Sacrament of the slightly queasy

An interesting post from Father Zed!

Papal Arms (with corrections)

The eight-pointed star (not five) makes reference to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the nard flower no longer looks like a bunch of grapes...now if only someone would correct the tiara. ...

Oops! Now the pallium seems to have been lost!
Come on! Wake up, chaps!

Papal Arms

The arms of Pope Francis (thanks to Fr Z). Sadly they don't appear to have been able to find someone able to draw the tiara yet. On the bright side the motto has impeccable credentials being from our St Bede's sermon on .St Matthew Chapter 9.

"Don't forget the poor!"

"Since God has given us the papacy, let us enjoy it." So Pope Leo X, the erstwhile Giovanni di Lorenzo de Medici, is said to have remarked upon his election. Sadly, it was during his pontificate (1513-21) that the Lutheran heresy erupted and he subsequently died aged 45 so it is hard to imagine it as being especially enjoyable. Indeed I have found myself during this last week wondering to what extent being a cardinal in a conclave might be described as "enjoyable" particularly for those who discover their names on the lists after the first ballot. 
Pretty scary, I imagine! 

The very thought of the awesome responsibility falling upon the shoulders of the man chosen to be pope just takes the breath away. Perhaps Leo X's  remark is, in that context, not so difficult to  empathise with.  Responsibilities of various kinds present themselves to nearly all of us at one time or another and,  feeling obliged to shoulder them, we perhaps encourage ourselves along the way by considering some more positive or pleasurable attendant consequence. One might encourage a friend facing a new and not wholly desired prospect with a "Look on the bright side..." remark. For example,"So you have to go on a course, next week- at least you get a few days off work". Or "You must be hanged in the morning...but you will get a good breakfast!" That kind of thing. What seems very different, and very strangely so, is the remark Cardinal Hummes is reported to have made to Pope Francis upon his election, "Don't forget the poor." 

It seems such a strange thing to have said to the man just elected Pope. 

Perhaps if one had a friend, somewhat inclined to avarice, and who had just won the Lottery, one might conceivably, solicitous for their spiritual well-being, tender such advice. "By all means enjoy your good fortune- but don't forget those less fortunate than yourself."

Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I would say that for fear of appearing to be looking for something for myself out of my friend's good fortune!

"Don't forget the poor!" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). It is such a very odd thing to say to the Pope and throws up some bizarre scenarios. Does election to the papacy carry some cash incentive that we laity just aren't told about? Are we to imagine Cardinals offering bribes? "I voted for you, mate, so don't forget poor moi!"

I don't for one moment imagine that bribes or money are involved but I am somewhat perplexed at some of the statements reported of our new holy father. Or is everything getting garbled in translation?

Swansong in the Sistine Chapel?

Habemus Papam!

God bless Pope Francis!

EXTRA OMNES!

May God have mercy on His Holy Church and send us another good pope!

"My" Cardinal!

 

I am praying for Telesphore Placidus Cardinal Toppo Cardinal-Priest of Sacratissimi Cordis Iesu in agoniam facti, Archbishop of Ranchi, India.
So far over 205,000 people have signed up to adopt a cardinal to pray for in the coming days and during the conclave. Please consider doing so if you have not already. Sign up at /http://www.adoptacardinal.org/

So sad...

May Pope Benedict enjoy a happy and peaceful retirement.... Still it is somehow like being bereaved.

A selection of Cardinal O'Brien's pro-life/pro-family statements

A selection of  Cardinal O'Brien's pro-life/pro-family statements (from John Smeaton SPUC Director:


"Our Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has given the government's support to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill. It is difficult to imagine a single piece of legislation which, more comprehensively, attacks the sanctity and dignity of human life than this particular bill." (23 March 2008)

"We are facing a crisis in society and we must ask ourselves is human life important to us or is it not?...[The Human Fertilisation and Embryology] Bill is a monstrous attack on human rights, human dignity and human life. …MPs must search their hearts and their consciences in this extra time in which they have been given to decide whether or not the value of human life really matters or whether or not it is simply one more commodity to be cast aside in our throw-away society."  (July 2008)

"Such behaviour [the procedures proposed by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology bill] was last seen under the Nazis. Following the liberation of the concentration camps in 1945, the full horrors of the Nazi’s atrocities were revealed to a shocked world. The hideous savagery of their experiments convinced the civilized world that such practices must be outlawed forever." [28 October 2008]

"The 2008 abortion statistics confirm the abject failure of the so called 'sexual health strategy' of recent years. They represent a human rights violation, in our midst, on a massive scale. We destroy 53 unborn children each day in Scotland. Were this carnage to take place among children lucky enough to have been born our outrage would be boundless. The victims of this inhuman and degrading violence are firstly the 13,817 Scottish children killed before they have been born and then the thousands of women who agree to their own off-spring being aborted ... [When i]n 2007 I claimed that 'we kill the equivalent of a classroom full of school children every day' many objected to the vehemence of my language. Grotesquely, since then we have seen classroom sizes in Scotland fall and abortion numbers rise. Today we abort over 50 children per day or two classrooms full. These statistics shame and debase us all ..." [26 May 2009]

"The Church's teaching on marriage is unequivocal, it is uniquely, the union of a man and a woman and it is wrong that Governments, politicians or Parliaments should seek to alter or destroy that reality." (22 August 2012)

"The Church opposed the Abortion Act passed in 1967, and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act passed in 1990, even although none of these legislative acts imposed any requirement or burden on the church it opposed them vigorously and completely. Why? Simply because it cares for society and humanity." (2 September 2012)

Is it any wonder that the power of darkness have been gunning for him!