In Amoris laetitia, in the English translation of the authoritative but non-existent Latin, such phrases as "Irregular Relationships" are always printed thus, i.e. within inverted commas. I decided to demonstrate this blog's loyalty and subservience to the current regime by always printing the words "Pope Francis" or "Holy Father" (etc.) within inverted commas.
But then I realised that such a convention would make it appear, to those who do not regularly read this blog, that I espoused the silly but also disastrously dangerous heresy of Sedevacantism. Which I most certainly do not.
Can some intelligent reader suggest a way in which, without creating such a misunderstanding, I could emulate the Holy Father's new and exciting typographical usage?
Just a moment: I've had a brilliant idea: could we not commission a Revised Standard Version Even-More-Catholic-Edition lectionary in which, within the Decalogue, the terms "Kill", "Adultery", "Steal", "False Witness", "Covet" will all be printed within inverted commas?
And how about a new liturgical convention: whenever the priest, or deacon or subdeacon, has to read/sing some unBergoglian judgmental term in the silly old Scriptures, he will (first having made a moderate inclination to the crucifix) turn towards the people and make the conventional "inverted commas" sign (putting both his hands up by his ears and waggling the index and middle fingers) ... Ecclesia Dei must lose no time issuing a formal decree to this effect ... we shall need a new edition of Fortescue O'Connell ... preachers will need to get into the habit of doing the same thing during homilies ... perhaps the entire congregation should do it during the Pater noster when we get to the word "Evil" at the end ...
There! I bet some of you doubters out there never thought this pope would usher in a great new era of ritual innovation and pedantic rubricism!!!
Viva il Papa!!
How about *Pope* Francis and **Pope Emeritus** Benedict XVI? (Ref. footnotes below).
ReplyDeleteYou can then put any old thing in the explanatory footnotes because no one will read them critically anyway.
Fr. H :" ". . . turn towards the people and make the conventional "inverted commas" sign (putting both his hands up by his ears and waggling the index and middle fingers) ..." "
ReplyDeleteFOCL !
Thank you for making my morning Fr H. - My face still hurts from smiling.
God bless you.
Optime Pater,
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a disease of the modern Italian language, which seems to have crept into the exhortation. Signs in Italian shops, public facilities of all kinds, etc. have random words and phrases in quote marks all over the place; it's become one of those things that foreigners in Italy make fun of constantly, because there is clearly no reason for it whatsoever.
Or what about: Annuntio vobis "gaudium" magnum.
ReplyDeleteSo many possibilities.
Now now. You're sounding peevish. Relieve the temptation to do so by not looking beyond the mountains; it is unsightly there, and entirely irrelevant if you let it be.
ReplyDeleteGeorge Orwell used to speak of "silly clever people" (inverted commas indicating a quotation, just to make it clear). Do you see yourself as such, Farve?
ReplyDeleteOxford University Press has gone part of the way (in two ways) toward such a lectionary/bible with its "New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version" based on the New Revised Standard Version and done by some of those who produced the Inclusive Language Lectionary.
ReplyDeleteIts introduction describes it as "undertaken the effort to replace or rephrase all gender-specific language not referring to particular historical individuals, all pejorative references to race, color, or religion, and all identifications of persons by their physical disability alone, by means of paraphrase, alternative renderings, and other acceptable means of conforming the language of the work to an inclusive idea."
All they need now do is to "revise" the work already done (NT and Psalms) concerning offensive moral language and complete the task with the rest of the Bible.
See http://www.bible-researcher.com/ntpiv.html for more about this version.
Linguistic PCism.
ReplyDeleteSomething like this came up at Pater Zedissime's a while ago; I think this is something to do with Vatican House Editorial Policy (compare the use of comma in The New Yorker). Plenty of documents under Vatican letterhead have (in their English versions, to an English reader's sensibilities) an odd obsession with “”, from Pope St. John Paul's time through Benedict's. I'm quite certain the marks are neither ironic nor “scare”, but what they do mean I can't quite fathom. One would have to ask the Editor to form a better idea (though, of course, he might obfuscate).
ReplyDeleteI have commented elsewhere on imprecise language intended perhaps to avoid offence, but then Truth will always be offensive to those who wish it otherwise.
ReplyDeleteNow Irregular relations can mean several things. A couple just having off during a weekend in the Algarve, an active homosexual couple at it for more than a week end, or perhaps a couple involving one Catholic who is divorced and remarried and therefore living in mortal sin as an adulterer.
Sorry? My problem, not being very intelligent you see, is that I can't think of a “nice” way to say it!
You are simply providing the same type of clarity as Francis.
ReplyDeleteI think that ship has already sailed, Father, given that certain terms – Hell, Sin, Purgatory and so on – have been banished from preaching these past four or five decades. Where there is some liturgical reference to these distasteful images, the ‘Spirit of Vatican II’ presider will turn verbal cartwheels seeking ‘nicer’ terminology.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it would appear now that they have pontifical license and papal example to follow.
Some wonderful examples of the modern usage here. The site offers a "h/t" (?) to Fr H.
ReplyDeleteDear Father. This is smashing; very funny and courageous.
ReplyDeleteABS is considering using air quotes for " evil " this Sunday
Two notices I have seen. (i) In a bell tower: Please do not "tie knots" in these ropes.(ii) A sad one in an empty shop window: We have not "moved". We have "closed down".
ReplyDeleteA former Presentation College school chum of Damian Thompson, the late Jonathan Bowden, had the most marvelous and unaffected way of inserting the phrase "quote unquote" into any random sentence. It was exhilarating to observe. Despite his education or perhaps because of it, Bowden never converted and became the BNP's cultural officer during the Griffin years. On which point, one hopes Griffin will follow his best man, Joe Pearce, into the Church. Bowden would have been a great catch.
ReplyDeleteHilarious.
ReplyDeleteYou could always italicize.