This is the response of priests and parishioners across southern England as they discover that the former Catholic Children’s Society, at Purley, in Surrey, has changed its name to the Cabrini Children’s Society on giving up its Catholic principles in order to comply with the government’s Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR) and give children into adoption by homosexual couples, thus condoning same-sex unions. The Church teaches that putting children into the care of an invalid union is a gravely moral matter.
This is nothing less than the misappropriation of the good name of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the linking of her name to something with which she would profoundly disagree – a complete perversion of her principles! Mother Cabrini spent her life caring for children, rather than seeing them abandoned or given up into dangerous or sinful situations, founding orphanages to protect and care for the vulnerable.
Has the Charity Commissioners been satisfied by agreement of just one Cabrini orphanage (owned by the CCS), and have there been consultations with the world-wide Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Order founded by Mother Cabrini to continue her work?
Was the Southwark CCS given all the options before making this disastrous decision? The property and millions of pounds of assets, much given by Catholics for bona fide Catholic purposes, have been taken out of the Church. Catholic lawyers want the chance to fight in the European Court of Human Rights (via regulation 18) that equal opportunities legislation is contrary to the freedom of expression of religion. It may be too late to rescue the Children’s Society, but is this just the first stage of battle for our other institutions, including Catholic schools?
The former Catholic Children’s Society’s action has abandoned its “catholic” title and (like Quest and other organisations which do not uphold Catholic teaching) must now be removed from the national Catholic Directory.
The new CCS is still expecting faithful Catholics in southern dioceses to continue funding this non-catholic agency, partly by the ploy of annexing the distinctly Catholic name of Cabrini, and by subtle continuation of the initials CCS. Crib offerings at Christmas, collections in Lent and on Good Shepherd Sunday, are just a few of their many means of funding. Former supporters are now asking themselves whether, with a clear conscious, they can continue giving, or whether they must abandon an organisation which has itself abandoned the Church’s teaching to sell-out to political demands and creeping secularism. Bishops elsewhere in the country are refusing to yield to such secular pressure.
Mother Cabrini is not in a grave, but in a beautiful shrine at one of her US orphanages. While her name has been misappropriated, the link has been made, and she has proved to be a powerful intercessor for causes near to her heart, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A Prayer for the Intercession of St Frances Xavier Cabrini:
Almighty and eternal Father,
at the intercession of Mother Frances Cabrini,
hear the cry of your children,
and the prayers of all those who seek to remain faithful
to the teachings of Your Church.
Inspire the Bishops of our land with wisdom and courage
to uphold the Truth, and lead the faithful in holiness of life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
This is nothing less than the misappropriation of the good name of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the linking of her name to something with which she would profoundly disagree – a complete perversion of her principles! Mother Cabrini spent her life caring for children, rather than seeing them abandoned or given up into dangerous or sinful situations, founding orphanages to protect and care for the vulnerable.
Has the Charity Commissioners been satisfied by agreement of just one Cabrini orphanage (owned by the CCS), and have there been consultations with the world-wide Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart, the Order founded by Mother Cabrini to continue her work?
Was the Southwark CCS given all the options before making this disastrous decision? The property and millions of pounds of assets, much given by Catholics for bona fide Catholic purposes, have been taken out of the Church. Catholic lawyers want the chance to fight in the European Court of Human Rights (via regulation 18) that equal opportunities legislation is contrary to the freedom of expression of religion. It may be too late to rescue the Children’s Society, but is this just the first stage of battle for our other institutions, including Catholic schools?
The former Catholic Children’s Society’s action has abandoned its “catholic” title and (like Quest and other organisations which do not uphold Catholic teaching) must now be removed from the national Catholic Directory.
