The trads all knew October was going to be tough, so we were prepared. Some brought popcorn. Some howl with laughter as a bishop comes up with another clunker along the lines of "Let's use the Power of the Keys to twist God's arm behind His back!"* The spectacle of... But let's not go there.
If you are a layperson, and you do not feel it is your job to rebuke bishops or comfort the faithful with rude jokes, stop reading anything having to do with the Synod. When you are tempted to do so, pick up your rosary and say a decade for the Church instead. Yes,the Synod is a disaster--in a way. (Now we have a rough idea of which bishops believe and love the Faith and which ones don't, and we can tune our ears accordingly.) No, this is not the end of the Church.
If the Church should one day be reduced to a tiny village in rural Portugal, with one priest, one seminarian, five nuns and three families, that would still be the Church. But, you know, Napoleon's men thought Pius VI would be the last pope and they were wrong. The Church looked in terrible shape in 1801, but then in the 19th century--what a flowering! My "History of the Church in the Nineteenth Century " was full of wonderful saints and stories. My priest-professor told us the tale of Father Petitjean and the Nagasaki Christians, and he began to weep, he was so moved.
I have been having trouble sleeping, but I have discovered a cure. Every evening Benedict Ambrose and I watch an episode of the Agatha Christie's Poirot series starring David Suchet. I have read a little about Suchet's preparations to play Hercules Poirot, and he amassed a huge binder of details. Even more than Agatha Christie herself, Suchet decided that Poirot's sense of justice stemmed not only from his career as a policeman in Belgium, but from late 19th century and early 20th century Belgian Catholicism. Poirot may love the straight lines and simplicity of Art Deco, but he is not a modernist. Indeed, he is even a bit of a Romantic, a Catholic Romantic who must have had a very good classical Catholic education: balanced.
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| But the perfect symmetry of the moustaches, I do approve! |
Accidental manslaughter--well. He does not sit in judgement over the merely unlucky; Poirot is merciful to those whose hearts are pure of murderous intent, as I noted at the end of last night's episode. All the same, he does not twist with the wind.
Another fictional hero from whom I have derived comfort is Giovannino Guareschi's Don Camillo. Last night I read Comrade Don Camillo, and tears sprang to my eyes several time. Guareschi is one of those very few authors who can make me cry; Sienkiewicz is another one. Of the volumes of the Don Camillo stories, I've read, I think Comrade Don Camillo is the best. (N.B. Don't bother with the clowning of Fernandel in the films. Stick with the books.)
Not every reader is a fan of Don Camillo's peasant ways, his scheming against the local Commie mayor (who is the closest thing he has to a best friend), his mighty fists. However, what Guareschi makes clear again and again is how decent most of these post-war (but pre-1963) Italians are, be they Catholic or Communist, they seem to him decent---even heroic--often heroic--men and women, loved by God and deserving of our love, too. For these are merely economic Communists; the hell of the Frankfurt School has not entered their hearts.
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| We are the Church. |
*Members spent quite a bit of time talking about the beauty and comprehensiveness of No. 84 of Familiaris Consortio. Some suggested that FC 84 ought to be put directly into the text. One father spoke about the power of the keys and the Holy Father’s ability to change things. He said that the Pope can, in effect, twist the hands of God. Others responded that the power of the keys does not give the Church the ability to change Revelation and the faith of the Church."
God is so great! I´m not alone! For a couple of years, to be able to not become insane I have been watching Poirot every evening too, I love him, he is my best friend, so catholic so refined! And the Lord of the Rings + Hobbit just to tell myself that the war is on, even though the orcs often are invisible. You make me feel less alone! Thank You!!! /Jonna
ReplyDeleteAh, the invisible orcs. Insanity is contagious, so it is a good idea to take refuge in the sane artifacts of the sane. This is not to say that Agatha Christie was a saint, but the list of saints-on-earth is relatively small. But she, like Guareschi, valued decency.
ReplyDeleteAh, the invisible orcs. Insanity is contagious, so it is a good idea to take refuge in the sane artifacts of the sane. This is not to say that Agatha Christie was a saint, but the list of saints-on-earth is relatively small. But she, like Guareschi, valued decency.
ReplyDeleteHave you read the books, though? I absolutely adore Agatha Christie and I love Poirot, but as a Catholic he has some serious issues. (Allowing at least one person (that I can remember) to commit suicide to escape the punishment for murder and committing a murder himself. And both were presented as the best solution to the situation.)
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, I wanted to let you know that I started reading Goergette Heyer after your recommendation of 'Cotillion', and I'm really enjoying her!! Thank you!!!
