EMOTIONALISM VERSUS CATHOLICISM

Your Scribe standing happily before Saint Peter's Basilica in 2009

                            

At the heart of Catholicism is Faith. Faith in the God Man Jesus Christ who died on the Cross to bring to everyone everywhere the chance of Salvation -  if they choose it.For this reason He established his Church which, after only a few decades came to be called Catholic - that is universal.

The handmaid of that Faith, in authentic Catholicism ,has always been Reason.The relationship has been explicit since the time of Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas later on.In more recent times it was thoroughly examined by Blessed Pope John Paul II ( soon to be Saint if media reports are true) in his Encyclical " Fides et Ratio" - Faith and Reason.

In the course of a casual exchange with friends to-day, it became clearer to me how very much this insistence on " Reason" has put the Catholic Church at odds with the modern world. At first blush, this might seem odd for an institution founded on Faith. For the modern world in its glibness, would inevitably assume Faith to be the antithesis of Reason.

But strangely enough, it is largely the modern world that has abandoned the use of Reason. Reason flourishes on truth - and the modern world is inclined to reject the very concept of absolute truth.

Instead we are increasingly experiencing a world run on Emotionalism.And this Emotionalism slides so easily past truths , whilst making "everyone" feel good in the process. This phenomenon frequently brings the modern world into direct confrontation with the Catholic Church. Furthermore it is often used as an instrument when the Catholic Church is singled out for attack.

And Emotionalism walks happily hand in hand with " Niceness" which is the adopted badge of the modern world .

Let us look at this phenomenon in action. The Catholic Church opposes in vitro fertilisation for the sound logical reason that in the process of its operation, very many "unwanted" fertilised human eggs are destroyed once the desired fertilised human egg has been implanted. These are true human lives - destroyed as " unwanted".The IVF Industry is a big one peopled by highly educated and remunerated professionals and its clients are emotion -stirring would-be but can't be parents.

The Industry and the Media employ the most primitive Emotionalism in defending and expanding  their patch. The newly become parents and the IVF child are used most effectively to melt hearts and promote the trade. Who can resist a new born baby and loving parents. The deceased "unwanted" are not to be seen - flushed away in secrecy.Not present to the parents' minds. Emotionalism 10  Reason NIL in the public mind.

If we need another example let us look at the selling of "Homosexuality" in the Media. We all know that the Catholic Church teaches that Same Sex Attraction is not in itself sinful but that Homosexual Genital Activity is.It follows rationally that the promotion of an active Homosexual Lifestyle is immoral. But in the mainstream media an active Homosexual Lifestyle IS actively promoted in TV ,Film, print media etc. In the Media active Homosexuals are presented as happy, handsome, nice, clean, socially acceptable and entertaining. They are inevitably shown as "fun" people.Anything that would disturb the Happy Emotionalism is hidden in secrecy. 

When recently a movie was made on the life of the late pianist  Liberace and his homosexual partner, it was apparently quite graphic concerning their more intimate life. It was not accepted for distribution by any of the American distribution networks. Morals? No! They simply did not want people to see, or rather they knew the 97% of the population not Homosexual did not want to see, the ugly truth about Homosexual life. Nothing must disturb the " nice" Emotionalism within which its promoters thrive with warm and fuzzy talk of "rights" and "equality" etc. So the field is left clear for their campaign to hide the reality.  Emotionalism 10 Reason NIL in the popular mind.

Again , let us consider the issue of Sexual Abuse. The Catholic Church is totally opposed to any form of sexual abuse by Clergy, Teachers or anybody for that matter. It is , nevertheless a fact that at any time it is possible that some cleric or teacher within the Church might abuse their position of trust in this matter. It is a patent fact that in the past, particularly in the 1960s, 70s and the early 80s the number of such offences rose to equal the level in the general population. Because of remedial action it has since fallen way back to its historical negligible level. ( So much so that in the USA where there are over 38,000 Catholic Priests, only 6 credible allegations were made according to an independent agency, in the last year.) 

But these are horrendous offences and several decades of victims, well organised by fee for success lawyers and the delight of the media are used to keep the matters alive by Emotionalism. No number of apologies by Priests, Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals and Popes satisfies the cameras. Did you apologise? - you were insincere. Did you pay compensation? - not enough. Did you follow legal advice like we do ? - Heartless!

