The Ushaw Cemetery

I am writing this for the benefit of [Anonymous], who left the following Comment about the Ushaw College cemetery:

Can anybody please enlighten my sister and I as to the fate of the cemetery at Ushaw? Our Brother and Father's ashes are both buried side by side there, our mother is terminally ill and only has a short time left with us. Her greatest wish is to have her ashes laid alongside those of her Husband and Son.We have tried to contact the college on several occasions,to no avail. Can anybody please 
help us?!!!!!!!!


You may have heard that Ushaw College has been closed down by the Trustees of the College.  The question of what is going to be the future of the College is very much an ongoing question, and the answer to your query about the cemetery depends on what happens to the rest of the College. At least two propositions have been put forward for the future of the College, one by Durham University and another by the Ushaw College Heritage Group.  If the Trustees look kindly on the proposal put forward by the UCHG, I feel sure that we would be able to do something about the upkeep and future development of the cemetery.  If you would like to read the recent Newsletter of the UCHG, you will find it Ushaw Catholic Heritage Group Newsletter.  In the meantime, may we all ask your prayers for the future of our great College.

The Seal of Confession

Canon 983: "The sacramental seal (of Confession) is inviolable; wherefore it is forbidden for a confessor by word or in any other way or for whatever reason to betray a penitent.  This also applies to an interpreter, if one is needed, or to someone who overhears what is said in the confessional box"  (my translation).

The Seal of Confession is under attack in Ireland.  Of course, the situation of the Catholic Church in that country is appalling - I understand that a recent report which I haven't read highlights a terrible situation with regard to pedophile priests and bishops who have covered up the situation, and this is a monstrous dereliction of duty on the part of the Church.
But now Enda Kelly, the Taoiseach of Ireland, is seeking to promote legislation which would force priests who hear Confessions to divulge the sins of penitents, especially pedophile priests who come to them.
In the past priests have been executed for not breaking the Seal and many others imprisoned. The Seal of Confession comes from Divine Law, and not Church Law, and may never be tampered with. This would be a slippery slope; what is next - to divulge murders ... wife-beating ... picking your nose in public? All heinous crimes (well, maybe not the last one), but if the Taoiseach gets his way, then other countries will do the same and we will all end up in prison, or worse.
Mulier Fortis suggests that we use the above symbol to show our determination to protect the Seal of Confession and our support for those who may be in the firing-line.  Of course, as multum-incola-fuit-anima-mea.blogspot.com reports, in a hacked letter from a Mr L. Satan written to the Toesock of Eyeland, pedophiles will not be going to Confession, which will be good business for him in the end.
Let us pray for our Church.