Christ the Eternal Word is both revealed in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and also as the Cosmic Christ in creation (John 1-1-18) in whom time, space and universal laws are encompassed. Christ permeates all creation and is Lord of history, but exists in fullness in the Sacraments.

All goodness that men or women do, of all faiths and none, comes from Christ because He exists in all. Christ’s mercy permeates the very depths of creation especially in its falleness calling us towards restoration in His redemption.

Pray that we allow his love to permeate into the very depth of our souls that we might be Christ to all whom we meet. In His Divine Mercy, immerse all humanity that they may be made cognizant of the grace that dwells within them.

May we, in Christ, heal what is broken world with prayer and deeds of love and mercy.

The ancient English Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham is a very special place. Walsingham is a sacred space which is mystically united to the mystery of the Incarnation when the “Word became flesh and pitched his tent among us” (John 1: 14). When God in Christ united himself to all humanity in Mary’s womb at the moment of Mary’s fiat, we, too, were all included in that womb with him.  All humankind throughout all time coexisted with him in that warm and dark space to rest safe and secure in love. Jesus came for everyone on earth: black, white, male female, gay, straight, transgendered, able bodied, disabled, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Pagan atheist and agnostic; the rejected, the abused, the forlorn; the refugee, the prisoner, the despised and the disposable ones – everyone without exception. When in 1061 Our Lady revealed herself to Richeldis, she told her that Walsingham was to be a place where those who need strength can come and find peace and healing:

“Do all this unto my special praise and honour. And all who are in any way distressed or in need, let them seek me here in that little house you have made at Walsingham. To all that seek me there shall be given succour. And there at Walsingham in this little house shall be held in remembrance the great joy of my salutation when Saint Gabriel told me I should through humility become the Mother of God’s Son.”

In September 2015 I encountered a group of men and women on retreat in Walsingham from the LGBT Catholic group, Quest. I had previously been a member of Quest some years earlier when I lived in London so this was a joyful encounter for me. In December 2015 a radio program was recorded in which a Muslim, a Catholic and a Northern Irish Protestant came to Walsingham to experience the essence of the place and share their reflections from the perspectives of their own traditions.  More recently there was an interfaith pilgrimage in April 2017 that celebrated the diversity of God’s children by coming together in this ancient place.

There are some Catholics who would take exception to what I am saying. They see the Church as an exclusive club and Catholicism as a religion that merely stands in contrast to the world, rather than engaging with it. The complexity and messiness of humanity is contained both in the scriptures and in the Church itself, and we are all part of that human messiness.  I sometimes feel concerned that Walsingham might become synonymous with traditionalist Catholicity, since organizations such as EWTN have taken an interest in the development of the Shrine and are now based in Walsingham. Mary’s village is a place for everyone. I therefore hope we see many more of the diverse children of God coming to Walsingham and experiencing the gift of this place. In this Marian womb we can all grow together.

Walsingham is a place of unity in diversity.  A Christian, who might like the Pharisee, pray: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people” (Luke 18: 11), especially those gays, divorced and remarried Catholics, liberals, Muslims, asylum seekers and many others”, too often forget that they too, are all those “other people”. We are all in this human messiness together, and as such, we all share the same Marian womb space with everyone else. When we cling to either a narrow religiosity or to some nationalistic zeal in antithesis to difference  and diversity- as we are currently seeing in Trump’s America – we are mentally and spiritually attempting to eject these others from Mary’s womb. Walsingham, as a place that honours the incarnation, celebrates the inclusive womb space of Mary.

For the past year now, I have been seriously thinking about whether I have a future with the Catholic Church. I am still discerning.

When Francis became the pope in 2013, I was truly excited by his energy and vision. His focus on the poor and marginalised and his call to embrace social justice as a prerequisite for the spiritual life set my heart on fire. His pontificate has been powerful. He has called the Church to humbly and sincerely engage in dialogue with the world bearing the love of Christ in our hearts and witnessing to the message of hope found in the the Gospel; to embrace a spirit of inclusiveness and compassionate mission; to reach out to divorced and remarried and LGBT people and their families; to make child safeguarding an important part of the Church’s mission and purpose; to stop financial corruption in the Vatican Bank; to make the essence of mercy core to the very heart and consciousness of the Church’s life itself, and not merely to treat it as a superficial devotion. He has called upon clerics to embrace simplicity of life and to reject worldliness and egotism. He has invited us all to embrace the spirit, not the letter of the law. His invitation has been for the people of God to walk alongside and befriend those of us who have felt alienated from the Church for a long time, now. For me, hearing this message, it was like hearing “good news” for the first time, delivered with dynamism, energy and Christ-like kindness.

