Believers of every religion unite!

Pope Francis: I would like to remind you that on 14 May, believers of every religion are invited to unite themselves spiritually in a day of prayer, fasting and works of charity, to implore God to help humanity overcome the coronavirus pandemic.

And what a response we're seeing. Not many Catholics, admittedly, as when Pope Francis asks them to do something, they will usually do the opposite. So it's a holiday from prayer, a time to feast like Cardinal Dolan, and we shall see no works of charity - the sick, the poor, and those in trouble can jolly well take care of themselves for a day.

But other religions are not so stubborn.

May Prince Philip save us from the virus!

Jim, of the Yaohnanen tribe of Vanuatu (formerly New Scunthorpe) is in no doubt that his God Prince Philip, although not recognised by the Catholic Church, will come to his aid and drive his mighty four-wheeled chariot over the demon Flu Manchu. Eccles: They're not cannibals, are they? Editor: No, although they sometimes have their relations for dinner. Jim is very impressed by Pope Francis's ecumenical outreach, although obviously for him there is no god but Philip.

And now hymn number 44, "Give me your heart tonight."

Massimo, a leading Aztec theologian, is also very enthusiastic about the Pope's call to prayer, and he has sharpened his knife specially for the occasion. "Now is a time for all believers to come together," he says. "There are only minor theological differences between us, and these should not stop us from seeing the common ground. After all, even the Anglicans are also taking part, and they don't believe anything at all."

May Pachamama protect us.

Lastly, we spoke to Shaman Austen of the cult of Pachamama. "If the Pope were not a Catholic, then I am sure that he would enter into full membership of our church," he explained. "Like him, we are South American in origin, sceptical about some of the claims of Christianity, and fascinated by the way that Mother Earth is suffering from carbon footprints, plastic straws, and the eternally youthful Greta Garbage of Sweden."

So there we have it. Get praying - it doesn't matter which God you choose, so why not try a different one just for a change? All praise be to ... please fill in as necessary!

---

Late news: Brentwood leads the way. What a fine collection of idols!

Where's Alexander Tschugguel when you need him?

The Book of Covidicus, Chapter 2

Continued from Chapter 1.

1. So as the plague continued to rage, Bo-sis, leader of the children of Bri-tain, formed a wondrous plan known as "Hurd Immunity".

2. This was named after the patriarch Douglas Hurd, who had reached the great age of four score and ten without falling sick.

3. And the plan was for every man to go out and cough upon his neighbour so that he should become immune.

"I do wish people would stop coughing at me."

4. However, many people started to fall sick, and there came a new decree, that all should stay at home.

5. Bo-sis spake out, saying, "Ye may leave your houses for one hour each day to exercise. Sixty minutes may ye walk, and run, and jump. Sixty-one minutes may ye not exercise, lest the guards that are called Fuzz throw ye into the deepest dungeon.

6. Neither may ye lie down in the green pastures, lest ye be nicked.

7. Ye may go to the market to buy all that is necessary for living, such as the rare perfumes of Haan'wash, the rolls of Tai'let, and perchance also something to eat.

8. Such as milk and honey, quails, and ready-sliced manna.

9. However, keep ye four cubits distant from your neighbour at all times, that the plague jump not upon you!"

"Ye are also counselled to wear masks for your protection."

10. Then Bo-sis forbade the gathering of the faithful to worship the Lord.

11. Instead they were counselled to go to the stream that is called Live, whereby they might see visions of the high priests worshipping without them.

12. Thus, in the hour of their death, although they might not enter Heaven, they would at least see a vision of it in the stream that is called Live.

Celebrating Versus Webcameram.

13. It was also forbidden to baptize babies, even in the stream that is called Live, or to forgive the sins of the evil-doer.

14. Thus for several weeks the children of Bri-tain did not sin, except perchance to go out for a walk of sixty-one minutes, or to approach one another at a distance of one inch less than four cubits.

15. For they knew that forgiveness would be denied them.

16. And every evening, at the eighth hour, the people opened their windows and clapped their hands.

17. For it is written: "O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto the Doctors, the Nurses, the Hospital Accountants, and their Equality and Diversity Officers, with the voice of Joy."

18. But then Bo-sis himself fell sick, and the people wailed, gnashed their teeth, and rent their garments, praying for his deliverance.

19. Except for a few trolls who said "Serve him right. Woe to us that the Corbynites do not rule over us. Or this new man, he that is called Starmer."

