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April 19, 2005
Obligatory papal post
Pretty much everyone has been discussing the papal conclave and at virtually every opportunity someone mentions whether Dan Brown is finding this all very exciting. Perhaps I am an aberration, but I couldn't give a damn what Dan Brown thinks, and I'm far more interested in the oddities of the conclave than I am in the result.
For the second time, black smoke has poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel (I wonder what damage that could be doing to Michelangelo's artworks?) and the cardinals have failed again to elect a new Pope. Until they achieve majority support for a single candidate, they will remain locked in consultation and voting. And at the conclusion of each vote, a smoke signal is sent up to indicate a clear choice, or another stalemate.
Such a mishmash of cultural traditions I have never before seen in modern times. The conclave is a mad melange of pomp and ceremony, secretive traditions that seem decidedly anti-Christian, an anachronistic but Socratic form of democracy, and rather pagan symbolism. It's well worth reading some of the guides to the conclave, including the rules governing election and the constitutional issues arising from the process. But it's probably also worth reading some of the inherent heresy associated with the very role of a Pope, the financial statements of the Vatican, and even the basic entry of Vatican City in the World Fact Book. The combination of these readings provide a rather curious understanding of what we're not discussing in all these reports about the conclave. Instead of being fascinated by the Dan Brown-esque traditions and the gambling on the outcome, perhaps it might be a better idea to see how it may be possible to influence the policies being developed by the Holy See, and to better understand the relevance of dogma coming from a cartel that chooses to sequester itself away from the very people it is supposed to spiritually govern.
Posted by jj at April 19, 2005 11:43 PM
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Ooh.
This is one of those topics I'm going to approach with a semi-typical style of bluntness I'm becoming more and more renowned for. I suspect somebody (Catholic?) is going to tell me I'm missing some theological subtlety...
I personally find the whole of religion to be questionable on many levels.
The Pope is meant to be God's representative on Earth, right? God is meant to be omnipotent, right? Why bother with a conclave and smoke? Seriously, genuinely, honestly, why not a burning bush? Why not a voice from the heavens? If Uri Geller and/or Houdini and/or David Copperfield can make themselves float into the air, why can't God pick a candidate by lifting them into the air?
The Pope isn't God's Chosen, it's the CONCLAVE'S chosen.
Isn't the black smoke the first sign that something is clearly wrong with the theology? If God can't make His/Its will known to the clergy first bat, isn't this just at least a HINT that maybe God's not in His Heaven and all may not be right with the world? Isn't this a sign that all y'all Catholics might wanna hit that communal wine a little less frequently?
Sadly I can't find the link now, but I caught a news article this morning concerning the responses from the assembled crowds today; one woman leaning in the direction of hysterically happy, saying "now we have a new father!" (and I DID read the Petrine Heresy link).
Like what, they were gonna come out of this NOT selecting a Pope? How were they NOT gonna have "a new father"?
Sigh. People believe there's an omnipotent deity who has to do everything through our hands; that everything wrong with the world is OUR fault but everything RIGHT with the world is down to Him; that he loves us all dearly but we'll go to Hell and suffer eternally if we don't pledge our entire lives to him.
And people believe I'm the one who's nuts for not believing this stuff.
Oh, not to mention: I caught the Sky News ticker on the way in today; GWBush hails the new Benedict as a proper choice, but the progressive Catholics are concerned. Peace and new prosperity and understanding to the world: Catholic-style, coming at you, seal-of-George-approved.
Outdated cliche though it might be: Peace. Out.
Posted by: P at April 20, 2005 5:33 PM
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