BBC biased against Christianity

Cardinal Keith O'Brien has accused the BBC of "institutional bias" against Christianity. He said that mainstream Christian views had been marginalised by the corporation, and that a forthcoming BBC documentary about the Pope's visit, would be a "hatchet job". A spokeswoman for the BBC said the corporation refuted the allegations "absolutely".

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Cardinal O'Brien said: "detailed research into BBC news coverage of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, together with a systematic analysis of output by the Catholic Church, has revealed a consistent anti-Christian institutional bias.

"This week the BBC's director-general admitted that the corporation had displayed massive bias in its political coverage throughout the 1980s, acknowledging the existence of an institutional political bias."

Read more here.

upcoming events - September

Tuesday 28 September 2010
Protest against End of Life Choices (Scotland) Act
9.30am, outside Scottish Parliament, Abbey Strand, Edinburgh

Sunday 26 September (last Sunday of the month)
Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament
after 11.30am Mass (Extraordinary Form),
St Andrew's Church, Belford Road, Ravelston, Edinburgh (more)

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Please comment with details of further events.

First Mass of Fr Simon Harkins

reposted from Transalpine Redemptorists at Home

Today in Edinburgh Cathedral, Father Simon Harkins, F.S.S.P. celebrated his first Mass in his home country and home town. The Mass was celebrated in the presence of His Eminence Keith Cardinal O'Brien, who also preached at the Mass. It is the first time a Cardinal has assisted at a first Mass in the extraordinary form in his own cathedral. Below are lots of photos - too many to caption - but they are fairly self explanatory:

Father Harkins before Mass.




Very Rev. Fr Josef Bisig, F.S.S.P was assistant priest.


















































Rev. Fr. Anthony Mary, F.SS.R. meets the Cardinal.

(source)

Murphy lobbies over Pope's visit

Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has said he hopes that the Pope will make a visit to Scotland next year

Mr Murphy will travel to Rome next week for talks with the Vatican about a possible visit to the UK next year by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Pope is expected to visit the UK in 2010 but nothing has been formally announced.

To read the full article (BBC News) please click HERE.

Catholic genealogical records go online

A "treasure trove" of historic archives from the Scottish Catholic Church have been published online for the first time.

Hundreds of volumes of records from the Scottish Catholic Archives have been available on the ScotlandsPeople site.

They include details of French royal post-revolution refugees and Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's family tree.

To read the full article (BBC News) please click HERE.

Sisters of the Gospel of Life welcome new postulant

by Fr Tim Finigan

Congratulations to the Sisters of the Gospel of Life and to Sr Amanda Brennan (above: centre) who has joined them as a new postulant.

The Sisters do great work in helping mothers who are tempted to abort their unborn child, offering compassion, kindness, and spiritual and material support. Their work is very worthy of your almsgiving - see the sidebar of their website to donate via paypal.

(reproduced with permission from The Hermeneutic of Continuity)

Ambulance at the Foot of a Cliff

Dr Lyndsey Myskow, an Edinburgh sexual health expert argued in the Scottish Herald that the morning after pill should be available free of charge in Scotland’s schools. A spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland answered that "the morning after pill has been progressively distributed over the past five years. At every step the availability has been mirrored by a rise in sexually transmitted diseases, a rise in conceptions and a rise in abortions. "The morning after pill is like the equivalent of putting an ambulance at the foot of a cliff instead of putting a fence at the top."

(more here)

Better to resign

James MacMillan, the Scottish composer who is one of the Catholic world’s leading creative artists, has requested Catherine Pepinster, the editor of the Tablet, and Elena Curti, her deputy to resign. The Tablet crisis is caused by its misrepresentation of Catholic teaching on abortion and Archbishop Nichols’ views on the Latin Mass in successive editorials.

(more here)

Dominicans 'Keep the Door Open' in Edinburgh

from Godzdogz

This year the celebration of Pentecost in the University Parish of St Albert the Great, Edinburgh, was a little different. Bringing the entire community together for a single weekend Mass, an unprecedented chapel project, ‘Keeping the Door Open’, was launched. The project is to build a new chapel for the growing community and so increase the capacity of the existing space. This is the largest community project in the history of Edinburgh University Catholic Chaplaincy.

Fr Bruno Clifton OP, Assistant Catholic Chaplain (and a former Godzdogz contributor, pictured left), writes that 'the parish filled the nearby Convent of Mercy, St Catharine’s, to mark the Feast together, acknowledging our unity in the Holy Spirit in preparation for the largest building project the Parish has ever undertaken. The Chaplaincy has been served by Dominicans since 1931, and the Provincial, Fr John Farrell OP, presided and preached at the Mass'.

The Prior and Parish Priest of St Albert the Great, Fr Tim Calvert OP, spoke of the task ahead as an opportunity to bring the growing community together. ‘There are many communities surrounding the Chaplaincy: students, alumni, staff and parishioners who feel at home with the Dominicans. At Pentecost we are called to recognise our deeper unity in the Spirit and this project is a tangible means of expressing this unity.’

In honour of the special event the Parish commissioned some new music. Fr Bruno composed a motet, Veni Sancte Spiritus, which received its premiere at the Mass. More information about the project can be found at keepingthedooropen.op.org

Petition against abortion advertising on TV

by Fr Tim Finigan

Melanie Jane has started a petition to 10 Downing Street regarding. It reads:

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Stop abortion advertising on the television.

Further information:

Abortion is the easy way out and the young and general public need to be educated on the consequences of having sex. The government need to take action to help unite families and lower the pregnancy rate by raising the moral standards in this country. Abortion is murder.

Sign the petition.

(Deadline 14 October 2009. You have to be a British citizen or resident to sign.)

upcoming events - May [updated]

Saturday 2 May 2009
Gregorian Day
Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland

Thursday 21 May 2009
Solemn Vespers for the Ascension of Our Lord
6.15pm, St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh

Monday 25 May 2009
Mass for Pilgrims to Chartres [EF]

6.00pm, University of Glasgow Catholic Chaplaincy, Turnbull Hall, 12-15 Southpark Terrace, Glasgow (more)

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Please comment with details of further events, or if you would like to know more.