If you remember, we sent a letter to the Archbishops and Bishops of Scotland,
in the belief that it might be relevant to their attendance at the recent
Extraordinary Synod , not realising that they would not be there.
We felt it was respectful, lucid, cogent, reasonably well expressed and possibly
even perceptive. It referred largely to what is not a matter of doctrine, but simply of
custom and was therefore not heretical in any way.
We did not expect the recipients (registered delivery was applied and the letter was signed)
to drop everything, telephone us to say they were working on it,and to
keep an eye on the media for the latest news.
What we did expect, reasonably enough we feel, was some kind of formal acknowledgment
of receipt.
The Archbishop of Glasgow (we have a Glasgow address) formally acknowledged receipt.
The Archbishop of Edinburgh did not reply.
The Bishop of Dunkeld did not reply.
The Bishop of Aberdeen did not reply.
The Bishop of Motherwell did not reply.
The Bishop of Paisley did not reply.
The Bishop of Galloway did not reply.
Earlier this year, with vague rumours of extended ordination
in the Catholic press,we sent a similar letter of support to
the Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland ,and to every priest in
Scotland with an e-mail address for their information.
We missed out about seven bishops altogether out of the total of 29, due to our
technical incompetence, but we got through to the 154 Scottish priests.

The Bishop of Clifton formally acknowledged receipt.

No other bishop replied.

We received two e-mails from the priests. One asked if we were phishing;
another asked if the 10 points were our idea.
(Face to face, one priest said on you go ; another asked if we fancied
putting the collar on)
One moment , you may say. This is ridiculous, you may say.
Go to the top, you may say- to the Papal Delegate himself.
We sent him one too. We’re still waiting.

Cultural contacts involving ostriches and the Church are few.
A 19th century English Protestant writer feared that the country would be
invaded by Jesuits riding ostriches. The flabellum waved formerly
in Papal processions was made of ostrich feathers.
Have we a new one in the Church with the head in the sand thing ?

Benedict XV, Pope Francis, and umpteen Third World bishops have mentioned
in different ways extending ordination . To Feed The Flock is one of several groups
asking for the same thing, the most recent in Britain being the letter from
the Movement For Married Clergy UK in the “Tablet” of 18th October.

If the idea is that by ignoring appeals like ours the whole thing
will go away , it will be found quite soon, judging by the age of the
average congregation,that everybody who should be in church receiving
the Eucharist has also gone away.

Extending ordination is realistically the only way the Flock can receive
the Eucharist in 2014, throughout the world.

How can a clergy which has dedicated its life to providing the Eucharist
just close its eyes ?
It is difficult to imagine anything more disturbing than this,
but there is a uniformity of approach in the attitude of the clergy
to the shortage of priests which is very worrying indeed.