So Marjorie Proops has died and gone above to be Agony Aunt to the angels (assuming there is such a thing as angelic agony).

One doesn’t have to be a Mirror reader to know about ‘our Marje’, the daughter of a London pub landlord who rose to be undisputed queen of journalistic caring and counselling, more influential by far than any politician; indeed, on her demise Mr. Major was one of the first to sing her praises. As the world becomes increasingly complex and competitive more and more young (and not so young) people turn to Marje and her like to find their way among the reefs. It is largely due to agony aunts that the areas of life which were previously veiled in silence have been brought into the open and the sting of shame removed.

But here there is a problem. Just because things are known about and talked about doesn’t mean they should necessarily be pursued, There is a real way in which agony aunts have shifted our scale of values from patience, hope and the firm adherence to principle (Christian values without their being described as Christian), to the pursuit of individual goals; away from what we may loosely call a ‘family’ morality to the absolute predominance of personal choice, without regard for moral tradition, the wisdom of the ages, or the ‘common good’ (to use the term which our Bishops have recently promoted). Just to take one example: the prevalent view that teenagers’ sexual activity is no concern of their parents is one which has been fuelled by the writing of agony aunts. And we must remember that what agony aunts proclaim (such is their influence) often ends up as law, as politicians respond to the perceived ‘groundswell of opinion’.

This contrasts greatly with our own ‘Agony Uncle’. Father Michael Buckley, who writes in the Universe. He respects self-esteem and standing up for oneself, but he also makes his enquirers grasp the nettle of disappointment, self- control, the carrying of the Cross, the priority of God’s claims. And he looks onward to the vision of eternity. All the unpopular things, in fact, which are the ingredients of the Kingdom.

DS