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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Excellent Links / Something Nice

Something Nice

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As an avowed atheist, this still brought a tear to my eye:

pope

Pope Francis saw a seriously disfigured man covered with boils, stopped his motorcade, and went and embraced the man, kissed him on the forehead while cradling him in his arms, and then prayed with him.

I still don’t believe and never will, but I think there is common ground to be found in a church that this man leads. More of this, please.

Reader Interactions

143Comments

  4. 4.

    Elizabelle

    Pope Francis seems to be the anti-Benedict, and a better person than the revered John Paul II.

  5. 5.

    scav

    @Elizabelle: I’m working on it. That whole age of miracles thing being over might need a rethink. May not agree with all his positions but he’s not the sort of bad man that system pushes up towards the see.

  6. 6.

    Davis X. Machina

    …but I think there is common ground to be found in a church that this man leads

    I’m sorry. This will not do. The official progressive position is that religion is a crutch for the weak-minded, and a tool of the oppressor,. Strangle last king with the guts of the last priest, etc. etc.Perverts in dresses.

    @wasabi gasp:

    Then he served up some leftover lasagna.

    With chimichurri on it — he’s Argentinian, after all.

  8. 8.

    LanceThruster

    The human component is certainly admirable, but to defend a worldview that says “God has a reason for this to be your reality” is still vile IMHO.

  16. 16.

    scav

    And, speaking of men from Italy, Berlusconi’s gone and added another one to the collection of people really not getting it. Faced with conviction and a year of social work instead of prison because of his age!

    “My children say they feel like Jewish families must have felt in Germany during Hitler’s regime,” he said in an interview. “We truly have everyone against us.”

    And the brave boy’s hiding behind his children’s words in this brave brave truth to power moment.

  17. 17.

    Schlemizel

    While he does appear to be a decent human being (something few of his predecessors can claim) he still heads an organization supported largely on the backs of those least able to afford the luxurious life style of is leadership. An organization that hides pedophiles and denies its victims justice. An organization that injures women and GLBT humans.

    Frankie really does speak and act differently but until he can actually affect change in the criminal organization he is nominally head of I can only think of him the beautiful facade to an ugly collapsing abattoir. I really wish him well, seriously I just have no faith in his ability to make them as decent as he seems to be.

  18. 18.

    nwerner

    It’s a lovely part of a PR campaign. Same with the little boy that wandered up on stage with him last week. Next week he is going to drop into a brothel and leave with a cadre of nursing recruits to minister to the downtrodden.

  21. 21.

    Central Planning

    Cal Thomas had a decent article in the paper today. His suggestion for the Greece (hello west-side neighbors!) case being heard at the SC was to have a moment of silence and let people do their own thing. Praying doesn’t have to be out loud and he cited some Bible verse to support his position.

  22. 22.

    TooManyJens

    @nwerner: I really can’t buy the “it’s all a PR campaign” position. If the Catholic Church were such PR geniuses, they would have handled the child molestation scandals a hell of a lot better.

  25. 25.

    Heliopause

    Pope Francis saw a seriously disfigured man covered with boils, stopped his motorcade, and went and embraced the man

    “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

  26. 26.

    Jamey

    What’s that thing in Psalm 23, “thou shalt anointest my head with boils”?

    Or am I misquoting…?

  28. 28.

    Belafon

    @nwerner: I know. Imagine how easy it is to stop your car to kiss someone with boils. I mean people are constantly hugging the homeless here in America.

  31. 31.

    The Fat Kate Middleton

    Those aren’t boils. It’s neurofibromatosis. If they were boils, he’d be dead.

  34. 34.

    fuckwit

    always good to see christians walking the tslk.

    but, beware, the man is old, and the next pope might be worse than the hitler youth who preceded him.

  35. 35.

    Comrade Jake

    I’m fairly certain nuns and other fundamentally decent people have been performing acts of compassion and kindness such as these for centuries, just without the motorcade part.

    Just sayin’.

  38. 38.

    MikeBoyScout

    @Heliopause: nice, but I’d rather our ‘powerful’ give in public than kick the poors. A low bar has made progress easier to hurdle.
    I’m with Cole.
    More of this please.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    @LanceThruster:

    The human component is certainly admirable, but to defend a worldview that says “God has a reason for this to be your reality” is still vile IMHO.