Of course the real victims themselves are tragic figures and one can understand their emotion and perhaps passionate demands. But the media and the lawyers and the victims organisers need to keep the thing going.Emotionalism is the means. Reason is nowhere welcome. Emotionalism 20 Reason Nil.

Sometimes the perverse influence of Emotionalism is more subtle. Take for instance, the bumper stickers which urge one to "Perform Random Acts of Kindness". But Christ's Catholic Church urges us to perform systematic acts of kindness, in fact to make our lives reflect God's Love at all times.The modern world's citizen is satisfied by Emotionalism's " niceness" and the quick fix of the idea of " random acts". None of that commitment stuff - " you can't expect me to change my life". 

The more we reflect on it, the more it becomes apparent to what extent people are abandoning Reason and embracing Emotionalism. How often do we hear people ( and even Government leaders) say " I feel that we need to..." Or " I feel it is time we....". It is so much easier to "feel" than to rationally argue why a thing ought to be done or to happen. And it is so much easier to hide unwelcome truths from people, or to act in a manner that cannot be justified, if one only has to tell them what one feels.

Emotion has its place. In fact it can often reflect a complex of ideas which we would find it difficult at the time to rationalise. But Emotionalism as a substitute for Reason is not only inadequate, it is mostly perverse.

RESPECTING OUR UNIQUE POSITION AS CATHOLICS : HIDDEN TREASURE OF TRUTH

Serving With the Angels : This article was originally written and published by me in the November 1998 former Newsletter "FOUNDATION". It has to-day been amplified slightly to highlight the compelling reasoning of Pope Pius XI.

It is interesting how many treasures both sacred and profane get buried and forgotten with the passage of time -

tilling the soil in Ireland reveals a Mass kit buried for safety (its priestly owner perhaps executed before he could return for it), 

a vast hoard of Roman coins recovered at the bottom of the excavation of an English well (if only the barbarian attackers had known) or,

 a Papal Encyclical buried in the subsequent documentation of World War II and the Second Vatican Council “churchquake”. But the dust has settled and the advent of the computer database is shining light on some gems.

Eighty years ago the great Pope Pius XI issued the crystal clear gem of an encyclical Mortalium Animos on fostering true religious Unity.  He drew attention to what St. Cyprian says:

 “The Spouse of Christ cannot commit adultery; she is incorrupt and modest, she knows one house, she guards with chaste modesty the holiness of one room.” (De Cath. Ecclesiae Unitate, 6.) This same holy martyr marvelled, and with reason, how anyone could think that “the unity which proceeds from the stability of God and is bound together by the sacraments of Heaven could be torn asunder in the Church or separated by the wills of the discordant.” (Ibidem.)

SAINT JOHN by Titian

The great Pope goes on to emphasise

"All remember how John — the very Apostle of Charity who in his Gospel seems to have opened the secrets of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and who always inculcated in the minds of his disciples the new commandment, Love ye one another — had wholly forbidden them to have relations with those who did not profess entire and uncorrupted the teachings of Christ. If any man cometh to you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house nor say to him, God speed you. (II John 10.) Since charity is founded in whole and sincere faith, the disciples of Christ must be united by the bond of unity in faith and by it as the chief bond."

Pope Pius XI uses his logical scalpel deftly and to great effect in Mortalium Animos :

"Since the Mystical Body of Christ, that is to say, the Church, is, like the physical body, a unity (I Cor. 12, 12), a compact thing closely joined together (Eph. 4, 16), it would be false and foolish to say that Christ’s Mystical Body could be composed of separated and scattered members. Whoever, therefore, is not united with it is not a member of it, nor does he communicate with its Head Who is Christ. No one is found in the one Church of Christ, and no one perseveres in it, unless he acknowledges and accepts obediently the supreme authority of St. Peter and his legitimate successors. (Emphasis added — Ed.) Did not the very ancestors of those who are entangled in the errors of Photius and the Protestants obey the Roman Bishop as the high shepherd of souls?"

Photius, it will be remembered was the heretical Patriarch of Constantinople who was the architect of the Great Schism over the "Filioque" Clause which the Council of Nicea added to the Creed, defining that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and the Son.