Sadly, what I have seen in the years following his election has been resistance to this call. I have heard slander towards him and his mission, especially from some of his priests and fellow prelates; accusations of heresy, apostasy and of even being Antichrist by some fringe fanatics. There have been strong calls for a return to the Church of John Paul II and Benedict and there have been hopes expressed that Francis pontificate will be short. In the U.S bishops have continued to terminate the contracts of LGBT Catholics from posts in the Church, leaving them without an income, merely because they are gay or lesbian. The hope has been expressed by some conservatives, that someone like Cardinal Sarah will be elected in order to roll back the Francis tide, and restore the previous status quo. Catholic media sources, especially in America have been critical and divisive about him. They are terrified of the Francis effect and resist it with vigour. They simply don’t want Francis’ vision for the Church, period.

And what have the conservative wing of the Church said to divorced and remarried and LGBT Catholics? They have said, “You can’t have access to the Eucharist; if you do, you’ll be damned”. Law, rules, regulations, prescriptions and thou shalt not’s, rather than dialogue and discernment, mercy and compassion. With respect to Pope Francis inclusive pro-life approach, which as well as expressing concern for the unborn, includes refugees, the poor, those deprived of food, shelter and healthcare, prisoners on death row, and the forgotten and the disposable ones of our world; some have insisted: “Abortion is the most important thing for Catholics, not welfare”.

What do I think will happen when Francis is no-longer pope? My deepest fear, based on the evidence I see is that they will replace him with another conservative. He is not one of the clerical club and this is considered dangerous. The clericalism, the power and the survival of the institution as an entity is more important to some. The Church being a separate society to the world is important to others. I believe that many in high places do not want his vision and energy for various reasons: some because of self-preservation and others because they want to closed shop Church. Many regret his election and do not want his reform. Some detest Amoris Letitia, because it opens the doorway to mature spirituality. The idea that the Holy Spirit speaks most clearly through the family rather than through ecclesial law, is an anathema to many fearful voices who want a closed, insular and very religious Church.

The Anglican Communion is beginning to look like a safer home for me than the Catholic Church. What sadness I feel to say this.

Brendan Mooney

23 February 2018

A week ago, I met with an old friend of mine in London whom I hadn’t seen for almost 20 years. It was a joyful reunion which gave us both great deal of happiness. He’s like a soul friend, with whom I’ve had a deep spiritual connection since we first met in 1988. We talked about our respective life journeys and what had been happening in the years since we last saw one another. Part of our conversation included something of our disappointment with the institutional Catholic Church, about how there is a well organised conservative contingent of bishops clerics and lay people who are actively and relentlessly undermining the reforming work of Pope Francis. My friend and I were perplexed by it at one level but also not surprised at another.  We spent the entire afternoon and much of the evening talking about and reflecting on matters of faith and meaning. We drank coffee, ate cake and pondered the future of the Church with so much hostility directed towards Francis mission. A question my friend asked me during our conversation was “do you think Francis is a liberal?”. Without hesitation, my response was a definite no, but I gave a positive yes to another far more important attribute. I said: “He is deeply compassionate, and human; that is what makes him different”.

Francis has a heart for people, their lives, struggles and their ultimate well being, He wishes to invite people to immerse themselves in the infinite tenderness of the God of love, in whom they can find their direction, purpose and  ultimate identity and hope. He especially has compassion and empathy for the poor, the marginalised and disposable ones of this world.  Francis is Christlike in his compassionate concern for all peoples regardless of their religion or identity. He witnesses to the interconnectedness of all aspects of human life which is reflected in his encyclicals. These encyclicals touch upon care for the poorest and most vulnerable; for our mother the earth and about the fair redistribution of the resources of the world. The gospel is proclaimed through love for one another, not through trying to convert people to Catholicism.

