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Truthful Catholics know that there is no possibility of corporate union with a Christian group that claims to ordain people to the Priesthood and at present chooses women to receive such 'ordination' - and even proposes to make some of them to be 'Bishops'. This impossibility is obvious; although it is human nature to want to hope, when things are hopeless.

A priest's life is often difficult; yet every priest can benefit if he arranges Adoration of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Prolonged prayer, before the One whose place a priest takes at the altar, helps a priest in his prayer, and in his care for the lost and the afflicted.

A woman in a charity shop can be seen selecting attractive objects, and rejecting those items she deems unattractive. This is how many Christians act, even some who believe that they are Christian Bishops. They select doctrines they find attractive and reject long-standing doctrines which are not attractive to them. This is not what faithful Catholics do.

Sin is like a spiritual leprosy that can be marvellously banished through our sincere repentance. Christ forgives every repentant sinner; and He is deeply touched when people then turn to Him in gratitude and love.

Christ delights in seeing us honour 'The Two Hearts', by our devotions. We cannot usually see what people are like. Only God knows the secrets of our hearts. But God has revealed to us in various ways the Sacred Heart of Jesus: a Heart so Holy as to be beyond our comprehension, befitting a Divine Person, our loving Saviour; and also the Immaculate Heart of Mary His Mother: a mere woman, but made utterly pure, worthy to be His Mother.

Bishops are appointed to teach, and to lead the Church in prayer. When the Pope's advisors are discussing which men might be appointed as Bishops, it is not enough for anyone to say that a certain man is very 'pastoral', if he is not also doctrinally-sound in his beliefs, and fervent in ensuring the reverent conduct of the Sacred Liturgy.

It is good that the Pope is advised by a group of colleagues as he chooses men to be Bishops. It is not enough for men to be known as good 'pastoral' men, if they are unsound on doctrine or lack concern for the reverent conduct of the Sacred Liturgy.

The Real Presence is not a myth or a fairytale, but a work of God. Christ wants everyone to know the meaning of 'Real Presence'. It means that, in what appears to be bread and wine, after the Consecration, Jesus Christ is truly Present: our Risen Lord, bodily Present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, glorious, loving, sharing His love for us. The same is true of Christ, Present in the tabernacle.

Good art is a gift made possible by God; but like all gifts it should be used wisely. It should never serve to offer malicious depictions of certain groups of persons or individuals, nor to inflame sinful desires by pornographic content, nor to corrupt the minds of the viewers, for example, by making an evil ideology or regime seem admirable.

When it is proposed, by organisers of what are called 'inter-faith' prayers, is that everyone pray together without mentioning names, and if a Catholic agrees not to pray 'through Christ our Lord', it's as if that Catholic denies Christ, steps out of the life of grace which was a privileged gift, and leaves Christ behind in order to please others. They would be more impressed, and he would please Christ, if he acted with integrity, and prayed as a Christian or not at all.

When it is proposed, by organisers of what are called 'inter-faith' prayers, that everyone pray together without mentioning names, and a Catholic agrees not to pray 'through Christ our Lord', it's as if that Catholic denies Christ, steps out of the life of grace which was a privileged gift, and leaves Christ behind in order to please others. They would be more impressed, and he would please Christ, if he acted with integrity, and prayed as a Christian or not at all.

Busy people are tempted to say: "I didn't have time to pray". But everyone who wants to honour God as He deserves can make the sacrifices that are necessary to find that prayer-time, whether by getting up earlier, or praying whenever the baby is asleep, or calling into a church on the way home from work, for example.

If we lead a life free from sin, by co-operation with God's grace, and we avoid deliberate distractions in our prayer, it's as if we stand and pray before Heaven in a tunnel of light. Divine grace pours upon us, increasing both our desire for wisdom and understanding and our ability to do God's Will in every circumstance.

We can look at Pope Benedict, to see a good example of how to relate to people of other religions. He is kind to everyone, and visits other buildings, but does not join in what is called "inter-faith" worship, which is a betrayal of Christian faith and practice, as is plain from the Scriptures and the constant teaching of the Church.

A Pope can set a good example for us, showing that it is possible to maintain good relations with people of other religions, even visiting their mosques and synagogues, yet without betraying Christ by engaging in what some people call 'inter-faith' prayer, in which some Christians leave out the Name of Christ as if embarrassed by Him.

Faith is a gift from God, but it comes when people who have heard the story of God's action proclaimed, accept the grace to believe it. That story or proclamation is about God's plan of Salvation. It includes His gradual Revelation of Himself to Abraham, Moses, and others, and His Revelation in His Son, Jesus Christ, who is God-made-man, and who lived on earth, and died, and rose from the dead, to conquer sin and death, to save sinners.

St. Paul spoke, by the altar of the 'Unknown God'. Like St. Paul, we should admire the efforts of people of other religions to search for God; yet like him, we should seize opportunities of telling people who have never heard the good news, about what God has done for us, in love for us, through Jesus Christ, who came through Mary.

No child, however tiny, and however sick, can be unnoticed by God, Who looks with love upon these infants as they suffer all sorts of illnesses and are even in danger of death, from very ordinary causes. God is holding them in His arms, whether they are allowed to live, or are brought through death into His loving care.

Some Christians hope in vain for re-union with the Catholic Church, while they cling to mistaken beliefs about morality, or continue to believe that their ministers have valid orders. It's as though they want to worship God in communion with Catholics, but have erected or maintained a screen or wall, which has the appearance of beautiful church architecture, but which in fact separates them from the full life of the Church, and from her teaching and liturgical life.

Some people are tempted to imagine that God is thousands of miles away, and cannot hear them - or that they are not close to Him. But just as Christ is Present in the tabernacle of a Catholic Church, even if He cannot be seen, even if the tabernacle cannot be seen, if a person walks through a church when the lights are off, so Christ is very close to every soul, even when a person feels as though she walks in darkness, alone, without any feelings of companionship.