De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

  Back in November, the  Catholic Unscripted team were invited to address the Catholic Man UK national conference at the historic Buckden Towers, Cambridgeshire. My talk was on the effect of fidelity - and infidelity - on family.

I have only ever criticised one bishop openly on this blog: Kieran Conry. The reason for that criticism was what can only be described as the open hostility he displayed to the Catholic faith it was his job to hold and teach. The reasons for his opposition now appear all too clear. But his admission last weekend leaves many important unanswered questions which must be addressed. Personally, I have withheld further blogs on Conry in the past because I did not want to be overtly critical, despite my personal misgivings. I was concerned that constantly picking at someone could only cause fracture and pain within the Church. Now I regret that decision. I regret it because I was right when I smelt a rat, when I felt uncomfortable about Conry and his speeching, about his undermining of Catholic teaching. If I had spoken out, would I have stopped what has happened? Probably not. But perhaps some might have read the evidence presented to them and worked out that Conry was not someone th...

Jennifer Lawrence is a really famous and very beautiful actress. Someone has hacked into her home computer and stolen some images there of her naked and spread them around the internet. OK so I'm a little behind the times with this post, but honestly, I've been so busy! If you were cynical, you might consider I was fishing for google hits with the title; I'll be honest, the idea may have crossed my mind. However, I do think this is issue is oxygen that will facilitate discussion of a really difficult and thorny modern problem. And if a few people come across this post and read it while searching for naked pictures of Jennifer, could they conceivably find it helpful? It is also an issue that was brought to the front of my mind at Buckfast on Monday when Cardinal Pell addressed the prevalence, invasive nature, an insidious effect of internet pornography in our lives and on our society. This has long been a concern of mine not least because the availability of image...

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.  —Ps 90:10 Having lost a child in 2009, Christmas has been a tough old struggle for the last few years. It is a time which tends to be all about the kids, right? So when one is missing, the season serves to focus pretty much all your attention on that fact. And that fact is the hard, concentrated, epicentre of pain you try to keep locked away deep inside you most days. It is hard to shop for presents when every store you go into abounds with things you know she would love. It's, well, it's quite frankly heart breaking. This year is the second Christmas we have spent with our beloved Mary, who was pretty much 17 months old by Christmas day. Mary being around has made this all easier. Not just for me, for Lou and the boys too. I sense we are all a bit stronger, and we are all a bit more f...

So the teacher Jeremy Forrest, who abducted/ eloped (?) with a 15 year old student of his is sentenced today . I have to say, my mind ran immediately to the old Police hit 'Don't Stand So Close To Me', remember it? The song deals with the mixed feelings of lust, fear and guilt that a female student has for a school teacher and vice versa, as well as inappropriateness leading to confrontation. The music and lyrics of the song were written by the lead singer of The Police, Sting, who had previously worked as an English teacher. In a 2001 interview for the concert DVD ...All This Time, Sting denied that the song is autobiographical. The line "Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" alludes to Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita which covers somewhat similar issues. Like Sting, Forrest has a musical side to his character which some, like the BBC reporter Duncan Kennedy have suggested, added to his appeal for the student who has ended up embr...