More Anglo-Catholic Than The Anglo-Catholics

I am sorry, but some of us have been here before. Cliques of reactionary tat queens to whom the word "Catholic" means "whatever I happen to think", or just "high camp homosexual of the old school", are not new to some of us.

We looked on in almost uncontrollable horror as a parallel structure for all of that was set up within the Catholic Church Herself. Damian Thompson, tellingly its principal cheerleader, has managed to set himself up as the arbiter of Catholic orthodoxy in this country, as if that position were somehow vacant.

And now Cardinal Burke, who makes Thompson look like a Royal Marine Commando, is gracing these shores. He is seeking, with thankfully little chance of much success, to set up a branch of his emerging church within the Church, like a Novus Ordo Lefebvre. He will die in schism. He is already almost there.

Their appeal is to people of strong religiosity but of weak faith, who believe that is somehow possible for the Pope to be less than the Pope, and who yearn to have their own political prejudices and sexual proclivities canonised. The correspondence between those particular prejudices and those particular proclivities is telling in itself.

There is no point quoting Cardinal Burke's fulsome denunciations of sodomy, or praises of "manliness" (defined in the classically American Protestant terms that have always been exploited by gay Hollywood), or what have you. I know those tricks.

I know that people who go on in the second terms, especially, are only ever of a certain persuasion. With which, by the way, Lefebvrism is also riddled. It is very much the defining characteristic of attempts at "Catholicism without the Pope".

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Avoid like the plague.

Avoid at all costs.

The bishops need to get a grip of this situation.

As advocated years ago in my Essays Radical and Orthodox, they need to declare a new Crusade of Eucharistic Adoration, aimed primarily, though not exclusively, at boys and men from about the beginning of secondary school upwards. That Crusade would have seven Aims.

First, the conversion of the whole world to the Catholic Faith, including the reunion of all Christians with the Petrine See of Rome.

Secondly, the continual increase of vocations of men to the Priesthood and Diaconate, and of both sexes to the Religious Life.

Thirdly, due reverence and solemnity in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy, and above all in the celebration of the Holy Mass, including in respect of the reception of Holy Communion.

Fourthly, the defence of the sanctity of each individual human life from the point of fertilisation to the point of natural death.

Fifthly, the eradication of all sins of unchastity as defined by the Roman Magisterium.

Sixthly, justice and peace through the ever-wider and ever-deeper appreciation and implementation of the Church's Teaching.

And seventhly, the Holy Father's intentions.

As a minimum, participants would commit themselves to morning and evening prayer (at least ideally, the Divine Office), to weekly Communion, to Mass attendance and Communion on all the Feasts of Our Lord (which we should therefore hope that Parish Priests would make as convenient as possible, preferably preaching on them and possibly making those which were not Holy Days of Obligation into deanery or otherwise wider events for participants), to a weekly Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament for the above intentions, to monthly Confession, and to annual retreat.

There need be little or no central organisation, and thus little or no cost.

However, a Eucharistic Congress could more than usefully be held every three years, or possibly even more frequently than that.