Wednesday 10 January 2018

LANCASTER DIOCESE - A DISASTER.

A PIECE SUBMITTED TO THE BLOG BY A RESIDENT OF THE DIOCESE OF LANCASTER IN ENGLAND:





Dear Bishop Pat,

I'm a fairly new reader of your blog and I want to say thanks for the work that you do that I know is for the greater good.

Please, could I have your opinions on the goings on in the Diocese of Lancaster?


CAMPBELL


The traditional Roman Mass is slowly disappearing here and it is becoming more difficult to find. In my own area, we have a Mass in the Latin Rite everywhere (with the mainly younger priests dressing up in frilly outfits and birettas and the bishop like to regularly take part too.

Several parishes have been given to the Order of Christ the Sovereign King and Mass is exclusively in Latin.

We also have Mass in the Syro Malabar Rite in several places and we now have their diocese and cathedral within our diocese. 

Then the Anglican Rite (Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham) and our own parish priest from there is married with children. Seems a bit odd that he doesn't need to be celibate but the priest in the neighboring parish does!

The strange thing is that he is now in charge of a regular parish and doesn't have any ex-Anglicans, so he is regarded locally as filling a gap for the shortage of priests. It was strange to see a Christmas message from his family in the recent newsletter.

In my own deanery I sometimes attend the Parish of Saint John Vianney and the young curtate there is nice enough but very oldfashioned, preferring to dress up like a female pop star and pray Holy Mass in Latin. He is also the Assistant Vocations Director and I wonder if all that oldfashioned Latin stuff will put priests off. 

Then, of course, we have the Neocatechumenate Way.

I am not sure that all these different rites are the way forward. People are confused and I can see that some of the more mature clergy are unhappy with the pace of change here.

I would be interested in your opinion and guidance on this issue as it has bothered me for some time. The situation in this diocese is getting worse. We are hoping that the new bishop, soon to be appointed, will be able to be brave enough to put a stop to all of this.

Am I out of order by just wanting our Roman Rite Mass to be the norm?



Thanks.

Anonymous. Diocese of Lancaster.



PAT SAYS:


In the past three days, we have heard from three different parts of the Irish/British Isles on general dissatisfaction and alienation by ordinary Catholic and priests about the "goings on" in their respective Churches - Scotland, Dublin and today, the Diocese of Lancaster in England.

The current bishop of Lancaster - MICHAEL CAMPBELL -  is well known to me as he is from the town of Larne where I have lived for coming 34 years.

When I first met him 34 years ago I said to myself: "What a drip"!

He has the personality of a jellyfish and only got his current job after a career as an ass - licking Augustinian monk. The particular ass he licked to get his current job was that of the late Cardinal Cormac "Spud" O'Connor who was the Archbishop of Westminster.


THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
There is far too much gimmickry going on in dioceses and parishes these days with Mass in the extraordinary form, all kinds of different rites and all kinds of expensive reports being commissioned.

We need to get back to basics with bishops being pastors and exercising pastoral care for their priests and people.

With priests in parishes visiting homes etc - "A house going priest will lead to a church going people".

Too many have taken their eye off the ball and are concentrating on the accidentals and forgetting the essentials.

Bishops and priests need to be pastors - who believe, pray and serve people.

The priesthood is a vocation - not a profession.

Too much politics. Too much acting.

The Institutional Church and the Hierarchy and clergy have lost their way - and as a result lost their sheep.

Little Bo Peep is the new patron saint of dioceses and parishes.



77 comments:

  1. One of the those rare moments when I agree with Pat completely.

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  2. There are no vocations in the diocese of Lancaster. I get the impression that the more mature clergy are not at all happy. In a neighbouring parish the new priest is from Kerala India. He is saying mass in the Latin rite. The parishioners say they cannot make out what he is saying. I think they are in a state of shock. First we have the scandals, then they change the mass to a google translate from the Latin and now this. In Preston, which used to have many flourishing parishes, there are now only a few ageing Jesuits who are English. It has been a very rapid decline.

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    1. What caused the decline, in your opinion?

