Comments on: Two thoughts on the Pope’s Pastoral Letter

By: Ben in Oakland

Ben in Oakland — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 14:59:21 +0000

I didn’t notice that it was an Onion article. I got half-way through it before I realized that it was too nuts even for Der Papenschnaz.

By: Fernando

Fernando — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:09:39 +0000

Thanks to Ratzinger, reality, years later, imitates fiction.

By: cd

cd — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:54:11 +0000

This is no real surprise, as these same priorities seem to be held by everyone else in the Catholic hierarchy.

Well, remember that their solution for all the failures of the Catholic Church necessarily has to be: More Catholicism! More of the same.

And so the beatings will continue until morale improves. Which is to say, everyone who doesn’t believe that the RCC has all the answers is going to get ignored and shouted down. Until they get a clue and realize the RCC prefers that they leave.

By: Richard Rush

Richard Rush — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:37:00 +0000

By the way, Timothy, this is an excellent post – particularly your last few paragraphs.

By: William

William — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:51:35 +0000

“…when an organization run by men is called ‘Christ’s bride’ that says something very interesting about those men’s perceptions of themselves.”

Yes, Priya, I have no doubt that it does, although I can’t pretend to have worked out exactly what that something is. All that I can say is that to me, as a now somewhat marginal Catholic, the whole thing seems pretty screwed up.

Nuns, of course, are also referred to as “brides of Christ”, or used to be. I say “used to be” because I haven’t heard that phrase actually used for some years now. But I’ve never heard monks called “bridegrooms of Christ” or “boyfriends of Christ”, and I’m sure that if I suggested it I’d be shot down in flames immediately.

By: Priya Lynn

Priya Lynn — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:50:33 +0000

William, when an organization run by men is called “Christ’s bride” that says something very interesting about those men’s perceptions of themselves.

By: Ben in Oakland

Ben in Oakland — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:49:12 +0000

BTW, Nevada– that book totally changed my outlook in life. I coulda been a Republican if I hadn’t read it.

I would recommend it highly to anyone. I didn’t like the rest of his books as much, though that is strictly my opinion. I still bought them all– he has a great way with words.

By: JandyA

JandyA — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:28:19 +0000

This Benedict guy looks evil. Especially when the picture occludes everything but his eyes. I swear, if I saw this guy coming at me in the dark, I’d run the other way. At least the minister who molested me when I was a boy had a pleasant smile. (And he was United Methodist, by the way. Just so you know, the Catholics don’t have a monopoly on pedophiles.)

By: William

William — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:50:38 +0000

Referring to the Church as “she” is hardly new. It’s been the general practice for centuries. One reason may be that the Latin word for “church” (ecclesia) is feminine; but no doubt it also springs from the metaphorical description of the Church as “Christ’s bride”. The author of the Epistle to the Ephesians compares the relationship of husband and wife with that of Christ and the Church (Ephesians 5:21-33).

Incidentally, a tortuous process of reasoning, based on this husband/wife > Christ/Church symbolism, is used by some biblical fundamentalists (along with the usual “clobber passages” from the Bible) to “demonstrate” that only a sexual relationship between persons of different sexes is legitimate.

By: John Doucette

John Doucette — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:43:48 +0000

The buck stops with the Pope. He is THE leader of the Catholic Church demanding adherence and obedience to Catholic doctrine. He claims to be the ultimate authority in the Church and as such he has the ultimate responsibility.