The new CCS is still expecting faithful Catholics in southern dioceses to continue funding this non-catholic agency, partly by the ploy of annexing the distinctly Catholic name of Cabrini, and by subtle continuation of the initials CCS. Crib offerings at Christmas, collections in Lent and on Good Shepherd Sunday, are just a few of their many means of funding. Former supporters are now asking themselves whether, with a clear conscious, they can continue giving, or whether they must abandon an organisation which has itself abandoned the Church’s teaching to sell-out to political demands and creeping secularism. Bishops elsewhere in the country are refusing to yield to such secular pressure.
Mother Cabrini is not in a grave, but in a beautiful shrine at one of her US orphanages. While her name has been misappropriated, the link has been made, and she has proved to be a powerful intercessor for causes near to her heart, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
A Prayer for the Intercession of St Frances Xavier Cabrini:
Almighty and eternal Father,
at the intercession of Mother Frances Cabrini,
hear the cry of your children,
and the prayers of all those who seek to remain faithful
to the teachings of Your Church.
Inspire the Bishops of our land with wisdom and courage
to uphold the Truth, and lead the faithful in holiness of life.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.
St John Fisher, pray for us.
St Thomas More, pray for us.
St Frances Cabrini, pray for us.
Mother Cabrini’s Prayer for Peace of Mind:
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
A Reflection from: Travels, by Mother Francesca Cabrini, June 1895.
What have we to fear if the Heart of Jesus protects us?Let us keep our gaze fixed on the wound of the Heart of Jesus.There we shall read in characters of blood the depth and width of the love He bears us.It will encourage us, always and everywhere, to hope for everything from His infinite goodness.Our prayers are often so imperfect that they deserve to be rejected,
but the loving Heart of Jesus corrects them and turns them to noble ends.He Himself asks for what is for our greater good, mercifully covering our unworthiness with His merits.
At her canonization on 7th July 1946, Pope Pius XII said: "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman."
St Frances Xavier Cabrini ~ Feast day: 22nd December.
St John Fisher, pray for us.
St Thomas More, pray for us.
St Frances Cabrini, pray for us.
Mother Cabrini’s Prayer for Peace of Mind:
Fortify me with the grace of Your Holy Spirit and give Your peace to my soul
that I may be free from all needless anxiety, solicitude and worry.
Help me to desire always that which is pleasing and acceptable to You
so that Your will may be my will.
A Reflection from: Travels, by Mother Francesca Cabrini, June 1895.
What have we to fear if the Heart of Jesus protects us?Let us keep our gaze fixed on the wound of the Heart of Jesus.There we shall read in characters of blood the depth and width of the love He bears us.It will encourage us, always and everywhere, to hope for everything from His infinite goodness.Our prayers are often so imperfect that they deserve to be rejected,
but the loving Heart of Jesus corrects them and turns them to noble ends.He Himself asks for what is for our greater good, mercifully covering our unworthiness with His merits.
At her canonization on 7th July 1946, Pope Pius XII said: "Although her constitution was very frail, her spirit was endowed with such singular strength that, knowing the will of God in her regard, she permitted nothing to impede her from accomplishing what seemed beyond the strength of a woman."
St Frances Xavier Cabrini ~ Feast day: 22nd December.
10 comments:
There are many (MANY) people enjoying your blog but probably not for the reasons you would hope. In fact this link has been forwarded around and some rather unpleasant discussions taking place about your sanity. You should probably search on google to discover more. You clearly are a lunatic.
Goodness me, when I read about the change of name which you reported earlier, I never thought for one moment they were taking St Cabrini's name! This is horrific, but thanks for the prayer to Mother Cabrini, the only weapon we have now is prayer.