POPE PIUS XI UPON THE CATHEDRA IN THE LATERAN BASILICA

Strangely, Mortalium Animos  is not referred to in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, or in the Second Vatican Council documents. It seems then ironical, that it was last officially referred to by Pope Saint John XXIII in his very first encyclical Ad Petri Cathedram (To the Chair of Peter) in which he announced the Council ... “this unity, Venerable Brethren and beloved sons, must be solid, firm and sure, not transient, uncertain or unstable. Though there is no such unity in other Christian communities, all who look carefully can see that it is present in the Catholic Church.” (with footnote reference to Mortalium Animos).

The between the wars Pan Christian ecumenical movement, which Pius XI so decisively addressed, re-surfaced in the post-war period and in various ways tended to colour the post-Conciliar ecumenical project. In the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s ecumenical fever brought on a great deal of irrational hopes, activity and talk. But in the 1990s and this century the fever has declined, leaving some confused, others lost, and the majority exchanging knowing looks, as one might when an
errant relative comes to his/her senses. 

The accelerating decay of the Anglican “Communion” and the libertarian excesses of the Uniting Church are only two examples of the shock therapy administered to Catholic ecumenical zealots. But 80 years ago the Pope, who - 
in 1930 with Casti Connubii exposed the intellectual fraud of the Anglican decision allowing for the practice of contraception and - 
in 1937 in Mit Brennender Sorge (With Burning Sorrow)  (smuggled into the Third Reich by a priest on bicycle) blasted the pathetic claims of superiority of race and nation and again-
 in 1937, with Divini Redemptoris, revealed the perversity of Communism, 
with clarity and powerful reasoning and the deftness of a scalpel-wielding surgeon, exposed the perils of, and the reality of the false ecumenism we have in recent decades suffered - and against whose “false irenicism” Pope Saint John Paul the Great repeatedly warned.


Pope Pius XI teaches with impeccable logic, with Saint Cyprian " one house.....one room", with Saint John : " ....receive him not.....", we cannot abandon logic, such a great Saint and the Apostle Jesus loved for a mess of "niceness" and equivocation.

SAINT CYPRIAN OF CARTHAGE

Pope Pius XI pray for us.

"FINDING JESUS" FUNDAMENTALIST SELF-DECEPTION

"FINDING JESUS" FUNDAMENTALIST EXPERIENCES

I had a very interesting conversation over a light lunch recently with another friend and a Priest recently returned from travelling for some time. In the course of a wide-ranging discussion, Father mentioned encountering some college friends who had abandoned the Faith because they had " discovered Jesus" in a fundamentalist "Christian " sect.In the conversation the emphasis was on his sorrow at seeing these folk slide away from the Faith.

Later, it came back to my mind, when I was reading some Meditations on the Life of Christ ( Father Nicola Avancini S.J.). Have these folk , who have abandoned Jesus' Mystical Body - the Catholic Church , really "discovered Jesus? 

We are of course not talking about some merely human founder of an organisation, or some mere philosopher . No we are talking about God made Man. The God/Man Who said of Himself :

"4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If  a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love."(John 15: 4 - 9)

This is the same Jesus Who said :

"....18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[c] and on this rock[d] I will build my church, and the powers of death[e] shall not prevail against it.[f] 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven,[g] and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matt. 16: 18-19)"
and later He said :

"....19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”

"....that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and thou in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that thou hast sent me and hast loved them even as thou hast loved me."
(John 17: 21-23)

Here we see Jesus' Will for His followers in its fullness and integrity. And so it remained essentially , for 1,000 years until the political strength of Constantinople seduced the Church in the East to flatter itself with false teachings and separate itself from communion with the Successor of Saint Peter. Then, after nearly 500 years of relative peace the Protestant Deformers of the Church burst upon the scene bolstered by local Monarchs who eyed the lands and buildings of Christ's Church to finance their wars with one another. Since then an estimated 40-60,000 Protestant sects have broken of into ever dwindling fragments.

All of this we see from Jesus' own words is directly contrary to His Divine Will.