    Here’s my one defense of that: IF it’s a situation that’s truly incurable (i.e. it’s not a matter of not being able to afford the treatment or something along those lines), which statement would most people find more comforting — “God has a reason for this to be your reality” or “Geez, sucks to be you.”

    Humans are animals that seek meaning. To tell someone that their incurable suffering is completely meaningless is kind of a dick move.

  40. 40.

    scav

    @Schlemizel: Well, that’s a given. Noticing the current individual with the fancy ring has qualities generally accepted as falling towards the nice end of the spectrum isn’t cosigning his every action and thought, let alone the framework around him that usually doesn’t produce results on aforementioned end of the spectrum. Even a crafted PR campaign from the see pandering towards the nice end of the spectrum is a bit of a break from the My Way Without Thought or Question or Hellfire Here and Everlasting red beanied norm.

  41. 41.

    LanceThruster

    @Fred Fnord:

    Yet he had to spit twice to heal the blind man. Jesus didn’t heal as someone with the healing touch would be expected to like with those free healthcare events held in various towns where the lines are insanely long and some people still get turned away

    Jesus healed the same way he turned water into wine, like a crappy parlor trick.

    YMMV.

  42. 42.

    Jane2

    I am continually astounded by Pope Francis…as a Catholic and an historian, I first thought his election was a ham-fisted PR effort, but as I see right-wing Catholics bitching and Francis’ constant works of Christian charity and pronouncements far outside the mainstream, I think that maybe the establishment bit off way more than they thought.

  44. 44.

    Schlemizel

    @scav:

    True, I can appreciate the man’s attempts to repair the image. But good words anf touching lepers does not change the church, if he can do that I might even believe in miracles.

  45. 45.

    PsiFighter37

    Lots of things wrong with the Catholic Church (was not / never will be a Catholic), but Francis seems to be a hell of a lot better than either Benedict or JP2 (for whom I never understood the adoration…was it just because he didn’t like commies?).

  49. 49.

    Steeplejack

    @TooManyJens:

    Yeah, was just about to post a testy comment on that myself. As though the page-loading here doesn’t have enough barnacles attached already.

  52. 52.

    swbarnes2

    @Mnemosyne:

    Humans are animals that seek meaning.

    Which is why we need to be extra-aware that our pattern-detecting apparatus sometimes throws false positives.

    To tell someone that their incurable suffering is completely meaningless is kind of a dick move.

    But saying that you know there’s a meaning when you don’t actually have evidence for that is dishonest.

    I think I’d rather have the support of someone straightforwardly saying “You don’t deserve this”, rather than the implied “You did something to deserve this” or the worse “Your life isn’t valuable for its own sake; your suffering is to teach other people who matter.”

    Showing pity is just the start of social justice. Kisses and foot-washing shouldn’t be the end. He’s the Pope. He could advocate policies that would help that guy. He should sell a fancy ring to pay for treatment. But he won’t because that’s a lot harder than empty displays.

  54. 54.

    Howard Beale IV

    There’s a certain twisted irony that Pope Francis took his name from the Patron Saint of animals.

    Seems that lately that’s what humanity has devolved to.

  55. 55.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: Did you catch Tweety’s little bitter hiss at Wikipedia? Wonder if they have the whole “Tweety” story

  56. 56.

    dedc79

    Hey, Republicans would kiss that guy too, as long as he was on the individual health insurance market pre-ACA and was willing to go on Fox News, look into the camera, and say his new post-ACA insurance is going to be more expensive and won’t even cover facial cream for his boils.

  57. 57.

    Tommy

    @PsiFighter37: I am an atheist. I was raised Methodist, but the largest part of my family Cathloic. I’ve spent a lot of time in that church as my family members get old (insert funerals) and/or get married. He and I always had a nice relationship. He never talked down to me. Nor did I to him. I always felt the alter might “burn” with me and him talking looking down on my family and talking about this or that. It never did :).

    He got shit canned a few years ago. He changed the literary a little cause he felt younger folks didn’t get it. Somebody with more time on their hands then needed recorded it and forwarded it to the Bishop. He was told to recant. He refused. It got ugly.

    A man that was a navy vet, took no salary from the church, was forced out.

  58. 58.

