Catholicism Not Flourishing in China – “In trying to hold the Church together, Pope Francis has compromised on religious freedom.” The Vatican’s Gamble With Beijing Is Costing China’s Catholics (The Atlantic)
Big-Eyed Girls – “Father Marko Rupnik’s work reminds me of the art attributed to Walter Keane, the American artist who was popular in the 1960s.” ‘Keane for Rupnik (The Catholic Thing)
Urgency of a Ceasefire – “The Archdiocese of San Antonio has distanced itself from statements made on twitter.com by Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller about the conflict in the Middle East.” After ‘Jewish’ accusations, San Antonio says archbishop’s Twitter is ‘personal account’ (The Pillar)
Failures in Economic Policies – “’Freedom,’” Stiglitz states at the beginning ‘is in danger.’ The global decline of liberty reflected in the rise of authoritarian regimes, he argues, has also manifested itself in liberal democratic societies. A Nobel Polemicist (Law & Liberty)
The Stuff of Mythmaking – “So then, ‘Vatican II’ as a hyperobject demands your attention. It will not be ignored. If you are a conservative-minded Catholic, you refer to the ‘documents’ and adhere to a ‘hermeneutics of continuity.’ If you are a progressive-oriented Catholic, you refer to the ‘spirit’ and adhere to a ‘hermeneutics of disruption.’ Vatican II as Hyperobject (The Underneath – Substack)
Residential School Burials – The Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations has confirmed significant spending to try and uncover the “heartbreaking truth” of potential unmarked graves at the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, BC. No bodies found after spending $8 million searching for bodies at Kamloops Residential School (Western Standard)
Degree of Incoherence – “Research exposes a significant gap between Canadian Christians’ personal beliefs and church teachings across various denominations.” Still Christian(?): What Canadian Christians Actually Believe (Cardus)
Renewing the Temporal Order – “The great convert and thinker of the nineteenth century, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, once was asked by his bishop what he considered the vocation of the laity to be. In an uncharacteristically laconic response, he quipped, ‘The Church would look foolish without them!'” The Essential and Irreplaceable Role of the Laity (What We Need Now – Substack)
Champions of Chesterton – “This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of G.K. Chesterton, an anniversary worth celebrating wherever goodness, truth, and beauty are valued.” The Grand Old Man of Chestertonia (The Imaginative Conservative)
Not Having a Religion – “Each fall, as I prepare to stand before a classroom of undergraduates, required as they are to take my Introduction to Catholic Theology course, I reconsider how to teach the faith most effectively. This task has become more challenging over the years.” Teaching Theology to Gen Z: Three Lessons from Henri de Lubac (Homiletic and Pastoral Review)
Pro-Life Group Rejected – “Students don’t forfeit their free speech when they walk into the school building. All students have the constitutional right to express their ideas without fear of being silenced by school officials and having their clubs derecognized,” ADF stated in a May 8 news release.” Alliance Defending Freedom backs pro-life club shut down by high school for being ‘too political’ (Catholic Vote)
(*The posting of any particular news item or essay is not an endorsement of the content and perspective of said news item or essay.)
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The story of the attribution of the Keane paintings is the subject of the highly entertaining film Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams.
@The Stuff of Mythmaking
As a post-Vatican II amnesiac, the author of this musing contributes nothing to clarify the rift between the “real” council of the documents and the “virtual” council (Benedict’s insight) of street hawkers like Hans Kung and his minions.
In direct response to the writer, clearly, the contemporary reason for “opening the windows of the Church” (Pope John XXIII) is now to facilitate the defenestration of “backwardists.”
Brad Minor is probably not from the Boston area, or he would have mentioned Sister Corita Kent’s Boston Gas tank, the largest copyrighted work of art in the world. It is a welcome landmark for those approaching Boston on the highway:
Legend of the Rainbow Swash.
@ Big-Eyed Girls
Catholic Thing editor Brad Miner remembered during the glory days of comboxes gives an artist buff’s take on the Rupnik scandal and continued apparent cover up. First, anyone who admires Caravaggio as does Miner knows art. He also knows the pretentious.
Miner as most of us focuses on the Zombie like eyes, what he calls Big Eyes. But the outrageously big eyes shown in the photo are matched with another oddity that heretofore went unnoticed. Pursed lips on both the Virgin Mother and Christ child. All his works show either tiny pursed lips or in instances puckered lips. Now there’s a behavioral science in this [accused cultic like deviant Marko Rupnik is a rich source of speculation], the language of lips. Tiny lips suggest introversion and self sufficiency. Pursed lips calculating [or often disagreement]. Puckered sexual invitation. All these suggested lip features appear relevant to the artisan Rupnik’s personality, a form of projection of himself, his unseemly predilections. Since I’m not a psychiatrist I’ll end here, although I should add that through many counseling sessions with troubled persons there seems relevance in what’s said with Rupnik. What might be gained here? Perhaps a better awareness of the evils to which we contend with.
@ Degree of Incoherence
The Canadian study results may be, with due measure comparative to America’s based on the proximity and similarity of both.
What the survey finds is that the majority of young persons are uncertain of the faith [approx 44%] while those with conviction remain at approx 17% surveyed between 2017-2024. Catholics average below Protestants both figured within the 44% of uncertain believers. The top 17% of committed believers are largely evangelicals. What may be elicited from the survey?
Aside from evangelical strength, which is quite apparent further south in the Americas and the large turnover of Catholics to evangelicals, it indicates that determined, even strident belief draws and maintains, while lesser freedom of conscience oriented religion is dramatically weaker. Furthermore, Catholics have now fallen below protestants in all categories of the faith from the Trinity, divinity of Christ et Al.
What the stats indicate centers on is the Catholic Protestant measure of Catholics falling below Protestants in belief of traditional faith principles. Because the survey is from 2017-24 it may be inferred that the current pontificate’s focus on global issues rather than Apostolic tradition is the determinant.