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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Hi all</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>On the website of UK newspaper "The Telegraph",
Damian Thompson has a blog called Holy Smoke that deals with a lot of Catholic
issues. Most readers are conservatives, as is he, so this doesn't
necessarily (and probably doesn't) reflect the will of the English Church.
But it's certainly interesting, and a very good choice too.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Damian has had a vote running for the next cardinal
of Westminster, after Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor retires. He promised to
submit the nominations to the English nuncio, for what that's worth.
Judging from what he writes, the English bishops sound like a pretty fickle lot,
and there has been speculation (not just from him) that HH Pope Benedict XVI
will bring in an outsider to replace Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor. Cardinal
Pell of Sydney got some votes, but it's hard to imagine them moving him.
He'd be an excellent choice, though. My experience with our bishops is
that we could do with a few of him too. Our previous nuncio impressed me;
one of the few other bishops who has done so tells me that our current
cardinal can't be trusted, and my own impression is that he's a smooth
talker who aims to please. I suspect that's more on the political side
than anything else. But I've been highly disappointed in our bishops'
conference and their attitude to several Benedictine
policies/statements/requests/instructions. It's as if they're waiting for
a better pope. Our local bishop (a German, no less) - how he comes across
in person and what happens in his diocese are as contradictory as a rabbi
running a pig farm. I don't know what to make of him. He infuses the
soul with cognitive dissonance. I've been told to wait for him to retire
for things to improve. I'm not at all surprised that the Indian liturgies
are graciously hosted in the Baptist church hall when their priests visit every
few years. Perhaps it's because here the priests are expected to face
their audiences, unlike pilots and bus drivers and orchestra conductors and many
Eastern priests who perform their duties "with their </FONT><FONT face=Arial
size=2>backs towards the people." I've heard of other places where the
Latins have run the Eastern Catholics out of their parishes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Anyway, enough bickering, and back to the new
cardinal ...</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The votes came in with Fr Aidan Nichols OP in
the lead. He's a fan of the pope, the pope is a fan of Fr Nichols, and
they're listed as co-authors (Nichols - "contributer" on Amazon) of
"Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life (Dogmatic Theology)" - volume 9 of
something that seems to be a bigger collection. In the edition I have,
Nichols is the translation editor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.amazon.com/Eschatology-Death-Eternal-Dogmatic-Theology/dp/0813206324/">http://www.amazon.com/Eschatology-Death-Eternal-Dogmatic-Theology/dp/0813206324/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fr Nichols also wrote "Thought of Pope Benedict
XVI: An Introduction to the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger" - <A
href="http://www.amazon.com/Thought-Pope-Benedict-XVI-Introduction/dp/0860124215/">http://www.amazon.com/Thought-Pope-Benedict-XVI-Introduction/dp/0860124215/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>More on the (in)fidelity of the English bishops -
<A
href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/dec07/fidelity-of-english-bishops.htm">http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/dec07/fidelity-of-english-bishops.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Fr Nichols, IMHO, would be a good choice, although
he might be wasted on leadership when he could do good work in theology and
writing. The chances are there will have to be a compromise between the
papists and the English bishops. One certainly can't expect Fr Nichols to
make a short-list based on conservative votes on a conservative
blog.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The analysis of the votes is here - <A
href="http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/jan08/nextcardinalchoice.htm">http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/ukcorrespondents/holysmoke/jan08/nextcardinalchoice.htm</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>God bless,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stephen</FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
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