Jubilee of the Missionaries of Mercy: The Sacrament of Penance

The days 28th - 30th March 2025 are being marked as a Jubilee of the Missionaries of Mercy. A news report ahead of this event can be found at Vatican News: Jubilee of Missionaries of Mercy bringing 500 priests worldwide. The event coincides with the 2025 celebration of "24 hours for the Lord".

For several years now the Friday/Saturday immediately before the fourth Sunday in Lent has been marked by a celebration of "24 Hours for the Lord", a particular time of prayer and recourse to the Sacrament of Penance. It is intended that the celebration take place at all levels in the Church, including at parish level. An introduction to the theme of the celebration for the Jubilee Year is here.

The purpose of the event is to put the sacrament of reconciliation back at the center of the pastoral life of the Church, and consequently, of our communities, parishes, and all ecclesial realities. This is the centre of the Gospel message: the Mercy of God, which gives us the certainty that before the Lord no one will find a judge, but rather will find a father who welcomes him, consoles him and also shows him the way to renewal.

I have a preference for referring to the sacrament as the Sacrament of Penance because that is the title used of the sacrament in the Code of Canon Law (cc. 959-997). The Catechism of the Catholic Church (nn.1423 - 1424), however, explains several different names for the sacrament. I have added the bold below to highlight each of them:

1423 It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.
It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.

1424 It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.
It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent "pardon and peace."
It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation, because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God." He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: "Go; first be reconciled to your brother."

One of the more remarkable books about the sacrament is Adrienne von Speyr's book entitled Confession. The German original dates from 1960, with the Ignatius Press English translation dating from 1985. The book has a preface by Adrienne's close collaborator Hans Urs von Balthasar. (The site Balthasar and Speyr gives more information about the lives and work of these two). Adrienne's book ranges from a presentation of confession in its Christological and ecclesial dimensions (two early chapters are entitled "Confession in the life of the Lord" and "The Confession on the Cross") to very practical insights into the experience that we should have of  the sacrament (in chapters entitled "Types of Confession" and "The Act of Confession", which respectively look at confession in the context of different states and experiences of life and at the different specific steps taken in approaching and receiving the sacrament). It is striking that one can dip into this book, written essentially before Vatican II, and yet recognise in it much that is reflected in the passage from the Catechism quoted above, even though the book itself inescapably depends on the term "confession" used of the sacrament.

The attitude out of which the Son speaks his "I am thirsty" and "My God, why have you forsaken me?" on the Cross is not only an expression of his unique suffering; it is simultaneously the essence of every correct confessional attitude. The penitent who receives the sacrament of the fruit of the Cross, who stands naked and exposed before the Father, must thirst for absolution and for the nearness of God that he has lost through sin. If he confesses openly and with humility, God will grant him this thirst and this yearning to be stilled - not as something the penitent imagines or presses out of himself, as it were, but as an objective gift of grace.... Only when he receives absolution does sin become an objective quantity for him, something that no longer clings to his person, yet something from which he still must separate himself and take leave of in a highly conscious act.... The sinner's burning, thirsting desire for absolution should generate something enduring, namely, that perpetual search for God that characterises love here below, a searching which is the discipleship of the suffering and "confessing" Son on the Cross who thirsts more and more until finally "it is finished".

24 Hours for the Lord 2023: "..a festal encounter that heals the heart and leaves us with inner peace".

 This annual celebration of Eucharistic adoration and recourse to the Sacrament of Penance should be seen as one of Pope Francis' most significant innovations in the life of the Church. In Rome it is celebrated by the Holy Father in one of the parishes of Rome. In dioceses throughout the world, the pattern of 24 hours of continuous adoration and availability of Confession is followed in at least one church of the diocese. Vatican News carries a report of this year's celebration in Rome: With repentant and trusting hearts we receive the gift of God's mercy. The responsible section of the Dicastery for Evangelisation  prepared a pastoral resource for this year's celebration that is well worth a read, and in part provides a backdrop to Pope Francis homily: 24 Hours for the Lord: Pastoral Resource 17-18 March 2023. The homily is at the website of the Holy See: 24 Hours for the Lord.

In an early paragraph of his homily, Pope Francis compares the Gospel story of the Pharisee and the tax collector as the appear in the Temple to what might happen in our parishes:

People who are extremely rich in their own minds, and proud of their religious accomplishments, consider themselves better than others – how frequently does this happen in a parish: “I’m from Catholic Action; I’m going to help the priest; I do the collection... it’s all about me, me, me”; how often people believe themselves better than others; each of us, in our hearts, should reflect on whether this has ever happened – they feel satisfied that they cut a good figure. They feel comfortable, but they have no room for God because they feel no need for him. And many times “good Catholics”, those who feel upright because they go the parish, go to Mass on Sunday and boast of being righteous, say: “No, I don’t need anything, the Lord has saved me”. What has happened?  They have replaced God with their own ego, and although they recite prayers and perform works of piety, they never really engage in dialogue with the Lord.  They perform monologues in place of dialogue and prayer. Scripture tells us that only “the prayer of the humble pierces the clouds” (Sir 35:1), because only those who are poor in spirit, and conscious of their need of salvation and forgiveness, come into the presence of God; they come before him without vaunting their merits, without pretense or presumption. Because they possess nothing, they find everything, because they find the Lord.

Pope Francis contrasts how "The Pharisee stood by himself" while "The tax collector, on the other hand, stands far off":

Yet that distance, which expresses his sinfulness before the holiness of God, enables him to experience the loving and merciful embrace of the Father. God could come to him precisely because, by standing far off, he had made room for him. He doesn’t speak about himself, he addresses God and asks for forgiveness.

 Pope Francis then explains how we "stand far off" when we approach the Sacrament of Penance (my italics added):

Brothers and sisters, today let each of us make an examination of conscience, because the Pharisee and the tax collector both dwell deep within us. Let us not hide behind the hypocrisy of appearances, but entrust to the Lord’s mercy our darkness, our mistakes. Let us think about our wretchedness, our mistakes, even those that we feel unable to share because of shame, which is alright, but with God they must show themselves. When we go to confession, we stand “far off”, at the back, like the tax collector, in order to acknowledge the distance between God’s dream for our lives and the reality of who we are each day: poor sinners. At that moment, the Lord draws near to us; he bridges the distance and sets us back on our feet. At that moment, when we realize that we are naked, he clothes us with the festal garment. That is, and that must be, the meaning of the sacrament of Reconciliation: a festal encounter that heals the heart and leaves us with inner peace. Not a human tribunal to approach with dread, but a divine embrace in which to find consolation.

