Loading ...
After the appointments for the coming consistory were announced, we knew that there were no great surprises among the new cardinals, though there were some notable absences, namely the Archbishop of Paris and the Archbishop of Dublin. My attention, however, was on the fine ecclesial dress of the Cardinal-elect of Bologna, Italy, Carlo Caffarra.
Not only does Archbishop Caffara know a good mantelleta when he sees one, but he also appears to know how to pray the Rosary. If he can spare the time, we’d be delighted to have him here at Cornell to lead our nightly Rosary.
A quick look at Catholic Hierarchy seems to indicate that Carlo Caffarra went straight from being a priest to being the Archbishop of Ferrara-Comacchio. That is very cool, and very old school. Today it seems mandatory that one work up through all the different levels, one by one: priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal. But in the bad old days, if one were good, one could become an archbishop straight from the priesthood. Case in point: His Holiness, Leo XIII, was first priest then later made archbishop as Apostolic Nuncio to Belgium. Which was a little awkward when he was recalled to Italy and assigned to a diocese rather than an archdiocese, and so was the Bishop - Archbishop of Perugia.
This modernist archbishop, on the other hand, looks to me something like Lord of the Druids, what with his non-triumphalist wooden crozier, very non-triumphalist miny mitre, and eco-friendly (albeit religious) facial hair:
St. Louis-Marie de Montfort,
Pope St. Pius X,
St. Joseph,
St. Ambrose of Milan,
St. Thomas Aquinas,
St. Francis (and St. Clare),
St. Catherine of Siena,
St. Alphonsus Ligouri,
St. John Chrysostom,
As both Paris and Dublin’s predecessors are not 80 until later this year (-in Dublin’s case, just after the consistory - on 26 March), they are still voting Cardinals although archbishops emeriti. It has often happened that the new archbishop does not become a cardinal until after his predecessor has turned 80.
…”eco-friendly (albeit religious) facial hair…”
HEY! Watch it, buddy…
Fr. Philip
Without the shaved head (in Card. O’Malley’s case at any rate), it looks very unibomber/Ted Kaczynski, or granola crounchie-ish (aka eco-friendly)
The beard would look more pious if a shaved head accompanied it…
(give it some thought Fr. Powell)
http://www.clearcreekmonks.org/Communitylife.htm
Fr. Philip, I meant no offense to bearded religious as such. Far from it! It was only how the whole picture struck me.
Until the relaxation of certain distinctive ascetical disciplines proper to the Friars Minor Capuchin in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, all Capuchins were bound by virtue of their Constitutions to wear a beard in imitation of Our Lord and of St. Francis. His Grace, the Archbishop of Boston, is following the venerable tradition of his Order. For this he is to be commended.
What about the shaved head?
Isn’t this also a monastic tradition?
Similarly, His Grace’s simple crosier of wood is fitting for a Friar Minor Capuchin, recalling the veneration of Saint Francis for the wood of the Crib and of the Holy Cross. Elevated to the sacred purple, His Grace, the Archbishop of Boston, will not forsake the humble livery of the Poverello and, even in the liturgical context, will, I expect, continue to bear witness to the poverty and humility to which, as a Capuchin, he is solemnly vowed. His cardinalatial dignity will only be enhanced by his Capuchin antecedents.
If His Grace were so enamoured of the wood of the Holy Cross, we might have seen him embrace it by, at least, preventing sodomites from adopting helpless, innocent children within his very own archdiocese.
Would the Poverello recognize as one of his sons a prelate who stands mutely by as one pro-abort “Catholic” politician after another parades before the public eye?
Or perhaps the Poverello would have favored a nuanced approach to dealing with those work to uphold abortion even at the cost of their souls?
Capuchins — who, by the way, are friars, not monks — did not shave their heads; they wore the corona, a large circular tonsure. The prescription of the corona was abrogated for the Capuchins long before the Second Vatican Council. Saint Pio of Pietrelcina wore the corona for most of his life, but in his later years conformed to the usage of the Order.
The completely shaved head was never in usage among monks, friars, or canons regular. They wore the tonsure; each Order having its own particular “style” of tonsure. In many monastic communities the corona was replaced by closely cropped hair. There is generally one hair-cutting per month in most monasteries. Friars are, of course, another story.
Oh PULLLLLLLEEEEASE Anon.
St. Francis was pro-death penalty.
St. Francis preached in support of the Crusaders and even accompanied the 5th Crusade into the Holy Land.
St. Francis would NOT sit by silently while Boston becomes the Sodom of the East Coast.
It will take more than an eco-friendly beard and druidic crosier to imitate St. Francis.
Furthermore, it’s a lie to state that true Franciscan tradition of apostolic poverty equates to fleeing the episcopal dignities of the high office of Archbishop or some sort of iconoclast mindset.
