A few observations

 

There is a movie coming about a Pope crushed under depression. 

Ho hum.

I think lefties and liberal Catholics are going to be dreadfully disappointed when Pope Benedict goes to England.

  • He is not going to fit the image promoted by the MSM and their twisted expectations.
  • They will see a man who is joyful and serene.
  • He will not be depressed or morose or crushed or over-burdened.
  • He will not soften his message to the English people about the need for God in their lives.
  • He will not dodge hard issues, such as the clerical abuse controversy, but will confront them head on.
  • People will flock to see him and listen to what he has to say and his message will make more sense than what they get from the MSM.
  • Vocations to the priesthood and religious will rise after his visit.

Some people are suggesting that perhaps Pope Benedict should cancel his trip to the UK because of what is going on.

I don’t think that is going to happen.  I think he will go, especially because of the importance of Ven. John Henry Newman’s beatification.

I am sure you can add your own observations.

 

Furthermore, I also hope he appoints a certain priest as Archbishop of Southwark, … but I digress….

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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32 Comments

  1. Apparently this Moretti guy is not exactly someone known for wholesome Catholic entertainment, ahem. So I guess we should be happy if depression is the worst thing he can come up with.

  2. Magpie says:

    I’m hoping to attend part of the UK trip to show my support. Me and my friends. The young people – the future of the Church!

  3. irishgirl says:

    And we know ‘who’ the priest is, don’t we?

    It would be great if ‘he’ was appointed….

  4. I’d also be great if another certain priest got appointed as well

  5. Tom in NY says:

    If there is turmoil, shouldn’t the Holy Father do his part to ease it?
    Mt. 9:12: But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. (AV)
    Salutationes omnibus.

  6. Randii says:

    I don’t know what will happen but I will not be surprised to see the trip “delayed”.

    Everything else aside, there are going to be massive anti-Catholic demonstrations as well as large crowds turning out to support the Pope. When you have emotionally energized crowds in that kind of situation things can easily get out of hand and people hurt.

    IMO the Vatican needs to think of that before going ahead with the visit. If serious incidents/violence were to happen this will be a PR disaster for the church – on top of everything else going on now.

  7. spesalvi23 says:

    Now all we need is for England to be kicked out of the World Cup by Germany in the usual way -> caving in to the steely nerved Germans and losing by penalty shoot-out.

    Even better, if a Catholic would kick the winning penatly for Germany. A Bavarian Catholic would be the maximum, and the possibility of that is not even too far fetched.

    (sorry, one is allowed to dream, right)

    Then, I would suggest to delay the trip. Only then.

    Anyway. This world cup thing will be a very nice destraction. It will certainly dominate the papers for a looong time.

  8. RichardT says:

    “He will not be depressed or morose”

    Well, he might be at some of the Masses if the usual diocesan liturgists are in control.

  9. RichardT says:

    Randii, there won’t be “massive” demonstrations. At most events there will be a few dozen noisy protesters, who will get more media attention than their numbers deserve. One big event might get a couple of hundred, but I shall be very surprised if there are more than that.

    The Church’s greatest enemy in England is apathy. Most people, even those who will make snide comments about the abuse scandal, aren’t bothered enough to actually do anything about it.

  10. Randii says:

    I don’t think you can assume people will flock to see the Pope if he goes through with the trip to England.

    I think some are missing the real effect this is having on the faith of many otherwise orthodox Catholics and regular Sunday Mass goers.

    You are starting to see this on the Catholic Answers forums. But the real or more accurate measure IMO are the conservative and tea party blogs. Practicing Catholics make up a significant proportion of posters on these blogs. For many, from their posts, they no longer trust the Vatican. Some are starting to question their faith.

    Below is a link to such a post from a devout Catholic who now has doubts about the Vatican’s motives.

    IMO, to assume this is not having a real effect in the pews is a mistake and to assume large crowds will flock to see the Pope in England while protests will be small is assuming way too much.

    The blog is run by a conservative radio host out of Texas. read Annette’s post.

    http://www.goldtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=261883#post261883

  11. chcrix says:

    Overall I would suggest that when this current feeding frenzy is over the net result will be positive.

    The reason being that the already discredited MSM has squandered a chunk of their dwindling reserves of credibility. The more people realize that they must verify facts for themselves and not trust what the papers or the government says about issues, the better.