Lastly on the scene are these so-called "Fundamentalist" or even              " Pentecostalists" claiming to be inspired by the Holy Spirit - and claiming to offer people a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Their whole activity is driven by emotionalism and hype and opposed to the use of reason and therefore opposed to a thorough understanding of Sacred Scripture. Concentrating on a relatively few passages without regard for their context , they sweep the gullible ,or the willful guilty, off their feet with emotional appeals and pop music in mass meetings and bombard them with essentially empty repetitious slogans. And these people then claim to have " discovered Jesus".

JESUS IS WITH US UNTIL THE END OF TIME
AS HE HAS BEEN SINCE THE NIGHT OF THE LAST SUPPER

NO. It is not possible to establish a " personal relationship with Jesus" by ignoring His words, His instructions in fact. We cannot " find" Him by refusing His Will for us.

What then have they found? What can we say of an organisation that deliberately perverts the Word of God in Sacred Scriptures, that seeks to intoxicate people with a totally false representation of Jesus Christ's teaching. There is no plainer example of the work of the Father of Lies. It is NOT Jesus Christ they have met but the work of Satan himself. He who hates God and Man is marvellously subtle in presenting himself in such a way as to appeal to peoples' better instincts with much "God" and " Jesus" talk and then , whipping them into an excited mob he leads them off just like a wolf in sheeps' clothing.

No-one can " find Jesus" by doing the very opposite of what Jesus desired and required.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP

CATHOLIC AGAIN !

First posted Monday, May 14, 2012

CATHOLIC AGAIN!

Saint Peter's Basilica

Catholic Again!


 I was recently reflecting on my Family Tree. On the Paternal side: Irish Catholic.


On the Maternal side: German and English Protestant. My Mother’s conversion to Catholicism brought back to the Faith branches of the Family Tree which had strayed for over 450 years.


“The evil that men do lives after them….” Shakespeare has Mark Antony say. It is so very true!

MARTIN LUTHER  Death Mask

 In the cases of Martin Luther – the drunken, blasphemous, sacrilegious and bitterly anti-Semitic beginner of Protestantism and King Henry VIII the hypocritical, sex-obsessed plunderer and persecutor of the Church, it is clear that at some stage in the late 1500’s they both set in motion forces that compelled or induced my German and English ancestors to abandon the Faith into which they were born and which had sustained their, and my, earlier ancestors for at least 1,000 years since their conversion from paganism.

The outrageous nature of such an act comes sharply into focus when we consider Our Lord’s description of our relationship in the Church to Him:


 “I am the Vine; you are the branches…..”


These two sinning, arrogant, lustful men literally tore the branches away from “the Vine.” And not just once, but on and on for generation after generation.

KING HENRY VIII

That was not the limit of the atrocity.The Deformation of Christ's Church rolled on and on.


 Like every person in serious error, these successive generations sought to justify their false position by greater and greater error. So we see a multiplying of the number of Protestant sects and at a constantly increasing rate-Presbyterians, Methodists, Congregationalists, Unitarians, Mormons, Latter Day (!!) Saints and on and on , at such a rate that in the U.S.A. alone the number of Protestant sects has gone from 20,000 to 40,000 in about 60 years. And Henry’s Church of England in its decrepitation, has long since gone beyond parody.

Scientists have very recently reported the discovery that Cancer cells are very much more sophisticated than they had believed. Not only do they multiply at an alarming rate, but they actively disable the defences of healthy cells adjoining them.


The cancerous growth of Protestantism has sought to invade the Church since Vatican II through the back door with false ecumenism. “”Niceness” has become prized by some in place of Truth, “Shared Values” in place of Principles and Sacred Tradition which comes to us from the Apostles, they would put aside to accommodate the inclinations of our “separated brethren”.


Thank God for our truly Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, who gently but firmly cuts through humbug and falsity and vigorously pursues authentic ecumenism which leads those in error back to unity in the Catholic Church.


The errant behavior of Luther and Henry VIII are for God Himself to judge. The sad results for hundreds of millions since their time are difficult to address and have required a long term view. The broken branches have withered where they fell and fertilized myriad coarse weeds. We need to pray for the Holy Father’s success to increase more and more, adding luster to his well earned title of the Pope of Christian Unity.


Catholic Again indeed! For my family a return to Justice and Life with Christ in the Communion of Saints. What a beautiful thought.


And now, with the Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross to be established on 15th June, 2012, thousands more former Anglicans will bring their families back to the Communion of Saints in Christ's Catholic Church ! Thanks be to God and His Vicar on Earth, the Pope of Christian Unity, Benedict XVI "gloriously reigning"as the lovely old phrase goes!

