For the record: understood - the new concept of 'parish'; limited remarks only

To be filed under: 'space watching'.

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"In recent years, through the revised Code of Canon Law (1983) and Church and papal documents — more particularly among these Christifideles Laici (1988) — new perspectives of what 'parish' is are emerging. A parish is now being seen not primarily as a territory within defined geographical borders but as people, community, and Eucharistic community. Wherever people come from geographically, gathered in the Eucharist they are ‘parish’, a worshipping community."

THE RT REV. MALCOLM McMAHON,  BISHOP OF NOTTINGHAM, 2012; FOREWORD - DIOCESE OF NOTTINGHAM COMMISSION FOR EXTRAORDINARY MINISTERS OF HOLY COMMUNION HANDBOOK 2012

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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.

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 (#2); Preamble

* This post – the second concerning the subject of the funeral of Cilla Black – is a preamble piece, ahead of a third, necessarily punctilious, scrutiny which we intend to publish in the next 24 hours. These matters are being aired and published contemporaneously "for the record".

We are hugely indebted to the Torch of the Faith team – also based in the Archdiocese of Liverpool – for flagging-up the biggest of the scandals, among many, perpetrated at last Thursday's bewildering and depressing funeral "Mass" for Cilla Black. See our first post on the subject.

It had been anticipated – and strongly suspected in the aftermath – that such a conspicuously heterodox, worldly and irreverent event would inevitably provide the wicked (yes) platform for open public scandal and sacrilege to especially occur during the distribution of Holy Communion.

And so it was.

This is not using the benefit of hindsight, as we'll go on to prove.