Dominic the Raabbi acteth while Bo-sis is sick.

20. However, Bo-sis recovered from his sickness, and with a mighty cry of "Cripes! That was a near thing!" he took up his bed and walked. But only for one hour.

Continued in Chapter 3.

Cardinal Pell is back!

Haters of the Catholic Church were up in arms today, after the news that the High Court of Australia had unanimously quashed Cardinal Pell's conviction for crimes that were physically impossible.

Cardinal Pell walks free.

"It's a sad day for Australian justice, if judges are going to start looking at the evidence, rather than simply saying 'He's a Catholic, he must be guilty,'" said one critic.

Another was equally outspoken. "A principle of Australian law is that we recruit judges and juries from all walks of life - the insane, the drunk, the stupid, the bigoted, and the crooked. What is the world coming to if we allow the case to be decided by seven judges who can spot that witnesses are making up silly stories that don't even make sense?"

"We sentence Cardinal Pell to have custard poured down his trousers."

Said one of the original jury that convicted Cardinal Pell: "Durrrr, I talk to the trees, that's why they take me away..." Another added, "I'm a teapot, you know."

As Pell walked free today, he commented "Oh no, not again!" on being told that he was now under "lock down" to avoid the spread of the Coronavirus. However, in his new cell he can at least say Mass, and is allowed to pray without being interrupted with cries of "What do you think you're doing, cobber? Get off your knees, you 'orrible little man!"

Meanwhile, there is panic in the Vatican at the news that PELL IS BACK - AND HE'S ANGRY. As George Pell was finally prepared to sort out those Vatican finances, there were a rush to the computers to delete incriminating files, a bonfire of receipts and invoices, and sounds of Cardinals practising the magic phrase "The money was just resting in my account, ready to be moved on."

Pope Francis confuses the issue by writing a cheque on a cricket bat.

Late news: there will be an even better miracle this Sunday when Someone who was dead returns and causes severe embarrassment to the wicked. No spoilers!

Sunday to become a monthly event

Following the news that the Catholic Herald is to become a monthly magazine rather than a weekly, the Catholic Church has announced that, from now on, Sunday will become a monthly event, rather than weekly.

Explained a Vatican spokesman, "We have also retranslated Exodus 20 (as we did for the Lord's Prayer), and the new version reads 29 or 30 days shalt thou sit at home sulking, or 27 or 28 if the month happeneth to be February, but the remaining day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. Now that people are locked down by the Coronavirus, it seemed insensitive to suggest that they were working. We have also removed the bit about manservants and maidservants, as only bishops have them these days."

"Hey guys, Mary Kenny is in the very first issue of the Catholic Herald!"

The reason for the Catholic Herald's switch to a monthly publication is not clear, except that it enables them to inflict less Ronald Rolheiser on readers who had really been asking for spiritual nourishment. Unfortunately, it also means a cut in words of wisdom from Fr Dominic Allain and Fr John Zuhlsdorf.

When the Coronavirus is simply a happy memory, the Catholic Church will continue to restrict itself to one Sunday a month. This is a change in the liturgical calendar that Annibale Bugsbunni and the other Vatican II pioneers could only dream of.

"We've won!"

The Sundays will be:

January 1st (Christmas);
February 1st (Candlemas);
March 1st (Ash Sunday) - Lent will be cut to 31 days (hoorah!);
April 1st (Easter);
May 1st (Tricost, formerly Pentecost);
June 1st (Ordinary Time);
July 1st (Very Ordinary Time);
August 1st (Summer Time and the Living is Easy);
September 1st (How much more of this is there Time);
October 1st (Phew, that's nearly over Time);
November 1st (All the unimportant Saints);
December 1st (Advent).

All liturgical colours will be changing too. Here is some inspiration.

The Vatican Congregation for the Rewriting of the Scriptures is currently working on a new translation of Genesis, which will prove that God took 30 days to create Heaven and Earth, not simply six. When challenged, Fr James Martin replied, "Well, YOU do it in six if you're so clever!"

Lockdown Diary, Day 7313

March 31st 2040.

Well, here we are after 20 years of lockdown caused by the Coronavirus, which keeps mutating every so often into something even nastier. The present incarnation is called COVID-39.

The latest form of the Coronavirus.