    Goblue72

    The Pope is the first Jesuit pope. Those dudes don’t mess around. They are known as “God’s Marines” for a reason. They are rationalistic, disciplined, and, as members of a monastic order – true believers. There’s a reason while during WW2 most of the Catholic Church was playing footsie with Hitler, the Jesuits were sheltering Jews and being put on the Nazi’s enemies list.

    Dollars to donuts, Pope Francis is going to surprise folks. You don’t put a Jesuit in charge unless you want fix the house.

  59. 59.

    Mnemosyne

    @swbarnes2:

    But saying that you know there’s a meaning when you don’t actually have evidence for that is dishonest.

    That’s why it’s called “faith” and not “science.” You believe your parents love you, right? What’s your evidence? Not just some emotional Well, they tell me that they love me or I feel like they love me. Actual, hard, concrete, measurable-by-science evidence.

    @swbarnes2:

    He’s the Pope. He could advocate policies that would help that guy.

    Such as?

    He should sell a fancy ring to pay for treatment.

    How do you know what the guy has is treatable? Even modern medical science has its limits. Some cancers are incurable, even with the best access to the best doctors. So the empty gesture of the Pope selling his rings for treatment that doesn’t exist would be preferable to the empty gesture of embracing the man to try and comfort him?

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    FFS, the man’s been Pope for, what, six months? And y’all want him to come barreling in and completely overturn a couple of millennia worth of doctrine in that time? Anyone here remember what happened to Pope John Paul I? It’s so funny that people who push back (rightly) against the political purity trolls are all too eager to play purer-than-thou when it comes to Pope Francis. Give the man a fucking chance, okay? Sheesh.

    /not a Catholic, not even a Believer, but I do like this guy

  66. 66.

    coin operated

    I’m reminded of something my dad said to my brother, after years of drugs, booze, robbing the family, and finally accepting JC into his life while serving a lengthy prison term. My brother got a little preachy and dad said:

    “That’s all well and good going forward, but the rest of us remember the son-of-a-bitch you were”

    Nice PR stunt, Francis. You (more importantly, your organization) still got a ways to go…

  67. 67.

    Mnemosyne

    I guess this is my position: people are complaining that this is a public gesture, but the whole point of being Pope is to make public gestures. It’s pretty much his job description. So, yes, I prefer to have a Pope whose public gestures include washing the feet of criminals and hugging people than a Pope whose public gestures include telling people they’re going to hell.

    If your job is to make public gestures, make them good and compassionate ones.

  68. 68.

    Howard Beale IV

    @Goblue72: I’ve heard of the Jesuit’s being called “God’s Shock Troops”-so that sorta dovetails on the Marines reference.

    (Or, of we were Brits, they’d be called “God’s SAS”.)

  69. 69.

    maya

    Now if Frank would only transfer those same boils onto the butts of the very Catholic Koch bros and then tell them he’s going to excommunicate their fuquing pimply asses if they don’t start behaving as true Christians then we’d have us a rumble.

  74. 74.

    Chris

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I have to agree with this too.

    I have no idea how sincere he is or how far he’d like to go, but I suspect everything he does is done with acute awareness that the last Pope who was seen as “reformist” was found dead in his bed almost as soon as his papacy had started.

  75. 75.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @SiubhanDuinne: not much, he was talking about Rand Paul, and how no one should use, much less quote, wiki, because it’s all dishonest, or well, maybe, inaccurate

    I looked at his page, mostly right wing critiques of his Obama love, no mention of Sunny Nobility or the Package or Aqua Velva, or the original Tweety story

  76. 76.

    geg6

    For me, the jury is still out. When he has Dolan flogged in St. Peter’s Square, I might think the church is capable of changing. Barring that, getting rid of celibacy and admitting women to the priesthood would go a long way with me. Until then, forget it.

  80. 80.

    Heliopause

    @MikeBoyScout:

    “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

  81. 81.

    gnomedad

    @Fred Fnord:

    Jesus healed the sick, he didn’t tell them to enjoy being sick ‘because dad wants you that way.’

    That may be a folk piety, but I’m certain this Pope doesn’t believe that.

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    FFS, the man’s been Pope for, what, six months? And y’all want him to come barreling in and completely overturn a couple of millennia worth of doctrine in that time?

    This. The guy’s the new engineer on a 500-car freight train.

