Pray for Father Tim Finigan

From Father Tim Finigan:

"I had a minor heart attack. One of the doctors did use that expression, though a young nurse who spoke to me later was versed in the new terminology of "cardiac episode" which makes me want to think up a script for Doctor Who. I'm not dead, but the experience of not being able to breathe properly does help to sharpen up one's focus on those meditations of St Alphonsus. Perhaps my many repetitions of the prayer "that we may not be surprised by a sudden and unprovided death" got me off this time..."  (continued)

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• A Minor Cardiac Episode and my view for a while

London Riot Photographs

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British riot police arrive in front of a burning building in Croydon, South London on August 8, 2011. Now in it's third night of unrest, London has seen sporadic outbreaks of looting and clashes both north and south of the river Thames. Numerous buildings were set on fire in Croydon including a 140 year old furniture store as hundreds of looters plundered high street shops of their goods.

Reuters Pictures

A riot police runs after students during an anti-government rally to demand changes in the public state education system in Valparaiso city, about 121 km (75 miles) northwest of Santiago, August 9, 2011.

Reuters Pictures

Police officers in riot gear return to their vehicles during disturbances in Birmingham, central England August 9, 2011. Violence flared in English cities and towns on Tuesday night but London, where thousands of extra police had been deployed, was largely peaceful after three turbulent nights in which youths rampaged across the capital virtually unchecked.

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A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham, north London on August 6, 2011. Two police cars were on Saturday set ablaze in north London following a protest over the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man in an armed stand-off with officers. The patrol cars were torched as dozens gathered outside the police station on the High Road in Tottenham.

Reuters Pictures

Riot police wait in an estate in east London August 9, 2011. Riots flared in English cities and towns on Tuesday night as London waited anxiously to see if thousands of police deployed on its streets could head off the youths who had rampaged across the capital virtually unchecked for three nights.

AP Photo

Riot police stand by on Market Street during civil disturbances in Manchester, England, Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011. Britain began flooding London's streets with 16,000 police officers Tuesday, nearly tripling their presence as the nation feared its worst rioting in a generation would stretch into a fourth night. The violence has turned buildings into burnt out carcasses, triggered massive looting and spread to other U.K. cities.

Getty Images

A shop burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people on a main road in Tottenham, north London on 6 August 2011. Two police cars were on Saturday set ablaze in north London following a protest over the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man in an armed stand-off with officers. The patrol cars were torched as dozens gathered outside the police station on the High Road in Tottenham.

Picture: Lewis Whyld/PA

Saturday 6 August 2011: Fire rages through a building in Tottenham, north London, as trouble flared after members of the community took to the streets to protest over the police shooting of local man Mark Duggan

Picture: Matthew Lloyd/Getty Images

Buildings burn on Tottenham High Road, London after youths protested against the killing of Mark Duggan by armed police in an attempted arrest

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LONDON, ENGLAND - AUGUST 08: A riot police officer looks on in Peckham on August 8, 2011 in London, England. Pockets of rioting and looting continues to take place in various boroughs of London this evening, as well as in Birmingham, prompted by the initial rioting in Tottenham and then in Brixton on Sunday night. It has been announced that the Prime Minister David Cameron and his family are due to return home from their summer holiday in Tuscany, Italy to respond to the rioting. Disturbances broke out late on Saturday night in Tottenham and the surrounding area after the killing of Mark Duggan, 29 and a father-of-four, by armed police in an attempted arrest on August 4.

Humiliation: A young man is forced to strip to his underpants in the street, having apparently already handed his T-shirt and trainers to a looter. There were unconfirmed reports last night of victims being made to strip in Deptford, south London, and in Birmingham.

Getty Images

British riot policemen stand in front of a burning building in Croydon, South London on August 8, 2011. Now in it's third night of unrest, London has seen sporadic outbreaks of looting and clashes both north and south of the river Thames. Numerous buildings were set on fire in Croydon including a 140 year old furniture store as hundreds of looters plundered high street shops of their goods.

