The Muslim Public Affairs Committee (MPAC) is one of the media's favourite Muslim organisations - radical and outspoken but not extremist, we're led to believe. One of its spokesmen, Asghar Bukhari, is a particular favourite of the BBC, whose Asian Network describes how he has "set up Media response workshops to educate and engage Muslims about dealing with the media" .
So I was interested to see how Bukhari would "deal" with me when I rang him to ask about an interesting discovery by The Centre for Social Cohesion, in my opinion the most formidable of the think-tanks monitoring Islamic extremism, which has been rooting around Facebook discussions.
In one recent thread, Bukhari says: "Muslims who fight against the occupation of their lands are 'Mujahadeen' and are blessed
The über-liberal Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Kieran Conry, has given an astonishingly frank interview to Andrew M Brown of The Catholic Herald. One well-known priest's reaction: "I'm still picking up my jaw off the floor."
Me too. Here's a list of the things Bishop Conry says in the interview:
1. The Church's teaching on birth control "could be wrong" and is not infallible. Asked if Humanae Vitae was a mistake, he says: "I don't know."
2. "You can't talk to young people about salvation," says the bishop, because that concept means nothing to them. Instead, talk in their language - for example, about saving the planet.
3. Asked if frequent confession is a a good idea, he replies: "No, because my own experience when we had Confession every day at St Chad's Cathedral
He still doesn't understand. According to an interview in the New Statesman, Dr Rowan Williams's reaction to the public fury over his call for an extension of Sharia law is to have a chuckle about it.
James McIntyre writes: "Williams can now laugh at the episode, as can his family. When the Archbishop introduced me to his wife at a small drinks reception at Lambeth Palace in November, the Sharia row came up and Jane Williams joked: 'What Sharia row?' "
Rowan Williams is a nice and clever man, but - appearances notwithstanding - one quality he isn't overburdened with is humility. When McIntyre asks him about Sharia, he produces the self-justifying patter of a politician:
"I think what it did bring home to me was the degree to which we love to have people making our flesh creep," says
A discussion on the sensitive topic has been tabled for the next meeting of the Church of England's governing body amid fears that some clergy are ignoring their traditional missionary role. [Surely not!]
Some members of the General Synod believe Christ ordered all Christians to recruit nonbelievers and followers of other faiths, and they want to see how many bishops and vicars agree with this view.
Among the speakers is likely to be the Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, who earlier this year warned that Church leaders had "gone too far" in their sensitivity towards Muslims and were not doing enough to spread
Britain's Muslim schools have been sharply criticised in a controversial draft report commissioned by a leading think tank which suggests that over 60 per cent of them are linked to potentially dangerous Islamic fundamentalists.
An early version of the report, entitled When Worlds Collide, alleges that of the 133 Muslim primary and secondary schools it surveyed, 82 (61.6 per cent) have connections or direct affiliations to fundamentalists. The 133 schools are in the private sector but supposedly subject to Ofsted inspection.
The report also claims that some of these schools teach "repugnant" beliefs about the wickedness of Western society and Jews.
The claims in the report, written by Denis MacEoin in response to a commission from Civitas, will provoke ritual cries of "Islamophobia"
I'm so glad that Iain Martin has raised the question of Edward Stourton's Catholicism. I'm sorry he's leaving Today, but not half so sorry as Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Ma Pepinster and the Magic Circle, I suspect.
You see, Stourton carries the Ambrosden Avenue seal of approval (all ingredients Fairtrade and guaranteed free of EF numbers). He delivered one of the Cardinal's lectures recently, and fits firmly into the category of the public-school Catholic liberal. The Tablet is a great campaigner for this endangered species: its readers will sing a noisy Te Deum (in English, arr. Inwood) in the unlikely event of Timothy Radcliffe getting Westminster - though I gather that relations between Ms Pepinster and Fr Radcliffe have been a bit strained recently.