    @Mnemosyne:

    the whole point of being Pope is to make public gestures. It’s pretty much his job description.

    Exactly.

  82. 82.

    Brian R.

    Wow.

    Benedict just about drove me completely away from the church, but Francis is bringing me back in. It’s almost like he’s actually read the gospels and understands that Christ’s central message wasn’t “I got mine, fuck you.”

  83. 83.

    Belafon

    @geg6: I’m still waiting on Obama to dissolve Congress and set up a new Constitutional Convention. Until he throws out 200+ years of rules, he’ll always be a slacker.

  85. 85.

    Mnemosyne

    @John Cole:

    Why do I feel like Lisa, Bart and/or Homer at the end of “Bart’s Comet”?

    Bart: What’s really amazing is this is exactly what Dad said would happen!
    Lisa: Yeah, Dad was right!
    Homer: I know, kids, I’m scared too!

  87. 87.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Heliopause: “In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness.”

    There is a Bible quote for everything.

    ETA: Titus 2:7.

  88. 88.

    handsmile

    @Goblue72:

    Of the 115 members of the Vatican’s College of Cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio to be the next Pope, every single one of them was appointed by Francis’s theologically retrograde predecessors, Benedict XVI or John Paul II.

    I find it unpersuasive that such a body would be committed to having anyone, even a Jesuit, “fix the house.”

    I’ve been heartened by some of Francis’s statements, public acts, and apparent recognition that the Roman Catholic church must operate within the context of the 21st-century. So far, so good, on those fronts.

    But if it is not now quite an “abattoir,” the Church is a house with many of its rooms in ruinous disrepair. I would urge quite a bit of caution even skepticism on the extent and application of Francis’s skills as a carpenter and mason. He’s not an independent contractor.

    – written with the cynicism of a long-ago lapsed Catholic

  89. 89.

    DanR2

    You know, I’m as skeptical as anyone, but not so jaded as to recognize that–even if it might have been a papal PR stunt–it still was a good example of simple human compassion. Which we need more of, not less.

  91. 91.

    Belafon

    @Heliopause: And having read how Jesus felt about the Pharisees using the rules to justify their treatment of everyone else, I’m pretty sure he’d tell people who quote that to get off their high horse. Francis was praying with that man, who happened to be on the street. Jesus did quite a bit of praying with the people he met. He was talking about the personal prayers with God.

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

    @handsmile:

    I find it unpersuasive that such a body would be committed to having anyone, even a Jesuit, “fix the house.”

    You could have said the same about the conclave that elected John XXIII.

    Not that I’m quite ready to go that far with this pope. Still, it would be nice to at least make the U-turn back to Vatican II.

    (Sorry, had to correct my papal numbers. Stupid Roman numerals.)

  95. 95.

    Cassidy

    I’m not going to read all the comments, but is it safe to assume that those who complain about not getting their purity pony from the POTUS are also saying that this was just an empty gesture or PR stunt?

  96. 96.

    The Moar You Know

    I have no idea how sincere he is or how far he’d like to go, but I suspect everything he does is done with acute awareness that the last Pope who was seen as “reformist” was found dead in his bed almost as soon as his papacy had started.

    @Chris: That’s the deal right there. All of you bitching about how he hasn’t shipped people back to the US for justice or sold off the Vatican to pay molested kids – something I’m for, by the way – well, I’d like to see you take the responsibility for doing such things knowing the certain price is your life. This man is walking a tightrope where the consequences of fucking up have been demonstrated to be lethal, and he is very deliberately pushing the limits. He strikes me as not being afraid to die, which is good, because they’re going to kill him sooner or later.

  97. 97.

    Stella B

    @Jane2: I stumbled onto a conservative priest’s blog recently. He reinforced my ex-catholicism nicely. Amusingly he kept refering to Pope Francis as “hopey changey” and not in a positive kind of way. Apparently the conservative Catholics were quite fond of Pope Prada Shoes.

  101. 101.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Stella B: I was listenign to the BBC on SirirusXM a few weeks back, after Francis told the US Bishops to talk about poverty once in a while, and an Irish woman called in spluttering with rage, not just about abortion but about the abandonment of the gold robes and jewelry. She wanted a Pope who reflected the glory of the Church!

  103. 103.

