Suppose a once flourishing international commercial enterprise had fallen onto extraordinarily hard times. Suppose stores world-wide were closing; 'Industrial relations' were at an all-time low, with various forms of industrial inaction occurring daily. Suppose the creditors were moving in for the kill.
You might think that some people would favour an attempt to discern what had gone so badly wrong. But suppose that Board Meetings enabled the CEO endlessly to deploy his rhetorical gifts. And that every time the flow of his discourse paused for a moment, the Board Members took this as an opportunity simply to say"Quite so, Holy Father" and "I do so agree, Holy Father" and "You are always so right, Holy Father".
The Church Militant is not an international commercial enterprise.
But it is more, not less, than that.
Wonderfully said !
ReplyDeleteSuppose that same corporation, which incidentally happens to be a fizzy drinks manufacturer, decided to shelve their product and replace it with something they called 'Novus Coke'. And suppose they lost customers in droves. How would they react? Would they
ReplyDeletea) persist in serving up Novus Coke for the next 50 years, because their CEO assures them that he is infallible?
or
b) reintroduce 'Coke Classicus', and let Novus Coke die a quiet death?
The psychology of certain clerics has always intrigued me. They feel that the world at large regards them as wimps in acting how the teachings of Jesus. They therefore feel the need to prove that they are as tough as the next man and end up doing things which few in the commercial world would ever dream of doing. In the commercial world the wrath of God does sometimes descend upon wrongdoers but not in the Church. The most obvious example is the cancellation of the audit of the Vatican finances.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite cartoons is by Russell Brockbank and shows an RAF padre standing at the bar with a handlebar moustache drinking a foaming pint of beer. Elsewhere one airman is saying to another "I can't stand the Padre's unholier-than-thou attitude".
True, Father. But if it were a commercial enterprise said CEO would likely be removed, along with a substantial number of his cronies - er, senior staff.
ReplyDeleteRightly or wrongly, in problem secular enterprises the head guy invariably has to take the fall for perceived mismanagement or shady activities. Then, as in dominoes, those who enabled or failed to correct the shadiness are also shown the door.
Father would you care to weigh in on the arguments being put forth that Benedict's resignation is invalid because his resignation only referred to the ministry of the office not the office itself? The position is put forward that a papal resignation, by canon law, requires a renunciation of the office itself, not just the ministry. The latin used are two distinct words and Benedict referred to the ministry in his latin, not the office. Perhaps you could clear this up.
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