"God loves you as you are ..."

The problem with the observation is not that it is untrue, but that it is always only one part of the story. If God loves me as I am, he would also love me to be a bit better than I am. 

I remember some years ago now hearing a story that Monsignor Paul Watson used to tell. The captain of a large oil tanker sailing at night towards a light in the distance desperately tried to contact that smaller ship to tell it to change course, as his ship was too large to do so. When the smaller ship pointed out that it was in fact a light house, the captain of the oil tanker did not need to then be told what to do. He recognised straight away that it was in fact his ship that needed to change course. Monsignor Watson used the story as a parable of a "first conversion" that might occur as a person encounters the Gospel. It indicated a certain style that is needed in primary proclamation and the first steps in catechesis.

Likewise, if someone pitches up in the confessional for the Sacrament of Penance they have already recognised that they want to change something in their lives. It might be appropriate to be reassuring to that person of God's love for them, and perhaps to indicate the part that God's grace plays in the journey to holiness so that they are not discouraged by their own repeated efforts. But to try to do this by saying "God loves you as you are ..." is to rather miss the point, already recognised by the person in their very presence in coming to confession, that they wish to make at least some effort in favour of a conversion of life.

A cause for reflection, I think, as we start the season of the Church's liturgical year when many will approach the Sacrament of Penance....

Pope Francis: "Forgiveness is a Human Right" UPDATED

Pope Francis was recently interviewed on Italian television. An Italian account of the interview is here: Francesco: "Il perdono e un diritto umano", with an abridged English translation here: Pope Francis: "Forgiveness is a human right". The interview covered a wide range of issues, but two particular things stand out.

In tema di vicinanza, Fazio ricorda la nota frase del Papa: “Un uomo può guardare un altro uomo dall’alto in basso solo quando lo aiuta a rialzarsi”. Francesco approfondisce il concetto: “È vero – dice -. Nella società vediamo quante volte si guardano gli altri dall’alto in basso per dominarli, sottometterli, e non per aiutarli a rialzarsi. Pensa soltanto - è una storia triste, ma di tutti i giorni - a quegli impiegati che devono pagare col proprio corpo la stabilità lavorativa, perché il loro capo li guarda dall’alto in basso, ma per dominarli. È un esempio di tutti i giorni”. [On the theme of closeness, Fazio (the interviewer) recalled a well known expression of the Pope: "A man can look down on another man only when he helps him to rise up". Pope Francis deepened the concept: "It is true", he said, "In society we see how many times people look at down on others to dominate them, to subdue them, and not to help them to rise up. We think alone - it is a sad story, but happens every day - of those employees who have to pay with their own body for job security, because their manager looks down on them, but to dominate them. It happens every day".]

It was in response to a specific question of the interviewer that Pope Francis suggested that forgiveness is a human right, a suggestion at least in part determined by the wording of the question itself:

“C’è qualcuno che non merita il perdono e la misericordia di Dio o il perdono degli uomini?”, domanda il conduttore. “La capacità di essere perdonato è un diritto umano", replica il Pontefice dicendo che questa è "una cosa che forse farà scandalizzare qualcuno”. Tutti noi abbiamo il diritto di essere perdonati se chiediamo perdono. È un diritto che nasce proprio dalla natura di Dio ed è stato dato in eredità agli uomini. Noi abbiamo dimenticato che qualcuno che chiede perdono ha il diritto di essere perdonato. Tu hai fatto qualcosa, lo paghi. No! Hai il diritto di essere perdonato, e se poi tu hai qualche debito con la società arrangiati per pagarlo, ma con il perdono”. ["Is there anyone who does not deserve the forgiveness and the mercy of God or the forgiveness of mankind?", asked the interviewer. " The ability to be forgiven is a human right", replied the Pope saying that this is "something that perhaps will shock some people". We all have the right to be forgiven if we ask for forgiveness. It is a right that is born itself from the nature of God and is bequeathed to mankind. We have forgotten that someone who asks for forgiveness has the right to be forgiven. You have done something, you must pay for it. No! You have the right to be forgiven, and if then you have some debt with society, arrange to pay it, but with forgiveness".]

Though it does appear to be well known, this is the first time that I recall encountering Pope Francis' remark about looking down on someone only to raise them up. It strikes me as a particularly Pope Francis expression.

As far as the suggestion that there is a human right for people to be forgiven if they ask for forgiveness is concerned, I have three observations. Firstly, if Pope Francis' remarks are read in full, it should be clear that he is not suggesting that forgiveness should replace the provisions of justice in, for example, a legal judgement. He is suggesting, I think, that forgiveness is exercised in parallel to the workings of justice. This seems to indicate some precedent for Pope Francis' remarks in the principles underpinning the practice of restorative justice.

Secondly, there is something that Pope Francis does not appear to explore in his remarks. As a mirror to a right of someone to be forgiven is a duty of another person to offer that forgiveness. But in tragic circumstances, it can be very difficult for an aggrieved party to reach the point where they are able to forgive. It does not really belong to others to forgive on the behalf of the aggrieved party, which means that a person who is seen as having a right to forgiveness may not in practice be able to benefit from that right. But there is a subtlety in some of Pope Francis' words that has been lost between the text as reported on the Vatican News site and the headline that the same site uses (true in all three of the languages that I am able to read). The text quotes Pope Francis, presumably verbatim, as speaking initially of a "capacity to be forgiven" as being a human right, before going on to speak more directly of a right to be forgiven.

Perhaps not unrelated to this difficulty is my third observation. I think Pope Francis is suggesting that the right to be forgiven, or at least the "capacity to be forgiven", has in some way been established by God "in the beginning" as a part of what it means to be a human society. From a theological point of view, we can perhaps see this right, or capacity, being restored to its original integrity in the salvific work of Jesus Christ, and the Church therefore having a particular mission in favour of forgiveness in the world. 

