The more I more read about the “Make the Church a Joke Again” Gay-la, the creepier it gets.

You’ve been reading about the “Gay-la”, the “Fellini Rip Off”.

I wrote earlier that it was sure to have made all the Jesuits present swell with pride.  I then learned that Jesuit homosexualist activist James Martin, LGBTSJ, was there.

A Jesuit wrote an email to me:

“[I]t didn’t make me swell with pride. I was appalled, as were several Jesuits in my community. Don’t let up on calling out Jesuits though. Many of us need a good raking over the coals. But I hope you will have a chance to meet some “good” Jesuits also. There are not a few, including me, who are fans of your blog.”

I have meet good Jesuits.  Actually, great Jesuits.  I know you are out there, men.   DO SOMETHING about your brethren!

Today I was sent a story about stuff they ate.

Newsbusters

For Monday night’s gala, Zilberman joined forces with Versace to make the edibles that fit with the theme of “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.” But she didn’t only use her imagination.

“I took specific inspiration from the jewelry, including hand-carved rosaries and giant papal rings, that I photographed when I visited the Vatican a few months ago,” Zilberman described.

According to Bobb, in her piece published Friday, Zilberman “used edible gold to create the pieces” of religious items alongside Versace’s logo of Medusa’s head.

[…]

Meanwhile…

Piers Morgan on the Gay-la HERE

[…]

“I’m a Catholic,” Morgan wrote for the Daily Mail. “Not the most devout you’ll ever meet, I’ll admit. But I was brought up a Catholic – I even received not entirely successful spiritual guidance from nuns as a teenager! – and I still consider myself to be a Catholic. I know many people don’t believe in any God or religion, let alone Catholicism, and I respect that. All I ask in return is for my beliefs not to be rudely disrespected.”

And the Met Gala costumes did just that, he wrote. Such costumes includedsexualizations of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Rihanna dressed as a glitzy female pope, and a Victoria’s Secret model in a modified cardinal’s cassock with a slit up the side.

“A lot of the imagery was highly sexualised, which you might think not just inappropriate for a religious theme but also incredibly offensive to the many victims of sex abuse in the Catholic Church,” Morgan pointed out.

He wrote that Madonna “looked preposterous” and performed Like a Prayer at the after-party.

“When it first came out, Madonna enjoyed enraging Catholics by making a video featuring burning crosses, statues crying blood and her seducing a black Jesus,” he commented. “What a nice touch to have this blasphemous old crone [!] returning in all her unedifying glory to insult us all over again.”

“Next year’s Met Gala is going to have an ‘Islam’ theme,” Morgan wrote sarcastically. “Yes, guests in 2019 will be encouraged to wear skimpy, provocative dresses that ‘celebrate’ the Prophet Mohammad, Islamic clothing including hijabs and burqas, and the Koran. I can also reveal that the 2020 Met Gala will have a ‘Jewish’ theme. Yes, a bunch of celebrities and models will be posing for the world’s paparazzi dressed in all manner of Jewish attire and regalia, including dressing up as Rabbis and wearing kippahs.”

[…]

Ross Douthat has an odd piece but with some good bits.  His use of Proust was inspired, but he dropped the ball a couple of times in this one.  Here is the part that caught my eye:

In 1904, during a debate in France over the anticlerical government’s takeover of church property, a young Marcel Proust wrote an essay for Le Figaro inviting readers to imagine a future in which the Catholic Church vanished completely from his country’s memory, leaving only the bones of French cathedrals as its monuments.

Then he further imagined the cultured elites of some future France rediscovering the texts and chants and rubrics of Catholic liturgy, and in a spasm of enraptured aestheticism, restoring the cathedrals and training actors to recreate the Tridentine Rite Mass. In his vision, like devotees of Wagner making pilgrimage, “caravans of swells make their way to … Amiens, Chartres, Bourges, Laon, Rheims, Rouen, Paris,” and inside France’s Gothic churches “they experience the feeling they once sought in Bayreuth … enjoying a work of art in the very setting that had been built for it.

