Save the Cardinal!

Pub, that is.

It was named after the Great Henry Edward Cardinal Manning, former cardinal archbishop of Westminster, Council father at Vatican I and the main force behind the effort to define the doctrine of papal infallibility. He was also a great friend to the working man and the poor of London, so much so that he inspired both the admiration and the envy of other churchmen.

Apparently, the owners of the pub across the street from the residence of the Ab. of Westminster are proposing to change its name to "The Windsor Castle".

This is a Bad Thing.

There's a petition that was started, apparently, by the current incumbent to stop this silly and anti-historical plan.

Go here for daily Manning quotes like:

We may have some years still of temptation, and buffeting, and sorrow, and warfare, and of the Cross on earth. These things may be. Storms upon the lake, clouds upon the mountain,—they are our earthly lot. What matter? If we be children of the Resurrection, heaven is ours. And heaven is near; we know not how long or how soon our day may be.

I have a friend who is a big fan of Manning, who says that he loves the irony of a pub named after a churchman who was a great proponent of the Total Abstinence movement. I am told, however, that it was mostly in aid of the many Irish who lived in London at that time, of whom it must be admitted that "it is not unlikely that some of them were unduly attached to spirits".

UPDATE:
300 signatures already.



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