Translate

Saturday, April 3, 2021

THIS TOOK PLACE IN LONDON AT A POLISH CHURCH DURING THE LITURGY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD ON GOOD FRIDAY! GOOD GRIEF!

 Good Grief! The first part of the confrontation is in Polish but then the storm trooper speaks the King's English to the congregation! I am sure this Polish congregation must have felt they had returned to Communist Poland!!!!!! Is there a Pope St. John Paul II anywhere to be found in the UK? John Nolan?

25 comments:

rcg said...

Our Masses are nearly full. More full it seems than before. I am concerned because there have been a couple of parishes reported to the sheriff and warnings given. We seem to be growing during the year, so the numbers may draw attention.

William said...

Chilling -- bone, heart, and soul!

Pierre said...

What would Winston Churchill do?

Victor said...

The state religion of Covidism at work.........

rcg said...

Pierre, probably give it some thought over a drink.

Anonymous said...

And who gave the storm troopers permission to step inside the altar rail? Even lay people don't typically do that, unless assisting with the liturgy.

Anonymous said...

London is currently subject to national coronavirus restrictions. Did these people know they were violating the law?

England has been experiencing an increase in cases and hospitalizations. If we want this pandemic to end, flauting the laws and gathering in large group is not the course to follow.

This interruption by law enforcement is not an echo of what happened in Poland under Communist rule. If people choose to ignore the good of others, let alone their own good, there should be consequences.

Breal the speed limit, get a ticket. Rob a bank, go to jail. Prolong the pandemic, get threatened with a fine. Seems reasonable to me.

ByzRus said...

All who didn't have a reason to be in the sanctuary (e.g. addressing the congregation) should have been invited to leave. The police evidently do not have an understanding of the Catholic sanctuary and acceptable behaviors within.

It's a shame their solemnity was ruined and the statue of the reposed Christ hadn't even been placed in the sepulchre.

rcg said...

We got baskets of food blessed for tomorrow. Altar Rosary Society decorated the side altars although it was mostly Knights of Columbus carrying the flowers. Tonight the church will be packed. And tomorrow for both Masses.

Pierre said...

Rcg,

And then he would crush these commies posing as law enforcement

Anonymous said...

"Y2K was 21 years ago. Looking back, I think the only thing we learned is that if a bunch of people work really hard to stop a problem from happening, lots of people will falsely assume it never really was a problem."

rcg said...

This causes me mixed emotions. The news makes the situation in UK sound like the second Black Death. Is it really that bad? I agree that the tactic was jarring and disrespectful from my perspective. The policemen sounded firm but polite. If it is truly needed, was there another way to do it? Was this justified? Just today I read that only 19% of blacks in a town 90% black population are vaccinated. The vast majority of people being inoculated are whites from the suburbs and they are still having to toss out serum at the end of the day. Is there a similar situation in UK or in London?

Pierre said...

I doubt the London police would have pulled this stunt at a Mosque - they would have been beheaded

Anonymous said...

Anonymous at 3:33 pm,


You sound like a state worshipper. I bet the abortion clinics were open!

Anonymous said...

Sorry this is off topic but I would like to mention the following:

There is a great Website :

"Jihad Watch" - By Robert Spencer.

A lead article on this website 4 days ago was titled :

"ISIS Branches Out Into Comedy, Accuses Pope Woke 1 of Trying to Start New Crusade."

Tom said...

The Commies wouldn't dare do that in Poland; it might start a local uprising.

When I visited Poland in 1979 shortly after St. John Paul II's first visit, there were still road-side yellow and white bunting along the roads that he travelled as well as the cross erected in Warsaw's Victory Park where he offered Mass.

What surprised me were the road-side shrines erected between the two World Wars when Poland was a free country still untouched after almost 35 years of Communist dictatorship.

You could tell a Party building by the small red sign next to the main door. One small building which appeared to have been built before World War II had the obligatory red sign and on the side of the building a life-size crucifix!

John Nolan said...

The latest COVID statistics for the UK (population 68 million) showed 3423 new cases, many of which would have been asymptomatic, and only flagged up because of increased testing. Compared with the previous week it showed a decrease of a quarter.

Hospital admissions have plummeted in a week by 28.3 per cent and on 1 April only 3536 people were still in hospital as a result of COVID.

On 3 April the number of deaths (those who died of any cause having tested positive for COVID in the previous 28 days) stood at ten. Again, the decline in mortality rates in a single week has been in the order of 48 per cent.

The incident in Balham has received a lot of coverage in today's papers. It would appear that the Polish church had restricted numbers to 133 and followed guidelines regarding face coverings. The concern over the extent to which the government(s) of the UK have ridden roughshod over basic freedoms is growing. It is voiced by Conservative MPs, lawyers like the retired Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption, and many independent journalists and academics.

As for the Metropolitan Police, it is no longer fit for purpose. In fact, with their increased 'powers' as a result of COVID restrictions all police forces are increasingly inclined to throw their weight about. They ignore the fundamental principle that in a free society policing is based on consent.

I could say more about the Met. in particular but will leave it to another post. Suffice it to say that I am shocked, outraged even, but in the current climate hardly surprised.
















rcg said...

Interesting statistic: our paster told us that he used an entire package of 300 hosts and had to retrieve more for Good Friday. My wife noted that the hosts were not all in one piece, either. Our nave holds about 700 people, I estimate. It may have held more before some wreckovations in the last century. We have a couple of pew areas set aside for people wearing masks and the rest is for families in the same 'bubble'.

Anonymous said...

