Author: SDG

Reflections On the Papal Process

Although I’ve been a Catholic for nearly a decade now, in many ways this past month I have felt like a baby Catholic.  And, despite the sorrow for John Paul II and the joy for Benedict XVI, mostly I’ve felt like a baby greedily sucking in the drama, the pageantry, the history, and — most of all — the world reaction.

I may or may not have more to say later about certain reactions from non-Catholics, but what has impressed me the most is how important the past month has been to the world.  The world has known that something monumental has been happening in its midst and it has been watching.  While we might quibble with or heckle down some of the watchers’ commentaries, I think it says something significant about the Catholic Church that this transition has meant so much worldwide to Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Can you imagine anything like this surrounding a shift in leadership in any other religion — Christian or non-Christian — anywhere else in the world?  The only possible comparable might occur when the Dalai Lama passes on, but I think much of that will be because of his personal appeal to the world; it won’t be because of the office he holds.  In other words, while many around the world will genuinely and sincerely mourn the Dalai Lama, I doubt there will be much worldwide speculation on who will succeed him.  There certainly won’t be an equivalent to this past week’s coverage of the Vatican and the election of the new Pope.  And it is astounding that the only marginal comparable of which I could fathom is a man who is not only a non-Christian but also a non-monotheist.  No other Christian or non-Christian, monotheistic or non-monotheistic, religion offers a worldwide office and leader of such importance to the secular or religious world.

It says something of the importance of the Church and the papacy to the world that the world knows that these are events of such monumental importance that they must be covered in-depth.  There may be fundamental disagreements between the world and the Church, between the world and the Pope; but the Church and the Pope will never be irrelevant to the world.  And, for me, that is confirmation that Christ is still active in the world today and that the world subconsciously recognizes him in the Catholic Church.

For a baby Catholic like me, that’s a huge comfort.

Performance Art

More and more, these days, the question of whether art-imitates-life or life-imitates-art is becoming another chicken-and-egg question. Take, for example, this case of, uh, performance art:

"A Berlin couple plan to have their first baby at an art gallery, the gallery owner said on Saturday, confirming a newspaper report.

"’It’s a gift to humanity, a once in a lifetime thing,’ Bild newspaper quoted Winfried Witt, partner of mother-to-be Ramune Gele, as saying.

[…]

"About 30 people are expected to attend the birth, scheduled for April 24. They would be told to come to the gallery as soon as the 27-year-old Gele’s contractions became regular, Witt was quoted as saying."

Although the "performance" will be taking place in an art gallery, apparently this will not be an open exhibit:

"[Gallery manager Johann] Novak said the gallery, which usually shows installations and video art, would be closed during the birth. ‘The private aspect will be maintained,’ he said."

Uh huh. That’s why all the details are being released to the media. So we can maintain privacy. At least the article reports that not everyone is finding the proposed masterpiece fitting for a gallery exhibition:

"Another gallery owner in the street said: ‘I find it mad.’"

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What Do You Call A Baby Wholphin?

The Sea Life Park in Hawaii needs suggestions:

“The only whale-dolphin mix in captivity has given birth to a playful female calf, officials at Sea Life Park Hawaii said Thursday.

“The calf was born on December 23 to Kekaimalu, a mix of a false killer whale and an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Park officials said they waited to announce the birth until now because of recent changes in ownership and operations at the park.

“The young as-yet unnamed wholphin is one-fourth false killer whale and three-fourths Atlantic bottlenose dolphin. Her slick skin is an even blend of a dolphin’s light gray and the black coloring of a false killer whale.”

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The Mating Dance Of The Giant Panda

From our Local-News-Department comes the announcement that the San Diego Zoo’s own Bai Yun, a giant panda on loan from China, has successfully mated in "the only successful natural insemination of a panda this year in the United States, officials said." Perhaps the success was due in part to Bai Yun’s beauty routine, which made her irresistable to fellow giant panda Gao Gao:

"[Don] Lindburg [‘the zoo’s giant panda conservation team leader’] said Bai Yun had displayed signs of being receptive to mating in recent days, including yipping and raising her tail, walking through water and scraping pine tree bark onto her head and face.

"’It’s getting her perfume on for the date,’ Lindburg said.

"Zoo officials then lifted the gate that separates the two for much of the year on Friday to let the mating begin."

"[S]craping pine tree bark onto her head and face"? Oh, the tortures women must go through to be beautiful for men. Considering the lengths to which Bai Yun went for him, what I really wanted to know was whether Gao Gao also spruced himself up for the occasion, but the article didn’t mention that.

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Force-Feeding Dolphins

In case you ever wondered whether our society treats animals better than it does human beings, wonder no more:

You see, "force-feeding" humans via feeding tubes who never legally directed that they be deprived of food and water is a Bad Thing. In some cases, even when written directives are left that allow for "force-feeding," it is a Good Thing to deprive humans of feeding tubes anyway. But what happens if Flipper cannot swallow? Do we do the "humane" thing and deprive him of nutrition? Of course not! Dolphins require much better treatment than what we currently consider to be good enough for humans:

"In early March an estimated 80 rough-toothed dolphins stranded themselves in the shallows off Marathon in the Florida Keys.

"Rescue workers and volunteers worked nonstop to help as many as they could to return to deep water. Some dolphins made it. About two dozen died.

