Urgh, I’ll never forget when Pell’s charges were dropped and Dan Andrews said he was ‘so sorry’ to all victims of sex abuse. Anti-Catholicism is truly vile in the Australian media and (some) of the political class. Worse, is when the Hon Tony Abbott visited George Pell in prison, he was called disgusting things. Andrew Bolt – who knew how ridiculous the whole farce was – lost so many advertisers on his show. Let’s not forget Louise Milligan, still getting book deals – after writing such a defamatory book. Yuck.
Francis MacGabhann
2 years ago
As a lifelong and committed Catholic, I can say this article is in the ballpark, but not quite on the nose. Firstly, the Vatican is a sinkhole. It’s a disgrace to honest Catholics — and believe it or not, there are millions of us — and a stench in the House of God. Most of us out here in Catholic Land are wide awake to this and we’re reacting to it with our pocket books. Monitor the plate as it goes around in the church I attend and, while there are generous contributions to the priests of the parish, very little is given to the general collection for Church (upper case C) coffers. That’s an increasingly widespread reaction. I won’t give a penny to the Church as a body. The laity are increasingly sick of the carry-on in Rome and amongst the hierarchy.
Secondly, outsiders may wonder why we stay. It’s because, however compromised it’s become, the Catholic Church is what Christ created on Earth and we hold that it is protected from error. Understand that this does NOT mean the men who run it are protected from error; that privilege applies only to the Magisterium, the body of moral teaching the Church hands down. The fact that the rulers of the Church on Earth are as bent as a dog’s hind leg does not impact this belief. It’s like saying you should ignore your doctor’s advice to give up smoking because he’s a smoker himself. We don’t judge the morality of the beliefs by the morality of those who are charged with upholding them.
Thirdly, it’s interesting how the Church and the world mirror each other. You have a massive body (the Catholic Church) whose levers of power and authority are in the hands of a tiny, unrepresentative and hugely vociferous group of people who are out to completely undermine and overturn everything the body they control has stood for ever since its beginning, and replace it with a completely new entity of violently opposed disposition and outlook. Within Catholic circles, this is sometimes referred to as “the ape of the Church” – it kind of looks like the Church, but it’s really only an imitation of it, and dedicated to completely different ends. And in pursuit of those ends (called “liberation theology” in the Church, “communism” everywhere else) any break with sacred tradition is allowable and any breach of Church or natural law is justified. It isn’t wrong because the people who do these things are just so GOOD that anything they do to forward these admirable aims is completely legitimate. It’s just SO, SO important that these noble goals be achieved that we have to do horrible things in their service. Does that attitude sound familiar to my secular compatriots?
“the Catholic Church is what Christ created on Earth and we hold that it is protected from error.” this is utter and ahistorical tosh, and actually at the root of many of the problems of the Church, both in the past and today. When the Pope announced he was infallible in the 19th Century, he was opposed by many, including I believe Cardinal Newman. As soon as human institutions (churches, monarchies, corporations, states) start to assert they have some divine right to exist, they start going rotten.
Some of us, seeking the original Church established by Christ and His Holy Apostles, have come to a different conclusion and believe that the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church exists to this day in the communion of local churches that still includes all the local churches mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, save Rome and Malta, all the addressees of St. Paul’s letters, excluding Rome, and included, until their destruction in the 1920’s by the Turks, the addressees of St. John’s Apocalypse, to wit what is usually called in the West the “Eastern Orthodox Church”.
Which one? I suppose it depends on whose turn it is to excommunicate the others this week. Folks, I would remind you all that there are atheists present. So, as our parents used to say, not in front of the children.
Madeleine Jones
2 years ago
I don’t share the author’s bleak outlook for the Vatican. If you asked me while George Pell was in a prison, then maybe. But then, I underestimated how many Catholics are willing to fight against such cancers like the CCP, the Australian media class, complacent Cardinals, wokeness, corny Church music (I joke… or do I?) etc. There’s grit in many Catholics, and an admirable stubborness in their devotion.
Will this rid the Vatican of corruption? No – and I hope a thorough survey is done of finances, illegal activity, etc. I also pray for justice. But a future Pope who is tough, articulate, brave, passionate and devoted – is what the Vatican needs.