Daylight robbery: The boy becomes aware of what is happening as the gang closes in around him

Lowest of the low: The teenager continues to tend to the wounds on his face as thieves make off with the contents of his rucksack

Picture: Lewis Whyld/PA

Fire fighters attempt to put out a blaze in a building in Tottenham



(Daily Mail) Everything must go: A youth poses with a large sack of Tesco Value Basmati rice on the third night of rioting in London, proving that items need not be valuable to be targeted by looters

(Daily Mail) Brazen: Looters carry armfuls of goods as shops are ransacked in Hackney, north-east London


(Daily Mail) Stripped bare: The looters jumped over counters and threw food such as crisps and sweets to the floor in order to get to the things they wanted


(Daily Mail) Rioters are seen looting a shop in Hackney, north London

From Father Tim Finigan at The Hermeneutic of Continuity : The above picture shows people in Clapham with their brooms engaged in #cleanup which shows that Twitter can be used for other purposes than organising opportunistic looting. I have seen plenty of articles asking whether Twitter or Blackberry broadcast was responsible for the riots. To my mind, you might as well blame paper manufacturers for the Russian Revolution.

If you are looking for an explanation of what is behind the "civil unrest" that seems to have taken everyone by surprise, here is an account from two girls in my childhood home, Croydon:

"Just showin the Police and the rich people we can do what we want" about sums it up, I think. "I can do what I want" is the net result of moral relativism applied by the ordinary teenager affected by original sin and educated in a system that undermines any real foundation of duty to God, country or neighbour.

Few people have noted the irony of the appeals by the Police to parents to "contact their children." For several decades our country has undermined marriage, the family, and the rights of parents. Agents of the state can teach your children how to have sex, give them condoms, put them on the pill, give them the morning-after pill if it doesn't work, and take them off for an abortion if that fails - and all without you having any say in the matter or necessarily even knowing about it. Now all of a sudden, we want parents to step in and tell their teenage children how to behave. - Read More...

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Fr. Finigan at Lourdes

From Fr. Tim Finigan at The Hermeneutic of Continuity and Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen:

Multicultural Youth Mass at Lourdes

While at Lourdes, we saw a number of groups of girls and young women, supervised by sisters in the habit of the Dominicans. The berets and sensible skirts did not look at all frumpy - as one lady in my group observed: "Trust the French! They even manage to make school uniform look chic!" Naturally curious, I asked once or twice "Where are your from?" and was told that they were from the "Ecoles Dominicaines". On the Saturday before we left, I saw a large group assembling outside the St Bernadette Chapel. This photo shows just a small section:

The gathering piqued my interest even more and I began to realise that the assembly might be related to the Society of St Pius X - one of the young men helping to steward the Mass confirmed this.

Inside the chapel, I saw everything prepared for High Mass and realised that this was a major photo/video opportunity, so I rushed back to the hotel to get my big camera. Together with another couple of priests, I attended the Mass and was greatly moved by the devotion of the large congregation. The front section of the large chapel was taken up by the schoolchildren and the sisters. The rear section was taken up by families.

Below is a video that I made up of the photos I took and the clips I managed to film. No soundtrack or recording has been added - the singing is all recorded by my tiny camera microphone and therefore not of best quality - although if you hook up a couple of speakers it is not at all bad.



Now I know that this is an event of the SSPX and that there are problems there. I know that Bishop Williamson has said some silly things and I certainly do not agree with them.

Nevertheless, I was struck forcibly by the extent to which this celebration of Mass fulfilled so many of the genuine demands of the Second Vatican Council (hence the rather "tongue in cheek" overlay quotations.) I wondered why anyone would want to stop this kind of celebration.

I also reflected on the many times I have been told to "feel the pain of disunity" when attending ecumenical services. I have never felt that pain as much as when I saw these good people celebrate Mass, receive communion and kneel down to make their thanksgiving after Mass. Why are we not doing all we can to foster the unity of the Church? Why do we continue to ignore the SSPX chapels and schools in our dioceses? If only we could be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with these good people pro felici statu Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae (for the good estate of the Holy Roman Church)

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