Might things change?
With the old pope on the way out and the new one not yet elected, some bishops are becoming de-zombified ;) ...
- Morning After Pill, Rape, and 'Criminal Fertilization'
- Bishops call for reform of Church governance under new pontificate
- Cardinal O’Brien gives his backing to idea of married priests
But some things never seem to change - Brewing Anger Over Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony Voting for New Pope. As he tweets ... Just a few short hours before my departure for Rome. Will be tweeting often from Rome, except during the actual Conclave itself. Prayers!. You can read his queasily unrepentant blog posts here.
- Morning After Pill, Rape, and 'Criminal Fertilization'
- Bishops call for reform of Church governance under new pontificate
- Cardinal O’Brien gives his backing to idea of married priests
But some things never seem to change - Brewing Anger Over Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony Voting for New Pope. As he tweets ... Just a few short hours before my departure for Rome. Will be tweeting often from Rome, except during the actual Conclave itself. Prayers!. You can read his queasily unrepentant blog posts here.
posted by crystal | 3:23 PM
6 Comments:
The occasional reasonable comment by a "de-zombified" bishop shouldn't inspire too much confidence that the hierarchy is going to get it's act together and do something right for a change.
That Cardinal O'Brien, for example, would suggest that married men should be permitted to enter the priesthood might sound perfectly reasonable to reasonable people like us—but it's enough to send many conservatives into an apoplectic rage. (Have a look at the comments at the end of that article. You'd think he had urinated on a statue of Mary or something.)
If the discipline of clerical celibacy had been altered by Vatican II, and the priesthood had been opened to married men, we would look back on it today as just one of those things that used to be different, like liturgies in Latin, or the priest standing with his back to the congregation.
But the last two popes, by practically raising it to the level of revealed dogma, have ensured that it won't be changed without alienating vast numbers of their sheep. Changing it now would inevitably provoke a schism, on a scale that would make the split by SSPX seem like an amicable "difference of opinion" by comparison.
The current structure will not be "fixed." It will be destroyed—eventually—and then replaced, hopefully by something more authentic.
BTW, "queasily unrepentant" is a wonderful description! I must admit, though, Cardinal Mahony remains one of my 115 favourite cardinals.
Hi PrickliestPear,
I fear you're right about any big future changes. I don't completely understand the lay mind-set that wants celibate priests - I can see why the Vatican might want it, if only for financial reasons and to keep a tighter leash on priests, but what investment do lay people have in it?
I guess Mahony has been a sort of liberal who's for immigration reform, - is that why you like him?
I don't understand why some lay people care so much about clerical celibacy, either. But it's traditional, it's something those heterodox "liberals" don't much like, and popes insist that it's important, so I'm not surprised they defend it so vigorously.
I never said I liked Mahony, I said he's one of my 115 favourite cardinals (i.e., there are at least a couple I dislike more than him).
To be honest, I can't say that I really like any of them. Some are clearly better than most (Schönborn, for example), and some seem potentially interesting (like Ravasi), but I can't say there's a single one I genuinely admire.
Oh - heh - I somehow missed the number 115 :)
Speaking of Cardinal O'Brien, did you read this?
Wow! No, I hadn't seen that. He's been so virulently anti-gay - this is pretty disturbing on a number of levels.
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