His vision is for a world where there are communities of tender care and concern reflecting the Trinitarian movement of giving and receiving love. His testimony of care has been shown in the ways that he has supported migrants, established facilities for the homeless in Rome and in which he has given his fullest support to the work of Caritas International. He knows that social justice and human equality can only be actualised within a framework of care for one another, for creation and through a fairer redistribution of global resources. He invites humanity into a massive metanoia of heart. He knows that a life without true and eternal values can at worst, reduce human beings into mere consumers who mindlessly chase after transient things and who remain indifferent to the vulnerable of the world.

He feels the pain of the suffering peoples of the world with a tender heart. His heart is united with the heart of Christ who had compassion for the unloved and discarded of his own time. It is from this compassionate pastor’s hearts that he invites humanity to embrace the vulnerable and powerless. He importantly recognises that the Church, when it weighs people down with massive burdens of law and does nothing to help them is acting in a callous, heartless and hypocritical manner.

My friend and I, both felt sad that there is so much active resistance mobilised against Francis within his own Church, by those in positions of episcopal authority as well as by some priests and laity. Francis’ mission is inspiring Anglicans, Orthodox and people of other faiths and none, to greater collaboration and communal kindness. It’s a bit like the story Jesus told in Luke 14, about the man organising a great banquet which those nearest would not attend and who were then bypassed for those further away. My deepest question is, why are there hearts within his own community that have hardened themselves to his mission of mercy and tenderness in favour of doctrinal exactitude and the letter of the law, whilst protestants and others embrace him? It feels like the theme of Jesus facing the resistance of the doctors of the law is being replayed in modern times with Francis.

Over the past few days as a result of engaging with religious fundamentalists online my heart has experienced a metanoia towards them. Not because I concur with their message, but because I have started to consider their situation through the matrix of compassion. Reflecting on compassion has made me remember a story from my long past which I would like to share. Remembering it has influenced my compassionate stance deeply.

I remember at about the age of 20, befriending a handsome young American guy in London from an organisation called ‘The Church of Christ’. We started talking to one another outside of Tooting Broadway station, in South West London. He was handing out leaflets and talking to people on the streets with some other members of his church. There was instant chemistry between us which even my young repressed self at that time could not ignore. He asked me if I wanted to attend a service being held at the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road on Sunday. Although I was a repressed young gay catholic man, firmly in the closet, how could I turn down this invitation from this lovely man? On the Sunday when we met, I was both excited to see him again but I also had some trepidation about attending a protestant service. We met outside of the Dominion Theatre. He beamed me a lovely smile which made the entire venture worthwhile. We entered the theatre and took our seats. The service was full of young people. There were hymns, bible readings and a lengthy sermon from a Billy Graham type preacher who clearly had little time for other Christian denominations, especially the Catholic Church. There was a communion service in which trays of bread morsels and little thimble size cups of wine, were passed from aisle to aisle. At the end of the service my friend and I went for lunch with some of his friends to a Chinese restaurant in Soho. We chatted for hours and we agreed to meet later in the week after I finished work. I was excited; but also felt guilty that I liked him.

To my disappointment on the day my friend and I had arranged to meet it was not my friend who attended but a man in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase with his female friend. They had artificial smiles which hid a lurking agenda. I was immediately dubious. They told me that my friend could not join us that afternoon due to other commitments. We went to a coffee shop. I was feeling sad that my friend had not come. I also felt uneasy that I had been set up in some sort of religious brainwashing situation. The man proceeded to tell me that he had been raised Catholic, attended Catholic school and had even considered becoming a priest. He then went on to tell me that he realised the error of his catholic ways by discovering the truth of the Bible. He invited me to do the same too. The combination of my disappointment that my friend was not there together with my annoyance that this dude was trying to manipulate me, put me on the warpath. I countered his arguments and scripture verses with those of my own. He ended the encounter by saying that “You can tell what sort of person you are speaking to by the way they discuss the bible”. I sarcastically agreed with his observation and we went our separate ways. I never saw my American friend again. I think ever since this time, I have responded in a similar way to encroaching fundamentalism. Now I am not sure it’s the best response.