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    2. I think it may be a lack of silence. It's difficult to hear that still small voice of calm when you are surrounded by noise, social media and constant distractions. People have lost contact with their inner selves and it is making them anxious and depressed. Courses on mindfulness are very popular. There is so much clutter in the church. Arguments over sexuality, the liturgy, whether you are a liberal or a traditionalist. It's all power struggle and politics. Sometimes religion can become an ego trip forcing your will on another person. I have been into meditation for 30years and 30 mins silence cures everything in me. Given a bit of silence and solitude ... I can work it out for myself.

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  3. Gannon is furious with you Pat!!!

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  4. So Fr Masaki Narusawa is your parish priest and the poor assistant vocations director Father Daniel Etienne - I will let them both know you're calling them blind!!!! Shame on you. I know who you are, I will let them know that too...

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    1. what a faceless nasty person you are and you should be thankful +Pat does not give out your IP to the Police with your threats.

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    2. Just read this. What threats is she/he making please? Just an opinion?

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    3. 9.29. Are you off your trolley or should I say are you such an idiot? What's threatening about 5.33? You must have difficulty with English!!! Get a real life....

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  5. Obviously, the author's interpretation of "strange goings-on" is different to what we're used to here. Have any priests scandalised the faithful of late in Lancaster, disappeared, or been sent to the US for therapy? I wonder.

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  6. "... priests dressing up in frilly outfits and birettas"

    Hmm? I see what you mean.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_z9rwjrIdWZ0/Sgl8J42MdKI/AAAAAAAACuw/eLuwO66vjpg/s400/DSC_0151.JPG

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  7. Gimmicky. You could be right Pat. It says to me that the Church is crying out for Salvation in a modern world. There may be the motivation to dress up and swan about. Beneath it is something deeper and that is what we need to explore

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    1. Sean 7.33: We can analyse and diagnose all we like but offering constructive ideas, some imagination, creativity and vision is much more difficult. The constant "diagnosis" on this blog is tiresome. Like most priests, I try to be as imaginative, realistic and practical about what can be done. We know we face challenges: no need to be reminded here every day. Those of us on the ground know what the challenges are and we do our utmost to respond creatively against a backgroud of cultural and societal changes and much indifference and apathy.

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    2. You just do more of the same unsuccessful "Spirit of Vatican II" stuff for your pensioner congregations. They love it, but who'll replace them?

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    3. 17.57. You obviously lack intelligence to blog such a silly comment. Live in your little world, or go out and do something relevant and significant. What are you doing in your Parish to make it vibrant? Nothing I would guess. You are typical of side line critics with banal and useless observations.

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    4. 17:57 - do you miss the irony in your statement. The original complaint is about practices opposite to 'the Spirit of Vatican II' and there's rapid decline... The Latin Mass is neither the cause or the solution to the Chruch's problems... The pre VII Church you dream of did not exist! Many of the abuse scandals are pre-VII in origin, for instance. What is lacking is a personal and community experience of the Risen Lord which by nature sends us to the world to joyfully near witness to Jesus who transforms every life.

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    5. Tell the aul biddies that tomorrow morning.

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  8. Aunty Pat. you must have lots of people messaging you with info. I reckon you could write a best seller.

    Lots of Love,
    Tina x

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  9. I must write in support of our bishop here. The Preston area was one of the most catholic parts of England and was well served by many parishes and many great priests over the years.
    As has happened in many other places the mass going population has declined, the demographic shift , redevelopment etc have all had a negative impact on the usage of our churches. Many of these churches in Preston are architectural masterpieces and because of a lack of finance many of them were closing or falling into a state of dilapidation.
    Personally I think Bishop Campbell is to be congratulated on his very excellent work here. He has invited a number of orders etc to take over these churches, keep them open, re invigorate them and breath new life into the catholic life of Preston.
    The colourful liturgies of the Syro Malabar community is a joy to watch.
    So Pat instead of criticism I think our bishop deserves much praise for his diligence here. He is one of the few prelates in England who could claim to leave his diocese in much better shape than it was when he arrived.
    And by the way if your contributor today doesn’t like the Latin Rite you can tell them there are still lots of ‘english’ masses throughout Preston.

