Father Aidan Nichols: The Future of the Church in England

Father Ray Blake's Blog has posted an important and interesting talk that prominent theologian, Father Aidan Nichols, O.P., has given on the Future of the Church in England. His comments on schools, family, religious life and liturgy are relevant to the universal Church.

Father Nichols is the John Paul II Memorial Visiting Lecturer, University of Oxford; has served as the Robert Randall Distinguished Professor in Christian Culture, Providence College; and is a Fellow of Greyfriars, Oxford. He has also served as the Prior of the Dominicans at St. Michael's Priory, Cambridge. Father Nichols is the author of numerous books including Looking at the Liturgy, Holy Eucharist, Hopkins: Theologian's Poet, and The Thought of Benedict XVI. His study of the Old Testament, Lovely Like Jerusalem: The Fulfillment of the Old Testament in Christ and the Church, was recently published by Ignatius Press.

Diocese Announces New Name for Crystal Cathedral

The ordination of Catholic priests on June 9 at St. Columban Catholic Church in Garden Grove carried additional significance for regional Catholics and other people of faith. As part of the elaborate ordination ritual attended by over 1500, the Most Reverend Tod D. Brown, Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange took the opportunity to acknowledge Vatican approval of "Christ Cathedral" as the name for the Diocese's future cathedral and the selection of Father Christopher H. Smith as the first Episcopal Vicar to the Cathedral.

 

The Feast of Corpus Christi

Benjamin Britten  -  "Corpus Christi Carol"

This old English hymn was first found by an apprentice grocer named Richard Hill in a manuscript written around 1504. The original writer of the carol remains anonymous.

From the Pastor - 'The Gratuitous Mercy of Christ the King'

A weekly column by Father George Rutler.

In an age of short attention spans, celebrities fade quickly. Rare is the personality who becomes, in the term wrongly and tiresomely used by writers with limited vocabularies, “iconic.” An ephemeral perception of things makes it hard to understand public significance apart from celebrity-based “popularity” and “approval ratings.”

I mention this because of the continuing celebrations of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is the nature of her office, and confounding to anyone who does not understand the institution, that she did nothing to earn her position other than being born. But that notion is reassuring to all of us who are made heirs of salvation by the gratuitous mercy of Christ the King.

The distinguished Catholic peer, Lord Alton of Liverpool, has calculated that during Elizabeth’s reign, there have been six Popes, and her Catholic subjects have increased from 4.4 to 6.6 million in Britain, and from 25 million to 140 million throughout the Commonwealth. One-third of the primary schools in England are Catholic, and they comprise two-thirds of the most highly rated ones. During the Queen’s reign, the number of Catholic charities in the United Kingdom has grown to 1000. In the Commonwealth countries, the Catholic Church runs 5,246 hospitals, 17,530 dispensaries, 577 leprosy clinics, and 15,208 homes for the elderly.

After long centuries of conflicts between State and Church, this is a remarkable record, but it should not distract from the growing threats to religion from secularists throughout the world, and increasingly so in our own nation. Through it all, Elizabeth II has displayed a constant sense of duty and responsibility, knowing that with the perquisites of her office comes an unrelenting publicity that will not cease until her last breath – far different from public figures who may hope to retire and play golf. The example of growing old gracefully and publicly is another gift of a monarch in contrast to mere celebrities who use the limelight to create an illusion of agelessness. It is said that when a Hollywood starlet, about to be presented to the Queen, worried that the colors of their dresses might clash, she was told that Her Majesty does not notice what others are wearing.

The longest reigning pope was St. Peter, who may have been Bishop of Rome from 29 to 67 AD. Blessed Pope Pius IX reigned nearly 32 years. A monarch, but more than a monarch, and a “servant of the servants” as Vicar of Christ who came not to be served but to serve, each pope knows that however long or short his years may be, or however popular or unpopular he may be, his authority is not conferred by human applause, but by the One who said: “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain . . .” (John 15:16). 

Term Limits America PAC Endorses Gary Glenn for Michigan Senate

Fairfax, VA—Term Limits America PAC (TLA-PAC) urged Michigan Republican primary voters to support Gary Glenn for U.S. Senate.

Philip Blumel, chairman of TLA-PAC called Glenn, “A leading proponent for term limits who will be a strong advocate for citizen run government when he gets to Washington, D.C.”

Glenn, unlike his opponents in the race, signed the U.S. Term Limits Amendment Pledge which reads, “I pledge that as a member of Congress I will cosponsor and vote for the U.S. Term Limits Amendment of three (3) House terms and two (2) Senate terms and no longer limit.”

Winston Churchill: Father of the Anglosphere

From The Telegraph

By Daniel Hannan

The man who mentioned Churchill's role at Gallipoli

In many conservative circles, particularly in the United States, Winston Churchill is beyond criticism. Mention his errors – the Gallipoli debacle, the return to gold at the pre-1914 rate, the contracting out of domestic policy to the Left after 1940, the second premiership – and you provoke a Bateman cartoon scene.

