Rehabilitating Judas: Is this the Vatican Version of a Stephen King Novel?

God help us. 

The photo above appeared on the front page of the Vatican newspaper on Holy Thursday of all days. Who is that dead body Jesus is cradling in his arms like a lover? 

Oscar Wilde had a Catholic Mind - Saying it is no scandal!

The English press is reporting on an article in L'Osservatore Romano praising Oscar Wilde, the flamboyantly homosexual playwright and author who converted to Catholicism on his deathbed. The Telegraph called the move "a surprise act of reconciliation" in which "the Holy See's official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, praised the poet as a 'lucid analyst of the modern world'." The implication is that approving of the playwright's accurate views about the world means the Church approves of his homosexual behavior.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Catholic Church is filled with sinners, hopefully repentant sinners who over and over confess their sins and make a firm purpose of amendment and, in the process, move away from sin and closer to God. Oscar Wilde is an example of the 11th hour penitent; he became a Catholic two days before he died in 1900.

I think Wilde was an honest sinner who recognized his own weakness. Like St. Augustine who prayed, "Give me chastity, but not yet," he clung to his ambition and his lust. He once said, "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars" and his life clearly illustrated that. His novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, depicted the destructive nature of sin (the "gutter" so to speak), and, according to Wilde, its characters represented himself. He obviously knew firsthand the ugliness of sin even when it hides behind a beautiful facade.

Last year I wrote about Oscar Wilde in the Les Femmes newsletter in an article about good books. Here's what I said then:

Another “Catholic” writer is Oscar Wilde who converted on his deathbed. He once quipped that Catholicism was the only religion worth dying in and he managed to do it.

His life illustrates the parable of the vineyard with Wilde squeaking in at the eleventh hour. Despite his sinful life (he served two years at hard labor for sodomy) he had a Catholic mind. You don’t see it much in his farcical plays, but it’s obvious in his one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, whose characters, Wilde said, reflected himself. It gets to the heart of what sin does to the soul even if the body retains its beauty. His children’s stories, The Selfish Giant and The Happy Prince among others, are charming tales of love, sacrifice, and conversion. Wilde’s jail time was probably a blessing. He read Augustine, Dante, and Newman which, perhaps, germinated as the seed of his later conversion. Interestingly, many of his other sinful associates converted to the Catholic faith as well. Wilde’s life illustrates the capacity of grace to overcome sin. A fascinating essay, The Long Conversion of Oscar Wilde, is definitely worth reading.

The secular press has a hard time understanding how the Catholic Church can see the bad and good in a person at the same time. But the fact is that we are all like that, trapped in the human condition by original sin, constantly called to conversion, constantly striving for a return to original integrity. That explains why Catholics like C.K. Chesterton could remain friends with people like the notorious secularist George Bernard Shaw. Mature Catholics know that we are all in need of conversion and who needs conversion the most, saints or sinners? If we refuse to witness to and befriend those most in need, our charity is cold indeed. How we do that in prudence is the subject of another day.

For more interesting articles on this go here and here.

Archbishop Fisichella gets his come-uppance!

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who wrote the article repudiating the actions of the his brother bishop in Brazil, Archbishop José Cardoso Sobrinho, with regard to the nine-year-old child whose twins were aborted has essentially been repudiated by the Vatican. Of course they never actually repudiate members of the hierarchy, but a clarification from the Congregation for the Defense of the Faith carried by L'Osservatore Romano essentially overturns the opinions stated by Archbishop Fisichella. It couldn't happen too soon for concerned Catholics! Let's hope the Archbishop exerts better control over his pen and his mouth in the future. Pray that all our shepherds will be vigilant in defending Catholic truth, especially the life issues.

Check out our former post here and the clarification here.

"The Hijacking of L'Osservatore Romano"

Marielena Montesino de Stuart makes the case for a new editor for the Vatican newspaper here and here.

Confusion and chaos rattle the Church

Confusion reigns these days even at the highest level of the Church. Members of the hierarchy spout nonsense and people listen, especially the enemies of the Church who promulgate the treachery far and wide. The official newspaper of the Vatican, L'Osservatore Romano, shows an editorial policy favorable to dissent, leading to further confusion in the pews as errors are picked up and passed on by secular mouthpieces that revel in the falsehoods. Here are just a few examples of the growing chaos that challenges faithful Catholics: Abortion in Brazil Last Spring the case of a little girl in Brazil who was pregnant with twins due to rape by her stepfather hit the news. Ultimately, the babies were aborted. The archbishop of Olinda and Recife, José Cardoso Sobrinhowho, tried to save the twins and protect the young girl. In a final move to stop the abortion, he warned the adults working to procure the abortion of excommunication (which is automatic in these situations). The little girl, of course, as an innocent victim (twice over) was not included. What happened next was absolutely unconscionable! Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome wrote an article in L'Osservatore Romano condemning the actions of the archbishop and defending the abortion. Claiming to stand for the little girl in opposition to Archbishop Cardoso, he based his article on numerous errors: that the child's life was in danger from the pregnancy, that only abortion would save her, that the archbishop and local Church authorities did nothing for the girl and her family, etc. None of this was true. Archbishop Cardoso attempted to have L'Osservatore Romano tell his side of the story to no avail. The Chiesa website carries the full story complete with background information and links to both Archbishop Fisichella's article and Archbishop Cardoso's response. It is crystal clear that the Church, through the local parish priest, from the very beginning offered help and support to the grandmother of the twins and her little daughter. The 9-year-old was never in a life-threatening situation from the pregnancy despite Archbishop Fisichella's uninformed statements. It's also clear that Fisichella never spoke to the local Church to determine the truth of the matter. As for L'Osservatore Romano, Archbishop Cardoso laments that the newspaper will not allow him to defend himself against the unjust charges. Adding to the confusion, on July 1st the Vatican accepted the resignation of Archbishop Cardoso who is 76 and beyond the mandatory age of retirement. The acceptance of his resignation at that time contributed to the illusion that he is the guilty party being chastised when, in fact, he has upheld the truth and the teachings of the Church against unfair criticism and scandalous support for the abortion by Archbishop Fisichella. Chiesa's Sandro Magister ended the article asking some serious questions:

What's up with L'Osservatore Romano?

Catholic Culture raises the question and I echo it here. In his weekly Insights column, Jeff Mirus says, "The editor of L'Osservatore Romano seems to be in love with Barrack Obama. The result is predictable: 'L'Osservatore è cieco'--the observer is blind." Check out Jeff's comments here.