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    1. What a joke even in North of Blackpool it is getting the same Thankfully the Sacred Heart has not changed but the people are worried who the new Bishop will be as the current PP has been here a long time.

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    2. 11.52 Canon Robert Dewhurst. I don't know a lot about the parish but we were in Blackpool the other week and I wanted to look round the church. Daily mass was on and he seemed to have quite a number of people there. Possibly a very well lobed priest. They are probably scared of losing him.

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    3. "a very well lubed priest"

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    4. I’m the original author of this blog and my comments seem to have upset some people. It was just my opinion. I’ve been a Parishioner of Holy Family for nearly 30 years and just thought I’d ask about all the different rites and confusion and to express concern and question why our priests would want to say mass in Latin wearing such old fashioned outfits. I went to one Mass in Preston where the Bishop was wearing an outfit complete with train. It looked very feminine. I will stick to my English mass and go elsewhere. Sorry if the blog upset anyone. Just expressing my views and wanted to know the views of Bishop Pat and others. Pray for Lancaster Diocese.

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    5. Low Church Anglicans, the Methodists or the URCs might be a better fit for you. No ritual with that crowd, all very flat and dull.

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    6. 18.29 You haven't upset me. You have a right to your own opinion. I understand your sadness at the changes.

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    7. 19:07 Better than the frilly lace brigade

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  10. "Kiss My Ring"

    Also available at the Giant's Ring.

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  11. I urge the people of Lancaster to please write immediately to the Papal Nuncio with all concerns and if possible to Cardinal Outlett in Rome as the Congregation for Bishop's is due to announce Two new Bishop's for England and Wales anytime for Lancaster and then Newcastle with Southwark London in October but it seems Archbishop Roche wants back for Southwark misses the parishes.
    However as for Holy Mass you could write to cardinal Sarah as Bishop Campbell has a duty to his flock not the new flock.
    Please all write to the Papal Nuncio at London as soon as possible even with names in who you think should be new Bishops.
    Because as we have seen in Glasgow and Galloway the Archbishop and Bishop just goes in well over two years now and just ticks over nothing new and exciting.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the info. Done today!

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  12. If Roche gets Southwark for a repeat of the wave of parish closures he rammed through in Leeds diocese.

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    1. I hear he is on he shortlist for Lancaster

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  13. Denis Nulty is managing decline in K&L. Under his watch, the number of religious communities is his diocese has dropped from 12 to 9. https://www.clogherdiocese.ie/cinews/?ID=137038

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    1. 10.08: Get your facts correct. The Bishop was speaking about the Presentation Sisters only, who now have 9 communities in Kikdare & Leighlin. There are other Religious Orders in his Diocese. And, anyway, Bishop Nulty is not responsible for the closure of what was once a thriving Convent in Kildare Town. There were only 4 Sisters and it was time to rationalise. The drop in religious and clerical vocations is an evolving story and a discerning Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, will bring new forms of Christian communities into existence, as is happening in many parishes in our country. Open your eyes!!

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    2. Whatever happened to "the buck stops here"? As far as I know, bishops have jurisdiction over religious in their diocese. What has loose-hands Denis (q.v. the earlier photo on this blog) done to get new nuns in K&L. Has he succeeded. The stats show that the trad orders prosper.

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    3. Any examples of the new Christian communities that you say exist in many parishes?

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    4. Excuse me, I'm the respondent at 13:59. K&L, as you refer disrespectfully to the Diocese of Kildare and Laughlin, has witnessed relatively little decline since Bishop Denis took over. Get a life and say some prayers. Success is not measured by the annual ordination figures. Stop obstructing the programme of Pope Francis.

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    5. 17.24, if you're the same moron at 10.08, you are devoid of intelligence. Your comment(s) are so nonsensical and utterly inane. Reread them and pause.....utter crap. You haven't any meaningful or intelligent insights to make so stupid a comment. Bishop Nulty welcomed an African Community of Nuns to his Diocese in the last year or more. Look at the K&L website and inform yourself - intelligently.

