May 2019
A letter to Bishop John Arnold from a headmaster of Catholic Schools, Independent Grammar and Comprehensive for 24 years. (Subsequently, in retirement, he conducted over 50 inspections, for the Independent Schools Inspectorate, as a lead inspector; who decides how the inspection shall take place and actually writes the report.)
A prelate in the Worlock/Nichols line of episcopal aliens in our midst, His Lordship is also Chairman of CAFOD, the Catholic in name only (CINO) social justice agency forever mired in scandals that shame us all (CO passim). As underlined in this missive he personifies the lament of the late Fr. Bryan Houghton: that the clergy always pick up and run with an idea when it's dead.
Whether it be Orwellian language and concepts at the service of mainstreaming sins that cry to heaven ("homophobia," "transgender," "LGBTQ"), suppressing faith and free speech ("hate crimes"), or destroying innocence and virtue (classroom "sex education"), Bishop Arnold and his breathless brethren run behind the secular mob picking up and promoting every failed and destructive idea, even as rising movements for faith and family worldwide combat them as never before.
In particular, the Bishop embodies the episcopal embrace of "environmentalism" and all its attendant global warming falsities, exaggerations, contradictions and hypocrisy, as sampled in the foregoing articles (— also detailed in our October 2006 'eco-edition' editorial and feature).
An Open Letter to the Bishop of Salford
My Lord,
I hope Your Lordship is well.
Your Lordship's last letter to me of 18th March, told me not to write again. Your Lordship does not tell me why I am to be deprived of Your Lordship's wisdom and advice. That polite letter that I sent to Your Lordship was on the advice of the Apostolic Nuncio. However, Christian Order has a long tradition of giving voice to Catholics whom bishops and others are trying to silence.
First, then, let us deal with a topic that Your Lordship obviously regards as the most important of all, since Your Lordship makes it the entire subject of the Lenten pastoral letter and it is the most mentioned subject of the CAFOD website — global warming which has 463 hits on that website as opposed to homosexuality with zero hits and one hit for abortion.
Alongside many others, including Nobel-prize winning scientists, I personally do not believe in global warming but Your Lordship obviously does since it is mentioned in diocesan documents more than any devotion (even devotion to Our Blessed Lady the patron of our diocese). Nevertheless, I suggested, in my last letter to you, two ways in which the Catholic Church could cut down on possible causes of "global warming". First, I suggested that without necessarily changing any Church laws, your Lordship could revert to the Church's custom of the best part of over two thousand years and give to the faithful Holy Communion under only one kind. Your Lordship rejected this out-of-hand without giving any reason. Your Lordship might consider banning the practice at least in Masses for children. The latest statistics show that the number of Catholics who believe in the Real Presence is constantly declining: surely we need to stress, in all we do, this great truth?
Then I suggested that CAFOD could cut down on the number of journeys by air. Your Lordship did not reject this but did not give any undertaking. Might I say that I am an officer (honorary) of a national charity and have not travelled to its meetings in London for some years: I "attend" by Skype as do other members.
But then, I could not believe my eyes when I saw that the English and Welsh Bishops' Meeting this year was held not in an English place of pilgrimage, such as Walsingham, nor in a poor English parish where churches are being closed, but in SPAIN. My Lord, might one ask how their Lordships and the secretaries and the press all got to Spain? Was there even one that did not fly? Yet the very document that Your Lordship gave out instead of the Lenten pastoral letter ("Caring for our Common Home") states this for the laity to do: "Don't fly. Take the train instead." That document that you issued said other things, such as, "Be prepared and carry a reusable cup and pack a home-made lunch." Is it impertinent to ask whether Your Lordship and the other bishops all took "reusable cups and home-made lunches" on the journey by road, air and rail to Spain. Imagine how edifying it would have been if forty bishops had taken out their reusable cups and "home-made" lunches and declined that much plastic-wrapped aircraft food. On flying, it is not difficult to obtain from airlines the number of air miles of Your Lordship over, say, the last three years. Would Your Lordship consider publishing these figures? It would be such a good example to all of us. My wife and I have not travelled at all by air for some three years, though we have a son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren who live in mainland Germany.
