A Covid era picture showed a large empty parking lot. In the middle is a priest and , in an obvious representation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a penitent is kneeling beside his chair.

Why was there not one of the priest standing on the chair with his parishioners around him,properly masked and distanced ,of course, giving General Absolution ?

You may well ask. And not just in Glasgow. Why should this be the case ?

The 108 year old rusting wreckage of Canon Law still stands, although compelled even a few weeks ago to spit out defective parts in yet another clerical pedophile trial-historic- in Glasgow. As priest numbers continue to shrink, neither Archbishop Nolan of Glasgow nor Archbishop Cushley of Edinburgh will allow General Absolution ,of course with the mysterious insistence on confessing the sins again later .I say “mysterious “ because this appeared in Canon Law 1917 and not in AD 17 .You see, Canon Law1917 says there must be “grave reason “before the Flock can be given the Eucharist without confessing to a priest. This apparently does not include the deaths of 7 million people through Covid

You may remember the apocalyptic atmosphere of Covid ,with not even TV journalists knowing what would happen next ,the queuing in twos – and occasional fist fights -at supermarkets. Nobody really knew what would happen next.And the regular news of deaths, local,international.Was it to be a slow motion death of society. Nobody knew . One day in Covid I stood in Great Western Road at Byres Road, one of Glasgow’s busiest junctions ,on a week day at noon.As in a sci fi film, not another human being or vehicle could be seen. There seemed to me to be a “ grave reason “ but I didn’t study in Rome.

Perhaps the many other secular bishops like Nolan and Cushley felt that it might diminish the faith of the Flock were they to challenge Canon Law. Or not, of course. With the secular priesthood ,and there’s not many of them, and the Roman Rite not far above the level as the Druids , why is nothing happening about General Absolution ? Or did not enough die ? A lot of people body swerve secular priests for various reasons, and the secular priesthood does not have much going for it nor will it ever again. Does it simply fear losing the grip of confession and absolution ?

That’s a terrible thing to say, you may feel.

It is indeed.

I felt I needed a laugh last week, so I thought I would write about synodalism , but I might have known. New pope ,new hope, new start ? Forget it. In Scotland it was the same old story to kick the feet from us once more .Yet another pedophile-this time a predatory prelate -remanded in custody for historic child abuse.But it is still the Roman Rite, so what can one expect ?

The Roman Rite, you’ll remember , is one of the 24 “rites” or methods which the Church uses to bring us the Eucharist. It is obviously enormous compared to the rest because of when and where it was founded . It worked as well as could be expected until 1135 when celibacy was made mandatory ( priests were allowed to marry and the children of some occasionally sold Church property. Heavens !)

Along came the Reformation, with it panic, seminaries for priests not in religious orders and junior seminaries ,eventually bishops who had been “away to be priests” and after them bishops which meant they were bishops who could move from childhood to second childhood without knowing much about real life. For instance, things like the loss of coping with adolescent changes in perspective ,of handling money and of everything else in a rapidly changing world.The readily available experience of many makes it clear that outside influences were effectively censored , and their intellectual development deliberately stunted for the sake of discipline and the image.

Then came Canon Law- not in AD 17 by the way but uselessly in AD 1917, at the end of an era,but still the equivalent of a tactical nuclear weapon in the hands of what many bishops had become, ruling the Church by discipline and controlling promotion. Who am I to say they did not have the interests of providing the Eucharist at heart, but their reputation for concealing pervert priests shows they could not handle that devastating wound to the Church. And its cancerous affliction has been fatal.

Does the Flock still have to accept that the Roman Rite and its secular priesthood is still an effective means of providing the Eucharist as Christ asked ? Or in fact does it refuse to do so ?

An effective Pope will : 1. Rule that all bishops must come from the religious orders . The triple vows of poverty,chastity and obedience carry more weight than a promise to be good or concern about whether electric cars are really better. 2. Ordain parishioners to say Mass and provide the Eucharist ,like the “Masspriests:” for a thousand years before celibacy (sermons only from the internet ; the Sacrament of Penance by General Absolution). 3. Accept that the Roman Rite is defunct .

And, whoever he is, let us hope is quick about it. The Flock is waiting.