"For 26 that clung to life there was only one chance for survival — transfer to the Marine Mammal Conservancy rehabilitation facility on Key Largo, farther up the Keys from Marathon.

[…]

"In the pool [where the recuperating dolphins were kept], volunteers hold the dolphins and keep their blowholes out of the water so they can breathe.

"A veterinarian injects the mammals with vitamin E to help with muscle cramping. Unable to eat on their own, they are fitted with a feeding tube to get them the needed nutrition."

And so, roughly around the same period that Terri Schiavo was being dehydrated and starved to death by a Florida state judge’s fiat, the great state of Florida was inserting feeding tubes into dolphins.

God have pity on us.

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(Nod to Meira Online for the link.)

If At First You Don’t Succeed…

Being the inveterate royal-watcher I am, when I stumbled across a recap of Prince Charles’ wedding to Mrs. Andrew Parker Bowles on "BBC America" I watched … with clenched teeth and appropriately timed snorts of disbelief. Apparently even CNN couldn’t help but notice the supreme irony of the occasion:

"A solemn ceremony has blessed the wedding of the heir to the British throne Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, at which the couple each pledged to be faithful to each other.

[…]

"The blessing ceremony, which had the feel of a wedding and was aired across the globe, conjured memories of the 1981 day when millions of television viewers watched Prince Charles marry Lady Diana Spencer at St. Paul’s Cathedral in what has become part of royal lore as a ‘fairy-tale’ wedding. "That storybook Charles-Diana wedding ceremony, which captivated the world, contrasted in sad irony with what followed — a tempestuous marriage and separation of Charles and the now-late Diana, Princess of Wales, that shocked and appalled all of England and royal-watchers everywhere.

[…]

"The [Anglican] archbishop’s [Rowan Williams of Canterbury] talk of ‘love and faithfulness’ contrasted with the adultery the pair, as well as the late Diana herself, displayed over the years.

"In the wedding blessing, the couple recited a line of repentance from the Book of Common Prayer, the inclusion of which is seen as an acknowledgment of their prior adultery."

Or a continuing state of adultery, unless the new Duchess of Cornwall has obtained an annulment of her first marriage to the Roman Catholic Andrew Parker Bowles.  (If she has, then this marriage to Prince Charles means that there would be no ongoing state of adultery and the marriage would be presumably sacramental.)

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Pope Francis I?

John Allen, Vatican correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter, lays out some of the reasons why an American pope would be unlikely:

"The fundamental impediment to an American papacy, however, is that the Vatican prizes its diplomatic independence far too seriously to elevate a superpower pope. The ‘Holy See’ is a sovereign entity that exchanges ambassadors with 174 nations and international organizations. Regardless of what that pope himself thought or felt, many people around the world would be tempted to see his decisions as somehow skewed by virtue of his citizenship. That would be especially ominous in the Middle East; it would be difficult for many people not to conclude that the pope’s policies are influenced by virtue of his nationality, no matter what he did. It would probably also be the end of Vatican attempts to improve things for Christian communities in Cuba, Vietnam, China, and across the Islamic world."

Interestingly enough, though, Allen does think that there might be an American who would be a good bet for the papabile list, if only he weren’t American:

"Having said that, is there an American cardinal who might be a formidable candidate if not for his nationality?

"The quick answer is ‘yes’: Cardinal Francis George of Chicago. George, who spent years in Rome as the superior of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, knows the inner world of the Vatican, and yet he is not a creature of it. He also speaks Italian with ease. He’s led a complex archdiocese for years, and by most accounts handled it rather well. One indication of the esteem in which he’s held is that he is widely sought after as a guest speaker at Vatican events, a distinction that few cardinals enjoy. George is by universal consensus the intellectual leader among the Americans, someone who devours two newspapers and a theological work before breakfast."

Well, even if Cardinal George is not tapped for Rome, it is good to know that Chicago is in good hands. By the way, Allen’s book Conclave is a helpful guide to papal elections.

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Here Lies JPII…

The grotto in St. Peter’s Basilica where John Paul II was laid to rest has been re-opened to the public, and the public has turned out in droves:

"Thousands of mourners filed past the grave of Pope John Paul II after the Vatican reopened its grottoes for public viewing Wednesday, many carrying rosaries and medals they hoped would be blessed by the spirit of a man they already consider a saint."

Apparently, the burial site is rather inconspicuous; so, if you make the pilgrimage, the take-away lesson here is to keep your eyes peeled for the marker. Some didn’t and say they feel "defrauded":

"In an apparent effort to avoid the lines that stretched up to three miles to see the pope’s body last week, the ushers kept the crowd at St. Peter’s Basilica moving quickly. Many pilgrims said they didn’t even realize they were at the grave until they had already walked past.

"’We’ve been in Rome for three days waiting for this moment, and we felt a little defrauded,’ said Silvano Loayza, a 61-year-old Peruvian who lives in Tracy, Calif. ‘There wasn’t even time to pray. The man kept saying, ‘avanti, avanti, avanti.’"

Defrauded? This is St. Peter’s Basilica, not Euro Disney.

Curious about the phrase "Avanti, avanti, avanti," I went to FreeTranslation.com and plugged it in, requesting an Italian to English translation. Either the free translation is off or the ushers were urging mourners "Before, before, before."

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