But of course the recreated Catholic liturgy and revived Catholic aesthetic would never be the real thing; the actors might know their roles, and the incense might waft thick, but attendees could “only ever be curious dilettantes; try as they might, the soul of times past does not dwell within them.”

Proust’s essay, lately translated by Catholic traditionalists, came to mind while watching the beautiful and blasphemous spectacle at the Met Gala on Monday night, where a parade of stars and fashionistas swanned about in costumes inspired by the aesthetics of Catholicism, while a wide variety of genuinely Catholic articles, from vestments to tiaras, were displayed in a Met exhibit titled “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination.”

Like Proust’s “caravans of swells” attending liturgical performances, the attendees at the Met were paying a cultural homage to the aesthetic riches of the Roman Church — when, of course, they weren’t sexing them up for shock value. But the spectacle was not exactly Proust’s prophecy come to life, because unlike in his thought experiment, Catholicism today remains a living faith — weakened but hardly gone, with as complicated a relationship to its own traditions as any lapsed-Catholic museum curator or celebrity dressing up as the Maid of Orleans.

This complication is apparent in the Catholic response to the Met Gala itself, which consisted of an institutional blessing for the spectacle — not just Cardinal Timothy Dolan opening the museum exhibit, but the Sistine Chapel Choir performing for the swells and starlets in the evening[and Madonna] followed by an angry Catholic social-media backlash against the evening’s various impieties. When a living faith gets treated like a museum piece, it’s hard for its adherents to know whether to treat the moment as an opportunity for outreach or for outrage.

But the complexity runs much deeper, because to the extent that part of the Proustian prophecy has come true, to the extent that elements of the Catholic tradition have turned into archaic curiosities to be rediscovered by aesthetes and donned lewdly by Rihanna, the choices made by the church’s own leaders have played as much of a role as the anticlericalism of Proust’s era.

[…]

Make it all into a joke.   This is Satanic.

As I read that, I was reminded of the scene in the book Voyage to Alpha Centauri by Michael D. O’Brien  US HERE – UK HERE

The colonists have arrived on the new planet and they discover a temple with strange writings, which they eventually decipher.  They describe rites and some of the colonists decide to recreate and perform them.  However, they are in actuality summoning the demon that destroyed the previous occupants.  Here’s an excerpt:

Day 369: Green Day again. A year has passed since the previous exercise in elevating our cosmic sensitivities, or “interplanetary bio-consciousness” as it is called officially. There are few people onboard the Kosmos at present, so the green banners, scarves, and neckties were scarce here. Down on the planet, however, festivities were in full swing. On the panorama screen, I watched a few celebrations at various stations, dominated by an incompatible mixture of ecological cant and jargon and an any-excuse-for-a-party attitude, seasoned with mystical music. One particularly nauseating performance occurred in the temple itself. There, accompanied by the piped-in music of flutes and drums, a bevy of maidens danced around the black altar cube. They were dressed in diaphanous green gowns that left nothing to the imagination. Somewhat frenzied, nearly erotic, and definitely euphoric, the ten young women twirled and pranced and sang in praise of a cosmic “lord” who held fire in one hand and arrows in the other. Their choreography resembled a coil, winding and unwinding hypnotically as they chanted. At the head of the dance, leading it all, was the old Russian psychiatrist lady who had been so offended by me looking at her scar years ago. She was now without doubt far into her eighties, which was unfortunate, since her gown was the flimsiest of all, nearly transparent. With flailing arms, she repeatedly let fly full-throated cries rising from her arching abdomen, a crone-nymph on hallucinogens. As the event progressed, a soft, male voice-over informed the viewers of our need to reconnect to primitive “spirituality”, which entailed, apparently, a “rediscovery of the phallic” (thankfully not acted upon, at least not on screen, as far as I know, which isn’t saying much) and a “reintegration of light side and shadow side” for the sake of universal harmony. (Ay, caramba! I turned it off and went for a long walk.)