    Ash Can

    @Stella B:

    Apparently the conservative Catholics were quite fond of Pope Prada Shoes.

    Boy howdy. And now they have to suck it up and deal with it, just like we kids of Vatican II had to do under the last couple of popes.

  105. 105.

    Cassidy

    @Ash Can: Eh. This place gets pretty predictable.

    I don’t much care either way. I’m an atheist. I don’t care much for religion or Christianity. He seems like a nice guy, though, and if he wants to do nice things for people, then good luck to him.

  108. 108.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Heliopause: Okay. Socially backward.

    How about Matthew 6:16? “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

  109. 109.

    zoot

    agreed. I don’t have much good to say about Catholicism, but this Pope is the real deal – the first real Pope in my nearly 6 decades. What a breath of fresh air from the slobs that preceded him.

  112. 112.

    chris

    @Stella B:

    The last Catholic group I was in touch with is pretty much in denial, which is basically their pattern WRT the entire liberal side of their belief system. “Yes, he’s doing all these great things, but it’s nothing new, JP2 and Benedict preached all the same things, nothing to see here, the liberal media is just up to its usual tricks.”

  115. 115.

    Ash Can

    @zoot: We may have another John XXIII on our hands (knock on wood).

    ETA: Without the premature death in office part, plzandthkyu

  116. 116.

    Higgs Boson's Mate (Crystal Set)

    The New York Daily News has the story.

    For those who don’t want to get out of the boat; at his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Francis embraced two men who have skin conditions.

    Addressing the crowd, the Pope said “Too often we are arid, indifferent and detached.”

    Although I’m not a believer, much less a Catholic, Francis seems to be a good man.

  117. 117.

    Heliopause

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yes, that one’s right before the one I quoted. The primary lesson from the Gospels, more so than anything you or I or any other hippie might want to believe, is that the Gospels are full of contradictions.

    What we should keep in mind, quite apart from putative holy texts, is that even the most socially conscious Pope is sitting on top of unimaginable wealth that was extorted from billions of the pathetic poor over two millennia. This was accomplished with terroristic threats that you can look up here.

    Putative Jesus offered simple, straightforward solutions to the problems faced by the likes of the man with “boils”. It does not include motorcades,an attendant press corps, or quaint little “prayer” sessions, but if you are paying attention in Bible Study Class I’m sure you can figure out how Jesus worked these things out.

  118. 118.

    Chris

    @chris:

    Ah, shit – somehow my email got up there instead of my banal first name. Cole, any way you can delete that comment? I prefer not to leave my last name up on the blogosphere, it’s the paranoid in me.

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Heliopause: That I why I originally said “There is a Bible quote for everything.” A couple of years ago, I was visiting a small church in Bruges and I was struck by the massive wealth on display. The spirit of my reforming Protestant ancestors was definitely kindled. A few weeks later I was in Rome, and while going through the Vatican Museum, the realization hit me that the Vatican could sell off two or three Raphaels, pay reasonable compensation to everyone who had been sexually abused, and just pull a couple of other paintings out of storage to put on display. The wealth is almost unimaginable. OTOH, this pope seems to at least be making gestures in the right direction. It is worthy of notice and commendation. On the gripping hand, I am an agnostic and nominally Protestant so my opinions on this are worth approximately shit.

  124. 124.

    danielx

    Sweet jeebus in a tar pit, a pope who acts like a “Christian”. Will wonders never cease…now if he could just manage to use some of the Church’s assets to expand its charitable work by, like, an order of magnitude.

  125. 125.

    Irony Abounds

    As a non-believer I have never given a rat’s ass for what the Pope says or doesn’t say. Nonetheless, Francis seems so much closer to the essence of Jesus’ teachings that it is refreshing to say the least. He also provides the added value of rendering K-Lo practically speechless.

  126. 126.

    Kyle

    @Schlemizel: Thank you for that. It’s how I feel but I could’t put it together like that. I think the new Pope is fairly amazing, and I’m not inclined to say that about a Pope, but there is no excuse for the church as a whole.

  127. 127.

    Cacti

    @The Moar You Know:

    That’s the deal right there. All of you bitching about how he hasn’t shipped people back to the US for justice or sold off the Vatican to pay molested kids – something I’m for, by the way – well, I’d like to see you take the responsibility for doing such things knowing the certain price is your life.