  12. Pope Benedict XVI is not “crushed” or “depressed”; he may be extremely distressed or filled with sorrow, compassion, at all that is going on (has gone on).
    His words the past few days are the words of a man of hope, faith and love for the Lord; compassion for ALL who have suffered, a man desirous of bringing the Church into great holiness and fidelity.
    His visit to England may be met with the evil of all kinds of everything; but he is faithful to his mission.
    He is a man of God. Ad multos annos!

  13. Scott W. says:

    Again, the worst thing to do is cancel or delay the trip. For one, it basically teaches the opposition that they can shut down papal visits just by making alot of wind. Secondly, the “the timing is bad” excuse has no stopping point. “Well he should delay because of abuse crisis” Seven months later it’s, “Well, the Pius XII Holocaust thing has flared up again.” After that it’s “Well he should delay because the press is running their AIDS in Africa caused by Church teaching” meme again. And on into infinity. My guess is the Holy Father will take the motto of his predecessor: “Be not afraid.”

    As far as orthodox Catholics having doubts, that’s a mixed bag that has nothing to do with cancelling the trip. In my own case I was coming into the Church right smack-dab in the middle of the 2002 media feeding frenzy. It wasn’t a major factor in my conversion, but it wasn’t hard to see that it was unjust maligning back then as it is now, and that only gave me the clue I was on the right track.

  14. wanda says:

    Magpie, I’m so happy you will be able to get to part of our Holy Father’s trip to the UK. Remember though, you ARE the church NOW, and you give me the impression that we can have hope for the future of Holy Mother Church.

  15. edwardo3 says:

    I really wish Mel Gibson would make a movie about Pio Nono and Pius XII.

  16. RC2 says:

    You forgot to add: he will not be arrested.

  17. Henry Edwards says:

    There is a movie coming about a Pope crushed under depression.

    I wonder whether it’s based, to one extent or another, on Pope Paul VI.

  18. AnAmericanMother says:

    ScottW, I’m with you.

    My journey to conversion started a long time ago, when I was reading medieval and renaissance history in college.

    It was given a strong push when Cornwell’s execrable book on Pius XII came out. The hysteria from the usual suspects about what appeared to be a very holy and good man started me thinking, “Why are they so hell-bent on defaming this man?” I concluded that they were afraid of him. Which leads one to ask what they fear . . . which we figured out was The Truth.

    So when all the fuss in 2002 started it did not deter us one bit.

    I have a suspicion anyway that a lot of these message board “I’ve always been a faithful Catholic, but this *fill in the blank here* has turned me off, and I’ll never, never, never go to church again” are exactly like the people who get interviewed in the papers or on TV who swear they are “lifelong Republicans, but this *fill in the blank here* has turned me off and I’ll never, never, never vote Republican again!” The political ones usually turn out to be members of liberal activist groups and have voted for Democrats all their lives.

  19. I recall people thinking that the Pope shouldn’t come to the US, because it would be all horrible and bad.

    And the hard truth is that Catholics getting hurt, or even (God forbid) the Pope getting hurt, is never a PR problem for the Church in the long run. Martyrs _are_ the Church’s PR.

  20. anna 6 says:

    If Benedict didn’t cancel his trip to Turkey which was two month after his speech in Regensberg, he certainly is not going to cancel the trip to England…nor should he! While the current situation is extreme, there are protests on every papal trip and each one has its own risks. I predict that as usual, he will disarm many of his critics with his brilliance, humility, holiness and grandfatherly charm. Benedict is a brave Bavarian. Happy Birthday Holy Father!

  21. pattif says:

    So many good points already made. This man does not “do” depressed: he is so well connected to the source of genuine joy and hope, rather than their secular counterfeits, and he exudes enthusiasm for his priesthood.

    I am so looking forward to the Holy Father’s visit to England, primarily because I know that he will bring great joy to faithful Catholics and an important boost to the morale of our priests.

    In addition, I also remember the astonishing opportunity for evangelisation that Pope John Paul II’s visit brought in 1982. Sadly, that opportunity was squandered, but my fervent prayer is that, thanks to the children of Pope John Paul, and with his ongoing intercession, this visit will bear real fruit.