O’Brien, Michael D.. Voyage to Alpha Centauri: A Novel (Kindle Locations 8050-8065). Kindle Edition.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

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23 Comments

  1. Filipino Catholic says:

    If I may be so bold as to counter-appropriate some lyrics from a certain Broadway musical, sung by a furious wife on discovering her husband has publicized his adultery, and now paraphrased as the words the Church ought to shout in utter outrage at the world: “You forfeit all rights to our art, you forfeit your share of our bread! Now sleep in your office instead / with only the memories, of when you were mine! / I hope that you… [I]burn[/I].”

  2. Markus says:

    As a now retired liturgical artist, these articles cause a pain in my abdomen. All pieces used in the RCC ritual are blessed. There are specific guidelines (rules) for their use.

    The people whom make these pieces are not special, but the pieces are. They are akin to the maker’s (artist’s) private prayer. It may be interesting to note that while discussing projects with colleagues, many aesthetic and technical problems were stated to be solved during sleep and contemplation.

    It appears that some in the Church hierarchy believe they are above the rules. Sad but not surprising during these times. Fleas, tics, mange…

  3. rcg says:

    So this was, indeed, inspired by Catholic Church art. It was the ‘secular’ extenstion of the black mass as The Last Supper is an artistic extension of the real Mass. What fools the Vatican and clerical participants were to provide the props for this orgy. I wonder what impression was made on the young minds of the choir that serenaded the debauchery. Talk about child abuse!

  4. RAve says:

    Nope. Not going to read it. The world now sees our liturgy as a costume drama in drag. Defending the Truth requires a spine. This pampered prince demonstrates he needs spine replacement surgery.

    Children, teens, college kids, and inquiring adults now see that Mass is just a show. This was SPONSORED by the Vatican and Prince Dolan. If it hadn’t been SPONSORED by them, then it would be simply more Hollywood bullsh**, but this was outrageous precisely because of the Church sponsorship. For which they haven’t apologized!!!

    These are the Vatican experts and princes who (we’re supposed to trust) understand contemporary culture and how to attract people to Christ within that culture? B as in B. S as in S. No wonder the pews are empty and there are so few vocations.

    P.S. it’s called the internet. If you (clerics) didn’t realize what a hyped sensationalist utterly undignifird event the annual fashion gala was – antithetical in every way to the Gospel – then you have no business being a leader in the Church.

  5. Good grief! Why would they even wanted to be part of this garbage?

    Sistine Chapel Choir’s Met performance a real ‘wow moment’
    https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/sistine-chapel-choirs-met-performance-a-real-wow-moment-56483?utm_source=CNA&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=daily_newsletter

  6. Akita says:

    I did not realize there were child choristers at this event. They will be doing overtime at the millstone factory. Big shipments bound for NYC and Vatican State.

  7. Southern Catholic says:

    “The path forward for the Catholic Church in the modern world is extraordinarily uncertain. But there is no plausible path that does not involve more of what was displayed and appropriated and blasphemed against in New York City Monday night, more of what once made Catholicism both great and weird, and could yet make it both again.”

    I don’t even know what this means.

    Ross is more liberal than you would think, so I’ve never been a big fan of his writings.

  8. tho says:

    Forcing the Novus Ordo on us is still the greatest outrage. Followed closely by the ordination of sexually perverted priests, and some with larceny in their hearts, but this Met Gala is an outrage that can only be described as low class celebrities spitting in our face. Of course, the far and away majority of our priests are extremely praise worthy to endure this blasphemous behavior, and my admiration for them knows no bounds. But at the root of the problems in our Holy Mother Church is the abysmal leadership that we have had to withstand since Vatican II.