There are perhaps a couple of precedents in Pope Francis' ministry that act as a source for his response in this interview. In 2014, he wrote a letter to a meeting of two associations of penal lawyers. The letter identifies three elements of Christian tradition with regard to justice:

From the very earliest Christian times, the disciples of Jesus have sought to confront the fragility of the human heart, so often weak. In different ways and with various initiatives, they have accompanied and supported those who are buckling under the weight of sin and evil. Despite the historical changes, three elements have been consistent: reparation or compensation for the injury caused; confession, through which man expresses his own internal conversion; and contrition in order to reach the encounter with God’s merciful and healing love.

 Towards the end of his letter, Pope Francis writes:

The manner of God, who is there even before the human sinner, waiting and offering him his forgiveness, thus reveals a higher justice which is, at the same time impartial and compassionate, without contradiction in these two aspects. Forgiveness, in fact, neither eliminates nor diminishes the need for correction, precisely that of justice, nor does it overlook the need for personal conversion, instead it goes further, seeking to reestablish relationships and reintegrate people into society. To me, this seems to be the great challenge that we all must face together, so that the measures adopted against evil are not satisfied by restraining, dissuading and isolating the many who have caused it, but also helps them to reflect, to travel the paths of good, to be authentic persons who, removed from their own hardships, become merciful themselves. The Church, therefore, proposes a humanizing, genuinely reconciling justice, a justice that leads the criminal, through educational development and brave atonement, to rehabilitation and reintegration into the community.

Implicit in this notion of a "reconciling justice" is the need, or perhaps a "right", for the criminal to have access to forgiveness on the part of wider society.

The Year of Mercy celebrated by the Church also provides a background to Pope Francis' suggestion of a type of right to forgiveness. A passage from the Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera that closed that Year offers an almost exact precedent for Pope Francis' answer to the question he was asked in this interview (my italics added):

... lest any obstacle arise between the request for reconciliation and God’s forgiveness, I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve those who have committed the sin of procured abortion. The provision I had made in this regard, limited to the duration of the Extraordinary Holy Year,[14] is hereby extended, notwithstanding anything to the contrary. I wish to restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life. In the same way, however, I can and must state that there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with the Father. May every priest, therefore, be a guide, support and comfort to penitents on this journey of special reconciliation.

 There is a hint here, too, of the idea that the seeking of forgiveness should readily meet with the granting of that forgiveness. In his interview, Pope Francis seems to wish to extend this idea from the field of the sacramental economy to the world at large.

Novena for Pentecost: Baptism in the Spirit and prayer, Scripture and the Sacraments

People who have been baptised in the Spirit typically manifest a great love for Scripture, expressed in Bible studies and an anxiety to read the Scriptures in order to discover a relevance that can guide in every day life. Teaching is often strongly biblical in character. Again, while this faithfulness to Scripture is a feature of the Renewal, it also reflects something that can be seen in the wider life of the Church - for example the "Gospel Questions and Inquiries" of Fr Bernard Basset SJ, with their "see, judge, act" structure, and the meditations of the Spiritual Exercises.

Alongside this faithfulness to Scripture there is also a renewed awareness of the presence of Christ in the sacraments of the Church, particularly the sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist. Attending Mass and participating in prayer in the presence of the Eucharist are features of the Renewal. Again, the growth in Eucharistic Adoration and the frequenting of the Sacrament of Penance can be seen in other aspects of Catholic life, the events of recent World Youth Days being a prominent example.

For many, certainly in the early days, the main means of contact with the Renewal was through taking part in the regular meetings of a local prayer group. This is an event that moves the experience of prayer to less a matter of routine (though, in itself, that is not a bad thing) towards more a spontaneous response of love and gratitude to God and a confidence in his grace in providing for all our needs.

If we want to understand how Baptism in the Spirit gives rise to a particular style of life in the Church, it is important to place all three of these elements (appreciation of Scripture, sacramental life, prayer group) together and to see, for example, the life of a prayer group in its orientation towards the liturgical celebrations in which its members also participate. 

Lent: Pope Francis, Mercy and the Salvific Value of the "via caritatis"

 There is something that I think is true of Pope Francis, just as it is true of all the recent holders of the office of the Successor of Peter: some exercises of their office (audiences, Apostolic letters, interviews etc) are just for their particular time or context, while others have a permanent significance for the future life of the Church (what might more strictly be termed the "Magisterium"). I wonder at times whether some sections of the ecclesial commentariat are too willing to confuse the former with the latter when they choose to criticise Pope Francis....

The beginning of Lent, however, leads me to suggest an aspect of Pope Francis' exercise of his office that I think does have a permanent significance for the teaching and life of the Church. It arises from the celebration of the Year of Mercy in 2015-16. If we read the Bull of Indiction for the start of the Jubilee and the Apostolic Letter issued to mark the end of the Year, we cannot escape the place given to  the living out of the Sacrament of Penance and to the living out of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Let us place the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the centre once more in such a way that it will enable people to touch the grandeur of God’s mercy with their own hands. For every penitent, it will be a source of true interior peace.

I will never tire of insisting that confessors be authentic signs of the Father’s mercy. We do not become good confessors automatically. We become good confessors when, above all, we allow ourselves to be penitents in search of his mercy. Let us never forget that to be confessors means to participate in the very mission of Jesus to be a concrete sign of the constancy of divine love that pardons and saves. We priests have received the gift of the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins, and we are responsible for this. None of us wields power over this Sacrament; rather, we are faithful servants of God’s mercy through it. Every confessor must accept the faithful as the father in the parable of the prodigal son: a father who runs out to meet his son despite the fact that he has squandered away his inheritance. Confessors are called to embrace the repentant son who comes back home and to express the joy of having him back again....

I invite priests once more to prepare carefully for the ministry of Confession, which is a true priestly mission. I thank all of you from the heart for your ministry, and I ask you to be welcoming to all, witnesses of fatherly tenderness whatever the gravity of the sin involved, attentive in helping penitents to reflect on the wrong they have done, clear in presenting moral principles, willing to walk patiently beside the faithful on their penitential journey, far-sighted in discerning individual cases and generous in dispensing God’s forgiveness. Just as Jesus chose to remain silent in order to save the woman caught in adultery from the sentence of death, so every priest in the confessional should be open-hearted, since every penitent is a reminder that he himself is a sinner, but also a minister of mercy. 