  22. deborah-anne says:

    Pope Benedict is humble, brilliant, holy and courageous. I believe he will go to the UK. Amidst the scandals and irrespective of the vitriol spewed in his direction, his love of Christ and the Holy Mother Church will propel him. The truth and goodness is no match for the devil, and no one knows it better than he.

  23. Wayne NYC says:

    Pope Benedict is Christ’s vicar
    on earth.He will go to England
    and preach the truth “in season
    and out of season”.Every day I thank
    God for giving us this Holy Father.
    Liberalism is in now in Total War
    mode viz.our Catholic Faith. I’m 58
    years old and I can’t remember any
    thing comparable to this coordinated
    attack.
    God made us to know,to love and to serve Him.
    All Catholics are obliged to ” know “how
    far from truth the MSM is venturing to
    oust the Church from the public square.
    If some are losing the faith over these half
    truths then more than ever they must seek out all the faithful Catholic sites who’ve been excellent in getting the facts out.This site is
    pre-eminent in this regard.Thank you FR.Z.

  24. Hidden One says:

    Habemus papam sanctam et pro eum orare necesse est.

    We have a holy Pope, and we need to pray for him.

  25. Dauphin says:

    I think people get too worked up about some negative press. We shouldn’t be like political partisans, wringing our hands at every bad news story and obsessing over the shifting winds of public opinion. We have something eternal in the Church, and the promises of Christ deserve full confidence. The Holy Spirit is our PR agent. Don’t worry.

    If the Pope’s visit to Turkey went forward without disruption, his visit to the U.K. is sure to go smoothly. And if there are protesters, all the better! If he’s not being ignored then it means he has something challenging or meaningful to say. It’s a poor and timid preacher who fails to stir up controversy. Protesters will only give him a more prominent platform to try to revive a spiritually dead society.

  26. catholicmidwest says:

    Dauphin,

    Of course, you are correct. The church has been through much more before and it will be all right. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t work to be done or things to be wary of. Only that Christ has already won the war; we just need to get through the battles.

    And of course our concern for Pope Benedict XVI is natural. We love him. And we must keep praying for him, because he bears a huge burden and because England’s culture is in free-fall. They’re even worse off than we are, if you can imagine that.

  27. catholicmidwest says:

    But as Dauphin said, Courage. And Prayers.

  28. DisturbedMary says:

    The movie and press Drama Queens are living out their closet fantasies. They experience goathood while Benedict is a beloved and cherished man of God.

  29. Bressani56 says:

    Fr. Zuhlsdorf, is there a way to depose a monk, or can that only be done by the Abbot?

    Anthony Ruff, an ‘expert’ on Sacred music, publicly stated the following on April 17:

    “And now we learn that the authorities in Munich pressured Fr. Gruber to take full responsibility in order to remove the Pope from the firing line –i.e, protecting Church/Pope comes before truth. The Pope has yet to speak to the Munich case, take responsibility, or apologize to Fr. Hullerman’s victims. This makes the Pope’s every word about liturgical renewal, in my mind, rather hollow and hypocritical. Maybe he’ll yet do the honorable thing. I hope so and I pray for it. Until then, he doesn’t have much moral credibility in the eyes of many people.”

  30. AnAmericanMother says:

    I guess Anthony Ruff believes everything he reads in the paper.

    And the Spiegel, at that.

    He believes what he wants to hear. But the archdiocese has already denied that this is true – in fact, somebody was trying to pressure Gruber to say that he had been pressured, if that makes sense.

    No doubt somebody, like Ruff, who hates the Pope and is willing to go one step beyond believing anything bad he reads about the Holy Father, to generating something bad.

  31. AnAmericanMother: A. Ruff has no credibility in my opinion, at all.
    St. John Abbey, Collegeville, MN has enough to deal with re: abuse of minors.
    And that “Pray Tell” business is just nuts.
    He should just “put a sock in it”, to be kind, here.

  32. Bressani56: Do not hold thy breath…there are all kinds of everything wrong going on at that Abbey.
    Until law enforcement stepped in, it was pretty much a “playground” for all kinds of misbehavior.
    If you want (or can stomach) the details:http://www.behindthepinecurtain.com/
    This is not, in any way, to defame or cause scandal; it’s the public record.
    And it’s absolutely horrendous.

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