This was the year that the 9/11 "truthers" really exposed themselves as the hate-crazed fantastists that we guessed they were all along. To find out why, take a look at an article just posted on Counterknowledge.com, the sceptical website that I founded but don't run any more (and which has taken off spectacularly since I stopped interfering with it).
In this article, Joseph Welch (the pseudonym of an academic at a leading British university) describes the desperate measures that the 9/11 liars are going to in order to keep their theories circulating: apparently they've convinced a few nutjob Japanese politicians to jump on board.
And in this piece, posted today, Welch poses 15 questions that the despicable "truthers" can't answer. Here's my favourite:
A press release arrives from the Latin Mass Society saying that the Merton College training session for summer 2009 has not been cancelled - but NOT confirming that it is going ahead, either.
What an absolute cock-up this whole business has been. My reading of the situation is pretty much the same as it was: the chippy "Low Mass" brigade, who think High Mass celebrations in a medieval Oxford College are "elitist", have sabotaged the best and brightest initiative to come out of Engliish Catholicism for decades.
As Holy Smoke revealed last week, the organisers of the LMS Merton Conference have been effectively sacked and its director of tuition has resigned. I also reproduced an email from a former chairman of the society, David Lloyd, dripping with inverted snobbery about the "privileged"
I really shouldn't be telling you this, but on two separate occasions recently senior executives of the Tablet have complained to friends of mine that Holy Smoke may be "commercially damaging" their publication.
Well! I've never heard anything so silly. Surely the Tablet should be thrilled that this blog is reminding the world that at least one magazine is sticking to a tried and tested recipe.
When you open the Tablet, what do you find? Wonderful things! Latin American base communities building non-hierarchial palaces of justice & peace. Draft reports from the Bishops' Conference proposing a "new paradigm" for Catholic teaching drawing on the riches of "other faith traditions".
And, most wondrous of all, an editorial from Ma Pepinster in which she recommends "supplying doctrinal leaven
Tomorrow morning, the Most Rev John M Smith, Bishop of Trenton, New Jersey, will commission 11 women and one man as "ecclesial ministers". What do you mean, you've never heard of ecclesial ministers? In progressive American Catholic circles they are quite the thing. Indeed, there are over 30,000 of them in the United States.
Now, I mustn't jump to conclusions, but when I consider the balance of women to men, plus the fact that all the new "ministers" have degrees in theology or have completed "pastoral certificate programs", then I can't help thinking: "Uh-oh. Bossy Futurechurch lady alert."
For many years, Magic Circle laywomen in England and Wales have classified themselves as "ministers". This enables them to distinguish themselves from ordinary Catholic ladies who, not having the
Here is a clip of Elliott Carter (b. 11 December 1908, a day after Messiaen) taking part in a panel discussion about his work and discussing future projects. It was filmed this week, and I don't believe there has ever been such a youthful centenarian.
Carter is one of the most uncompromisingly atonal composers America has produced, his music teeming with ideas whose internal logic will probably always elude me. But there are composers - Boulez comes to mind, and the Stockhausen of the piano pieces - who manage to communicate a sense of creativity and coherence even to audiences who haven't done the homework to anatomise the content.
I'm listening to Carter's Oboe Concerto as I write this, and all I can tell you is that not a note sounds out of place. Like Boulez, he knows just how
That Latin Mass Society of England and Wales is in turmoil following the decision to cancel its annual training session in the Traditional Latin Mass at Merton College, Oxford. Dr Alcuin Reid and Dr Laurence Hemming, the organisers of last year's outstandingly successful event, have been dropped, a source tells me - and Fr Andrew Wadsworth, Catholic Chaplain of Harrow School, is reported to have resigned as director of tuition.