 During the Jubilee Year, Pope Francis undertook a series of encounters called "Fridays of Mercy" in which he modelled the practice of the works of mercy by visits, for example, to hospitals.

It is my burning desire that, during this Jubilee, the Christian people may reflect on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. It will be a way to reawaken our conscience, too often grown dull in the face of poverty. And let us enter more deeply into the heart of the Gospel where the poor have a special experience of God’s mercy. Jesus introduces us to these works of mercy in his preaching so that we can know whether or not we are living as his disciples. Let us rediscover these corporal works of mercy: to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, heal the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead. And let us not forget the spiritual works of mercy: to counsel the doubtful, instruct the ignorant, admonish sinners, comfort the afflicted, forgive offences, bear patiently those who do us ill, and pray for the living and the dead....

Let us make every effort, then, to devise specific and insightful ways of practising charity and the works of mercy. Mercy is inclusive and tends to spread like wildfire in a way that knows no limits. Hence we are called to give new expression to the traditional works of mercy. For mercy overflows, keeps moving forward, bears rich fruit. It is like the leaven that makes the dough rise (cf. Mt 13:33), or the mustard seed that grows into a tree. 

 In one sense Pope Francis' promotion of the Sacrament of Penance is entirely traditional; but the context of mercy gives to it a freshness and attractiveness that is of a permanent value.

As far as the works of mercy are concerned, Amoris Laetitia takes a further step, in the specific context of "irregular" marital situations and against the background of the Year of Mercy, but nevertheless in a way that is of wider application too. It is the suggestion that the way of living the works of mercy - the via caritatis - is the way in which those who are not able share fully in other aspects of the life of the Church can nevertheless work out their salvation. This is to recognise a very high estimation to be given to the salvific value of the works of mercy for the one who carries them out, in addition to their value as a testimony of Christian faith to others. This is an aspect of Pope Francis' exercise of his office, in Amoris Laetitia and in the experience of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, that I think contributes an insight, to an extent new, that is of permanent value for the life of the Church.

306. In every situation, when dealing with those who have difficulties in living God’s law to the full, the invitation to pursue the via caritatis must be clearly heard. Fraternal charity is the first law of Christians (cf. Jn 15:12; Gal 5:14). Let us not forget the reassuring words of Scripture: “Maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet 4:8); “Atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged” (Dan 4:24[27]); “As water extinguishes a blazing fire, so almsgiving atones for sins” (Sir 3:30). This is also what Saint Augustine teaches: “Just as, at the threat of a fire, we would run for water to extinguish it… so too, if the flame of sin rises from our chaff and we are troubled, if the chance to perform a work of mercy is offered us, let us rejoice in it, as if it were a fountain offered us to extinguish the blaze”.

To conclude, a quote from the Apostolic Letter written at the close of the Year of Mercy:

Mercy renews and redeems because it is an encounter between two hearts: the heart of God who comes to meet us and a human heart. The latter is warmed and healed by the former. Our hearts of stone become hearts of flesh (cf. Ezek 36:26) capable of love despite our sinfulness. I come to realize that I am truly a “new creation” (Gal 6:15): I am loved, therefore I exist; I am forgiven, therefore I am reborn; I have been shown mercy, therefore I have become a vessel of mercy.

Myles Dempsey speaks to Joanna Bogle

I came across this interview or, perhaps better, conversation of Myles Dempsey with Joanna Bogle somewhat by accident. I haven't managed to listen to all of it, rather catching snippets at different points in the video.

Myles Dempsey died in June of this year. He is well known as the founder of the New Dawn conference that takes place each year at Walsingham.

One of the snippets I caught - and which is particularly relevant in the present circumstances of the Church - was Myles' repeated assertion of his love for the Church. Also striking was his saying that the purpose of the annual New Dawn conference at Walsingham was to show the beauty and the whole of Catholic life, without missing any bits out.

Myles' vision from God for New Dawn is to bring together all the riches of the Catholic Faith. He comments, "I want the beauty of the Church to be seen in all her splendour;  the Church with all its lights on and all its aspects celebrated - the charismatic, the liturgical, the Marian, the Eucharistic, the Sacramental, the Mystical - and for the whole family to be there."[Source here]

In talking about his life, it is interesting to see how Myles Dempsey sits within the history of Catholic life in England, before his coming to being involved in Charismatic Renewal. I am looking forward to watching those parts of the conversation that I have so far not had time to watch.

Pope Francis: "Closeness is more than the name of a specific virtue..."

Pope Francis' homily at the celebration of the Chrism Mass in the Vatican Basilica encourages priests in their closeness to Christ and in their closeness to their people. Pope Francis' words, as is often the case with Pope Francis, reflect the charism of a pastor:

Closeness is more than the name of a specific virtue; it is an attitude that engages the whole person, our way of relating, our way of being attentive both to ourselves and to others... When people say of a priest, “he is close to us”, they usually mean two things. The first is that “he is always there” (as opposed to never being there: in that case, they always begin by saying, “Father, I know you are very busy...”). The other is that he has a word for everyone. “He talks to everybody”, they say, with adults and children alike, with the poor, with those who do not believe... Priests who are “close”, available, priests who are there for people, who talk to everyone... street priests.

Pope Francis suggests that we should recognise closeness as as the key to truth, and he does this by proposing the two dimensions of "truth as definition" and "truth as fidelity":

Closeness, dear brothers, is crucial for an evangelizer because it is a key attitude in the Gospel (the Lord uses it to describe his Kingdom). We can be certain that closeness is the key to mercy, for mercy would not be mercy unless, like a Good Samaritan, it finds ways to shorten distances. But I also think we need to realize even more that closeness is also the key to truth; not just the key to mercy, but the key to truth. Can distances really be shortened where truth is concerned? Yes, they can. Because truth is not only the definition of situations and things from a certain distance, by abstract and logical reasoning. It is more than that. Truth is also fidelity (émeth). It makes you name people with their real name, as the Lord names them, before categorizing them or defining “their situation”. There is a distasteful habit, is there not, of following a “culture of the adjective”: this is so, this is such and such, this is like… No! This is a child of God. Then come the virtues or defects, but [first] the faithful truth of the person and not the adjective regarded as the substance.

