The Pope's visit to England

His Holiness Pope Benedict is due to visit the UK later this year. As with the previous Pope he appears to be staying away from Northern Ireland. There is a lot of argument over who should be paying for this visit as some taxpayers money is to be used for issues such as security.

Given that the current incumbent of the Holy See has not exactly gone out of his way to make nice with people of other religions and none these costs might be justified. The Pope's actions should also be seen in the light that he was the head of the rebranded inquisition, the Office of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Bishops of England and Wales have asked the laity to stump up money to pay for the pastoral costs involved. Based on the evidence of the collection at our church this morning the laity aren't too keen on this idea. We live in tough times as we did when the previous pontiff visited these shores in 1982. However, the British arm of the Catholic church is particularly good at not paying a blind bit of notice to what its leaders want just because they ask for something. I was expecting the collection to be low due to the fact that church was barely half full this morning but I wouldn't have been surprised to see a couple of buttons in the plate when I saw how low the congregation is.

Our bishop isn't desperately popular in many parts of the Diocese for a whole variety of reasons. He has only just asked for more money from the laity to get his books straight. If he hadn't invested in the stock market so heavily he might have had more money. In our country asking for money from the congregation never goes down well. Also the laity have a lot of issues with the church hierarchy and the way it runs the church. Also the fact that the Catholic church is worth billions of pounds tends to say to people if you want to put on events you can damn well pay for them.

The Church doesn't appear to learn lessons and seems unwilling to countenance change and so the more socially militant end of the spectrum which encompasses a large proportion of western catholicism (the bit with all the money) refuses to pay. The Reverend Ian Paisley is rumoured to have once sent the collection plate back round one church saying that 'The Lord is not satisfied with your offering'. Unfortunately the clergy here are not as popular as he was with his congregation.

Singing in church

Greetings fellow travellers. This weeks rant is all about singing in church and universality. This morning when we got to church the priest came round and handed out a new version of the Gloria. I say new, I was aware of this version, but it was new to our church. Here in wonderful Cleckhuddersfaxwaite we are in the Diocese of Leeds. The bishop, I make it clear that I am not a fan of his, decreed some years ago that the Mass should be, where possible, entirely sung.

When this decree came round it was greeted with enthusiasm by the priest and deacon at the church which we attended at the time. The Bishop in his infinite wisdom decided to shut that church down and merge it into one of two 'super-parishes'. We went up the valley to the most far flung of the parishes. I was at the time in a state of flux with my faith and was on the verge of becoming a Buddhist. As it stands thanks to the priest at this far flung outpost and the attitude of the congregation there, my departure was somewhat delayed. They held the liturgy, by and large, in the same way that I had grown up with it in the 1970s and 1980s before the rise of the laity and the now ubiquitous folk group with their Czechoslovakian guitars. The liturgy was spoken and was simple.

Unfortunately due to illness, this priest was retired on health grounds and the new parish priest, yes you've guessed the one from the old church, has wasted no time in trying to drag our little corner of the parish kicking and screaming into the new world order as decreed by the bish. The beauty and simplicity of the spoken liturgy when a prayer is said and spoken with meaning has now been replaced by musicians and countless unnecessary variations on a theme.

The move to have the Mass in the vernacular following Vatican 2 meant that now unless you actually spoke the local language you struggle to follow the Mass when you go abroad. It has allowed for folk groups and other such abominations and the Mass is no longer universal and, by definition, neither is the church. Local variations now add to the confusion. In some places where you would stand in others you would kneel.

The Church would do well to consider a reconnection with its liturgical past but unfortunately that would seem to be a case of shutting the stable door after the horse has not only bolted but run out of the yard down the lane and hurdled a couple of fences.

The Catholic church has never had much of a grasp of simplicity and the beauty that comes with it. Why do you need to sing Amen seven times and not mean it when it would be better if you spoke it once and meant it with your whole heart.

In Catholic terms this 'puritanical' approach to liturgy sets me at odds with the majority of the church which is generally anything but. However, if you believe in the rightness of your cause you must stand up for it and rail against 'Colours of Day' and 'Kum Ba Yah' and Taize chants and remind everyone of the simplicity of the fact that your relationship with God is simple and all you need to do is speak with him ( or her) in simple terms and he will understand.

Go forth and find your connection with God and the universe on a simple level and remember most of the rules of the Church were created long after Jesus died and rose again and he didn't get much of a say in them. Also the church is notoriously inconsistent and slow to recognise simple facts.

Goodnight and may your God go with you.