That was in 2012  - how quickly and sometimes sadly things can change  . Please pray for Our Holy Father Pope Francis.

CRASH THROUGH OR CRASH ?

HEADING INTO A STORM DURING TREMORS

AN EARLIER CONSISTORY

Pity the newly-announced Cardinals who will be made Cardinals in the forthcoming Consistory on Saturday 19^th November, 2016. They are heading into a storm and beneath their feet the Roman  ground has been trembling. But the “storm” is creating the greater tremors.

Join the dots.

On the 29^th June, 2016 48 respected Theologians from around the globe   write a 13 page Open Letter to the Holy Father listing 19 Propositions in Amoris Laetitia which they state, are either false, doubtful and or need amendment. We know of no publicised response.

On 5^th July, 2016 , the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Sarah, in a personal Homily urges all Priests from the Month of November, to commence celebrating Holy Mass facing East - Ad Orientem. Like all of his statements and Homilies his proposal was well-reasoned. It was delivered at the Sacra Liturgia Conference in London.

CARDINAL SARAH
PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR DIVINE WORSHIP
AND THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS

On 12^th July, 2016 the Holy See explicitly rejects the idea stating that there is no Instruction to that effect, nor will there be. Cardinal Sarah is summoned to Pope Francis and the negative message is emphasised.

Lull

CARDINALS BURKE,MEISNER
BRANDMULLER AND CAFFARRA

On 19^th September, 2016 4 Senior Cardinal :  Brandmuller, Burke, Caffarra, and Meisner  write a private letter to the Holy Father and Cardinal Muller Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, listing 5 points which they state are “Dubia” or “doubts” for many in the Church concerning “AMORIS LAETITIA” and they respectfully request definitive Papal teaching on these Dubia.

On 24 the October, 2016  in his morning Homily in Santa Marta the Holy Father delivers a significant attack on devotees of Traditioal Catholic worship directly stating that this “rigidity” or “sternness” (la rigidezza) is a sign of something wicked implying without subtlety that such people have flawed characters and secrets to hide. 

On 28^th October, 2016 the Holy Father dismisses EVERY member of the Congregation for Divine Worship save the Prefect and nominates replacements including Archbishop Piero Marini and Cardinal-Elect Blaise Cupich.

On 31^st. October, 2016 the Holy Father travels to Sweden and in the pre-Deformation Catholic Cathedral – now the Lutheran Cathedral – joins with Lutherans commemorating Martin Luther’s Deformation of Christ’s Church.

POPE FRANCIS MEETS CARDINAL BURKE

On 10^th November, 2016 the Holy Father meets with Cardinal Burke. It is made clear that the Holy Father will not answer the Dubia.

On or about 10^th November, 2016 there is published in Book form an interview between the Holy Father and fellow Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro (often credited with a major role in drafting Amoris Laetitia). In the course of this interview the Holy Father again launches an attack on devotees of Traditional Worship, saying that the traditional liturgy had needed reform; and goes further to say that the concept of “the Reform of the Reform” is an error. That there will be no more reform. Father Spadaro resorts to Twitter to attack critics of AMORIS LAETITIA.

CARDINAL MULLER
PREFECT OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

On 11^th November the Holy Father meets with Cardinal Muller. There is  no public information on the result.

On 14^th November, in the light of the Holy Father’s decision, the Four Cardinals release their letter to the Public so that the Holy Father’s decision may be appreciated and the faithful made aware of the state of current teaching and the developing situation.

On 15th November  in an interview with Edward Pentin for National Catholic Register, Cardinal Burke says that if the Holy Father continues to refuse a response to their request for Teaching, the Cardinals and Bishops will be bound by the tradition of the Church in charity and justice to execute an act of correction of the Holy Father’s published teaching.

On 17th November the Italian Vaticanist Marco Tosatti reveals that Pope Francis will not hold the usual formal Meeting of the Consistory ( and thus the Curia) before the Ceremonial Consistory on Saturday 20th November.

On 18th November in an interview i "AVVENIRE" the Newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference Pope Francis is quoted as saying:

"Some people — I am thinking of certain responses to Amoris Laetitia — continue to misunderstand," Francis said. “It’s either black or white [to them], even if in the flow of life you have to discern."

