Who Does Pope Francis Love More, America or Obama?

by
Not abusing Capitalism but still hard-working

Not abusing Capitalism but still hard-working

Vatican’s La Stampa has an interview with Obama’s ambassador to the Vatican, former Catholic Relief Services Director, Kenneth Hackett about Francis’ upcoming visit to the United States and Cuba.  Apparently the whole thing was hatched not so much at the invitation of the House’s Boehner, but Obama.

The President invited him to the United States?

Yes, the President invited him and more importantly, in the context of that invitation, the dynamic, the personal interaction, was more than warm; they hit it off on a number of issues including, I think, migration, poverty, exclusion, and people falling through the cracks. Those are the kind of things that I believe they were discussing behind closed doors. As soon as we were let in immediately afterwards you could feel the atmosphere in the room was very positive. So somehow Pope Francis had a very positive view of President Obama and what he is trying to do, and they clicked. And I think that led to his decision to come.  

Then the following September I carried the invitation from Speaker Boehner to speak to Congress and I probably said at the time that this is a long shot, but Francis picked it up and there it goes.

The UN was not on the cards in the very beginning because we kept hearing it’s going to be a pastoral visit, and yes he’ll go to the White House, and then he’ll go to Congress.  But all of a sudden (UN Secretary General) Ban Ki-moon came in and locked down the UN because a lot of people were saying it is the 50th anniversary of Paul VI’s visit to the UN, and Francis could speak about climate and about the sustainable development goals, and so they were creating an environment for him to speak at the UN.

“The dynamic, the personal interaction, was more than warm?”  What does that mean? If it was more than warm was it hot?  Did the pope have the least bit of Christian council or concern for the world in the face of a man like Obama?  Is President Obama Pope Francis’ favorite person in the world?  Was he in love?  Is Obama a spiritual guide to Pope Francis?

What was the President’s reaction afterwards?

As you know well, the private conversation went on for a very long time.  And coming out of the Pope’s meeting Obama was refreshed. He was happy!

Obama was refreshed after a very long conversation via interpreter?  Was there a shower in there?  Why was he so happy?  Did his meeting with Francis succeed beyond his wildest dreams?

What is your own personal memory of that meeting?

It was two friends talking about things, even though they had never met before.  As I was seeing it, this was warm and positive, and everything I have heard from the White House since he got back says the President was overjoyed with the visit.

Why is the entire monstrous liberal machine giddy about Francis?  Is he handing over the patrimony of the Church so fast they can’t contain their demonic glee?

The lengthy interview is full of spin, but the biggest helping of it is applied to Francis and Communism, I mean, ‘anti-Capitalism.’

Some of his statements in the encyclical “on our common home” and in his speech to the Popular Movements, during his visit to Bolivia, were strong critiques of the way the economy is run. Many in the US read them as a strong critique of capitalism.  What do you say to these critics?

I didn’t read them as a strong critique to all forms of capitalism. I think he’s basically saying what his predecessors said, but he is doing it with a Latin flare. He talks about the excesses of capitalism, and as I pick up the paper and I see who has been jailed in this place and that place for some banking scandal, I see there are excesses.  I cannot believe that he is saying that the capitalist system which rewards hard work, good decisions, is totally wrong. He’s certainly not saying that the socialist system is the answer! He just saying don’t abuse things, don’t abuse your capitalism.

 “A Latin flare, eh?”  He has that. 

In Francis’ mind having more than someone else is an abuse of freedom.  As he travels to Bolivia and around the world Francis is saying that situation must be fixed.  He wants a new ‘system’ where things are no longer ‘unequal.’  If the free system where you buy goods and services and spend your own money to do so doesn’t work, then we need a ‘system’ where that’s restrained, checked.  Francis wants to impose some alternative to our God-given right to our lives and property, and then call it Catholic morality.  That’s socialism, communism, Liberation Theology.  Obama loves it and Ambassador Hackett is lying.