As far as I can work out, some sort of class warfare has broken out in the LMS, between old-style members who consider the Merton event "elitist" and a new generation who are expert in staging High Masses (and tend to be scholars into the bargain). Let me quote from a very untidily written email sent by David Lloyd, former LMS chairman and one of
The militant atheists of the National Secular Society have launched a campaign against the spread of Sharia in Britain, entitled "One Law for All". Good for them. Britons of all religious and ethnic backgrounds should fight against moves (supported by that nincompoop Rowan Williams) to establish a parallel Muslim legal jurisdiction in this country.
It's courageous of the NSS, which represents diehard old Lefties, to pick a fight with "community leaders" who are attempting to force ordinary Muslims into an Islamic ghetto. The Guardian's multicultural chatterers (such as the frightful Madeleine Bunting) will be outraged.
True, the NSS would like to strip all state faith schools of their legal rights - but, you know what? I'd rather see Catholic schools lose their state funding (which
Today is the centenary of the birth of Olivier Messiaen, a figure of huge importance in 20th-century music who created an unmistakeable harmonic language. Those great whole-tone towers of brass, the polyrhythmic birdsong, the creepy electronic wail of the ondes martenot, the explosions from the organist showing off after Mass - you always know it's Messiaen.
And the titles! Apparition de l'Eglise éternelle, Livre du Saint-Sacrément, Méditations sur le mystère de la Sainte Trinité, La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus–Christ... I can't imagine that anyone ever went up to him and said: "So, Olivier, what religion do you belong to?"
Perhaps the most extraordinary feature of Messiaen was his ability to combine the the imagery and theology
Good news from Rome today, courtesy of Fr Z. The Pope has appointed Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera - known as "Little Ratzinger" - as the new Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
The Cardinal, currently Archbishop of Toledo, is an enthusiast for the Extraordinary Form of Mass, which he has celebrated in public. (His predecessor Cardinal Arinze, though conservative in many ways, was no great supporter of the traditional liturgy.) He has also ordained priests into the Institute of Christ the King, whose priests celebrate only using the older Missal.
The new appointment will, I hope, increase pressure on the Bishops of England and Wales to embrace Summorum Pontificum instead of ignoring or misrepresenting it.
Perhaps now the Vatican will pay attention to the fact
Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor is trying to make up for the shortcomings of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a forthcoming book by one of England's best known Catholic writers.
No, seriously, this isn't a wind-up. Michael Walsh really does say that in The Westminster Cardinals, to be published by Continuum early next year. Here's the quote: "It is almost as if, the papacy having failed to live up to the challenges he has set it, Murphy-O'Connor has taken them on himself."
I think the politest thing I could say about this judgment is that it is counter-intuitive. But I have to be careful, so let me confine myself to explaining how Walsh - an old-style Tabletista and ex-priest (of course) - arrived at it.
Cormac Card. Murphy-O'Connor went into the last conclave looking for a candidate
The Catholic diocese of Plymouth is offering Advent "musical podcasts" for "those who prefer not to worship inside a church building". And there I was, thinking that Catholics who don't go to Mass every Sunday commit a mortal sin.
Now, let me be the first to say that I shouldn't be throwing stones on this particular subject. But what a relief it would have been, on those Sundays I missed Mass, to know that I could have salved my conscience with a podcast.
Here is the Plymouth's generous offer to the church-averse. (Hat tip: Pew Warmer.) The actual podcasts are an initiative by the Archdiocese of Birmingham, whose formidable Archbishop certainly wouldn't allow such a misleading statement to go up on his website. But Plymouth belongs to the South Coast province of the Magic Circle, where
I've just read that Sunny von Bülow has died, after nearly 28 years in a coma. Her sad story is well known, having been the subject of two sensational court cases and an Oscar-winning film. Her death will, of course, rake up the accusation of attempted murder levelled at her husband, Claus von Bülow. But it should also serve as a reminder that Claus was found innocent at his second trial - and rightly so.
Claus is a friend of mine who has shown me great kindness over the years. But his friends don't think he is innocent of trying to kill his wife because they like him: they think that because he didn't do it.
