I am on a streak — catching up with old items I wanted to opine on. Here’s one:

From Damian Thompson at the Telegraph: Bishop of Portsmouth bans Polish Mass.

It’s a wonder that stuff like this still happens. As the Young Fogey pointed out at the time – not only are Bishops who do this against tradition, they are fighting against the very folks who do go to church.

If anyone wonders: Why the PNCC? they need not take a stroll through a hundred plus years of history, they can see it day-to-day, in the here and now. The reasons are obvious, from church closings to clergy that fail to relate to the needs, desires, and aspirations of people in search of God. The reasons for the PNCC were expounded from our first day. It is about respect for God and those who believe in Him, respect for Holy Tradition as well as tradition, respect for those who pay the bills, and central to all these, respect for each person’s God given dignity. Freedom and democracy apply or they do not. Man’s right to use his intellect, talent, and freedom in the service of God apply beyond a bishop’s desire that the believers pray, pay, and obey.

As we declare:

The Church is an organized body of free religious people who strive with the help of their organization, to achieve life’s highest purpose. Every religious act must evolve from man’s free will; it must not yield in any way whatsoever to external compulsion. Neither religion nor the Church as its exponent, should be servants of political parties, governments or tools of the potentates of this world for combating the free aspirations of man or a nation toward liberty; but on the contrary, they are to strengthen men’s spiritual powers, assist them in life’s struggle – in fulfilling their mission nationally and to humanity as a whole. — Principle 5, from The Eleven Great Principles of the Polish National Catholic Church.