Prohibitus Loqui (in pectore)

Here's the deal.

Only the Pope knows; so the guy/gal ("dissident") carries on as before; the Pope knows, in his heart of hearts, that he's silenced him/her; so everyone is happy.

It is surely time to resurrect that fine Papal practice of doing things In Pectore now that we are back to the age of persecution, nihil obstat and imprimatur. The old system of censorship was very resource intensive with its huge Index Librorvm Prohibitorvm and all the clerks required to keep it up to date and everything.

The new old way would be better. Wouldn't cost a penny and would economise on scarce clerical resources ('scuse the pun) in these days of exponentially declining vocations and falling replacement ratios.

So what's with the picture, I hear you ask, as your febrile brain tries to make the connection? Well, I liked the tones in the painting; it is pertinent (and indeed, pert); and it is arguably less offensive than my original choice which was to put the Pope's head on a picture of the Sacred Heart. The logic would have been more apparent but the offence all the greater.

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In Hoc Signo

The current machinations of the Roman Catholic Church, both in relation to supposedly "dissident" priests and the upcoming International Eucharistic Congress, are about power and money.

Having made some appalling mistakes in what it taught as articles of faith, the Vatican is now hoisted on its own pétard. It would clearly be wise to change its ridiculous teaching on contraception and on married and woman priests. However, such an about face would lead to such a loss of credibility, as it sees it, that it cannot afford to do so and is therefore just digging itself into a deeper and deeper hole. That is the power angle.

There is no justification for not ordaining women priests (and bishops, cardinals and popes, for that matter). However, a priest encumbered with a family, including a wife who might just outlive him, raises questions about the succession of property and is therefore best avoided. Admitting to complicity in child sexual abuse, whether directly or through coverup, could lead to massive compensation payouts. That is the money angle.

And the church is running out of money anyway. Even when she had some she never had enough. There were always more big churches to build and they cost some.

At the end of the 1960s the Archbishop of Dublin decided to introduce a form of "Planned Giving" recommended by American consultants hired by the Diocese. The idea was that parishioners would pledge a regular subscription, and, depending on the size of the subscription, they would be "associated" with an item of church furniture, from the high altar to the cruets. This was the clerical version of squeezing the rich and it might have worked but for the widow's mite.

Some parishioners pointed out that the proportionate sacrifice made by the poorest parishioners, while not much in cash terms, might well outperform the local millionaire, when it came to the morality stakes. Yet the millionaire would have a plaque on the high altar while the poorest contributor might not even qualify for a mention in the mysterious (pauper's) register which would be placed in the sanctuary.

And anyway, the whole thing looked suspiciously like pawning the family jewels. Which is probably why the pilot programmes in three parishes, including my own, were never mainstreamed.

I have included an item on this short-lived experiment in my version of Catholicopoly, which please feel free to enjoy without pain of mortal sin.

Play the Game

Holy Orders

Check out the dialogue

The Full Story

Selbstzerstörung

Hover the cursor

Tacitus aut ...

Hover the cursor

That All may be One

The Borg

Gaudium et Spes - NOT

The ultimate battle over the betrayal of Vatican II is now being played out on the four green fields.

Those relatively few brave souls who have tried to keep the flame and promise of Vatican II alight are now being arrogantly and unjustifiably extinguished.

It would appear that these brave souls have as much chance of successfully reforming the current totalitarian leadership of the Roman Catholic Church as the young Ratzinger had in resisting the German military of his day.

Tantum Ergo Sum

This is Clanbrassil Street during Dublin's last Eucharistic Congress in 1932.


And this is a recent Tweet from the current Congress Organisers inviting people to decorate their street. No doubt they are hoping for something approaching the 1932 Bunting Blitz.The link in the Tweet brings you to the Congress shop from where you can order flags and bunting.

There appears to me to be one big gap here. People are not being advised to consult their neighbours on whether they wish to be engulfed in this blaze of triumphalist flagwaving or not.



In 1932 Clanbrassil Street was the main Jewish shopping street in Dublin. Each golden pin above represents a Jewish shop, between Leonard's Corner and St. Kevin's Parade.

It is most unlikely that the Jews were consulted on their views on that particular triumphalist outpouring. That was not how it was done then. In fact the Lord Mayor of the Day, Alfie Byrne, pledged the loyalty of all the citizens of Dublin to the Pope, both during the Congress and in the course of his subsequent audience in the Vatican.

And, had they been asked, it is unlikely the Jews of the day, crucifiers of Christ as they still were then, would have had the nerve or the inclination to question the bunting, the procession or anything else which might have been proposed for the Congress. Of course, since 1969 we have all become much more sensitive to these matters on this island.

Today most of the Jews are gone. Some left the country after WWII for more favourable economic climes or to participate in establishing the State of Israel. Others transferred to the leafy glades of Terenure. And such few ethnic shops as are now left in Clanbrassil Street are Halal rather than Kosher.

Today we have an ethnically more diverse community across the city, and, even within the "Roman Catholic" population, there are many to whom such an outpouring of zealotry would be offensive in the wake of the clerical abuse scandals and the recent retreat of the Vatican into the theological and pastoral Bunker.

This Congress promises to be a very interesting one indeed.

Guilty as charged

It is fitting that we remember Dietrich Bonhoeffer today,
on the 67th anniversary of his execution by the Nazis.

A Protestant martyr for the faith.

Into Thine Arms ..

Presented above is a revised version of the Papal Arms of Benedict XVI which takes into account developments since his accession to the Papacy. You can catch up on the original here. The revised symbolism is blindingly simple:

St. Alphonsus Luguori: patron of theologians and founder of the Redemptorists.
The Vulture: picking away at Vatican II
The Conche: an admonition to listen to the sea rather than the See.

Le Petit Prince et le Pape

Hover the cursor over the Little Prince to see what happens
when he questions the Pope's absolute authority.

The Empire Strikes Back

Hover the cursor over the helmet

Papabile

Cardinal Marc Ouellet has been named by the Vatican as Papal legate to the Eucharistic Congress.

He is one among three cardinals described as "papabili" by John Allen, who writes for the National Catholic Reporter and is a commentator on CNN.

Whatever about the likely turmoil on the fringes of the Congress, the legate is clearly prepared for any climatic contingencies in this volatile land of ours.

Silk or Sackcloth?

I wonder will heed be taken by the Powers That Be of Fr. Tony Flannery's advice, on the ACP website, regarding the IEC roundup mass:

We regard the forthcoming Eucharistic Congress as a real opportunity for the Irish Church. But it must have no element of triumphalism about it. The celebration of the final mass at Croke Park will be the crucial factor here. If it is a big display of bishops and cardinals wearing mitres, surrounded by hundreds of vested priests, it will give out the wrong message. Instead it should be penitential in character. Rather than ceremonial dress, we ask for some modern, imaginative equivalent of the ‘sackcloth and ashes’ of the Old Testament, so that the celebration would be simple and humble, asking forgiveness not just for the abuse of children, but for the other abuses of power perpetrated by Church people in the past.

By the way, is there any truth in the rumour that the Vatican are investigating Fr. Flannery for his "liberal views"? I notice that Fr. Flannery, no more than Sr. Benvenuta, is not listed as a Congress speaker.

A list of those not listed is beginning to look like the voice of sanity in a mad mad world.