Asked about critics who accuse the pope of “Protestantizing" the Catholic church — an objection often raised by conservative Catholics in the U.S. — Francis said, “I don’t lose sleep over it."

He insisted that he is following the model of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s that set the church on a path to internal reform and greater engagement with the world.

“As for opinions of others," he said, “we always have to distinguish the spirit in which they are given. When not given in bad faith, they help with the way forward. Other times you see right away that the critics pick bits from here and there to justify a pre-existing viewpoint; they are not honest, they are acting in bad faith to foment divisions."

“You see right away that a certain ‘rigorism’ is born out of a lack of something, from a desire to hide inside the armor of one’s own sad dissatisfaction," he said.

We could comment on the significance of these events but at this stage that might be judged inappropriate.

One could comment on numerous of the remarks by the Holy Father, but we do not wish to be uncharitable or unkind. They are not the remarks we would expect from a Roman Pontiff.

The whole chain of events would never have occurred in any of the Pontificates in living memory.

Pope Francis will celebrate his 80th Birthday on 17th December , 2016 in three weeks time.

I guess we are still "GETTING TO KNOW POPE FRANCIS".

Watch this space.

THE POWER OF ONE : BISHOP WILLIAM BRENNAN

HE TURNED THE TIDE - BISHOP A HERO OF GOD

He never did look like a Super Hero but when Bishop William Brennan was ordained Priest on 21st December, 1960 by Cardinal Agaginian ,for the now enfeebled vacant See of Wilcannia-Forbes, few could have guessed that the young man prostrate before before the Altar would quietly turn the history of the Catholic Church in Australia right about. 

On 1st March, 1984 William Brennan was consecrated Bishop of the Diocese of Wagga Wagga , by Cardinal Clancy then  Archbishop of Sydney ,with Archbishop Luigi Barbarito (Apostolic Pro- Nuncio)and Archbishop Carroll Auxiliary of Sydney as Co-Consecrators. I doubt that they would have guessed even at that stage what the practical results of that Sacramental act would be.

The Diocese of Wagga Wagga was erected on 28th July, 1917 toward the latter part of the first World War.It was carved out of the Diocese of Goulburn as it was.By the time of Bishop Brennan's Consecration, The Diocese had near 24,000 Catholics out of a total population of 108,000 (22%), and there were 41 Priests ( all Diocesan) 18 male Religious and 213 female Religious and 21 Parishes (figures actually at 1951).

Even by Australian standards, this was a small Diocese and unlikely to be a source of difficulty for the "progressive" Hierarchs in charge of mighty Sydney and Melbourne or even lesser Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.For at that time the Church in Australia had fallen into the hands of the false "spirit of the Council" people. There were a few strong Suffragan hold-outs for orthodoxy , but one hand was sufficient to count them, even perhaps a hand that had lost a few fingers! Times were tough - the unannounced War had been, it seemed, "won". Most people in the pews did not even know it had been on!

CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE WERRIBEE PARK,MELBOURNE  - NOW A POLICE ACADEMY

Every Seminary in the Country was already in terminal decline. The New Church people had promoted their own into all the Professorial positions in the Seminaries and the Institutes and colleges that supplemented their teaching needs. Seminarians who would hug trees (literally) could flourish but most of the good Catholic young men left the wreckage of once Catholic institutions and, for want of an alternative, gave up their vocations.Scandals and heresy abounded - driving ever more good men away. 

The Second Vatican Council had, in its document "Christus Dominus" noted the perceived advantages for the Church in each country , of closer co-ordination between the Bishops of that country, and lauded the concept of Episcopal Conferences. In 1966 Pope Paul VI by his Apostolic Letter " Ecclesiae Sanctae"directed the implementation of such Conferences among other things.

It is of course an obviously rational idea, as long as the independence of each Diocese is respected.The 1983 Code of Canon Law # 447 ( referring to " Christus Dominus") set out the role of the Conferences.But the gap between rational ideas and clear Canon Law, and political reality is vast. Few would have foreseen the creatures that the Conferences would become, and just how they might operate to the disadvantage of the Church and right and good in certain circumstances. Few indeed, but the e New Church people did. They clearly perceived the potential of the Conferences.And they acted to realise that potential.