    Pretty weak sauce defense for a man who holds himself out as the earthly spokesman for a god that is venerated for laying down his life for his followers.

    But, whatever makes you feel better when you go to mass.

  129. 129.

    SteveM

    I’m late to the discussion, but I’m not moved by this. Francis is a smart guy doing clever PR for himself and his church (which was my church when I was a kid). He’s post-Sandy Chris Christie in a cassock. He’s hugging people so you’ll be moved by it.

  130. 130.

    Trinity

    Any act of compassion by any one for any reason is better than many other commonplace acts found in this world. No matter what the reason the Pope may have done it, I bet that man sure appreciated the simple human touch.

  131. 131.

    schrodinger's cat

    I have a soft spot for Jesuits since I was educated by them till grade 10. The nuns who taught me were strict but fair and I don’t remember a single lecture on either abortion or the evils of being gay. Also too, second to none in educating children about science. The lunatic faction of fundie Catholics hate this Pope, so he is definitely something right.

  132. 132.

    schrodinger's cat

    I have a soft spot for Jesuits since I was educated by them till grade 10. The nuns who taught me were strict but fair and I don’t remember a single lecture on either abortion or the evils of being gay. Also too, second to none in educating children about science. The lunatic faction of fundie Catholics hate this Pope, so he is definitely something right.

  133. 133.

    Cervantes

    @Trinity: Any act of compassion by any one for any reason is better than many other commonplace acts found in this world.

    I’m confused by this notion of a “reason” for an act of “compassion.”

  137. 137.

    Herbal Infusion Bagger

    @Goblue72:

    The Pope is the first Jesuit pope. Those dudes don’t mess around.

    Never met a Jesuit or Franciscan (or Poor Clare nun) that I didn’t respect and admire for their service. Ex-Catholic, non-believer now, but those Holy orders have their shit together.

  138. 138.

    salvage

    Then he got back into his car went back to his palace and continued to tell his lawyers to keep fighting the abuse lawsuits.

    The Vatican has a whole PR team desperately trying to make this Pope out to be a “nice guy” so we’ll forget the evil organization he leads, sad to see it working on someone I thought had a bit more of a critical thinking edge.

    No, don’t tell me how he’s trying to change and he hugged that orphan and said people should be nice to the poor and Bishop Bling in Germany was scolded firmly; they covered up the rape and abuse of children and continue to do so to this very day. The lawyers’ Vatican approved current and continuing strategy is to delay until the victims either give up or die.

    Hugging a disfigured person doesn’t change that fact they are vile.

  139. 139.

    Ecks

    @swbarnes2: I’m not a Catholic either, but I think your characterization of them there is an extremely poor one… You can probably find some catholics who would endorse it, but then you could also find liberals who believe that eating meat is genocide. You judge an intellectual tradition by its more insightful practitioners, not its least.

    Sometimes when people believe things that seem crazy to you it’s because they are crazy, and sometimes it is because you really don’t understand them as well as you think you do.

  140. 140.

    Betsy

    @Heliopause: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

    Matthew 5

    I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

    Psalm 40

  141. 141.

    David Brooks (not that one)

    Wife and I were in St Peter’s Square last Easter, on a trip planned long before Benedict resigned. The moment that will last was when he picked up a young boy with cerebral palsy, and hugged him for long seconds while the crowd cheered. It was hard to know who was giving the blessing to whom.

  143. 143.

    salvage

    @David Brooks (not that one):

    It was a real PR stunt, have no idea how much of it was planned out.

    But you can bet that the Vatican PR team went nuts when they saw it, pure gold! they must have cried.

    It’s weird that the One True Religion of the One True God needs a PR department.

    Or a bank.

    Or a palace and fortune.

    Or did I miss the bit in the Bible when Jesus took back his renouncement of such things?

    The Vatican is a corporation that sells a product and the Pope is the CEO who is launching a endless charm offensive to try and get people to forget what they let happen to children.

    What do you think would more helpful to making the world a better place:

    a) Hugging a disfigured man

    b) Settling the law suits around the world, giving their victims justice, throwing open all their files to INTERPOL and helping arrest the priests and others who got away with it?

    Heck, why the Pope could do both.

    But only does a) because b) would be very expensive.

    So much like Jesus it hurts!

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