He then goes on to speak of three particular moments of closeness for priests:

Closeness in spiritual conversation. Let us reflect on this by considering the encounter of the Lord with the Samaritan woman. The Lord teaches her to discern first how to worship, in spirit and in truth. Then, he gently helps her to acknowledge her sin, without offending her. And finally, the Lord infects her with his missionary spirit and goes with her to evangelize her village. The Lord gives us a model of spiritual conversation; he knows how to bring the sin of the Samaritan woman to light without its overshadowing her prayer of adoration or casting doubt on her missionary vocation.

Closeness in confession. Let us reflect on this by considering the passage of the woman caught in adultery. It is clear that here closeness is everything, because the truths of Jesus always approach and can be spoken face to face. Looking the other in the eye, like the Lord, who, after kneeling next to the adulteress about to be stoned, stood up and said to her, “Nor do I condemn you” (Jn 8:11). This is not to go against the law. We too can add, “Go and sin no more”, not with the legalistic tone of truth as definition – the tone of those who feel that that they have to determine the parameters of divine mercy. On the contrary, those words need to be spoken with the tone of truth as fidelity, to enable the sinner to look ahead and not behind. The right tone of the words “sin no more” is seen in the confessor who speaks them and is willing to repeat them seventy times seven.

Finally, closeness in preaching. Let us reflect on this by thinking of those who are far away, and listening to Peter’s first sermon, which is part of the Pentecost event. Peter declares that the word is “for all that are far off” (Acts 2:39), and he preaches in such a way that they were “cut to the heart” by the kerygma, which led them to ask: “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37). A question, as we said, we must always raise and answer in a Marian and ecclesial tone. The homily is the touchstone “for judging a pastor’s closeness and ability to communicate to his people” (Evangelii Gaudium, 135). In the homily, we can see how close we have been to God in prayer and how close we are to our people in their daily lives.

Now, if Pope Francis' words are read for what they actually say, rather than for what some might like the Holy Father to have said instead, they are rather beautiful - particularly the three Scriptural images that are used to represent the three instances of closeness.  They reflect the "pastoral conversion" to which Pope Francis has repeatedly called the Church, including with his Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia. Do read the whole, from the original source, rather than relying on commentary.

On the need for shame

I suspect that, when seen as a written word, Pope Francis' recent remarks about the need for a certain shame in the person who approaches the Sacrament of Confession come across differently than if they had been heard in their originality as a spoken word.

The Holy Father does, as is his wont, use a very vivid turn of phrase; and he also expresses himself in the negative rather than the positive.

But his essential message for those who frequent the Sacrament is: approach the Sacrament with a genuine shame, a genuine sense that you have done something wrong. The first prompt of conscience that draws you to the Sacrament is a good - but try to go further, deeper in responding to that first prompt.

... You have only gone to confession to carry out a banking transaction or an office task. You have not gone to confession ashamed of what you have done. You have seen stains on your conscience and have mistakenly believed that the confessional box is like the dry cleaners that removes those sins. You’re unable to feel shame for your sins.”

The shame being referred to here is of a very particular character. It is a response, by the person themselves, to a recognised wrong that they have done. It is not what might be expressed by the word "stigma" - that is, a shame imposed from outside by others or by society, a shame that has the effect of limiting the freedom of the individual rather than expressing it.

A reflection on what constitutes a healthy sense of shame is important in times when much of our society, lacking an objective sense of right and wrong, would do away with the notion of shame altogether.

Dignified shame and a dignity that knows how to be ashamed: Pope Francis' Chrism Mass homily 2016

The homily given by Pope Francis at his celebration of the Chrism Mass can be read here. I do suggest reading the whole, as it is a rather beautiful read. One should perhaps read it in the context of a Jubilee Year of Mercy in which the Sacrament of Penance - or to use a title that has come again into prominence during this Year of Mercy, Confession - is to be seen as a very particular moment in which Catholics can receive God's Mercy.

I was very struck by the following passage, and by its leitmotif of a "dignified shame and a shamed dignity", a phrase I am finding very thought provoking though I am not sure I have fully grasped its meaning. I have added the italics below compared to the text on the Vatican website:

God does not only forgive incalculable debts, as he does to that servant who begs for mercy but is then miserly to his own debtor; he also enables us to move directly from the most shameful disgrace to the highest dignity without any intermediary stages.  The Lord allows the forgiven woman to wash his feet with her tears.  As soon as Simon confesses his sin and begs Jesus to send him away, the Lord raises him to be a fisher of men.  We, however, tend to separate these two attitudes: when we are ashamed of our sins, we hide ourselves and walk around with our heads down, like Adam and Eve; and when we are raised up to some dignity, we try to cover up our sins and take pleasure in being seen, almost showing off.

Our response to God’s superabundant forgiveness should be always to preserve that healthy tension between a dignified shame and a shamed dignity.  It is the attitude of one who seeks a humble and lowly place, but who can also allow the Lord to raise him up for the good of the mission, without complacency.  The model that the Gospel consecrates, and which can help us when we confess our sins, is Peter, who allowed himself to be questioned about his love for the Lord, but who also renewed his acceptance of the ministry of shepherding the flock which the Lord had entrusted to him.  

We live in a time when societies in developed countries, in the interests of overcoming "stigma" attached to behaviours at one time generally accepted as morally wrong, in effect lose a rightful sense of shame about those behaviours, a rightful shame that would discourage the wrong behaviour without persecuting its protagonists. In the context of the mother and baby homes in Ireland, for example, I wonder about the ecclesial and social attitudes which meant that young girls who fell pregnant were rejected by their families - was this a rightful shame or was it an unjust stigmatisation? There is a widespread acceptance of different sexual lifestyles today - does this not show a loss of a certain rightful shame that has accompanied the removal of an unjust stigmatisation that existed in the past? Pope Francis' phrase appears to me to capture something of the rightful sense of shame, whilst disallowing that of an unjust stigmatisation.

This appears more transparently in the Italian version of the phrase, where the word for shame might also be used to express embarrassment:

...quella sana tensione tra una dignitosa vergogna e una dignità che sa vergognarsi .... [... that healthy tension between a dignified shame/embarrassment and a dignity that knows how to be ashamed/embarrassed....]