He’s certainly has raised this concern in various quarters about the stratification of our society, that so few at the very top have accumulated so much wealth and have left out the entire next three or four levels, and not just the poorest but even those who are struggling to get by on 30,000 dollars with three kids – that’s below the poverty line in some cities.  He recognizes the issues, and I think those who are criticizing him as anti-capitalist are going too far. I may be wrong but that’s the way I read it.

I hope I’m not going too far but, do you know where capitalism isn’t ‘totally wrong’ either?  Cuba.  The state-controlled Cuban labor scheme leaves employees with 4% of every dollar they generate, but that 4% is still some hard-working capitalism.  I may be wrong but that’s the way I read it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liturgical Music Chief Bails On Pope Francis Visit

by
Not everyone dances to that Pope Francis tune

Not everyone dances that Pope Francis tune

RNS’s David Gibson reveals:

The head of liturgical music for the Philadelphia archdiocese, who was also to play a key role orchestrating the huge outdoor Mass concluding Pope Francis’ trip to the U.S. in September, is resigning his post over long-standing differences with Archbishop Charles Chaput.

John Romeri, who has headed the archdiocesan liturgical music office for five years, said he will resign effective June 30 because “there are simply irreconcilable differences” with Chaput over the role and style of music at Mass.

Romeri did not respond to requests for comment, and it was unclear whether he would still play a role in preparations for the papal visit.

A spokesman for Chaput, Kenneth Gavin, said in an email that he could not comment on personnel matters and “there are no additional updates.” But he said that the archdiocese “will be prepared for the visit of the Holy Father on all fronts, including music for the Mass on the Parkway.”

That is the third time this week the Philadelphia archdiocese has had to reassure people everything will be OK with the Pope’s upcoming visit and the World Meeting of Families.  First the head of the Pontifical Council behind the big money event is revealed to be key to a fraud investigation.  Next a key player in the WMOF event turns out to be a lesbian activist.  (The archdiocese said it was just ill-informed blogging.)

Now this.

In his resignation announcement, which he buried in a list of liturgy news last month, Romeri indicated that he and Chaput had clashed almost from the time Chaput was appointed to Philadelphia in 2011, a year after Romeri arrived.

Romeri wrote that these “several years of discontent” on Chaput’s part culminated with the music Romeri arranged this April for Holy Week and Easter. The approach, he said, “was not well received by the archbishop.”

So Archbishop Chaput was the unhappy one.  Perhaps the Pope’s upcoming visit was just too much for him to endure.  Maybe this is part of that transforming effect Chaput says Pope Francis will have on Philadelphia.

Why does he keep saying there’s going to be so much joy though?

Gibson writes:

A clash over liturgy so close to such a major papal event, and one in which the liturgy plays such a central role, could complicate what is already a huge undertaking for the Philadelphia archdiocese and the Vatican. But such hurdles are hardly unprecedented.

Papal visits are tremendously complex, stressful and expensive projects for the dioceses hosting the pope. There is intense jockeying among bishops to try to host the pope and much maneuvering within a host diocese over where the pope will visit and who will get to meet him — and how each papal event will be organized.

Then everything must be run through a committee and approved by the Vatican. The process almost guarantees arguments, especially over liturgies, which are often flashpoints for internal church battles.

Outdoor papal Masses also tend to be huge events that must communicate a sacred rite in broad strokes to a diverse assemblage. So the music and design often have a popular, modern style that can irk liturgical traditionalists.

Is it possible that Mr. Romeri felt some moral compunction about facilitating the kind of un-Catholic abomination we’ve already witnessed in Rio and Manila?  Perhaps he fears bad weather?

Many speculated that this difference in liturgical tastes might have contributed to the falling out between Chaput and his music director.

Romeri is said to have more of a “high church” sensibility in liturgy than Chaput, who has expressed a preference for the newer Mass in English and simpler styles of worship.

While Chaput is often described as a doctrinal and cultural conservative, in the Catholic church, that does not necessarily equate with liturgical traditionalism, which is its own distinct — and proud — brand

That’s what shrill liberals call subtlety.