I går sendte BBC et program, The Pope’s British Divisions, som en forberedelse til pave Benedikts besøk i England om kort tid. Mange bloggere har kommentert programmet, bl.a. F. Tim Finigan, som skriver:
The 45 minute programme aimed to show how Catholic life in England has changed since the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1982. It looked at immigration, secularism, what it is to be a Catholic, the Soho Masses, the revival of the usus antiquior (which is where Blackfen came in), and how priests of the future see their ministry in Britain today. The seminarians at Oscott who provided the material for the last part gave a very creditable performance. … …
It was hilarious to hear the «Alle-alle-alle – looo – ooo – yah» (27’52») used to illustrate liturgy «a world away from the old rite». I was disappointed that our young people who were interviewed did not get into the final version – but that’s life. …
En annen prest, Fr. Blake, skriver på sin blogg bl.a.:
There was an interesting programme on Radio 4 this morning The Pope’s British Divisions, it concentrates on that, divisions. I think it is a rather fair picture of the Church, Mark Dowd, a gay, a former Dominican novice, presents a programme which shows the Church which is confused. The picture is very much one of cafeteria Catholicism, there is report on the Soho LGBT Mass, a disturbing interview with a Fr Joe Wheat, Bishop McMahon’s Youth Service chaplain, there is also an interview with Fr Tim Finigan over the introduction of the EF in Blackfen and the disgruntled Liberals in his parish. The interest picture is that which emerges from the interjections of Archbishop Nichols, trying to do, in part, what most Archbishop’s should do: hold the Church in unity but you also get the impression he is waiting to see where the wind is really blowing. …
Det er sjokkerende å høre om (praktiserende) katolske ungdommer, som ikke har noen som helst forståelse for moralske spørsmål, som f.eks. abort. (En jegnte sa bl.a.: ‘The best thing about being a Catholic is you get to pick and choose what to believe’.) Dette poenget tas opp på denne bloggen, og enda en annen blogg skriver følgende:
… There was a serious degree of self-deception in advocates of non-judgmentalism in the programme. Fr Joe Wheat who works with Catholic youth didn’t want to make value judgments about who was Catholic and who wasn’t. But, I thought, isn’t he making a value judgment about value judgments? Fr Wheat described the situation of young Catholic people who disagreed with Catholic truths as a ‘struggle’, but judging by the young people who were interviewed, their struggle seemed to be in understanding how Pope Benedict could be so out of touch with the 21st century. They seemed not to be involved in a moral struggle at all; more of a knowledge struggle in what was to them an incomprehensible Church. I don’t want to make judgments, of course, but why do I have the feeling they needn’t look to Fr Joe Wheat for enlightement? …
Selve programmet kan man høre her.