Married Clergy? Taken from the National Catholic Reporter

As we already have married priests, those that moved across from the Anglican tradition, I can see no theological argument against them.

A group representing approximately 1,000 U.S. Catholic priests has asked their bishops "to start the dialogue" toward the ordination of married men to the priesthood.
In letters mailed Jan. 23 to all members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests said they made the request primarily with concern for "the pastoral care of souls," and that married priests are needed "to serve the pastoral needs of the people."
"The time has come. The door is open. The need for this is urgent," the priests said.
The letter is signed by 12 members of the priest association's leadership and staff, representing nine dioceses and one religious order; its executive secretary Franciscan Sr. Jackie Doepker also signed her name to the document.

Fr. Bob Bonnot, a priest in the Youngstown, Ohio, diocese and chair of the priests' association, told NCR that to his knowledge there has not been a response so far from the bishops' conference or individual bishops. He said they are not asking the bishops to respond to them, but to take up the issue among themselves. He added that the association has encouraged its members, where appropriate, to discuss the issue of married priests with their individual bishops.
"This might be an issue that priests in some situations would say, ‘Bishop, we think you ought to be thinking about this.’ It’s up to them to make that decision," Bonnot said. 
Among the reasons the priests cited in their letter for beginning the conversation:

• the Roman Catholic church's inclusion of ordained married clergy from other Christian denominations, such as the Anglican church;
• calls from the laity for a discussion of married priests;
• the continued declining number of active priests -- and resultant parish closures;
• and the spiritual, mental and physical health of current priests, particularly those experiencing "an increasing and sometimes overwhelming workload."

"The health and vitality of the priest's role within the faith community is critical to the life of the Roman Catholic tradition and its ministry. Given the signs of the times and the diversity and challenges facing the church at this time, the ministerial priesthood needs creative options. The witness that could come from married priests serving the church with celibate priests is a crucial option to be explored," the letter said.
"There are many voices in the church waiting to be heard on this -- including our own," said the priests.
The priests' association based its request of married priests on the belief that Pope Francis is open to the possibility, if brought to him by a national bishops' conference. They referenced an April 2014 interview in an Austrian newspaper in which the pope reportedly told a Brazilian bishop that it was up to regional bishops' conferences to seek and find consensus on church reforms, and then bring them to Rome.
According to a report on the interview by the U.K.-based Tablet, Bishop Erwin Kräutler told the Salzburger Nachrichten that in a conversation about a shortage of priests in his Xingu diocese, Francis expressed open-mindedness to finding solutions.
"The Pope explained that he could not take everything in hand personally from Rome. We local bishops, who are best acquainted with the needs of our faithful, should be corajudos, that is 'courageous' in Spanish, and make concrete suggestions," the bishop said, according to the Tablet.
Kräutler confirmed that he and the pope discussed the ordination of viri probati ("proven married men") into the priesthood. "It was up to the bishops to make suggestions, the Pope said again," the bishop said.
In their letter, the U.S. priest association asked their bishops to "accept the offer of Pope Francis to consider the possibility of ordaining married viri probati as priests." They requested the bishops begin a broad consultation process that would seek input from diocesan staffs, parish priests, deacons and the laity.
Bonnot told NCR that at this point the association does not have additional actions planned, and that it will give the issue "time to brew."
The request to review the possibility of married priests was among eight resolutions the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests considered at its third annual assembly, held in St. Louis in June. The group, largely composed of Vatican II-era priests, formed in August 2011 as a support network for priests and to allow for them to speak in a unified voice.
"We’re trying to be a voice of joy and hope in our pilgrim church and that we think that expressing the views of priests with regard to issues such as this is something we hope is a positive contribution to the life of the church in this exciting time," Bonnot said.

Unjust laws

Last night I watched "Call the Midwife" it was a recording of the episode where the father of a child was arrested for "improper and lewd behaviour" in a gentleman's public toilet. It became apparent that he knew that he was "gay" but got married to try to disguise the fact/hope that it would "go away" as it were.This prompted some speculation on my part:
1. I wonder how many people alive today were born in sham marriages where the man only married in an effort to disguise his sexuality.
2. How many people had their lives blighted as a result of being starred for gross indecency?
3. Why was Alan Turing pardoned? He did after all break the law as it then was (Unjust though the law may have been).
4. If Turing deserves to be pardoned why not everybody who was guilty of breaking that law?
5. What about all the other unjust and unfair laws that there have been throughout history?
6. Does not Turing's pardon reinforce the suspicion that there is one law for the rich, the powerful, the famous - the current scandal of child-abuse in "high places' is just one example of this.
7. Is there any likelihood that we will see a fair society where all are treated equally before the law?