John,

The situation in Australia is worse.

My sister is a fairly high level public/civil servant, who, as my mother proudly tells neighbors, "regularly has lunch with the minister".

Anyway, I recall you mentioning in the past Archbishop Fisher of Sydney. Last year while no more than 20 people could pray in Sydney's massive cathedral, my sister explained to all at an extended family gathering, how the Minister made a wise decision to make exceptions and allow up to 500 Muslims to attend a number of Sydney mosques during important Muslim holy day/festivals.

Also, in Australia, we have seen ANZAC Day marches (for past and present Australian servicemen) either cancelled or the numbers of the ADF (Australian Defense Force) allowed to march greatly restricted, while literally thousands and thousands were legally allowed to march for Gay Pride events and the world famous Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

The Covid 19 virus must have a leftist, Woke social conscience - said my wife to my sister.

rcg said...

In our area the police response is divided by the political base. Our sheriffs are elected and have larger jurisdictions tend to be more laissez faire on most legal issues outside of assault. The “police” here are political hires and civil servants so answer to the elected politicians. The sheriffs have clear, some quite vocal, that they are not in the quarantine enforcement business. The police, on the other hand, are giving out fines and closing a few establishments. We had one parish in Dayton Metro get snitched to the police and they were warned.

John Nolan said...

The two national 'lockdowns' in 2020 (March to July, November) resulted in all churches (and mosques) being closed to public worship. This time public worship is allowed using the 'one-metre-plus' rule, with face-coverings for the congregation and a ban on congregational singing. Back in July the E&W bishops issued their own regulations aimed at making the Mass as short as possible, and (controversially and probably illicitly) proscribing Communion on the tongue in the OF - I don't know how widely this was followed, and suspect that traditionally-minded parishes took it magno cum grano salis.

A strange regulation (presumably from HM Govt) came out a few weeks back, limiting church choirs to three people. Fine for Gregorian chant, but not for polyphony. Presumably the idiot who thought this one up had no idea what the initials SATB stand for. It seems to have been quietly dropped, thank God.

At the Solemn Latin OF Mass I attended yesterday (ticket only) the church appeared quite full, but only every other row was in use, and people not in family groups had to maintain a lateral distance of three feet, so capacity was considerably reduced. There was a full music programme including the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Benedictus from Mozart's 'Coronation' Mass, motets from Philips and Byrd, and Handel's 'Hallelujah Chorus'. The only thing missing was the unlamented 'Prayer of the Faithful'.

Those interested in how the Novus Ordo can be celebrated in continuity with tradition can go to the Oxford Oratory website and look at the photographs from Holy Week. Tenebrae was sung in the old Rite; the same applied to Solemn Vespers yesterday.

The Fathers were not troubled by the Thames Valley Police (Inspector Morse's old outfit).

Fr. Allan J. McDonald said...

Georgia has had no state wide mask mandate although various cities and municipalities could have them. The initial spread did occur in African American Pentecostal type churches and at funerals. A pastor in Atlanta presided at a funeral in Albany, Georgia in our southwest corner of the state (I was stationed there from ‘80 to ‘85). Not only did the visiting pastor die of Covid 19 several church members did too and that created an epidemic in Albany and a high rate of deaths, more so percentage wise than Atlanta’s death rate but Atlanta was hit hard as well as Macon and Augusta.
After the pandemic shut down and with some precautions, the spread was flattened, so to speak. With some surges that did not result in a high number of deaths, only sickness, we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Richmond Hill, though, has never had a mask mandate. St. Anne’s was shut down from mid March to May 31st. We had daily and Sunday Mass live-streamed with a handful of people to take liturgical roles. Richmond Hill has had a low rate of spread and a low number of deaths and most who did die could not handle the virus due to other comorbidities.

Easter Sunday saw us almost at pre-pandemic number of parishioners. And as usual, since the shut down, a goodly number do not wear masks although I encourage it but do not mandate it and my personal example has been hit and miss.

John Nolan said...

The Oxford Oratory (St Aloysius) was built in 1875 originally for the Jesuits. Gerard Manley Hopkins was curate there for a time. Since COVID restrictions have limited attendance the Fathers have scheduled an extra Sunday Mass at 12.30 (low, English, no sermon) which understandably is quite popular (in and out in 20 minutes!). By contrast the Solemn Latin Mass yesterday lasted 1hr 35 mins and is always the best attended. Tell that to those who maintain that Latin is irrelevant, unnecessary or even an obstacle. Not in this manor, squire.

On the opposite side of the road is the medieval parish church of St Giles (now of course Anglican). It is closed for public worship despite the fact that Anglican churches have such small congregations that social distancing is hardly an issue.

On Easter Sunday the Archbishop of Canterbury celebrated a somewhat wacky liturgy in his cathedral but without a congregation. Last Easter he live-streamed a service from his kitchen, despite the fact that he has a perfectly decent private chapel in Lambeth Palace. The Church of England seems intent on making itself irrelevant.



Unknown said...

HOW DARE THEY DO THIS! WHY DID THE MC AND PRIEST NOT FIRMLY LEAD THOSE COPS OFF THE SANCTUARY FIRST BEFORE TALKING TO THEM? OUR SANCTUARY IS HOLY GROUND AND THEY HAVE NO PLACE DOING THIS AND WALKING AROUND THE SANCTUARY! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO OUR CATHOLIC PRIESTS? WHY ARE YOU SO AFRAID???

Anonymous said...

Unknown,

Like the one priest who comes over here to post, they are state worshippers