THE P RTAL
June 2015
Page 3
Portal Editorial
Will Burton offers a few unconnected thoughts
Back to normal?
N
ow that the election is over and done with,
we can all get back to normal life. This will, no
doubt, include complaining about almost everything
in politics. There are still some elections to come
though. The Labour and Lib Dems have to elect a
leader each. On another front, there may well be
excitement at Westminster generated by the SNP
Members of Parliament.
Not the Church, not the State.
Women must decide their fate!
S
peaking of excitement, a friend and I recently
attended the “March for Life” in Birmingham. About
two or three hundred people at the most gathered
outside St Chad’s Cathedral. As we marched off, we
encountered the first hazard: pedestrian traffic lights.
Ordinariate of OLW
Pilgrimage to Walsingham
S
aturday 27th June 2015 is the date. We
start in the Anglican Shrine with Sprinkling at
1145, after which we process to the Slipper Chapel.
Lunch is followed by Sung Mass in the Chapel of
Reconciliation at 1500. Do come, and bring a friend.
Ordinariate of OLW Festival
T
his year it begins at 1900 on Friday 18th
September at Precious Blood, Borough, London
Bridge. The speaker is Fr Gerard Sheehan of Opus
Dei. His talk will be followed by a reception.
Saturday 19th
September at
Westminster Cathedral
Hall. 1030 start, mass
at 1230, and after lunch
Archbishop Joseph
Augustine Di Noia OP
(left) of the CDF will
speak. There will be lots
of other goodies on the
day as well.
They played havoc with the march, as they allowed
no more than twelve people to cross at a time.
Stewards had been provided to help, but they could
not over-ride the lights. We waited for what seemed
ages as the marchers drifted across the road in small
groups. There were three or four sets of lights to
negotiate in this manner.
Eventually we arrived at our destin ation,
Chamberlain Square. Here we were greeted by about
fifty opponents, chanting “Not the Church, not
the State. Women must decide their fate!” - an odd
slogan, given that the marchers were concerned with
unborn children. It was almost as if the child was as
irrelevant as the unmentioned father. Can women
really achieve conception on their own?
Committed though I am to the sanctity of life
from conception until death, I found the whole event
disappointing. Everything seemed half-hearted,
even our opponents seemed close to boredom. This
is doubly surprising for as many as two thirds of the
marchers were under thirty years of age.
One felt for the organisers of the march. They had
put in so much work and effort for so little return.
Why do not more people care about the scandal
of 200,000 abortions a year? Do most folk have a
utilitarian view of humanity now? If so, we have failed
in a big way.
contents page
Sunday 20th September:
1030: Sung Mass at the Church of Our Lady of the
Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick Street, London.
Ordinariate of OLW
Year of Mercy Pilgrimage
to Rome and Loreto
T
he Pilgrimage, from 21st to 29th May 2016,
will be led by Mgr Keith Newton. You will find a
Poster, the Pilgrimage Brochure and a Booking Form
on our web site www.portalmag.co.uk. Places are
limited, so remember it is first come, first served.
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