Do we have Free Speech in this Country?

Would I be free to publish a cartoon mocking gay marriage? I would probably be arrested.
Would I be free to publish a cartoon mocking Christianity? There would be probably be am out cry (assuming I was sufficiently famous as a cartoonist).
Would I be free to publish a cartoon mocking Islam? I would probably be murdered.

So do we have free speech in this country?

The European Debt Crisis Visualized

Apologies to all those who fully understand this - I found this very helpful:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8xAXJx9WJ8

Some suggestions for New Year Resolutions - by Rabbi Sacks

Have you made your new year resolutions? If not, try the following. Each is potentially life changing.
1. Give thanks. Once a day take quiet time to feel gratitude for what you have, not impatience for what you don’t have. This alone will bring you halfway to happiness. We already have most of the ingredients of a happy life. It’s just that we tend to take these for granted and focus on unmet wants, unfulfilled desires. Giving thanks is better than shopping – and cheaper too.
2. Praise. Catch someone doing something right and say so. Most people, most of the time, are unappreciated. Being recognised, thanked and congratulated by someone else is one of the most empowering things that can happen to us. So don’t wait for someone to do it for you: do it for someone else. You will make their day, and that will help to make yours.
3. Spend time with your family. Make sure that there is at least one time a week when you sit down to have a meal together with no distractions – no television, no phone, no e-mail, just being together and celebrating one another’s company. Happy marriages and healthy families need dedicated time.
4. Discover meaning. Take time out, once in a while, to ask: “Why am I here? What do I hope to achieve? How best can I use my gifts? What would I wish to be said about me when I am no longer here?” Finding meaning is essential to a fulfilled life – and how can you find it if you never look? If you don’t know where you want to be, you will never get there, however fast you run.
5. Live your values. Most of us believe in high ideals, but we act on them only sporadically. The best thing to do is to establish habits that get us to enact those ideals daily. This is called ritual, and it is what religions remember but ethicists often forget.
6. Forgive. This is the emotional equivalent of losing excess weight. Life is too short to bear a grudge or seek revenge. Forgiving someone is good for them but even better for you. The bad has happened. It won’t be made better by your dwelling on it. Let it go. Move on.
7. Keep learning. I learnt this from Florence in Newcastle, whom I last met the day she celebrated her 105th birthday. She was still full of energy and fun. “What’s the secret?” I asked her. “Never be afraid to learn something new,” she said. Then I realised that if you are willing to learn, you can be 105 and still young. If you are not, you can be 25 and already old.
8. Learn to listen. Often in conversation we spend half our time thinking of what we want to say next instead of paying attention to what the other person is saying. Listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give to someone else. It means that we are open to them, that we take them seriously and that we accept graciously their gift of words.
9. Create moments of silence in the soul. Liberate yourself, if only five minutes daily, from the tyranny of technology, the mobile phone, the laptop and all the other electronic intruders, and just inhale the heady air of existence, the joy of being.

10. Transform suffering. When bad things happen, use them to sensitise you to the pain of others. The greatest people I know – people who survived tragedy and became stronger as a result – did not ask “Who did this to me?” Instead, they asked “What does this allow me to do that I could not have done before?” They refused to become victims of circumstance. They became, instead, agents of hope.
Most of these are, of course, integral elements of a religious life, which may be why so many surveys have shown that those who practise a religious faith tend to live longer, have lower levels of stress and report higher degrees of wellbeing than others. This is not accidental. The great religions are our richest treasuries of wisdom when it comes to the question of how best to live a life.
Life is too full of blessings to waste time and attention on artificial substitutes. Live, give, forgive, celebrate and praise: these are still the best ways of making a blessing over life, thereby turning life into a blessing.
(First published in The Times, January 2008)

Need to backup your computer

I have just read a sad posting on Facebook written by a friend who has lost her photos on her computer. I am constantly surprised by the number of people who never backup there computer/ipad/phone etc. All mechanical/electrical things eventually fail. So please make sure that your data is backed up.

Still trying to find Gus and Pam!

We (or rather I) lost our address book in 2013. We are still trying to find the address/phone number/email for Gus (Angus) and Pam MacConnachie. They live in Broughty Ferry just outside Dundee. If anyone can help me in my quest I will be extremely grateful.
Happy Christmas
Barry and Julia