Most popular posts of the year

I thought it would be of passing interest to look at the top ten most visited posts on my blog in 2014.

In the top position, and by a considerable margin, is the long and detailed post I wrote about the Trouble at Blackfen in September.

The second most visited was a post in October about the aftermath of the Conry scandal, which I called Toxic Ignorance and in which I suggested that those who promoted and protected Conry, even if ignorant of his behaviour, were still culpable, and owe us an explanation, an apology, and amends.

The third most visited post was one written largely by my brothers, who found themselves Welcoming Cardinal Kasper's Pastoral Solicitude.

The follow-up post to Toxic Ignorance, posted the following day, was the fourth most visited: More on Ignorance, and Other, Darker Matters. 

At number five, was my fisk of the ludicrous letter sent by Fr Butler, suggesting he, and not the Holy See or the CBCEW, was best placed to regulate liturgy in this country: The Butler Affair.

In at number six was the first post that was not prompted by external events, but rather by a question raised on Twitter by my old friend Stuart James, who expressed surprise and wonder at the visceral negative reaction to the Traditional Latin Mass from people who were not required to attend it anyway. I thought out loud about that here: Why is the Traditional Latin Mass So Hated?

Number seven was one of the posts in which I took a dissenting view from many in the furore about the Protect the Pope blog in May: More on the Protect the Pope saga... Number eight was as post on the same subject, posted a couple of days earlier: The Apostle in Lancaster.

Number nine was the Finals of the Pastoral Challenge: Nichols Contra Mundum. 

And number ten was my initial post about the Blackfen news: Trouble at Blackfen?  It was particularly interesting to me that this was so visited, as it said very little: but that was an indication of the keen interest, and indeed concern, with which the unfolding events at Blackfen were being watched.

The conclusion I draw is that the posts about the crisis in the Church are the ones that attract a lot of viewers (and are typically tweeted about etc). 

However, I will not be influenced by that to seek to blog only about such matters. I will continue with my rich and idiosyncratic mix of  posts about Chant and other music, my parents, my kids, liturgical changes, pop psychology, morality, the media, humour, rhetoric... and anything else that my magpie mind sees glistening in the sun...