The Itinerary of Eating Our Own

It is rightful and necessary for orthodox believers to pronounce judgment on the works of the pope.-- William of Ockham

There are two pieces of writing about the modern papacy which resonated, were astute, and leaving me cursing for not having made a copy. One was an NYT editorial about the loss of Italian popes, with the reign of John Paul II, signifying the last vestige of the Roman Empire had vanished, leaving me with tears in my eyes for its veracity. The writer, much as I, understood the Pontiff's role as more than just a thorn to Fascism, Communism, and the United States as the evil empire on any given day. The other was a Boston Globe's less immanent interpretation of John Paul II's popularity and the legacy of the Church in its wake.

In my far less sophisticated sensibility, the Vatican needs its temporal power restored so that fanatics can engage in the Crusades 2.0, but let us nuance the hyperbole to the restraint displayed in criticizing a wily Argentine who is not a passable emulator of Paul, John, or the swiftly deceased John Paul I. I felt that man's death with a visceral gut wrenching outcry, still in the suburbs, with the front cover of the empty red slippers. 

One is diffident about Francis, and yet, maybe I should sacrifice the day and get in line to at least listen to l'utimo Santita under whom I'll still be alive. George Will wrote a provocative column Saturday, as is his job, critiquing Francis for being medieval, (though I've yet to read it) and much less controversial than his minimizing the sexual regrets of underclassmen, though he has a point. There is a difference between deflation, regret after we unwisely give in, and otherwise forcible rape. My sense of Francis is that his use of Naomi Klein as a technical advisor is nearly sickening to this blogger's nostalgia for congregation. Ms. Klein might as well be one of Putin's presidential foreign affairs ministers for the restoration of the Warsaw Pact.

The role of the Vicar of Christ is far larger and broader in scope than running around offering apologias for military juntas and the sexual predations of those using the collar as a shield. If I plan to attend the Mass, I'd best get downtown and update my ID, whether it is wise or no. I am still Catholic in this atheism; His Holiness is infallible, like Max von Sydow's fiery Calvinist.