Tom Lewis
2 years ago
Who would have guessed it ? There is some “Truth said in jest”, my Irish mother-in-law IS actually “more Catholic than the Pope”,
P.S Just to be clear (lest she send around the Priests in petticoats hit squad) by which I don’t mean; an institution that is corrupt, blackmailing, venal, paedophilic sex pest which dabbles in inept property speculation.
Russell Hamilton
2 years ago
Those of us who love Fellini’s films are not surprised.
Jon Redman
2 years ago
“Now that we have the Papacy, let us enjoy it” – that Medici who made Pope (Leo X?)
Old habits die hard…
Yes, Leo X. But you missed the first part: “We didn’t expect this”. For Giovanni de Medici winning the papacy was a surprise and he decided it would be a pleasant surprise. It’s nothing to admire, but it sets him far apart from his predecessors and successors – for better or worse.
The Borgia pope of 20 years earlier then ! The point being that at the height of the Renaissance , when the Catholic Church was employing some of the world’s great artists , the moral example set by the Popes was ,to say the least , iffy .
The alternative to an institutional church is churches created and run by charismatic preachers. That too often has such problems, and with fewer mechanisms for reform.
Alan Thorpe
2 years ago
They will receive an appropriate punishment on judgement day.
Dominic S
1 year ago
Flies into rages and then acts brutally, eh?
Now, who does that remind me of?
Frances Mann
2 years ago
A very good way to learn about Pope Francis is to watch the Wim Wenders documentary film ” Pope Francis a Man of his Word”
It is excellent
David Nebeský
2 years ago
Very biased article far below the standard of UnHerd. The author has based at least half of the article on rumours, while completely ignoring rumours to the contrary.
It would be nice if UnHerd also had a regular columnist from the other side of the divide. I read Damian Thompson because I am interested in the Church, but I find it very difficult to separate his prejudices and biases from the actuality he is writing about. Since I am pretty certain DT has never met Pope Francis, I find his description of the pope as evil, corrupt, foul tempered and a bully both unconvincing and deeply un-Christian. Jesus taught do not judge, and love your enemies.
It’s hard to tell whether the Australian media which led the campaign against George Pell were complicit or just useful idiots.
There needs to be a reckoning.
The mainstream media has become a joke. I hold it in the same regard as I would Soviet propaganda.
Urgh, I’ll never forget when Pell’s charges were dropped and Dan Andrews said he was ‘so sorry’ to all victims of sex abuse. Anti-Catholicism is truly vile in the Australian media and (some) of the political class. Worse, is when the Hon Tony Abbott visited George Pell in prison, he was called disgusting things. Andrew Bolt – who knew how ridiculous the whole farce was – lost so many advertisers on his show. Let’s not forget Louise Milligan, still getting book deals – after writing such a defamatory book. Yuck.
As a lifelong and committed Catholic, I can say this article is in the ballpark, but not quite on the nose. Firstly, the Vatican is a sinkhole. It’s a disgrace to honest Catholics — and believe it or not, there are millions of us — and a stench in the House of God. Most of us out here in Catholic Land are wide awake to this and we’re reacting to it with our pocket books. Monitor the plate as it goes around in the church I attend and, while there are generous contributions to the priests of the parish, very little is given to the general collection for Church (upper case C) coffers. That’s an increasingly widespread reaction. I won’t give a penny to the Church as a body. The laity are increasingly sick of the carry-on in Rome and amongst the hierarchy.
Secondly, outsiders may wonder why we stay. It’s because, however compromised it’s become, the Catholic Church is what Christ created on Earth and we hold that it is protected from error. Understand that this does NOT mean the men who run it are protected from error; that privilege applies only to the Magisterium, the body of moral teaching the Church hands down. The fact that the rulers of the Church on Earth are as bent as a dog’s hind leg does not impact this belief. It’s like saying you should ignore your doctor’s advice to give up smoking because he’s a smoker himself. We don’t judge the morality of the beliefs by the morality of those who are charged with upholding them.
Thirdly, it’s interesting how the Church and the world mirror each other. You have a massive body (the Catholic Church) whose levers of power and authority are in the hands of a tiny, unrepresentative and hugely vociferous group of people who are out to completely undermine and overturn everything the body they control has stood for ever since its beginning, and replace it with a completely new entity of violently opposed disposition and outlook. Within Catholic circles, this is sometimes referred to as “the ape of the Church” – it kind of looks like the Church, but it’s really only an imitation of it, and dedicated to completely different ends. And in pursuit of those ends (called “liberation theology” in the Church, “communism” everywhere else) any break with sacred tradition is allowable and any breach of Church or natural law is justified. It isn’t wrong because the people who do these things are just so GOOD that anything they do to forward these admirable aims is completely legitimate. It’s just SO, SO important that these noble goals be achieved that we have to do horrible things in their service. Does that attitude sound familiar to my secular compatriots?
