De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

When one considers the paucity of leadership the Catholics of England and Wales are forced to endure, a couple of names consistently float to the surface. Perhaps the most concerning is Bishop John Stanley Kenneth Arnold, Bishop of Salford. Former Vicar General of Westminster Archdiocese and rumoured to deeply desire the episcopacy of that Archdiocese. He will celebrate ten years as bishop of Salford this September. Bishop John is a member of the Bishops’ Conference Department for International Affairs; Chair of CAFOD’s Board of Trustees and a Trustee of Caritas Social Action Network. At CAFOD he approved the appointment of the current director who is clearly at odds with Catholic teaching . He is also the Environmental Lead for the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales . Bishop John is clearly seriously at odds with much of the Catholic faith and overly concerned with issues best described as mission creep. He advised the Catenian Association to drop "practicing Catholic...

As we start 2018 and Dioceses all over the UK (and beyond) are developing plans for the future (such as my own here ) we are being asked to discuss and consider a way forward as communities of believers as vocations dwindle and practising Catholics disappear even more rapidly. This has been discussed in numerous places with great clarity, perhaps most familiarly by Sherry Weddell in her book Forming Intentional Disciples , and most recently by Professor Stephen Bullivant in the Catholic Herald . Bullivant's article is concise and packed with valuable detail for anyone discerning the future direction of the Church. Key points are: There are more priestly retirements (or deaths) each year than ordinations.  A number of our seminaries have closed, the ones we still have are practically empty. Priest numbers fell between 1970 and 2014 by 48 per cent. Sunday worshippers fell by 55 per cent over the same period. In short, priest-to-worshipper numbers were better in 2014 ...