Let me quote from Professor Vincent Marks, a former Vice-President of the Royal College of Pathologists and a world expert on insulin poisoning, in a book published
A good friend of mine, Nicholas Krasno, was received into full communion with the Catholic Church this afternoon in a touching and dignified ceremony conducted by the Provost of the London Oratory, Fr Ignatius Harrison.
I think it's fair to say that this wasn't an occasion I ever expected to attend: Nicholas, a witty and erudite English financial consultant who lives in New York, was for many years adamant (and I mean adamant) that he would stay put in the Church of England.
But times change, and so do popes. Nicholas has been hugely impressed by Pope Benedict, whose sense of the sacred is profoundly liturgical: he was thrilled see the Holy Father reinstating rubrics and devotions that, like many Anglo-Catholics, he assumed were lost to the Roman Church for ever.
The name of the next Archbishop of Westminster will be announced on January 2, according to a senior aide to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor.
I can't guarantee that he's right; I'm just passing on a piece of information from someone who ought to know. Alas, there was no hint as to who the Cardinal's successor will be.
The assumption in clergy circles is that the choice will be between Archbishop Nichols of Birmingham and Archbishop Smith of Cardiff. But - and I can hardly believe I am saying this - don't rule out a former champion figure skater who has plenty of admirers in Rome.
That'll be an interesting dilemma for me, won't it? +Arthur at Westminster. Common sense tells me that, whoever gets the job, I should be drawing a line under the past. But the goings-on in Leeds were truly
Here's a revealing little tale about the Catholic Church's control-freak liturgists. ICEL - the official International Commission on English in the Liturgy - has forced an independent Catholic website to disable links that provided free musical settings of the new translation of the Mass. And this despite the fact that the translation, produced by ICEL at the Vatican's insistence, has already been approved by Rome.
I've often blogged about the cosy relationship between Church authorities and the commercial producers of hippy drivel. I don't want to single anyone out, but it's amazing how often lucrative commissions are ch-ch-channelled in the direction of composers who are also publishers and soi-disant "liturgists".
As soon as I heard that Rome had given its approval to a more
The death of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow is sad news for the Russian Orthodox Church - but it also opens a window of opportunity for a Church whose paranoia has proved a serious obstacle to greater Christian unity.
Perhaps it would be unfair to call Alexy a creature of the Kremlin. Unfair on the Kremlin, that is. For, while the Patriarch firmly upheld Vladimir Putin's foreign policies, in some areas he managed to strike a more nationalist stance than the President/Prime Minister: no easy task.
Putin visited the Vatican in 2007, clearly signalling his wish to ease tensions between Moscow and Rome. Pope Benedict has a passionate commitment to making sure that (as Pope John Paul II put it) both lungs of Christianity, east and west, breathe together. And he is in a much better position to
Suddenly I don't feel so gloomy about the future of the Catholic Church in this country. This lunchtime the Catholic Herald held a reception to mark the arrival of Magnificat magazine in the UK. This handsome little publication is a monthly aid to devotion built around the Mass and the Church's calendar, untouched by political correctness or any wearisome secular influences. It has nearly half a million subscribers worldwide.
Looking round the room in Brown's Hotel, I was struck by a sense that an unexpected Catholic revival is under way. Admittedly, it's still below the radar of most bishops (though the feisty Archbishop of Glasgow was there to give us his blessing): the Magic Circle are sticking their hands in their ears and pretending not to hear a word. But they'll have to
Catholic adoption agencies are deliberately choosing not to exploit a legal opt-out that would allow them to avoid placing children with gay couples, according to a lawyer specialising in religious discrimination.
Neil Addison, founder of the St Thomas More Legal Centre, a Catholic charity, says the bishops and their agencies have "caved in too easily" to the Government's Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs).
