Due to the shocking lack of diversity among Cardinals who always vote for one of the old men among their own number as Pope, there are growing calls for the College of Cardinals to be drawn from a wider representation of society. Deacon Nick has a little thought on the subject which you may or may not agree with.
There are, for example, no women. A good candidate might be Cherie Blair. Didn't I read somewhere (Tablet, possibly) that she's a good Catholic girl from Liverpool. She obviously wouldn't mind the dressing up in outdated costumes.
Of course, there is an appalling lack of Christians from other denominations. Would the Archbishop of Canterbury like to get his nose in that particular trough?
There is a distinct lack of representation form our bothers and sisters of other faiths as well. But you won't be able to use that mobile phone in the Conclave, my good man!
Atheists too are (perhaps) rather under represented among the cardinals. Richard Dawkins might be glad of the opportunity to air his views in the Sistine Chapel. We could do with some of that suave, modern sophistication.
Then again, we humans are so terribly narrow minded about our superiority in the world. Apparently, although survival of the fittest is nature's way, that fact that we are so fit that we have come to dominate the rest of the world's species is some sort of aberration, so we should really have some representation from the animal world. Could Flipper navigate the Ponte Sisto on the Tiber to get to the next Consistory?
Finally, we should really not allow our prejudice to leave out those from other planets. My own vote would go to Kang and Kodos. They seem to have a pretty good idea of what we're all about.
I always thought the College of Cardinals were a pretty colourful bunch but how much more colourful all this diversity would be. Of course, the glories of Rome, the splendours of the Vatican and the spiritual power of the Papacy might lead them all to become full-blown Catholics (even Cherie) and then we'd be back to square one!
Oops! Sorry! Wrong Cardinals. These are the ones from St Louis.
However, they do look like a very non-representative lot.
7 comments:
Be careful what you wish for . . . .
I heard that dolphins are the second most intelligent species on God's Earth.
"So terribly narrow-minded about our superiority in the world". Hm.
Haha well done father, best be careful though, the journalists will miss the sarcasm and print your 'wish list'!
Very Eccles-ian, Father!
What is considered ‘news’ by Irish papers is a constant source of amusement to me – particularly as regards the United States.
Headlines will breathlessly intone that someone (Irish, of course) has “taken America by storm…” The ‘someone’ will not have even been a blip on the radar over here. It would appear that Irish journalists here have never progressed farther than Manhattan.
‘Catholic Media’ (read: one paper - El Pais), the Washington Post and someone from Boston College, constitute Ms. Hogan as “being tipped internationally…” for a Red Hat? I’m sure Ms. Hogan already has a red hat – and probably a green one too!
Must have been a slow news day.
"Atheists too are (perhaps) rather under represented among the cardinals. "
Now, are we allowed to criticise clergy or are we not? I read conflicting opinions on this. For example,
"One ought to pray earnestly, especially at the Ember Seasons, that God will give us good priests. If they are saints, what good they are able to do! But, whatever they are, never speak against them."
- St. John Vianney
Hey, there was a Cardinal from St Louis in the last conclave. Raymond Cardinal Burke.
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