Fr Thomas Crean OP
@crean_fr
Dominican friar and priest at St Dominic's, London - the Rosary Shrine. Opinions are not necessarily official positions of the Order of Preachers.
Is the idea that Mary is the New Eve a late invention, or part of 'the faith once for all delivered to the saints?' Newman explains why it is the latter.
I mentioned this when it came out, but didn't include a link for buying it. Newman on the Immaculate Conception, with a longish historical & theological introduction from me. osjustipress.com/products/virgi… amazon.com/Virgin-Mary-Ne…
The editorial in the Tablet today about this achieves a pinnacle of insolence impressive even by its own dizzying standards.
"[I]f Fr Vane had given Mr Coghlan Holy Communion, the priest could have been suspended from his office of parish priest under a new delict (or crime) introduced into the Code of Canon Law by Pope Francis in 2021 (c. 1379 §4)". thecatholicherald.com/what-does-cano…
“The ship will sail and reach its homeland; but the homeland will not be reached except by means of the ship.” catholicnewsagency.com/news/265455/po…
A remarkable, integralist speech. Please God he will learn that England was not founded on the bible alone, but on the bible and the Mass, and by the pope.
I gave a speech today in an empty chamber. It’s about the need for a Christian restoration.
"The Council of Nicaea would not pass the test of synodality as it in fact accomplished the “impossible arrangement” of “eliminating tensions” by deciding “in favour of one of the sides,” that is, orthodoxy was affirmed and heresy was anathematized."
The Jargon-Filled Synodal Trajectory thecatholicthing.org/2025/07/18/the… via @CatholicThing
The syllabus of what was read at a small secondary school in their final two years by teenagers who focused on Classics in 1910. It is now more than is read in any three- or four-year university degree in the world.
At the start of Vatican II, John XXIII dismissed the pessimism of the “prophets of doom.” A rational person who starts with the theological premises the Catholic Church has always taught and is capable of elementary reasoning cannot avoid concluding that those prophets were right
The greatest change in Catholic life since the 1950s has been not the introduction of the new Mass, nor the declarations of Vatican II, but the virtual disappearance of confession.
For those who aren't sure why things like this have to be treated as a serious problem, testing to see who can be pressured into crossing boundaries by an authority figure, is a common opening play by abusers.
An incident in which Denver seminarians were invited to make a "blood oath" with a man in a yeti costume has been described as "a well-intended moment that clearly went badly wrong and never should have happened" by the vice rector involved. pillarcatholic.com/p/yeti-blood-o…
Better not sprinkle the holy water directly onto the computer though...
Noticed in the old rite Ritual there are blessings for typwriters and for telegraphic equipment. The problem is not having appropriate texts; the problem is the disappearance of the culture of getting the priest in to bless stuff.
Enjoyed visiting the St Paul Center in Steubenville for the first time last month.
Thanks to everyone who came out to our symposium this weekend. It was a great time!
I hope to go to this, next year.
The St. Basil Institute is organizing a new project gathering magisterial teaching on the theology of creation. Our first symposium will be in Rome on Sept 2-5, 2026. Please consider applying to join the project and contribute a paper to the symposium. bit.ly/creation-sympo…
It's not likely to be often necessary. E.g. I think one would more naturally say that a pope had issued two documents motu proprio, rather than that he had issued them motibus propriis.
What is the plural of "motu proprio" "motibus propriis" sounds wrong ...
An important thread and article by @miriam_cates. "The costs of parenthood are privatised, while the economic benefits of those children – a lifetime of tax contributions – are entirely socialised. We must find ways to restore the personal economic rewards of having children."
The global ‘baby bust’ is the biggest threat facing humanity. Yet many people still think that falling population is a good thing, or that nothing can be done. They’re wrong. So how do we change their minds? A 🧵 1/
Since I've mentioned this, it may be interesting to repost the text. It was sent privately to all the cardinals and Eastern Catholic patriarchs in the summer of 2016, and leaked by a journalist close to the late Cardinal Pell. catholicculture.org/culture/librar…
He was one of those who signed the "Theological Critique of Amoris Laetitia" sent to all the Cardinals and Patriarchs in 2016.
Were they wrong?
One of the things that’s most fleeting is the current year doom vibe. Example: you read stuff from 1965 and the *main* thinkpiece underlying fear was of teenagers: there were so MANY of them and they seemed to not be civilized. 40 and 50 somethings were genuinely freaked out.
A Dominican tertiary.
St. Magdalene of Nagasaki. A Japanese Christian. She voluntarily turned herself in to the authorities. She was tortured for 13 days before dying on October 15, 1634. She was 23 years old. (12/24)
He was one of those who signed the "Theological Critique of Amoris Laetitia" sent to all the Cardinals and Patriarchs in 2016.
May he rest in peace.
"[I]f Fr Vane had given Mr Coghlan Holy Communion, the priest could have been suspended from his office of parish priest under a new delict (or crime) introduced into the Code of Canon Law by Pope Francis in 2021 (c. 1379 §4)". thecatholicherald.com/what-does-cano…
May he rest in peace.
Father Ray Blake has just died. Please pray for the repose of his soul. He guided many people to Christ, well done good and faithful servant.
We need to distinguish between the documents of Vatican II and Vatican II as an event - to borrow a useful distinction from Michael Davies.
if you talk about Vatican II in this way you’re not really Catholic in the sense that you don’t believe in the truth claims of the Catholic church