When I read the summary of the proceedings in Spain of the bishops I could not believe that some four days in Spain were being devoted to child protection. Of course, it is a good thing that their lordships are finally getting round to doing this, but in schools, we have been doing all that for some forty years. With due respect, My Lord, one had to ask, "Has it taken forty years of abuse with Cardinals, bishops, and priests charged and imprisoned, before the English bishops could take seriously the protection of innocent children?"
So I was sad, but not surprised, to notice in the proceedings a complete lack of even the tiniest comment about the government's evil plans to force appalling sex education on innocent children. Your |Lordship might say that the giving of sex education has nothing to do with us bishops: three popes have stated that it is the "inalienable right of parents". This is true but Your Lordship and other bishops might have thought of supporting parents, especially since the Catholic Education Service has, astonishingly, and without the authorisation of parents, welcomed the government's attack on innocent children. In Your Lordship's letter to me of 18th March the promise was made to send me a copy of the material submitted to the government by the Catholic Education Service. But I have still not received a copy of these documents which are being kept secret. I am sad about this: the Catholic Education Service is insisting on keeping the greatest secrecy about what it told the government: it simply did not answer the letter that I wrote about it last October, and it has apparently refused to give a copy even to His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio since he was unable to procure a copy for me.
On another point, Your Lordship, might one ask about the status of the booklet that the Catholic Education Service published on behalf of Your Lordship and the other bishops "Made in God's Image — challenging homophobic and biphobic bullying in Catholic Schools". I have to say that I thought it an evil document and I do hope that it has been completely withdrawn and those responsible for it relieved of any responsibility for publishing material for Catholic schools. It is still available online, though not on our diocesan website, for which I thank Your Lordship.
On CAFOD matters, Your Lordship perhaps recalls that I wrote asking some questions provoked by the Catholic Herald's news about the new Director, Ms Allen. The current head of CAFOD replied on behalf of Your Lordship, but did not deal, or attempt to deal, with some of my points. I wrote again but have not received a reply or even an acknowledgement. Your Lordship will not mind, I hope, if I mention the points that were not answered; will Your Lordship confirm the following:
1) There is no truth in any of the allegations made in The Catholic Herald: viz. In 2002, Progressio, the charity Ms. Allen led, endorsed the use of condoms in HIV prevention. Four years later, in an article for Chartist magazine, Ms Allen criticised Catholic teaching on contraception, which she said "simply doesn’t stack up when it comes to HIV."
2) That Ms Allen does not endorse the use of condoms and will ensure that none of the funds of CAFOD is spent in any way supplying condoms, or promoting in any way their use. Ms Allen gives assurance that CAFOD will never work with organisations that promote condoms or other means of artificial contraception.
3) That Ms Allen does not approve in any way of abortion and is determined that the funds of CAFOD will never be used in any way that directly or indirectly promotes, encourages or facilitates abortion. Ms Allen gives assurance that CAFOD will never work with organisations that, in any way, promote abortion.
4) That Ms Allen has never criticised countries such as Poland for not being sufficiently "liberal" on abortion.
Finally, please might I request again that our diocese be entrusted to the Blessed Virgin Mary as it used to be when the churches and the seminaries were full and The Universe had a weekly column of converts such as Evelyn Waugh, Graham Greene, Monsignor Ronald Knox; Arnold Lunn; the great philosopher G. E. M. Anscombe; Frank Sheed; Maurice Baring; Dave Brubeck; the poet Roy Campbell; Avery Dulles; Sir Alec Guinness; Malcolm Muggeridge; Graham Sutherland; et al., et al., et al?
I pray daily for Your Lordship. Please remember, that if ever I can help our diocese, or Your Lordship personally, I will regard it as a privilege to do so. I ask for Your Lordship's prayers for me and our family.
I have the honour to be,
Your Lordship's child,
Eric Hester