In passing: I can already see the Catholic blogosphere erupting at Pope Francis' (obvious personal attack on its authors - not) expressed in these words addressed more immediately to priests:

We feel ourselves also trapped, not so much by insurmountable stone walls or steel enclosures that affect many peoples, but rather by a digital, virtual worldliness that is opened and closed by a simple click.  

I for one, a blogger who is not a priest, can understand exactly what Pope Francis is getting at as far as my own life is concerned. I suspect that his words speak, not only to me, but to others who write for the aether..... as should the words of a Pastor.

The Name of God is Mercy

When he edited Adrienne von Speyr's book Confession in 1960, Fr von Balthasar wrote at the end of his foreword:

It is fashionable today to speak of a "sacrament of penance" instead of "confession". In a certain superficial historical sense this may be correct to the extent that in the first centuries confession was present in Christian consciousness primarily under the aspect of penance. However, everyone knows that in reality this was only an initial seed and not the full-grown plant. Indeed, it was a seed that scarcely suggested the dogmatic basis just mentioned [ie the Trinitarian and Christological basis that is the subject of Adrienne's book], a basis whose centre is expressed by "confession" (Augustine's confessio, to admit or confess). Thus there is no real reason to dispense with the traditional word.

I suspect that Fr von Balthasar would all the more strongly speak against the use of the word "reconciliation", though he must have had to come to terms with the title of the sacrament as the Sacrament of Penance used in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. He might have found some consolation in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where the title "confession" is included along with the other titles now used of the sacrament:

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a "confession" - acknowledgment and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy towards sinful man.

When Pope Francis' book The Name of God is Mercy arrived this week, it was therefore striking to see a chapter entitled "The Gift of Confession":

It is true that I can talk to the Lord and ask him for forgiveness, implore him. And the Lord will forgive me immediately. But it is important that I go to confession, that I sit in front of a priest who embodies Jesus, that I kneel before Mother Church called to dispense the mercy of Christ. There is objectivity in this gesture of genuflection before the priest; it becomes the vehicle through which grace reaches and heals me.  

And again, at the beginning of a short chapter devoted to how Catholics should live the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis identifies confession as the first of the important things that should be done to live the Year of Mercy:

[The believer] should open up to the mercy of God, open up his heart and himself, allow Jesus to come toward him by approaching the confessional with faith. And he should try and be merciful with others. 

Pope Francis appeal: "Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace!"

Reuters would appear to be carrying the story: Pope asks other faiths to join day of prayer for peace in Syria. So far as I can tell, the main stream news outlets in the UK are still running with the build up to American led attacks on Syria. [UPDATE: The Times is reporting the Pope's appeal on an inside page.] The BBC news front page, for example, is here (but if you are reading this retrospectively it will obviously have changed).

The full English text of Pope Francis address at the Angelus yesterday, Sunday 1st September 2013, is at the Vatican website. Reading the Italian text alongside the English is worthwhile, since there is a certain force expressed in the Italian grammar that does not quite come through in the English - though that is powerful enough in itself. Do read it in its entirety, and also watch the CTV video report that is linked from the page with the text.

This Angelus address strikes me as being one of those moments that will be seen as a key moment of Pope Francis' pontificate. It is an impassioned plea for peace and an unqualified condemnation of the evil of war, and in particular of the use of chemical weapons.

Pope Francis words ...

War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected.

... have a profound echo of Pope Paul VI speaking to the United Nations in October 1965:

..jamais plus la guerre, jamais plus la guerre! C'est la paix, la paix, qui doit guider le destin des peuples et de toute l'humanité!  [War never again! War never again! It is peace, peace, that must direct the future of peoples and of all humanity!]

It is tempting to think that an appeal such as this from the Pope is unrealistic and will not have any influence on events that are instead being determined by major political powers. However, history has, many years after the event, revealed the influence that a similar appeal made on the radio by Pope John XXIII had on the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita  Kruschev, at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis: John XXIII and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The other major content of Pope Francis Angelus address was his call for a day of prayer and fasting on Saturday, for peace in Syria, the Middle East and throughout the world:

I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.

On 7 September, in Saint Peter’s Square, here, from 19:00 until 24:00, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention.

At another level, Pope Francis Angelus address can be studied as an exercise of the Papal Office, both ad intra, towards the Church and ad extra, towards the whole world. Ad intra, he has called the universal Church to a time or prayer, fasting and penitence in repentance for the evil of war that is committed and threatened at a particular moment in time. In this context, the use of an inclusive "we" in the wording of the address, a use which does not remove the fact that moral responsibility for the use of chemical weapons rests with those immediately involved, indicates at the same time a certain duty of penance for others. As Pope Francis indicates, citing John XXIII's encyclical Pacem in Terris, it brings to the fore that the building of peace is a responsibility at the level of the individual human person in relation to his or her neighbour, and so involves all of us, not just those immediately involved in the events of warfare.

Ad extra, the Angelus address is an activity of diplomacy on the part of the Holy See, and it is quite fascinating to analyse it in this context. No doubt it is also being followed up by activity on the part of the Papal representatives in different parts of the world. The use of the language of an inclusive "we" has a completely different significance seen in this context. It has allowed Pope Francis to condemn evil actions with all due force whilst at the same time not naming names. The moral condemnation of those responsible for the use of chemical weapons is unmistakeable; and the urgency of the appeal against foreign interventions is equally clear.

Fourth Sunday of Advent: homily on the Sacrament of Penance

I had the good fortune this evening to hear a homily devoted to the Sacrament of Penance. This was being delivered quite deliberately in advance of an Advent reconciliation service taking place during the coming week, and to which, during the notices at the end of Mass, we were all encouraged to bring a friend or neighbour. When I say this it doesn't mean that I am particularly good at going to Confession, but I did appreciate a homily that spoke rather beautifully and enthusiastically about the Sacrament.