Indeed I have read the books. Wait till you see how the meticulous Mr Suchet deals with that little jaw-dropper! That is why I think Suchet took Poirot's Catholicism even more seriously than Christie did.
DeleteChristie was in the very uppest of the upper-middle-classes, I believe, and the books are full of her class attitudes. Shooting yourself in the head (or, if female, ingesting poison) to escape the humiliation of a trial and the slower pain of execution was just what One Did, Darling, if One Belonged to Those Who Were Otherwise of the Right Sort. Oh, and Christie herself wasn't a Catholic, of course. No, I feel that Suchet took Poirot's Catholicism much, much more seriously than Christie did.
Oh, that's so interesting!! I've never watched any of the Suchet ones, but I'm really curious to check them out now. That was the one thing that bothered me about the book.
DeleteOh dear. Has the Synod been as bad as that? For some reason, I haven't encountered any news of it from the usual suspects, perhaps because election and pre-election news has taken over the media in both Canada and the United States.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pity. I'm not exactly a "traddie" (although I'm getting there), but I valued the greater coherence of the Church and its teaching under the leadership of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Francis has allowed his words and his bishops to sow confusion about what Catholic teaching is. I keep trying to tell fellow Catholics that this is not a good way to bring people back to the Church, but a surprising number of "orthodox" believers appear to believe that it is.
Alias Clio
Alias Clio -- you hit the nail on the head! That exactly sums up what I miss about JPII and Benedict, and why I can't seem to let myself trust and relax under the leadership of Francis.
DeleteI've given up on Synod-news, and am contently praying it out in my little bubble.
Alias Clio, trusted friends (including a trusted scholarly friend who knows Church history inside out) have been telling me for at least a week (possibly two) that this is the worst struggle ever to hit the Church, worse even than the Arian Crisis. However, if I remember your situation correctly, your own bishop is not at the Synod and is a good chap. And all Catholics in the archdiocese of Toronto can sigh a sigh of relief that our/their chap is also a good chap.
DeleteHowever, these thoughts will not cheer up others, so I will leave it at that. The best thing to do is pray, not read Synod news (unless paid to do so), and find refuge heartwarming Catholic (or non-Catholic attempts at Catholic) art.
Worst struggle ever to hit the Church? That sounds rather severe, and yet when I think about it, it makes sense. The quarrels over the dual papacy (in Avignon & Rome) did not concern faith and morals, but the allocation of worldly power. Not an unimportant issue, heaven knows, but not one to create clouds of doubt in the minds of believers. This is different.
DeleteI hoped Pope Francis would turn out to be another Vincent de Paul, canny and shrewd in his understanding of Church-state politics, but I think I was mistaken. Well, we'll see, won't we?
Surely - whatever else one can say about the present moment - there have been many worse Popes than Francis, as far as personal and political morality are concerned.
Alias Clio
p.s. I am indeed grateful that my archbishop is one of the "good guys [chaps]." (n.b. I've always liked that Chesterton line about how, in America, calling someone a "regular guy" is "the most graceful of compliments.")
Ha! I wrote in CWR that Cardinal Collins is "very Canadian". Now THAT is a compliment if you like! :-D But of course he is from Guelph--"a regular guy" from Guelph!
DeleteIt occurs to me now that some younger people, esp. North Americans, might not get the point of the Chesterton quotation. In the British English of Chesterton's day it was a decided insult, because the word "guy", uncapitalized, was associated with the painted dummies burnt in effigy on Guy Fawkes night. To make a "regular guy" of oneself was to make oneself ridiculous, usually by being dressed in ill-assorted clothes, thus Chesterton's amusement at the idea that it was a compliment in America.
ReplyDeleteAlias Clio
I love Poirot, too! Recently discovered, I was so taken with his portrayal of the Belgian detective that I read up on Suchet. He was of Jewish background but raised without religion and converted to Christianity. He has a devotion to St. Paul and he's done documentaries on both St. Paul and St. Peter, neither of which I have seen... yet!
ReplyDeleteI've been trying to convince my husband that if he were to ever join me at a cosplaying ComiCon event, he needs to go as Poirot. I insist it would be a form of evangelization. Kinda.
Kitty
Ah, I love the Don Camillo stories! Did you read the one that takes place after Vatican II? It was published as Don Camillo Meets the Flower Children in the US and as Don Camillo Meets Hells Angels in the UK. Poor Don Camillo has to deal not only with a progressive assistant priest, but the antics of his rebellious niece and Pepone's son. Hilarity ensues, but it's kind of melancholy too.
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