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    6. 19.20: The Parish Cell Movement - a very wonderful way for families to become more prayerful and Christian: Eucharistic Adoratiin Groups, numerous, probably in every Parish in the country: Prayer and Scripture Groups: Peace and Justice Study and Action Groups: open your mind and eyes! There are so many goid things happening. Stop finding faults and do something useful in your own parish or community.

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    7. Prob trad nuns. An uncomfortable truth.

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    8. @21:20. I guarantee that all the members of the Justice n' Peace Groups etc are hitting 60, at least. Tell the truth and shame the Devil as the oldies say.

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  14. In the 90s I wanted to leave the Priesthood and open a Irish gay bar in the Yumbo GC called Póg an fáinne.

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    1. You sound some charmer... Yuch!

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    2. Translation?

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    3. "Kiss the Ring" is the translation from Irish.

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    4. LOL Thank you

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  15. Pat, that interview you did with the comedian. why hasn't it been aired yet? its been several months

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  16. I think Bishop Michael has done his best. Had he done nothing then he would have come in for much more criticism for letting beautiful churches go to rot. He seems to be in a no win situation. I and many others think he has done very well. He will be leaving to go to a parish in Scotland soon. I wish him well.

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    1. Desist at once with this positive post. Our group think here does not allow bishops to be spoken of except in scathing nasty terms. Further positivity will see you blocked.

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    2. I dare say this blog would ignore Campbell altogether if he hailed from Carrickfergus or Ballymena.

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    3. There are only three Catholics in Carrickfergus and none at all in Ballymena. Like Larne, they are staunch, loyal towns.

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  17. 10.30 It is probably a shock for the locals, but I don't see what else he could have done. We always used to import from Ireland.

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  18. Was hoping today to see something about the protests against the pope who has shown his true colours regarding his fake concern for clerical child abuse victims. It makes me sick to think of the fawning over he will get in this nation when he visits when he has done nothing but issue a plethora of hate speech against trans, showed mental illness proportion concern about Satan and politically motivated whitewashing lies. "Planned demonstrations in Chile, a staunchly Catholic country, have rekindled accusations Francis has not done enough to root out sexual abuse in the Church, especially holding bishops accountable for covering up or mishandling sexual abuse.

    “We believe the victims of sexual abuse have been marginalized (by the Church),” said Juan Carlos Claret, a spokesman for Osorno parishioners. “It’s a reality that we in Osorno have been living with for almost four years and we plan to keep the issue alive.”

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    1. 11.51: Way over the top reaction...and much misinformation which feeds into the anti Church mafia.

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    2. 11.51 Well said!

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  19. Having spent a year living in West Cumbria I was delighted to attend Bishop Michael's installation. At that time the Diocese was amalgamating parishes to respond to the declining number of priests. That was not popular in the pews either.

    Bishop Michael has taken a different approach and invited in some orders and been open to the various Christian rites. Openness to other Rites is something I would have thought this blog to ordinarily support?

    Yes this presents challenges for some people who may like change. Closing churches and loosing masses is the only real alternative available unless the people in the pews put forward good men for ordination. Would the writer of today's blog please put themselves forward??

    Given the circumstances Bishop Michael has taken some great chances. These will not be popular with everybody, but then show me a PP who can please all the parishioners??

    Like what was stated above, this is a far cry from the Strange Goings On that we are accustomed to here. I might add that today's blog is making a criticism from nothing.

    Sincerely,
    One from Cloyne.

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    1. I can’t put myself forward as I don’t have meat and 2 veg sorry. Could join +Pat’s order though!

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  20. I really don’t understand why the Traddies have to go all Latin and venerate Pope John’s Missal. What is so sacred about 1962? I recall that the missals of 1964 and 1965 provided just the right mix of the vernacular and Latin along with some structural changes, the excision of the last gospel.

    The Short Breviary although entirely in English in its complete edition provides a nice complement to the services contained in 1965. An online site somewhere, Don Camillo perchance, mentions a short breviary by Pacelli and Montini in Italian.

    The 1964 Collectio Rituum with its bits of English tops everything off nicely. Oh, I have one around with Irish too. I used to have a Latin-French one also.

    My perfectly nice Latino-Trento-Anglophone fantasy Liturgical world. Sort of like Miss Marple’s Felicity, eh?