In an interview with the (very) conservative website LifeSiteNews.com, he points out that two Christian adoption agencies have been allowed by the Charity Commission to restrict their service to lawfully married couples. But Catholic diocesan adoption agencies have not gone down this route, which involves making their constitutions more specifically religious.
Philip Johnson, a 24-year-old American naval officer, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour this year. Suddenly, he had to ask himself: did he want to fulfil his long-term ambition to become a Catholic priest - even though there was probably no such thing as a long term for him?
His moving blog, drawn to my attention by Fr Z, provides an answer. Yes, he wants to be ordained more than anything else in the world. But he knows that the matter is outside his control:
As I deal with a brain tumour, I am not sad that it may eventually cause me to suffer and die. This will eventually happen to all of us, and we must be prepared to face death at all times by remaining in the state of grace. The single worry I face every day is that because of various circumstances - some of which are
Tom Gross at the Wall Street Journal has some observations about media coverage of the Mumbai murders that make me ashamed to be a journalist. You would think that jihadist Muslims mowing down Western tourists and devout Jews would earn the label "Islamic terrorist". But no. Here's what Gross has to say:
Why are so many prominent Western media reluctant to call the perpetrators terrorists? Why did Jon Snow, one of Britain's most respected TV journalists, use the word "practitioners" when referring to the Mumbai terrorists? Was he perhaps confusing them with doctors?
Why did Britain's highly regarded Channel 4 News state that the "militants" showed a "wanton disregard for race or creed" when exactly the opposite was true: Targets and victims were very carefully selected. Why did the "experts"
So let's get this straight. An anti-Catholic Labour Government starts making noises about accommodating other religions in faith schools. OK, says the Catholic Education Service. How about Muslim prayer rooms in Catholic schools where children can practise a faith that explicitly denies the divinity of Jesus? Plus, if necessary, "special toilet facilities" for ritual cleansing.
The Pope, meanwhile, puts out a document that removes virtually all restrictions on the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass. And the Catholic bishops say: sorry, Holy Father, didn't quite catch that. Special facilities (known as churches) where traditional Catholics can carry out their "rituals"? Um, we'll get back to you on that. Anyone for a chocolate Hobnob?
The gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has praised the "liberal" Catholic bishops of England and Wales for challenging the "outdated, bigoted" attitude of the Vatican towards homosexuality.
Speaking on behalf of OutRage!, the hardline lobby group that in the past has adopted the appalling tactic of disrupting Masses, Tatchell strongly welcomes a Bishops' Conference leaflet that urges the faithful to use the bidding prayers "to express appreciation for the gifts that homosexual Catholics bring to their faith community".
Personally, I can't think of anything worse than being patronised from the lectern by someone reading out a bit of politically correct doggerel from Eccleston Square. Still, I'm sure some gay activists linked to the Bishops' Conference will be delighted by his endorsement.
Walt Disney products are corrupting children's minds, according to Fr Christopher Jamison, the "go-ahead" Benedictine Abbot of Worth. Well said, Father! I worry sometimes that the Church is not in touch with "youth culture". How reassuring that at least one cleric has woken up to the threat to purity and morals posed by these animated cartoons.
I have it on good authority that, every Saturday morning, crowds of young people flock to their local "flea-pit"cinema to watch Mr Disney's amoral retelling of Snow White and other well-loved fairy stories. Indeed, some of the shorter films feature talking animals - a mouse, if you please, and a duck! What sort of message does that send to the Church of tomorrow?
I trust that Abbot Christopher will not confine his criticisms to the films
Damian DeWitt, the pseudonym of one of the supporters of the anti-Scientology group "Anonymous", has just sent the following letter to Cardinal Oswald Gracias. Quite how His Eminence or the civil authorities are supposed to stop followers of Hubbard from flooding Mumbai with their material is unclear. But I think you'll be interested in the contents of the letter, and in particular the claim that Scientologists exploited 9/11. Here it is:
For His Grace, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai, Vice-President, Catholic Bishops Conference of India
Where am I?