We are still allowed out to go shopping, and for exercise, but the churches have now been closed for 20 years. It is hard to remember what it was like in the old days, when we went along to St Daryl the Apostate and received Communion on the tongue (to the great annoyance of one or two pearl-clutchers who didn't actually believe in the Real Presence), or, if we wanted, did the Sign of Peace and sang hymns such as Cumberland ("Someone's eating sausages, Lord, Cum-ber-land..."). I may have got the words wrong after all this time.

Nowadays the churches remain closed, and all Masses are live-streamed. Pope Francis II (alias "Chito" Tagle) takes a very relaxed view of these, and priests no longer have to wear vestments. Many of them stay at home and stream the Masses from their bedrooms, without even bothering to choose the liturgically-correct colour for their pyjamas.

Father Brown dresses down for his livestream Mass.

Of course "Chito" takes seriously some aspects of worship, especially liturgical dancing (getting down wiv da yoof, as the 82-year-old teenager puts it) and the faithful are encouraged to skip around their houses during Mass. "Chito" claims to have arthritis and sciatica, so that kneeling is out of the question, but he can still dance the Funky Cardinal.

Late news: a new strain, the Coren virus, is infecting our brothers in the Anglican Church (having flipped between the Anglican Church, the Catholic Church, the Seventh-Day-Adventists, the Baptists, and the Pachamama Church several times during the last 20 years). It is particularly unpleasant.

The Coren virus.

Even later news: Eccles is still waiting for an answer to his "Dubia" - why was he excommunicated from Twitter?

Bishops say "Stop praying!"

Several wise bishops have decided to allow the faithful to eat meat on Fridays in Lent, because apparently it is such a hardship in these plague-ridden times to survive 24 hours living only on fish, pasta, rice, pizza, vegetables, cheese, eggs, etc. It is well known that there are many starving people whose only source of food is the bacon, steak, and sausages in the fridge.

Now, in Stage 2, the bishops are encouraging their flocks to stop praying. "Many people find it very stressful to sit, kneel, or stand quietly for a minute or two, when they could be playing video games, watching television, or simply looking out of the window in the hope of seeing neighbours whom they could report to the police," explained the Bishop of Boston Teaparty. "We want to relieve them of this burden."

Stop that at once!

"Besides, God - if you believe in him, which of course good Catholics no longer need to - is rather overwhelmed with prayers at present, and we can save on bandwidth by leaving prayer in the hands of the professionals," continued the Bishop of Brooklyn Beckham.

"Many churches are live-streaming Masses," agreed the Bishop of Humor-Thibo-dodo. "These should satisfy all the spiritual needs of 'God addicts', and they have the advantage that you can watch them while wearing tatty old clothes, or even in your pyjamas if you wish. However, we urge you not to pray, as this only leads to rigidity, neo-Pelagianism, and other bad habits."

"However, don't forget to turn off your lights for Earth Hour tonight," stressed the Bishop of Muddlehead. "With this dangerous Carbonara Virus going around, it is more important then ever to do some virtue-signalling. Greta knows best."

A notorious polluter in Rome.

Earlier in the week Pope Francis condemned worship in his own way, saying (and this bit is true):

What are my idols? Everyone has their own. What are my idols? Where do I hide them? May the Lord not find us at the end of our life, and say: "You are perverted. You have strayed from my path. You prostrated yourself before an idol."

They're behind you!

Mother Nature throws a tantrum

Some readers may have heard of a nasty virus that is going the rounds at present, and wondered why this has been sent to us. Is it a punishment for eating too many bats? Is it the result of a biological experiment that went wrong? Perhaps God has decided to smite us for worshipping Pachamama, organizing LGBT "retreats", or simply trying to change the words of the Lord's Prayer?

No, you're all wrong. According to a well-known Catholic, Pope Francis, it is Mother Nature throwing a tantrum.

Mother Nature throws a tantrum.

This all seems so dreadfully unfair. We have all bowed down to Mother Nature. Why we even had a special synod at which idols of Pachamama (identified by some as a symbol of the Nature, and by others (Austen Ivereigh) as the Virgin Mary) were treated with great respect.

We have canonized her prophet, St Greta the Absurd, who has shown her holy nature by contracting the Coronavirus and recovering from it in 50 minutes.

The Miracle of St Greta the Absurd.

No, but you know who is to blame for the pandemic. It was Baron Alexander von Tschugguel zu Tramin, the human fiend who gave the Pachamama idols an early bath. (He was punished for his blasphemy by catching the illness himself, but now seems to be on the mend.)