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  21. Buckey. As usual you will home in on anything negative. This time Lancaster diocese. I’m afraid your contributor and their views are in a minority. Whereas a lot of parishioners in the diocese might not like a lot of the changes none of us like change, they accept that Bishop Campbell hasn’t had much choice and has made the best job of the hand he was dealt. Quite frankly most folks I know think he has done well.

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    1. I partially agree but when our grandparents and great grandparents paid for our Churches to be built, don’t you think that this gives us, the lay faithful a right to be consulted about changes? Do you think it is acceptable for Bishop’s to use our collection money to fund their plush houses and lifestyles? I don’t!

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  22. Unfortunately the Tablet-reading generation (aged 70+ now) refuses to accept that when they, and their PPs of similar vintage go to their final judgment it's game over. The 1970 New Mass is unpopular, vocations are scarce, baptisms and church marriages are in freefall. The FSSP etc will try to rebuild from the wreckage. Meanwhile, the antique admirers of Francis will demand more of the same, even though all their children are lapsed, their grandchildren are unbaptised, and Francis' policies have been tried and failed in the CofE.

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  23. Is there nothing more interesting happening at Gaynooth. I am sure they had a merry sexmas, the drink would flow and seminarians' thoughts would turn to... well, you know.

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    1. According to the Tablet, the outgoing President of Maynooth, Fr Mullaney is proposing the construction of another seminary building on the vast Maynooth campus. Surely the could all fit into New House, for example and not belabour Irish Catholics with more costs?

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  24. We have heard more than enough about Maynooth, thank you sicko at 18`24

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  25. 18.24. What kind of mind have you? Living in a trailer trash bin!! How pathetic and moronic your concerns!!

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  26. Yes. I agree. 18.24. It’s you and you ilk who are ruining this blog with your sick obsession with the sexual disfunction in Maynooth.
    People on here have lost interest in the goings on in that vipers nest.

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  27. It is indeed interesting the varying opinions amongst the faithful on what the Mass should look like, sound like -- a priest wearing vestments appropriate to his office for 18 centuries is now too 'feminine' for some, as noted above. Conversely, many of us might recall the 'hip young priests' of the '70s in tie-dyed bed linen vestments celebrating Mass accompanied by tambourines and guitars with similar queasiness.

    Whether attracted by pre-Vatican II liturgy and/or by the smells & bells and ancient trappings, it seems that it is the traditionalist seminaries which are attracting the bounty of vocations. SSPX currently has almost 200 men in priestly formation, 600 priests, plus an additional 100 professed brothers. The Dominican Sisters of Mary in Michigan, USA, who wear the full traditional habit, only 20 years after the order's founding now comprises 130 sisters whose average age is barely 30.

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    1. Exactly tradition works. Unlike Maynooth where even the Director of Formation did not have a vocation to priesthood. What were the bons thinking taking in that abuser of young men.

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    2. 22.02 , the Dominican Sisters of Nashville are flourishing with youg vocations, all highly trained, professional and well educated young sisters. They have recently taken over the Dominican Church in Limerick and the 4 sisters are loved by the community. They are vibrant and wear a traditional habit. They are an impressive lot. Bishop Doran has also invited a new Religious Order to his Diocese - Mother of the Home Order. Perhaps these women will bring new light....and hope....

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    3. The hip young priests of the 70s have left, mostly.

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  28. When things go wrong people tend to look to what worked in the past Latin mass pageantry full churches. Worth a try?

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    1. They won't try anything other than the failed Spirit of Vatican II stuff. The Church of England (whose services are attended by 0.5% of the English population) was the controlled experiment.

      Unfortunately due to poor catechesis and a catastrophic failure to pass on the Faith, today's aged Massgoers will turn off the lights as churches start to close at electrifying speed in the next decade or two. But the baby-boomer Massgoers don't care. As Joe Duffy of Clogher said, notoriously, "it'll do for our day".

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    2. Not if we are going to attract new and younger people and build a sustainable future!

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  29. 22:29
    Theological illiteracy at its worst.

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  30. Bishop Campbell is a very good bishop. He is a credit to ireland

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