29 August 2008
"The Pope has strong-armed the Ministry of Justice to waive the law
and allow the exhumation and reburial of Cardinal John Henry Newman,"
according to human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
"The rarely granted special licence for exhumation was approved by the
Ministry of Justice burials department, headed by Catholic MP, Bridget
Prentice.
"It is entirely inappropriate that a Catholic Minister should have
overseen the granting of this exceptional legal dispensation. It will
inevitably lead to allegations that the Minister has, as a loyal
Catholic, shown favouritism.
"Justice Secretary Jack Straw MP has authorised the process that will
lead to the disinterment and dismemberment of Newman's body, contrary
to Newman's own repeatedly expressed wishes to remain buried in the
same grave as the man he loved, Father Ambrose St John. They have
remained buried side by side for over 100 years, since Newman's death
in 1890.
"The government is complicit in this act of grave-robbing, sacrilege
and desecration. Allowing the Catholic Church to over-ride Newman's
explicit instructions to his executors is truly shameful. The Pope
does not have the right to violate the Cardinal's wishes.
"The Catholic Church has admitted that it plans to break up parts of
Newman's body and display some of his bones as holy relics. The
Ministry of Justice accepted these plans at a meeting with Catholic
representatives in July," notes Mr Tatchell.
According to a report in The Catholic Herald on 15 August 2008:
'Officials from the Ministry of Justice have also given the go-ahead
for Catholic experts in holy objects to fly in from Italy and retrieve
"major relics" from the corpse after the coffin is opened for the
first time.
These will most likely be bones from his hands which will be shared
out between key churches in Britain - as well as one being sent to the
Vatican.
They will be placed in shrines so Catholic pilgrims can venerate
Cardinal Newman and pray for his intercession when he is made a saint.
A selection of minor relics - small fragments of bone and cloth -
will also be collected,' wrote The Catholic Herald reporter Simon
Caldwell.
These intentions were confirmed by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's
spokesperson, Austen Ivereigh. He admitted on BBC Radio Four's Sunday
Programme on 24 August that the Church is planning to destroy the
integrity of Cardinal Newman's bodily remains and distribute his bones
as 'holy relics.'
"The planned dismemberment and exploitation of the Cardinal's body is
ghoulish, sordid and distasteful," said Mr Tatchell.
"It is indecent, disrespectful, of doubtful legality and is definitely
incompatible with contemporary notions of respect for the dead."
"The Catholic Church will make a lot of money out of the vast number
of people who visit Newman's body in its new resting place. They will
rake in donations from vulnerable people who come seeking a miracle
cure, and make a tidy profit from selling Newman portraits, statues,
book and videos. The reburial and eventual sainthood of Newman will be
a gold mine for the Catholic Church, attracting pilgrims and money
from all over the world. This reburial aims to fill Catholic coffers."
"I suspect that most lay Catholics do not approve of the Vatican's
antics. Many are equally horrified; believing that these plans are
offensive and insensitive. None of us would want this to happen to our
deceased loved ones."
"The Pope has strong-armed the Ministry of Justice to waive the law
and allow the exhumation and reburial of Cardinal John Henry Newman,"
according to human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
"The rarely granted special licence for exhumation was approved by the
Ministry of Justice burials department, headed by Catholic MP, Bridget
Prentice.
"It is entirely inappropriate that a Catholic Minister should have
overseen the granting of this exceptional legal dispensation. It will
inevitably lead to allegations that the Minister has, as a loyal
Catholic, shown favouritism.
"Justice Secretary Jack Straw MP has authorised the process that will
lead to the disinterment and dismemberment of Newman's body, contrary
to Newman's own repeatedly expressed wishes to remain buried in the
same grave as the man he loved, Father Ambrose St John. They have
remained buried side by side for over 100 years, since Newman's death
in 1890.
"The government is complicit in this act of grave-robbing, sacrilege
and desecration. Allowing the Catholic Church to over-ride Newman's
explicit instructions to his executors is truly shameful. The Pope
does not have the right to violate the Cardinal's wishes.
"The Catholic Church has admitted that it plans to break up parts of
Newman's body and display some of his bones as holy relics. The
Ministry of Justice accepted these plans at a meeting with Catholic
representatives in July," notes Mr Tatchell.
According to a report in The Catholic Herald on 15 August 2008:
'Officials from the Ministry of Justice have also given the go-ahead
for Catholic experts in holy objects to fly in from Italy and retrieve
"major relics" from the corpse after the coffin is opened for the
first time.
These will most likely be bones from his hands which will be shared
out between key churches in Britain - as well as one being sent to the
Vatican.
They will be placed in shrines so Catholic pilgrims can venerate
Cardinal Newman and pray for his intercession when he is made a saint.
A selection of minor relics - small fragments of bone and cloth -
will also be collected,' wrote The Catholic Herald reporter Simon
Caldwell.
These intentions were confirmed by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor's
spokesperson, Austen Ivereigh. He admitted on BBC Radio Four's Sunday
Programme on 24 August that the Church is planning to destroy the
integrity of Cardinal Newman's bodily remains and distribute his bones
as 'holy relics.'
"The planned dismemberment and exploitation of the Cardinal's body is
ghoulish, sordid and distasteful," said Mr Tatchell.
"It is indecent, disrespectful, of doubtful legality and is definitely
incompatible with contemporary notions of respect for the dead."
"The Catholic Church will make a lot of money out of the vast number
of people who visit Newman's body in its new resting place. They will
rake in donations from vulnerable people who come seeking a miracle
cure, and make a tidy profit from selling Newman portraits, statues,
book and videos. The reburial and eventual sainthood of Newman will be
a gold mine for the Catholic Church, attracting pilgrims and money
from all over the world. This reburial aims to fill Catholic coffers."
"I suspect that most lay Catholics do not approve of the Vatican's
antics. Many are equally horrified; believing that these plans are
offensive and insensitive. None of us would want this to happen to our
deceased loved ones."
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