St Austen the even more absurd weighs in.

Anyway, you have been warned. Do not offend Mother Nature. Remember that, apart from Amoris Laetitia, the sacred encyclical Laudato Si' is the greatest work of Catholic theology to be written since Vatican II told us to throw away our Latin texts and take up liturgical dancing.

Forget the Annunciation: there's a new Mother on the block!

It's no coincidence that Pope Francis dresses like a druid.

UPDATE: Mother Nature has been sent to her room, without any dinner. Any more human race-destroying tantrums and we'll tell her to tidy up the Earth!

Covidicus 1 - There cometh a plague

Continued from the Book of Brexodus.

1. So Bosis and the children of Bri-tain camped in the desert just outside EU-gypt.

The children of Bri-tain begin their journey.

2. And there came a great plague from the East. It spared nobody, neither the children of Bri-tain, nor the land of EU-gypt.

3. So the LORD spake unto Bosis, saying, "Let each of you hang a toilet roll outside his tent, and this shall be a sign, whereby ye are not to be struck down by the pestilence."

4. And the children of Bri-tain fought amongst each other, that they might each have seventy times seven toilet rolls, just in case.

5. But the LORD caused toilet rolls to be dropped from Heaven, that all might be relieved.

And the people worshipped strange idols of Pachamama.

6. However, in the land of EUgypt, the plague spared nobody, and the people were told to go to their houses and hide in a closet for seven years, that they be not slain by the guards. And it was so.

7. Still, even for the children of Bri-tain the situation was grave, and all sports were forbidden, such as the cricket that chirped and the ball that was called foot.

8. Yeah, and all manner of entertainment was forbidden, even unto the alternative comics of the Beebee Sea. Which cheered the people greatly.

9. Now, in more distant lands there were dwelling those known as "celebrities"; that is, people unable to do useful work.

10. And they praised the LORD with a song called "Imagine", telling how wondrous it would be if HE did not exist. And the LORD was greatly amused at their folly.

"Imagine no hairdressers."

11. So the world went steadily insane. The children of Bri-tain sat alone in their tents, keeping in social isolation, waiting to see what would happen next.

12. And suddenly, everyone had forgotten EU-gypt, Greta that is called Thunderbird, and even the worship of the goddess Pachamama.

A poor mad woman screameth at her hairbrush.

Continued in Chapter 2.

How to have a good Mass in Time of Plague

Whether or not he is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Plague, in the form of the Coronavirus, is making a severe nuisance of Himself, and it is important to know how we should take precautions against him when attending Mass.

"When's Climate Change turning up?"

Celebrate ad orientem. Celebrating versus populum obviously increases the risk that the priest may catch something from the coughing congregation, and should be suspended.

Use only Latin. Try saying something liturgical in Latin, and then try saying the same thing in Vernacular. You will see that when speaking Latin your mouth does not open so widely, and thus the risk of transmitting and receiving germs is reduced. Those traditionalists knew a thing or two!

99% of doctors say NO to holding hands for the "Our Father".

Avoid bad hymns. Scientific studies have shown that singing "Gather us in," "Lord of the Dance," "Kumbayah," or "Shine, Jesus, Shine" puts a strain on the vocal muscles, as well as the brain, and makes one more susceptible to viruses. Safest of all is Gregorian chant, which can mostly be sung with the mouth closed.

No more sign of peace. I was lucky this morning, in that the choir belted into the Agnus Dei very quickly, and only two people had a chance to share their germs with me (three more were left fuming, as I switched off my friendly expression and tried looking pious instead). In general, a simple handshake can transmit 100000000000000000000000 bugs, so be warned. Grinning distantly is safest, but kicking your opponent neighbour will also work if he insists on physical contact.

"Peace be with you."

Wear earmuffs. This will protect you against bad doctrine in the homily far better than handwash and a face mask would.

Remove all pests from the church. Traditionally, illnesses have been transmitted by pests. So clear your church of all rats, spiders, Jesuits, and anything else that may carry disease.

Ban dancing. Bad news for Tagle, the Dancing Cardinal, but it's obvious that prancing around like a teenager in a disco is going to spread germs widely. So stop!

Spot the ninny. (Hint: they are all ninnies.)

Stay at home and watch it on television. Yes but, as I have explained before, this will only allow you to watch Heaven on television, rather than attend in person. So don't do it for very long.