Ok for a moment let's take the pragmatic view and allow me to play Devil's advocate :
a] by changing the name the society gets the government off its back and is able to perform the desperately needed service to assist children and the people who can offer a good home and future life for them.
b] using the name Cabrini publicizes the memory of a great woman and the wonders she wrought and inspires more to act accordingly.
c] they already allowed adoptions to single homosexuals who generally would end up in a sexual same-sex partnership in the future anyway .
d] is it not better for a child to be reared by people who love them as a family member than the child being forced to live in the terrible state care system ; then cast out into society at sixteen, devoid of any family ?
e] technically it's not the society who arranges adoptions but the state - isn't this more a question of the double-effect ? - one may find a same sex sexual relationship distasteful and morally disordered - but can we truly deny the children the future they deserve merely because we disapprove of one aspect of the potential parents' lifestyles ?
f] why do we judge homosexual sexual acts as sinful ? Is it not because the procreative aspect of human lovemaking is being violated ? The partners are unable to fulfill their love for each other by participating in God's life-giving grace ; and with deprivation and limitation this becomes psychologically and spiritually damaging and can compromise any virtuous friendship and intimacy the same-sex couple have ? surely by allowing them to be parents of unwanted and disenfranchised children this will mitigate and ameliorate the disorder within their act ? that through sexual relations they will be celebrating the life of their adopted child as well as the life given to them by God ? Are homosexuals who have wonderful 'God-given' talents to be patient , caring , loving parents - going to be deprived of this opportunity merely because of their sexual activity behind a bedroom door ? Surely the children of God deserve to be parented; and why deny them this opportunity merely because of sexual orientation and desire which was no choice of the person ?
I'm not saying I agree with any of the above ; but we should be aware of the opposing arguments and make sure we don't argue pragmatically or confuse sentimentality with real love and concern; and also make certain that every argument derives from fundamental catholic moral principles grounded in revelation and natural law ; otherwise we will fall into a great many traps - one which will compromise our soul the most is bigotry and prejudice where rather than justifying our actions according to the Love of God, we instead build our arguments on the sand of 'good-taste' 'socio-cultural', class and academic -relativist 'opinion'
It is sacrilegious ; it is reprehensible ; but we have to ensure we know why ; and that we are acting out of Love of God and neighbour ; not merely excusing our bigotries away because they seem to conform with church teaching. The church may seem homophobic but it is in fact the absolute opposite - we need to ensure we are too !
Paul, well said. It is too easy to appear as bigots and appear always negative, but as the Holy Father said in America, when he addressed the young people:
"Have you noticed how often the call for freedom is made without ever referring to the truth of the human person? Some today argue that respect for freedom of the individual makes it wrong to seek truth, including the truth about what is good. In some circles to speak of truth is seen as controversial or divisive, and consequently best kept in the private sphere. And in truth’s place – or better said its absence – an idea has spread which, in giving value to everything indiscriminately, claims to assure freedom and to liberate conscience. This we call relativism. But what purpose has a “freedom” which, in disregarding truth, pursues what is false or wrong? How many young people have been offered a hand which in the name of freedom or experience has led them to addiction, to moral or intellectual confusion, to hurt, to a loss of self-respect, even to despair and so tragically and sadly to the taking of their own life? Dear friends, truth is not an imposition. Nor is it simply a set of rules. It is a discovery of the One who never fails us; the One whom we can always trust. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ. That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. It is an opting in; nothing less than letting go of self and allowing oneself to be drawn into Christ’s very being for others (cf. Spe Salvi, 28)....
Sometimes we are looked upon as people who speak only of prohibitions. Nothing could be further from the truth! Authentic Christian discipleship is marked by a sense of wonder. We stand before the God we know and love as a friend, the vastness of his creation, and the beauty of our Christian faith."
A wonderful post, Philip. How gifted you are for a lunatic like the rest of us. What does homosexual parentage boild down to? As you will know my favourite them is the injustice being shown to young people when they leave school, be sexually abused, become single mothers, victims of STD`s and on entering marriage experience more often hearache and divorce. To help I ask the Church to be teaching chastity, but she cannot teach chastity to heterosexuals and promiscuity to homosexuals. Sex is part of God`s plan for us and must be used in the way God planned it. Children of homosexuals will lack a maternal or paternal model crucial for a mature development, whatever out Government says. But homosexuality is a sin against the body which is a temple of the Holy Spirit as St Paul reminds us. These people put themselves in danger of hell, and this is sound catholic teaching, not an over reaction and they put the childrens` souls in danger. This has been the position of the Church for two thousand years.