Fair enough. Winnie got the big calls right. His popularity on the other side of the Atlantic is appropriate, for he is perhaps the supreme Anglosphere politician – apostle, champion, exemplar and historian of English-speaking unity.

What makes the Anglosphere special? I'm taken with Mark Steyn's observation that the list of countries on the right side in both the world wars and the cold war is short, but it contains the main English-speaking democracies. What made them all pile in? Was it linguistic solidarity, an identification with kith-and-kin? Yes, partly. But that's not all it was. Those mighty struggles were not simply ethnic conflicts, bloodier versions of the Hutu-Tutsi wars. The Anglosphere peoples believed, because their institutions had taught them to believe, that individual liberty, limited government and the rule of law were worth preserving – with force of arms if necessary.

Churchill played a brave role in all three great twentieth century conflicts, fighting in the first, leading the democracies to victory in the second and defining the third. The transition from victorious leader to Cold Warrior can be traced to one speech, delivered on 5 March 1946 at Fulton, Missouri. That speech, the subject of a newly published book by Philip White, is remembered for this sentence:

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. 

White conjures atmosphere beautifully. Here is a detailed account of the place where the speech was given, and the timbre of the times. The USSR, so recently an ally, had occupied the countries for which Britain had gone to war in the first place, and any hope that the United Nations would be a guarantor of a peaceful post-fascist world had been dashed.

Books of this kind depend upon prose and pacing, and White has produced a gloriously readable account. What struck me most, though, at this distance, was that Churchill's chief preoccupation was not with the Soviet menace, but with the unity of the English-speaking peoples. It would be another half century before the term Anglosphere was coined, but he put the idea before his audience without restraint:

I come now to the crux of what I have travelled here to say. Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organisation will be gained without what I have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States of America. Ladies and gentlemen, this is no time for generality, and I will venture to the precise. Fraternal association requires not only the growing friendship and mutual understanding between our two vast but kindred systems of society, but the continuance of the intimate relations between our military advisers, leading to common study of potential dangers, the similarity of weapons and manuals of instructions, and to the interchange of officers and cadets at technical colleges. It should carry with it the continuance of the present facilities for mutual security by the joint use of all Naval and Air Force bases in the possession of either country all over the world. This would perhaps double the mobility of the American Navy and Air Force. It would greatly expand that of the British Empire forces and it might well lead, if and as the world calms down, to important financial savings. Already we use together a large number of islands; more may well be entrusted to our joint care in the near future.

The United States has already a Permanent Defence Agreement with the Dominion of Canada, which is so devotedly attached to the British Commonwealth and the Empire. This Agreement is more effective than many of those which have been made under formal alliances. This principle should be extended to all the British Commonwealths with full reciprocity. Thus, whatever happens, and thus only, shall we be secure ourselves and able to work together for the high and simple causes that are dear to us and bode no ill to any. Eventually there may come – I feel eventually there will come – the principle of common citizenship, but that we may be content to leave to destiny, whose outstretched arm many of us can already clearly see.

Winston Churchill: patriot, hero, Anglospherist avant la lettre. Read the book. You'll enjoy it.

(Editor's note: This book is not yet available in the United States.  Please check our Amazon widget for future availability.)

Rick Santorum Announces 'Patriot Voices'

Daniel, 

Over the past two months, I've spent a lot of time reflecting upon the past year. I've been thinking about the campaign we ran, the overwhelming support from our grassroots family, and how we accomplished what nobody thought we could: we reminded the nation that conservative values are alive and well all across America. 

I knew that we had to harness that success and momentum, and keep propelling forward our shared commitment to promoting faith, family, freedom and opportunity in this country.

That is why I've decided to launch a new organization, Patriot Voices. This grassroots and online organization is founded on the values you and I hold in the highest regard, and is a platform for Americans across the country to stand together to affect change that otherwise could not be accomplished alone.

We have a goal of recruiting one million members who share our convictions, and who:

• Believe that family is the foundation for a healthy society and a strong economy;
• Believe in freedom and American exceptionalism, entrepreneurship and opportunity, and personal responsibility;
• Seek to be a voice for those who often cannot find for themselves: the unborn, the disabled, the elderly, and those struggling economically in these difficult times

With our one million members united in Patriot Voices, we can drive the defeat of Barack Obama in November, offer support to candidates who will stand up for conservative values, and continue to transform the political landscape of our country.

I couldn't have run my campaign without you, and I can't make Patriot Voices the organization it should be without your help, either. Would you consider learning more about Patriot Voices by watching my video, and becoming one of the first members on our website?

I remain forever grateful for your support, and look forward to continuing our message with Patriot Voices. 

 

Rick Santorum