funeral) that they did.

If lay people were switched-on enough to the dangers, you'd expect that a permanent deacon, two priests and an auxiliary bishop – i.e. the four-hand clerical team that celebrated the funeral –  were equally so. Either that quartet knew the clear risks, or they didn't. Simple as that. If they didn't, then serious questions should be asked about the extent of their prudent involvement in the preparation of a very public funeral broadcast live in the UK on TV, radio and the Internet – the latter also having a global reach; nothing, absolutely nothing, should have been left to chance, misinterpretation, or ambiguity. If, however, they did know of the possible perils (far more likely), then more serious questions must be asked about why they didn't take firm, preventative action.

What's it all about...? Re: the "Requiem Mass" for Priscilla Maria Veronica Willis OBE (aka "Cilla Black" - the UK celebrity singer and TV star) at the Catholic church of St Mary, Woolton, Liverpool - August 20th, 2015 (#1)

At the time of writing, the Archdiocese of Liverpool website is highlighting (as shown above), a link to an important briefing paper ("Assessing the evidence on Assisted Suicide") produced just three days ago by the English and Welsh Catholic bishops, ahead of the UK MPs' debate in the House of Commons, 20 days from now, about a bill which seeks to enshrine in British law the legal right to "enable competent adults who are terminally ill to choose to be provided with medically supervised assistance to end their own life; and for connected purposes".

The primary aim of the bishops' short document is actually to refer readers onwards to another work: a study produced by the Anscombe Bioethics Centre ("Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: A Guide to the Evidence") which comprehensively nails the lie that this murderous campaign (heavily backed by the UK media and assorted UK celebrities, incidentally) is founded upon "mercy". Moreover, it asserts that its anti-success, if given Royal Assent, would only serve to "undermine key principles of law, medical ethics and palliative care". 

Offering eight reasons not to legalise Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), it is the fourth in a sobering list provided by the Anscombe team which forms the bedrock case: 

Legalising PAS would undermine a foundational principle of law and justice. All human beings possess, in virtue of our common humanity, an equal and intrinsic dignity. It is contrary to justice and human solidarity intentionally to kill an innocent human being (that is, someone not engaged in unjust aggression).

Whilst rightly highlighting the links to this hugely impressive, incredibly clear and ultra-urgent document, the Archdiocesan website also directs readers to coverage of the high-profile funeral celebrated yesterday by the Auxiliary Bishop in one of the city of Liverpool's most famous Catholic churches – which was also broadcast live to millions across the UK on TV, radio and the Internet – of a soul who scandalised many of her fellow baptised Catholics by publicly proclaiming her support for assisted suicide and especially the Dignitas euthanasia clinic in Switzerland.