Brief thoughts on my Church

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Many of you know that I'm a practicing Catholic. Once upon a time, I was pleasantly surprised when Pope Benedict's first encyclical turned out far better than I'd hoped. Recent revelations have shown he did far worse than I ever knew, back when some of us followed the career of Cardinal Ratzinger with trepidation. I am horrified and saddened by

Comments

[a_phoenixdragon]

Sounds like you are involved in a good church, darling - that is rare!! Be proud!

*hugs*

[joonscribble]

I think you've just highlighted for me that it seems more and more that those who stand as the official world representatives of Catholicism (e.g. the Pope) are moving further away from the actual tenants of Catholicism that people in the world still practice wonderfully.

[flingslass]

I agree, the Catholic Church that I grew up with (consisting of the local Parish Priest and the Nuns) had a really good name (our priests kept getting moved into the parishes that needed repair i.e. had the naughty Priest) but the higher up they went the less we related to them. I do recall hearing the Paop John Paul II had a problem with the Australians because we paid no attention the Powers That Be. That's why he made George Pell Cardinal of Australia (Pell is a bit of a hardliner). We still don't listen :D

[or_mabinogi]

Dan Savage's retort in Mockery Has a Role To Play makes a valid point. In the meantime the pope and his cardinals and bishops can't be allowed to use good nuns and priests as human shields. If church leaders don't want to be mocked, and if church leaders sense that the mockery is damaging Catholicism, well, then church leaders have an even greater incentive to make the kind of systemic changes that are necessary. And, again, no one is mocking those noble Catholic nuns and priests out there risking their lives in the Sudan. People are mocking those power-hungry, self-aggrandizing bigots in their stupid fucking hats back at the Vatican.
(Emphasis mine.)

Avoid the video at the link. Personally I get a kick out of the song, but I tend to like anything Tim Minchin does. I only tell you to avoid it because it's a string of profanity. NSFW. But it also makes a good point.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

Nor should the Pope and the bishops be allowed a free pass; I think Kristof might have emphasized: "Who Can Mock This Church?"-with the other church, as he puts it here and in another column, a valid target for satire. So I think I agree with both Kristof and Savage (ETA: as far as the point about who is a valid target for mockery goes