This is an important post. I agree with Paul too that we need to be very realistic about what was happening before the change. I remember as I began writing to support Catholic Adoption hearing that Archbishop Nichols happily explained that single gay people were adopting through these agencies anyway. Surely a single gay person is likely to be having relationships -and far more unstable ones-than a gay couple. *sigh*
In what way was the rights of the child being looked to?
The other thing of course is from what I know of state run children's homes-they are dire. Then at 16 the poor kids get put into hostels. I worked with some poor desperately lonely kids in this situation.
I know foster parents who gave up because the system was so bad.
Children are left in terrible situations for far too long.
Perhaps there needs to be a huge concerted effort by the church in this country to support families to help prevent some of the messes that occur that lead to children ending up in the 'looked after sector'.
Yes Philip, a very good post. If you are a lunatic then l'll join your asylum! In fact I am probably already in it.
John, I hope you don't think I am being out of line but doesn't the Catechism say that homosexuality is a disordered action and in most cases a trial for person? I don't think that person who are homosexual are necessarily sinners in danger of hell, rather they are people with a heavy burden to bear, who must do their best to live chaste lives and fulfill God's will for them, and so, while I disagree with the practice of deliberately sending children to live in what is an intrinsically disordered relationship, I do not believe that homosexual people can immediately be branded as sinners in danger of hell - that would be extremely alienating to those so afflicted but trying their best to live as God wishes. Holy Mother Church teaches in the Catechism that they must be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity.
Thank you Kirk. I am sorry if I did not make it clear that I am talking about active homosexuals. Yes it is a disorder but the trouble is that we are all bedning over backwards to be politically correct that we have forgotten free will and the fact that homosexuality, the practice of homosexuality is a sin. It is a form of adultery. And yes, I will be consistant and say that heterosexuals leading adulterous lives are also risking hell. I will not be cowed by political correctness to say other. Of course, speaking of Hell, is not religiously correct these days. We must start cring for the souls of homosexuals.
Congratulations Philip on being called a Lunatic, you must be doing something right. I thought I was born on the Feast of St Francis Cabrini (Nov 13th)... I notice you have Dec 22 down?
I have a prayer request for you. My email is orare33@yahoo.com.
God bless,
Adele
Dear Madam,
I was at the Cabrini Shrine in Colorado just the other day. It is very beautiful. Mother Cabrini had an orphanage built at what is now referred to as the Mother Cabrini Shrine.
The construction superintendent constantly reminded Mother Cabrini there was no source of water upon the mountains where the orphanage was being built. Mother Cabrini told the workers to have faith, and continue to build. When bills came to Mother Cabrini for construction costs or materials, she would write upon them, 'Deo Gracias' and return them.
When completed, the project boss reminded Mother Cabrini there was no source of water. Angered by his lack of faith, Mother Cabrini struck her cane against a large stone; water freely flowed from it and continues to this day.
Ever the Devil's lackeys, the Freemasons cried hoax. They brought a crane to lift the stone whereby another of the Church's tricks could be exposed. The stone, in midair, continued to gush water. They returned to their Lodge, disappointed once more.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/mccabe.html
http://mothercabrinishrine.org
You might find these two web sites informative.
Father Joseph Pfeiffer, once the Pastor at Saint Isidore's Church in Watkins Colorado, initiated a yearly pilgrimage to the Cabrini Shrine.
Please visit:
www.traditionalcatholicism.org
to hear some of his sermons.
Please pray for Bishop Chaput of Denver, that he may listen to Saint Catherine of Sienna regarding Bishops.
May God our Lord in his infinite and supreme goodness be pleased to give us his abundant grace, that we may know his most holy will, and entirely fulfill it.
pablo
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