Father started by suggesting that the entrance antiphon of the Mass - "Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Saviour" - was an image of the Sacraments. Each Sacrament is a presence and action of God, made real through a physical form such as water for baptism and bread/wine for the Eucharist. He went on to suggest that the Sacrament of Reconciliation was a Sacrament of the Virgin Mary, since in approaching the Sacrament we need to make a particular choice to turn away from sin and obey the will of the Lord, to make a choice for lowliness. Mary, in the obedience of the Annunciation, is the model par excellence of this obedient attentiveness to the will of God. The Sacrament is also one which demands that we humble ourselves before God; and, of course, in her Magnificat the Virgin Mary shows herself as the lowly servant who recieves the favour of the Lord. The demand for lowliness that the Sacrament makes of us also indicates that it is a Sacrament of childhood.

A motif to which Father referred, and which perhaps can be used to summarise the Sacrament of Penance, was that of TLC - Tender Loving Care. He first of all described the Virgin Mary using this term. She is the subject of  a particular loving choice on the part of God. And it also applies to the Sacrament of Penance, which is a particular moment in which we recieve the loving choice of God for us.

Report on child abuse in Dublin Archdiocese

It is very difficult to find the appropriate words to respond to the publication of this report. A round-up of the news, and the reaction of representatives of the Catholic Church in Ireland, can be found at Whispers in the Loggia. Catholic Anaylsis offers a reaction to which I would also subscribe. A BBC account of the contents of the report can be found here, and RTE's account from yesterday is here. This is the reaction of a priest today.

There are perhaps three observations that I would like to make.

The first echoes that of Catholic Analysis. Evil, serious evil, needs to be recognised as serious evil. It needs to be called serious evil. And it needs to be condemned as serious evil. The covering up of abuse, when it is known, adds to the original evil of the abuse itself a further evil -  an implicit refusal to call the original evil the evil that it really is. The publication of the report, and other reports like it, contributes to the overcoming of this second evil.

A second observation comes from the picture showing up in the report of the relationship between the Catholic Church and the police and other civil authorities in Ireland. The report also highlights failings in the civil authorities arising from their deference to the Catholic Church. On occasions, police authorities reported allegations to the Church instead of carrying out their duty of investigation that would arise from their position in civil society. My own background is not one from which I have any immediate experience of Irish Catholicism - I am an English Lancashire Catholic by family background and by culture. There is a real sense in which I do not understand Irish Catholicism, and do not think I would live very comfortably with it. The report into child abuse in Dublin illustrates the serious risk that does arise from too close an affiliation between the life of faith and that of civil life. An appropriate secularity is needed in the action of lay Catholics in the world, as mediating the action of the Church to the world, and this is not achieved through the type of subervience to the clergy that appears in some aspects of the Dublin child abuse report.

My third observation is taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and suggests a way in which we all, as different members of the Church, might respond in penance to the events reported. The quotation included is from Pope Paul VI, and the emphasis added is mine:

All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time.Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way to holiness:  "The Church is therefore holy, though having sinners in her midst, because she herself has no other life but the life of grace. If they live her life, her members are sanctified; if they move away from her life, they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity. This is why she suffers and does penance for those offenses, of which she has the power to free her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit."

If we are wondering how we, as individuals, should respond to the great evils that are the subject of the news at the moment, then acts of penance seem to me entirely appropriate. Saying this is, of course, easier for me than doing it ...

Reform of the Reform?

I was very struck by this post from Catholic Analysis: Liturgical Psychology 101. The last paragraph summarises the point being made:

So my counsel to the liturgical reformers is this: preach conversion first and the rest will follow. Truly converted people will have no problems showing reverence or belief in the Real Presence. Once there is authentic conversion, all licit liturgical forms of the Church perform beautifully. The key is not which licit form is used. The key is the kind of hearts engaging those licit liturgical forms. It's time to abandon the "James Theory of Liturgical Reform" and focus on conversion and evangelization first. Conversion will make the liturgical problems and abuses disappear, heart by heart.

However, I suspect that different readers will have different responses to the first paragraph:

Among Catholics, liturgical tinkering and reform are a great past time practiced both by liturgical liberals and liturgical traditionalists. One blogger even claims that saving the liturgy will save the world--a claim which implies, in my opinion, the Pelagian view that we can somehow save ourselves and reach to heaven by building a modern day Tower of Babel "brick by brick." I appreciate the great sincerity and earnestness behind many of these attempts at liturgical reform, but more needs to be said before the train leaves the station.

My own understanding of Summorum Pontificum and the accompanying documentation - reinforced by the letter Ecclesiae Unitatem with its emphasis on unity in the Church and its incorporation of the Ecclesia Dei commission into the Congregation for Doctrine - suggests that the carriages of a train that some people think is setting off from the station have not actually been formed up at all.

Now, thinking about conversion, I had better get myself off to confession soon...

Indulgences - an interesting discovery

I had reason to look up the Enchiridion Indulgentiarum in the Vatican web site a few minutes ago - as one does! This is the document from the Apostolic Penitentiary which sets out the rules for gaining indulgences, and lists the acts that the faithful can perform to gain indulgences.

The website carries the fourth edition, whereas my printed version is the original first edition from 1968. There are four "general concessions" for a partial indulgence listed at the beginning of the fourth edition of the Enchiridion, only the first three of them appearing in the first edition. The "usual conditions" - sacramental Confession, performance of the action itself, receiving Holy Communion and prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father - also need to be met. One can easily underestimate the value of these "general concessions" in favour of the more specific indulgences granted for special occasions such as the Year of St Paul or participation in the World Youth Day, but they do encompass very much the spirit of the revision of indulgences after the Second Vatican Council. They aim to encourage the faithful in their living of the Christian life so that they strive to live it more richly and more deeply, for their own good, for the good the whole Church and for the good of the whole world.

My shaky translations of the "general concessions" from the Latin are:

(1) for the raising of the heart and mind to God during the day, by means of a pious invocation, even if the invocation is only mental and not spoken

(2) for an act of service towards someone in need, undertaken in a spirit of faith

(3) for abstaining from something that is licit and good, in a spirit of penitence

(4) for giving an open testimony of their faith, in the particular circumstances of their daily life.

Number (2) is interesting in terms of how we understand an act of charity undertaken by a Catholic voluntary service in comparison to state provided welfare. The "spirit of faith" gives a kind of value added, a something more, than just the provision of the service in an exclusively material sense.