They had ample advice from American manipulators well skilled in management techniques.Of course it was only rational that the Conference should have a Secretariat to "serve" it. Then of course the Secretariat must have an Executive Secretary , and indeed the Conference must have Committees and Committee Chairmen "served" by still more Executive Officers and indeed Chief Executive Officers, and away we go. 

But as bad as that was, there was another poisonous effect of the Conferences : rogue , dissident Bishops said and did what they would, thumbing their noses at their often sympathetic but more discreet brother Bishops. But the few orthodox and faithful Bishops felt constrained  by their loyalty to Christ and His Church to not only preserve unity, but to be seen to do so. These few good men then, were effectively neutralised, much as faithful Priests had been largely neutralised during the post-Conciliar collapse, by their silent contempt for what they saw going on around them.

The Man for the Hour

But then along came William Brennan. The man for the hour. The man who found the way.

Instead of being mesmerised by " the signs of the times", Bishop William Brennan saw that it was not necessary to create a great public conflict with his brother Bishops in efforts to protect his Seminarians in the provincial Seminary Saint Patrick's College Manly. He realised that Conference or no Conference, he retained his independent Episcopal powers as Bishop of Wagga Wagga. Not a public conflict. But of course almost every one of his brother Bishops would look askance at any independent action.When it came, they were all made uncomfortable, but might not have seen quite how uncomfortable some of them would become.

His action was not precipitate, but rather, mature and deliberate : in 1992 Bishop Brennan announced the foundation of  Vianney College the Wagga Wagga Diocesan Seminary.As far as the broader Catholic population in Australia knew, the event might not have happened. But among those who carefully followed the health of the Catholic Church in Australia and loved her for what she ought to be, joy bells were ringing. It was obvious why Bishop Brennan had taken this step - the situation at Saint Patrick's had become a scandal.

VIANNEY COLLEGE PROFESSORIAL STAFF AND SEMINARIANS 2011
TOGETHER WITH BISHOP GERARD HANNA

But little Wagga Wagga soon became the tail wagging the National dog! Vocations came flooding from Queensland and from all around New South Wales , from Victoria and from South Australia. As Vianney grew the Seminaries in the other States were collapsing, abandoning the once rightly proud edifices they had occupied and retreating into more modest, even tiny premises in the case of Brisbane's Banyo.

Vianney was carefully staffed with good orthodox Priests of marked achievement, even brilliance, Father Peter Joseph comes to mind and of course the humble and devout present Rector Father Peter Thompson C.M.

Once honoured St.Patrick's College Manly now closed and leased long term

to a Catering School by Cardinal Clancy. The Chapel remains under Church control.

In no time at all there were more Seminarians in Vianney College than in the provincial Seminary of Manly, or the provincial Seminary of Banyo, or the Provincial Seminary at Clayton in Melbourne .And the Seminary in Adelaide had closed. Bishop Brennan must have received some very hard glances at Conference meetings.But he was not a man of limited vision.

Crisis in Australia

In 1998 the situation of the Church in Australia was evolving steadily. Cardinal Clancy was still Archbishop of Sydney,  and Archbishop J.A. Bathersby in Brisbane and Archbishop Leonard Faulkner in Adelaide, but cracks were appearing in the liberal edifice : Archbishop Barry Hickey was appointed to Perth in 1991 and a Bishop named George Pell had been made an Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne in 1987 and he succeeded Archbishop Little as Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 after Archbishop Little apparently contracted a Roman illness.

The Holy See was by 1998 alarmed by the state of the Church in Australia and at the Australian Catholic Bishops Ad Limina visits that year,  after exhaustive consultations between the Australian Bishops and the Prefects of the Curial Dicasteries, a formal Statement of Conclusions on the parlous condition of the Church here was signed. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger ( later Pope Benedict XVI) had led the Holy See representatives who signed the document together with representatives of all the Australian Bishops.Back in Australia, the Bishops sought to allow the matter to fade into the past. But they had been put clearly on notice. And the document itself was in the public domain and widely circulated. Your scribe was in a position to ensure that this happened. Most Bishops gave the appearance of falling into line. One would not, and despite every opportunity given over the succeeding  years would finally have to be deposed in the new millennium.