  9. monstrance says:

    On a brighter note –
    The fact that Satan stills feels need to attack us.
    The battle will rage on to the glorious end.
    His end – the abyss.

    Southern Catholic –
    I think Ross is saying that he’s not sure where the Holy Father will take us, but that eventually the Church needs to return to the meat and potatoes that sustained the saints throughout the centuries.

  10. adriennep says:

    Sistine chapel choir boys forced into this as well? Now they’ve added child abuse to the program.
    I really want to hear who at Vatican was responsible for coordinating.

  11. arga says:

    Here is the comment page available at the Archdiocese of New York site:
    https://archny.org/contact
    I just let them know what I think.

  12. youngcatholicgirl says:

    Unfortunately, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” doesn’t really apply here, because I’m sure many (if not all) knew exactly what they were doing.
    How was there any “approval” from the Vatican? I can’t imagine that any good priest, bishop or cardinal would have given any sort of approval if he really knew what it was about. There had to be some blind siding going on. I just don’t understand.
    Not only is the whole affair sick and disgusting, it makes one want to cry. It makes me want to yell to the whole world, “This is NOT what the Church believes!”
    I can only imagine how Our Lady feels. Ugh.

  13. DeGaulle says:

    Southern Catholic, I know little about Mr Douthat, but I think, from what I can make of the lines you quoted, that you are being unfair to him. The most he might be guilty of is a lack of clarity, in my opinion. In plainer language, I interpret this statement as asserting that these liturgical vestments that were so blasphemously mocked in this charade represent the kinds of beautiful traditions that will, if deployed appropriately, please God, ultimately revive The Church.

    One is best advised not to condemn something before you know what it means.

  14. teomatteo says:

    when the Sistine Chapel Choir came to Detroit i thought great i’ll take my family. $300 per ticket!!!
    So i think i’m happy the Gayla people got to here ‘m. Too rich for my blood.

  15. hwriggles4 says:

    Here’s something I learned in college about the cross:

    “For some it is something to wear around your neck. Just a chain. Is it jewelry? Or is it proclamation? The cross is more than that to me.”

    Where do you stand – what is your statement – what are you trying to say?

    – Michael W. Smith

  16. LeeGilbert says:

    Thought you might be interested in this comment from James at 1P5. Certainly it gives perspective, lamentable perspective, to this whole mess:

    No one familiar with the complexities of an international traveling exhibition between two of the premier art institutions in the world believes for a moment that the Vatican was unaware of what was to transpire on “opening night.” The title of the exhibition itself was an accurate
    announcement of how the sacred was to be profaned.

    The first ten years of my professional life were spent in the shadow of the Metropolitan Museum in a slightly more humble fine arts museum but with no less attitude, professionalism or rancor for funding. Fine art is big business and the Vatican and the Met are two of the biggest players – and undoubtedly the Vatican is a far superior art institution than the Met.

    The development offices in both these institutions rival the Pentagon.

    There is not an iota that is unplanned.

    This exhibition has been in development for several years. The minutiae that is generated and addressed is staggering. There is not an undotted “I” or an uncrossed “T” from selection, accompanying personnel, condition reports upon departure and arrival, archival info, conservation reports, insurance, bills of lading, shipping containers, the catalogue (2 volumes / $65.00), invitations, all promotional materials. This cost very big money and it’s only done to make even bigger money – for both institutions.

    When you are dealing with these two it is “A” list only. The invitation list is the money list. It is gold and you treat is as such. You don’t get invited for “free.” It’s all about the money. You either have been a significant donor, are presently or are going to be. Five figures.

    Funding letters were produced two, perhaps three years ago. The invitations were poured over.

    The tenor of the opening was planned to the smallest detail.

    The professionals at the Vatican are among the best in the art world, their colleagues in New York are not to be left holding the bag on this – it was a cooperative effort.

    This was not a humble evangelical outreach in an effort to touch the “peripheries.”
    It’s about the bucks and the sacred while not for sale, is being bartered and bastardized.