Number (4) is an encouragement to what we would now term the "new evangelisation", and I was most interested to discover it.

Adrienne von Speyr: Confession

Earlier this evening, I read Hans Urs von Balthasar's introduction to Adrienne von Speyr's book Confession. A central insight of this book is to see Jesus' self-offering and death on the Cross as being the archetype of the "confession" of the faithful in what is now known, according to its title in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, as the Sacrament of Penance.

It is fashionable today to speak of a "sacrament of penance" instead of "confession". In a certain superficial historical sense this may be correct to the extent that in the first centuries confession was present in Christian consciousness primarily under the aspect of penance. However, everyone knows that in reality this was only an initial seed and not the full-grown plant. Indeed, it was a seed that scarcely suggested the dogmatic basis just mentioned, a basis whose centre is expressed by "confession" (Augustine's confessio, to admit or confess). Thus there is no real reason to dispense with the traditional word.

Fr von Balthasar was writing in 1960, before the Second Vatican Council, and before the revision of the Code of Canon Law. One wonders what he (and Adrienne) would make of the predominance in some circles today of the title "Reconciliation" to refer to the Sacrament! I had thought I had begun to detect a return to the use of the title "Confession" a couple of years ago, but this does not seem to have been sustained.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (nn.1423-1424), the Sacrament is described by the titles conversion, Penance, confession, forgiveness and Reconciliation, each title revealing a different aspect of the reality of the Sacrament. From a catechetical point of view, the exclusive use of one of these titles, without any reference to the others, will give only a partial impression of the Sacrament. My own choice when I have to use just one title is usually "The Sacrament of Penance", simply because that is the title used in Canon Law.

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament. In a profound sense it is also a 'confession' - acknowledgement and praise - of the holiness of God and of his mercy towards sinful man.

Reaction to bombing in Pakistan

Radio and internet news reports this morning carry reactions from around the world to yesterday's bombing in Islamabad. The most common word I have heard so far to describe these reactions is "outrage". International reaction seems to be rallying in support of the commitment of Pakistan's own political leadership to resist terrorism as it is manifested in events like yesterday's.

What is an appropriate Christian reaction to yesterday's bombing?

My first thought is to step back from the particular political or social context and recognise that we have just seen an act of immense evil: (1) if it was a suicide attack as is being suggested, then it was launched with a total disregard by the perpetrators for their own lives and, possibly, with total disregard by terrorist leaders for the lives of their own; (2) the attack appears to have been launched at a time when the Marriott Hotel would be at its busiest, as local people were breaking their Ramadan fast, thereby trying to cause the largest possible number of casualties; (3) the attack was to a large extent indiscriminate in who it targeted. And so on ...

A Christian response to evil is, in the first instance, to do good. This might take the form of charitable response to those affected by the evil - care for survivors and bereaved relatives, for example. It might also include the supporting of prudent steps to bring about the safety of a country's citizens, a political response. But it should also involve a resistance to evil at a spiritual level - prayer, penance and fasting. And this not just in the country immediately affected by the evil, but everywhere.

In the same way that there is a kind of "communion of evil" there is also a "communion of good" (a communion of spiritual goods among all members of the Church, which can be shared beyond the Church to all) so our conviction is that such prayer, penance and fasting are efficacious.

During the Eucharistic Congress earlier this year, I shared in a discussion about Eucharistic Adoration in the context of tragic events like those in Islamabad yesterday. We asked ourselves: is it our natural reaction in these circumstances to gather in our Churches before the Holy Eucharist to implore the Lord's mercy and forgiveness for what has happened?

Even if your parish has not time of Eucharistic Adoration on a Sunday afternoon, perhaps today would be a good day to make your own visit of reparation for yesterday's evil.

A particular poignancy is added to this by the persecution experienced by Christians in Pakistan, usually at the hands of Islamic extremists and on specious pretexts. Again, there is a manifestation of evil that needs to be resisted in a spiritual way.

With vision.....

This...

Following Mass in the splendour of the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Farm street Mayfair I persuaded Joe to venture out to South London as I had read rave reviews of tours of Battersea power station. This was a last chance to see the art-deco style building before re-development.

We followed vast amounts of pilgrims (do they read the same paper?)to the hallowed areas where you were allowed to see the remains of the building's beauty-which Joe described as a heap of rubbish and thought the decision to make it a listed buiding was a mistake.

No Herculanium or Pompeii it is not but it has it's own beauty- the remains of beautiful blue tiling on the walls and" stepping" in the columns of bricks and who couldn't be enamoured by those graceful chimneys(these are to be re-built due to corrosion).

The surrounding area is to be the place to be seen ! A new tube line to Battersea is planned , a six acre public park, river boat to the new site and river side homes for seven thousand residents and to top it all it is "zero carbon emissions"! Let us hope that after two failed attempts to re-develop the area in 1990 and 1993 this time the plans aren't affected by the "credit crunch" we have been promised.

span >

...could become

On the way back we went to St. Mary's in Cadogan street where we had to walk around the block as a wedding party were taking last photos and guests moving off in limousines- we arrived back at the church as the Bride and Groom were hailing a taxi!

St Mary's has some interesting, newer- looking, stain glass windows. If you are in London I would highly recommend a visit to the Farm Street church in Mayfair and if you are interested there is a tour of Battersea power station on August 30th-10am-5pm!

International Eucharistic Congress: confession, confession, confession ...

An aspect of the Eucharistic Congress that I have been meaning to comment on for a few days now is the availability of the Sacrament of Penance. For each of the main days of the Congress, priests were available at a number of locations around the stadium being used for the catecheses and celebration of Mass to hear confessions. This meant, roughly speaking, access to the Sacrament from 9 am to 11 am, every morning. It was quite encouraging at times to see short queues waiting to receive the Sacrament. Each morning, a reminder announcement of the availablity of these priests was made.

On Thursday morning, there was a penitential celebration/para-liturgy. This was followed by the Congress site becoming a "city of reconciliation", with priests in three or four different areas available for confessions.

More than once during the week, and not least in the homily of Pope Benedict XVI at the closing Mass, mention was made of the need for more care in preparing to receive Jesus in Holy Communion. The availability of the Sacrament of Penance during the week of the Congress provided a good witness as to how we can respond to this need.