Read up on the first Franciscan pope:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Nicholas_IV
He’s papal portrait certainly doesn’t indicate some attempt to flee the ornamentation and dignities due the office.
and the balding comb-over is this also in the francisan tradition?
http://graphics.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2004/05/25/1085523260_8239.jpg
http://www.stmargaretlowell.org/parish_staff/bios/Bishop_SeanOMalley.cfm
Just a little technical point, which, I know, will not be deemed trivial by the good hosts of this blog. If an Archbishop is appointed to a suffragan see, he is Archbishop Bishop (Arcivescovo Vescovo), rather than the other way round. A notable recent example of this is Archbishop Sorrentino, fomerly secretary of Divine Cult, now Archbishop Bishop of Assisi.
By no means trivial, Ecclesiastes!
Thanks!
Ecclesiastes, gratias ago. The footnote in my book reads, just as said: “Perugia was not then an archbishop’s see. But as Monsignor Pecci was titular Archbishop of Damietta at the time of his promotion to Perugia, according to Roman rule he was designated as ‘Archbishop-Bishop’. We shall simply style him Archbishop henceforward.”
As for the wood crozier, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver, also OFM Cap., has a wooden one too - but it is not quite so modern as O’Malley’s.
I think Iosephus was speaking more to his general look of druidness than to any specific accoutrement -although, personally, I don’t mind the druid look.
Ioseph,
I know you didn’t mean any offense. Hey, anything that covers 2/3 of my face has to be a good thing, right?
Fr. Philip
“That is very cool, and very old school. Today it seems mandatory that one work up through all the different levels, one by one: priest, bishop, archbishop, cardinal”
And not only that, but also a quasi-obligatory parallel career inside the Conference of Bishops… It’s the ultimate goal in contemporary ecclesiastical careerism.
On the day of his election to the papacy, Hildebrand was ordained a priest followed immediately by consecration as bishop of Rome. And Pope St. Gregory VII was one of the greatest popes of all time.
“The prescription of the corona was abrogated for the Capuchins long before the Second Vatican Council. Saint Pio of Pietrelcina wore the corona for most of his life, but in his later years conformed to the usage of the Order.”
And not just for the Capuchins, the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Tonsure says:
“According to canon law, all clerics are bound to wear the tonsure under certain penalties. But on this subject, Taunton (loc.cit.inf.) says: “In English-speaking countries, from a custom arising in the days of persecution and having a prescription of over three centuries, the shaving of the head, the priestly crown, seems, with the tacit consent of the Holy See, to have passed out of use. No provincial or national council has ordered it, even when treating of clerical dress; and the Holy See has not inserted the law when correcting the decrees of those councils.”
The days of persecution have passed so let’s bring back the tonsure!
Let’s be serious, there’s a priest not 1 mile from where I am now, who regularly wears a rainbow colored shirt and two diamond stud earrings while on duty as pastor of his Church. The Church needs a major overhaul and we can start by taking a set of clippers to the priests’ heads.
Regarding these neo-Franciscans prelates with their eco-friendly beards and simple dress, it’s all a show. In their attempt to resemble a misunderstood notion of Franciscan charism, they bring dishonor to their high office.
Look, Pope Nicholas IV (the first Franciscan Pope) wore all the vestments and princely attire required of the papacy. He did this out of real humility, not the false humility of today.
Under those ornate papal robes, Pope Nicholas probably wore a hair shirt and practiced severe penances. He didn’t need an eco-friendly beard and druidic wooden crosier to feign sanctimony.
Earlier Francis had resolved to go as a crusader to the Muslims. With a companion he embarked to Syria and was shipwrecked off the Dalmatian coast. The following year Francis preached up and down central Italy. In 1214 he tried again to reach the Muslims, this time by the land route through Spain but taken ill in Spain, again returned to Italy. He preached unmolested, be it noted, in Egypt and Palestine during the fifth Crusade. Finally Francis arrived to the mission of the infidels, the Saracens of Egypt and Syria, embarking with eleven friars.
“Sultan!, Sultan!”, he cried, “I am sent by the Most High God, to show you and your people the way of salvation by announcing to you the truths of the gospel.. If you and your people will accept the word of God, I will with joy stay with you. If you yet waiver.. build a fire for me and your priests to enter into…”
The Sultan replied that he did not think that any of his Imams would dare enter the fire and Francis was escorted back to camp, the Sultan was afraid his men might desert to Christianity.
I’ve read that the reason the Popes wear white is that St. Pius V kept wearing part of his Domincan habit upon is election.
http://www.ewtn.com/vexperts/showmessage.asp?Pgnu=2&Pg=Forum3&recnu=36&number=458278
That would seem to give pretty good precedent for a Bishop to retain his habit.
In accord with Can. 705, the religious who becomes a Bishop still has to wear his habit, if one is specified by his rule/constitutions/customary unless “he himself prudently judges cannot be reconciled with his condition.”
I think it’d be hard to make the case that religious habit militated that strongly against the dignity of the episcopacy.
Ultimately, I suppose, if Archbishop O’Malley was a hardcore traditionalist, transforming Boston into a shining example of a Catholic diocese, restoring piety and tradition, converting apostates, heretics, and perverts, then it would probably be the liberals denouncing him for his habit, eco-friendly beard and druidic crosier.