Government Issues

In that same historic year of 1998 in October, two months before the Statement of Conclusions, Bishop Brennan issued a decree stating that only Catholics approved by himself might teach religion to Catholic children in government schools in his diocese. In addition, he insisted that the syllabus used must have his approval, and cover all the major elements of the faith.

In an article in the diocesan paper, Together, in October, Bishop Brennan explained that the "pastoral results" of having Catholic children taught a Scripture program by members of other Churches "have not been encouraging" with few of those involved developing "a sense of being Catholic" or becoming "engaged in sacramental programs."

The Bishop indicated that as from the beginning of 1999, the syllabus to be used should include teaching on the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, the Church, including the roles of Mary the Mother of the Church, the saints and the Pope.

This might seem a rather modest move, but that it was thought to be remarkable, shows how far things had deteriorated.

In late 1999 Bishop Brennan stood apart from his fellow Bishops once again and criticised the Church's involvement in the operation of Government-funded Job Placement agencies under contracts won in competition with commercial organisations, pointing out that this as not part of the Church's proper role considered from a theologically sound point of view. The Secretary of The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference Father Brian Lucas, saw fit to distance himself from the Bishop's view when questioned on the matter on ABC Radio.  Subsequently one of Brisbane Archdiocese' adventures in this field failed financially when it overreached its Government funding.

Religious Orders

Bishop Brennan acted in a forthright manner to foster and protect authentically Catholic Religious Orders which could not find a home, or were being actually persecuted in other Dioceses. Two cases stand out :

The Confraternity of Christ the Priest

Father John Whiting and Blessed Pope John Paul II

The Confraternity of Christ the Priest was founded by the saintly Father John Whiting in 1954 in Townsville during the Episcopate of Bishop Hugh Ryan (1938-1967). However, the thoroughly orthodox Confraternity which had rapidly grown, and its equally orthodox Founder fell foul of Bishop Ryan's successor (1967-1983) Bishop Leonard Faulkner who, though a thoroughly charming gentleman was a total " spirit of the Council" prelate. Happily Father Whiting's Confraternity found shelter with Bishop William Brennan in Wagga, where it continues to flourish.

But its Townsville origins left it vulnerable to attack,and in due course Bishop Ray Benjamin of Townsville (1984-2000) who succeeded Bishop Faulkner moved with a vengeance.  (Bishop Faulkner went on to Adelaide as Archbishop and unleashed the false " spirit of the Council" there - a pollution that still swirls about in that Archdiocese despite his retirement in 2001.) Bishop Benjamin initiated proceedings before the Holy See to have the Confraternity canonically dissolved. Happily, this vindictive act, failed and the Holy See preserved the Confraternity.

Thank you Bishop Brennan for protecting this band of good and holy priests from dissident enemies.



The Conventual Sisters of St. Dominic

The Conventual Sisters of St. Dominic were formerly members of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Australia. They entered the Western Australia Province of this Congregation, which had its origins in Sion Hill, Dublin. In 1988, three sisters left Western Australia to trial a new community in the Diocese of Wagga Wagga. They did this in the belief that God was calling them to return to a more traditional form of Dominican religious life. FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY After four years of living 'ad experimentum' in the Wagga Wagga Diocese, the community was formally erected in 1993 by Bishop William Brennan, with the approval of the Congregation for Religious.

Bringing together the New and the Old:This is not a 'new' community with a completely 'new' charism. It has continuity of spirit and tradition with the long history of Dominican women in Ireland and Australia, yet incorporates the vital elements of true renewal and reform desired by the Church in our times. Whilst this history presents a tranquil picture, the Sisters endured a great deal to protect the integrity of their vocation before finding the protection of Bishop William Brennan. Conclusion In this brief sketch of the achievements of Bishop William Brennan we have sought to do some justice to his name, mindful of the repeated efforts in the same direction made by Cardinal George Pell in the past and even as late as two or three weeks ago. Too many Bishops will go to any length to avoid "rocking the boat"of the Episcopal Conference. Bishop Brennan quietly, humbly not only rocked it he effectively changed its course- brought it back on course!  If ever there has been a hero in the Australian Episcopate he is the Man. Bishop Brennan has had to live in retirement since he was stricken in health in 2002.