“the Catholic Church is what Christ created on Earth and we hold that it is protected from error.” this is utter and ahistorical tosh, and actually at the root of many of the problems of the Church, both in the past and today. When the Pope announced he was infallible in the 19th Century, he was opposed by many, including I believe Cardinal Newman. As soon as human institutions (churches, monarchies, corporations, states) start to assert they have some divine right to exist, they start going rotten.
It isn’t a human institution.
Did it exist before there were people? If not, it’s a human institution.
Not if the Founder was Divine as well as human
– as Jesus was.
Jesus was an invention and an amalgamation of other pagan gods, most likely.
It “isn’t a human institution” in the sense that the devil’s involvement is all too obvious…….
If the Catholic Church had NOT been founded by Jesus Christ, it would have perished many centuries ago.
The rottenness is caused by the power and money available to the senior clergy.
Some of us, seeking the original Church established by Christ and His Holy Apostles, have come to a different conclusion and believe that the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church exists to this day in the communion of local churches that still includes all the local churches mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, save Rome and Malta, all the addressees of St. Paul’s letters, excluding Rome, and included, until their destruction in the 1920’s by the Turks, the addressees of St. John’s Apocalypse, to wit what is usually called in the West the “Eastern Orthodox Church”.
Which one? I suppose it depends on whose turn it is to excommunicate the others this week. Folks, I would remind you all that there are atheists present. So, as our parents used to say, not in front of the children.
I don’t share the author’s bleak outlook for the Vatican. If you asked me while George Pell was in a prison, then maybe. But then, I underestimated how many Catholics are willing to fight against such cancers like the CCP, the Australian media class, complacent Cardinals, wokeness, corny Church music (I joke… or do I?) etc. There’s grit in many Catholics, and an admirable stubborness in their devotion.
Will this rid the Vatican of corruption? No – and I hope a thorough survey is done of finances, illegal activity, etc. I also pray for justice. But a future Pope who is tough, articulate, brave, passionate and devoted – is what the Vatican needs.
Who would have guessed it ? There is some “Truth said in jest”, my Irish mother-in-law IS actually “more Catholic than the Pope”,
P.S Just to be clear (lest she send around the Priests in petticoats hit squad) by which I don’t mean; an institution that is corrupt, blackmailing, venal, paedophilic sex pest which dabbles in inept property speculation.
Those of us who love Fellini’s films are not surprised.
“Now that we have the Papacy, let us enjoy it” – that Medici who made Pope (Leo X?)
Old habits die hard…
Yes, Leo X. But you missed the first part: “We didn’t expect this”. For Giovanni de Medici winning the papacy was a surprise and he decided it would be a pleasant surprise. It’s nothing to admire, but it sets him far apart from his predecessors and successors – for better or worse.
The Borgia pope of 20 years earlier then ! The point being that at the height of the Renaissance , when the Catholic Church was employing some of the world’s great artists , the moral example set by the Popes was ,to say the least , iffy .
Still is…..
The alternative to an institutional church is churches created and run by charismatic preachers. That too often has such problems, and with fewer mechanisms for reform.
They will receive an appropriate punishment on judgement day.
Flies into rages and then acts brutally, eh?
Now, who does that remind me of?
A very good way to learn about Pope Francis is to watch the Wim Wenders documentary film ” Pope Francis a Man of his Word”
It is excellent
Very biased article far below the standard of UnHerd. The author has based at least half of the article on rumours, while completely ignoring rumours to the contrary.
I agree
It would be nice if UnHerd also had a regular columnist from the other side of the divide. I read Damian Thompson because I am interested in the Church, but I find it very difficult to separate his prejudices and biases from the actuality he is writing about. Since I am pretty certain DT has never met Pope Francis, I find his description of the pope as evil, corrupt, foul tempered and a bully both unconvincing and deeply un-Christian. Jesus taught do not judge, and love your enemies.
There are plenty of books about him, from before his time as the anti-christ, as well as during it – and they all attest to this behaviour.