I have at times thought about my friend over the years and wondered what he is doing with his life now. I do believe we were both young repressed gay men due to the many negative stereotypes we had both absorbed in the life cycle through our social and family learning about homosexuality. Our respective faith communities had indeed significantly contributed to this wounding of our emotions by attributing notions of sinfulness and shame the danger of damnation to our sexuality. In remembering my handsome friend from thirty years ago, I have come to realise that my sometimes hostile responses to fundamentalist people on social media forgets the fact that behind the defence mechanisms of their fundamentalism lies a wounded and pained soul who has likely come to that place because of suffering due to life circumstances. In the Buddhist tradition, compassion is the greatest form of response to human suffering. In Buddhism compassion both identifies suffering and seeks to try and alleviate it – both in ourselves and others. Pope Francis in the five years of his papacy has sought to deepen this understanding of compassion within the Catholic Church in relation to its pastoral life. His expositions on mercy, kindness, love, tenderness and forgiveness – the very nature of God and what we are called to become – has become central to his mission. Many of our wounded brothers and sister, both clergy and laity who have embraced a fundamentalist catholicity have reacted to Francis message from their own wounded defensiveness. Remembering that fundamentalism is most often the expression of a wound I am keen to find more compassionate and wise ways of responding. Not an eye for an eye, but a warmer response to a wounded statement. Warmth might be the lasting experience that helps them to heal.

Homophobia and sexism in the Catholic Church are hurting LGBT people and women. Failing to listen to the voices of adult survivors of clergy abuse when they speak loudly is hurting survivors.  The Church is denying people who bring grace filled gifts to the table – often borne from a crucible of suffering in which divine grace is fully present – from sharing their gifts. The continued denial of women taking up offices in the Church; the recent laughable rules about not ordaining gay men to the priesthood and the dismissal of LGBT people from diocesan posts in the United States, and the shameful treatment of Marie Collins who was appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors are all indicators of an institution that says one thing and does another; that places its patriarchal power above the lives of the people whom it is supposed to serve. Jesus washed the feet of his apostles as a sign of how ministry should be conducted; he engaged with the Samaritan woman at the well, with warmth and good will and he touched all peoples with mercy and compassion. Mercy poured out in the naked vulnerability of the broken and bleeding body of Jesus, destroyed by the institutional religion of his time, is a sign that stands in antithesis to patriarchal religious power dominating the conversation. The Church is failing to copy her master.

Women and men together bring their co-equal gifts to the table of human family and enrich the world with all dimensions of God’s creative energy, power and dynamism. The Church, by remaining a fortified male bastion of power and privilege is denying this reality. The Vatican’s recent refusal to host the International Women’s Day Conference because it disapproves of the guest speakers, one of whom was speaking on behalf of LGBT people in Uganda – a country where there has been brutal cruelty to LGBT people – speaks volumes about the resistiveness to the diverse gifts from all God’s people.

Theologian Karen Armstrong is very favourable to the idea of religious institutions signing up to, and adhering to, a Charter of Compassion. She identifies that the Golden Rule of treating others as you want to be treated yourself is at the heart of all world religions. The Charter for Compassion which Armstrong herself has founded, is about both individuals and organisations committing to alleviating and preventing suffering by refraining from causing suffering. Sexism, homophobia and alienating the voices and gifts of adult survivors of sexual abuse, causes suffering.  Placing compassion at the core of theology and ecclesiology challenges practices and power systems that create suffering and inequality. The Charter for Compassion can be a system for accountability for faith communities. Considering the history of the systemic oppression of women, LGBT people and survivors of sexual abuse, such a model of compassionate accountability is sorely needed. Giving prominence to the voices of those who have suffered because of ecclesiastical oppression changes the conversation completely. It calls for ecclesial humility from those who serve and requires a willingness to allow the components of compassion to interrogate their presuppositions. These components are kindness, warmth, tenderness, love, vulnerability, humility, nurturance, wisdom, openness, empathy and many more. Embedding compassion at the heart of Church life could transform the patriarchal structures.

A call to consciousness by Sr Ilia Delio OSF in light of recent events at the US border

“While we may feel powerless and helpless in the face of the government’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, we do have power, the power of the mind to focus on our desires. The Buddha said that the mind creates the world, not the other way around. Jesus said, where your mind/heart is, there your treasure lies. Quantum physicists are now saying that mind may be be the governor and creator of matter. The West has become preoccupied with pragmatism, empiricism and action; the East has been more focused on the training of the mind.

So what is our power? To collectivize our minds/hearts into a field of power. I invite everyone who reads this post to stop what they are doing at 3:00 pm. each day for ten minutes; to focus one’s mind and heart on the repeal of the zero tolerance policy and the return of the children to their families by sitting silently in the presence of God/the Beloved/the One or whatever name you give to the Ground of Being who is Love: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.” Do you believe in the power of Love?”