SEARCHING FOR THE ARCHBISHOP (14); Re: "Some Catholics in a second marriage for example will be disappointed that the recent Synod of Bishops did not ask the Holy Father to allow such people to receive Holy Communion"; Pastoral Letter for the First Sunday of Lent, 2016

• This expedited post is another that is not part of our ongoing sub-series (Link 1, Link 2) concentrating on the issue of His Grace and the matter of women priests, the next part of 

which (note for our monitors' attention) will appear this week.

It was just one letter (Link), with only eight paragraphs and barely over 1000 words.

Yet it served as a perfect microcosmic example of the concerns and the conundrum – perceived by a fair few in this territory – surrounding His Grace The Most Rev. Malcolm McMahon OP, ninth Archbishop of Liverpool, about where he truly stands in regards to the Church's tradition and teaching.

Basically, it managed to both please and disturb at the same time.

In anticipation of any accusation that, in stating the above, we have evidently missed the point of the letter – "Whoosh! It was all about mercy but that obviously sailed right over your heads" – well, we really haven't (but we'll make a very necessary point about the overladen emphasis on mercy – and mercy alone – later in this post, just to provide some perspective).

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.