  17. KAS says:

    What a contrast to the Vatican exhibit some years ago in Houston. Got chatting with one of the guards on the image of the Holy Face and he commented that he could feel the Holiness, and that it has weirded out some of the other guards. He said the schools sent classes, and they rushed through to stop at one or two items and then gone again which he found at high contrast to the Home Educated, whose little groups went prayerfully from display to display, reading the information posted, and even occasionally praying, and that it took them all day. Our group had a member who had studied the history of Calligraphy, so was able to add a lot to the section where we got to see illuminated pages from various times, and it was quite interesting.

    I feel so saddened by the current debacle in NY. Pray for conversions.

  18. Amerikaner says:

    This was ‘approved’ by the Vatican and lauded by Cardinal Dolan under the premise that it’s beautiful and part of culture.

    BUT…

    1. Rosaries and crucifixes were used as fashion items. The Church has spoken out against this in the past.
    2. Madonna was the performer. In the kindest terms, let’s say she isn’t a great Catholic…

    The mixed message here is a fine example of what we, unfortunately, see with the Church today. Pray the good Lord send us many saints and holy people/clerics to correct the self0-destruction.

  19. JabbaPapa says:

    I must admit to being in two minds about this.

    But I do have one clear notion — if this particular event had been organised in Carnival time, it would instantly have been FAR more respectful of our Ancient Tradition.

    These sorts of travesties (and I’m using the word in its most technical sense) were common prior to the French and American Revolutions, the Endarkenment that ensued, and the Puritanical and Monastic -motivated Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

    If only the organisers of this event had kept such things as the original Mediaeval Carmina Burana in mind, our Traditions of Catholic Carnival, a sense of humour instead of a desire for subversion, the literary works of Abbot & Fr. François Rabelais and Saint Thomas More, the Art of Hieronymous Bosch, the gargoyles of our ancient Gothic Cathedrals (angels in disguise) …

    Instead they made an insulting parade of crass unthinking irreligious worldliness, though not all surely who participated desired so.

    If ONLY this had been in Carnival-tide !!!

  20. monstrance says:

    LeeGilbert-
    Great insight.
    With Modernists – isn’t always about the money ?
    German Bishops, Man-made Climate Change, Judas, etc, etc…..

  21. clare joseph says:

    I wonder how many of the faithful in the great Church of the great City of New York have now written their archbishop off their list.

  22. Southern Catholic says:

    DeGaulle and monstrance – There was more on display than liturgical vestments. There were women dressed as priest, there was modern art that is typical in many churches, etc. I don’t believe the church needs more of anything displayed there. I also find the word ‘weird’ odd, seeing as it is used slang with a variety of different meanings in the US. I’m sure you are both right, but he is kind of all over the place, and you can take your own meaning out of his words.

    DeGaulle – I should have stated that I generally do not like what he writes and tweets because I believe there is ambiguity in what he means, especially about politics, to keep all sides happy with what he writes. It wasn’t a criticism about just this specific piece he has written. That is my opinion, and it probably didn’t belong in my original post.

  23. maternalView says:

    These sorts of things should drive us to embrace our faith not only inwardly but outwardly as an example to others and ourselves. As we embrace these efforts it changes us.

    You don’t want your faith mocked then present yourself as if you cared.

    Dear Father Z won’t quite be the same now that he’s decided the lace and other flourishes he’d eschewed previously in favor of simpler wear are not to be saved for special occasions. And so I challenge all of us to consider that embracing our faith and showing all it does matter includes such things as what we wear and how we approach Mass. We will be different taking the time to dress our best for Mass. We will be different pausing to bless our food. We will be different praying after Mass instead of chatting with our neighbor in the pew.

    Don’t let your neighbor wonder about your outrage at the gay-la when you show up at church wearing the jeans and t-shirt you barbecued in.

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