Prayers Requested

Christian Clay Columba Campbell is a Roman Catholic of the Anglican Use. As Senior Warden of the Cathedral of the Incarnation (Orlando, FL), he organized the process by which the parish accepted the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, petitioning to join the Catholic Church. He is also the CEO of Three Fish Consulting, LLC, an Information Technology consultancy based in Orlando, FL. He can be reached via email at ccampbell at threefish dot co.

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Compassion and Prayers for Amy Winehouse

I don’t know why I’ve felt drawn to scour YouTube videos and online articles about the death of Amy Winehouse, but I have. I’ve become engrossed in the life of this girl whose rebel facade supposedly wasn’t an accurate representation the sweet and giving person she was, and who (according to testaments from those who knew her) wanted desperately to be a wife and mother and who really didn’t care much about fame.

Some of the comments I’ve come across on public forums in response to her death astound me. There is a camp of people who have been so quick to judge and criticize her for her well-publicized struggle with drugs and alcohol, which—though it has yet to be determined pending the results of a toxicology report—may have led to her sudden and shocking death.

It’s easy to judge people. It’s easy to say with false reassurance that we would never hit such low points. I have to remind myself that the truth is, when looking at another person, we don’t know the crosses they bear, or the pain that they endure, or the situations that ultimately lead to their battles with addiction. I pray that I should never become so prideful as to assume that I am “above” any misfortune.

When I viewed the videos of Amy’s last live performances in June, I watched a woman-turned-little girl who looked defeated, helpless, and who was in visible pain on stage. It was hard to watch.

Ultimately, these people need our prayers and our help, if they are willing to accept it. Phil Callaghan, national president of the Young Christian Workers, had the right idea when he said, “I hope Amy’s death has highlighted further the need for support and help for young people with addictions, especially in the Church.”

We all struggle. We all fall. In most cases, our battles are not public, and our battle scars are not visible. Instead of judging people for their mistakes, I’m making a renewed effort to pray for them. And to pray for the repose of the souls of those who tragically don’t make it.

Lindsey Simmons is the Publicity, Social and Digital Media Manager at St. Anthony Messenger Press. She loves reading (especially Catholic books!) and as an animal lover, she feels a special connection to Saint Francis. She’s a member of a Dominican parish in Madeira, Ohio—St. Gertrude Catholic Church. blog comments powered by

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No Speculation, Please. Just Our Prayers.

This is from the Catholic Herald, and it's posted here because so many of us know and admire John Hunwicke. We do not know the reason for this deferral, and this is not the place to speculate about it, nor is it a place to post angry or insulting comments. Any such posts will be deleted.

Please keep all this in your prayers. It's a mystery to us because we don't know the details (nor should we), but God knows exactly what He's doing, and if you'll excuse the only bit of speculation allowed… I think Mr. Hunwicke will be Fr. Hunwicke once again.

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Leading ex-Anglo-Catholic shuts down blog

A prominent ex-Anglo-Catholic has shut down his blog in wake of news that his ordination as a priest in Britain’s ordinariate has been “deferred”.

John Hunwicke, former Anglican priest at St Thomas the Martyr, Oxford, and former Senior Research Fellow at Pusey House, said there had been a “misunderstanding” about the content of his blog.

He added: “I shall promptly delete any comments on it (or emails sent to me) which are in any way whatsoever critical of the Catholic Church, or any of its officers, or of the ordinariate.”

His blog “Fr Hunwicke’s Liturgical Notes” was read by many in the blogosphere and has received extensive support and prayers.

A distinguished intellectual, Fr Hunwicke opened his last blog post with the words: “I had better share with my friends the distressing news that my ordination within the Catholic Church has been ‘deferred’.

“Despite everything, I remain convinced that the ordinariate is the only means of achieving the great vision of the Catholic Revival.”

Blogger Fr Ray Blake and Fr Ivan Aquilina, ordained as a priest in the ordinariate on Saturday, said they were dismayed at the news.

Fr Ray Blake said: “I, too, am distressed to read this. I have never understood anything you have written to be unkind or ever contrary to the Faith … Your blog has been very important to me in my own spiritual and theological growth.”

Related posts:

Speculation on the CuriaPrayers for the Sacred SynodsAsking Your PrayersI'll Just Say My Prayers at Home…Ordinariate Prayers from Bishop Peter Elliott Fr. Christopher G. Phillips is the pastor of Our Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church in San Antonio, Texas, where he has served for the past twenty-seven years. He is the founding pastor of the first Anglican Use parish, erected in 1983 under the terms of the Pastoral Provision. Fr. Phillips was ordained as an Anglican for the Diocese of Bristol, England, in 1975. After serving as Curate for three years at St. Stephen Southmead, he returned to the United States and served in two Episcopal parishes in the Diocese of Rhode Island. In 1981 he left the Episcopal Church and moved with his family to Texas, where he was subsequently ordained as a Catholic priest in 1983. Fr. Phillips and his wife, JoAnn, have been married for forty years. They have five children, all grown and married, and two grandchildren.

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Pope offers prayers for crisis in Libya

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