Over at Fishwrap, the appointment of Greg Burke as the Holy See’s new Director of Communications has put the always-amusing Sr. Maureen Fiedler into a spittle-flecked nutty.
This is pure fun.
New Vatican spokesman follows the church’s latest trend
by Maureen Fiedler on Jun. 26, 2012 NCR Today
The Guardian reports that Pope Benedict has selected Greg Burke, 52, the Rome correspondent for Fox News, to take on the strategic communications role at the Vatican Secretariat of State. Burke is also a member of the traditionalist group, Opus Dei. [Everyone… watch out for the flecks!]
Moreover, Burke is apparently a “numerary” member of Opus Dei. In other words, the Opus Dei membership for him is central to his life, not just another affiliation. Numeraries are unmarried, usually live in Opus Dei houses and contribute much of their earnings to Opus Dei. Burke is an American who grew up in St. Louis. [Did she mention Opus Dei?]
A major part of Burke’s job is apparently to improve the Vatican’s image in the media worldwide. No small task. Just in the last few months, the head of the Vatican Bank has been sacked, there have been serious leaks of private information, and the pope’s personal butler has been arrested. [Free The Vatican One!]
There are also signs of a shake-up in the Vatican bureaucracy, since — again, according to The Guardian — Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State, was apparently not consulted about this appointment.
[We are approaching Full-Froth.] All this provides stark new evidence of the mentality of the Vatican these days. [I love statements like that: the “Vatican” has a “mentality”!] It has been falling backward toward the 19th century for some time now, [Papa-Re?] and the choice of a Fox News/Opus Dei person is one more piece of evidence of that trend.
Is it any wonder that the friend of mine who sent me this story asked wistfully, “Are the Vatican and the tea party now consubstantial?” [LOL!]
How’s this Sister! This is from back in 2005: Greg Burke (Opus Dei/Fox News), Chris Wallace (Fox News), Fr. Z (the undersigned) announcing live on Fox News the election of Joseph Card. Ratzinger (God’s Rottweiler, Der Panzerkardinal, Grand Inquisitor, etc.) as Benedict XVI.
Meanwhile, the nearly-ubiquitous John Allen is comparing Mr. Burke to Capt. Picard. That’s not pre-emptive buttering up! Noooooo. The connection? The Next Generation. Former Spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls is Opus Dei. Greg Burke is Opus Dei. Get it? Fishwrap likes this Opus Dei angle.
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What is hilarious about this is that Greg Burk, as a numerary, would contribute his income to Opus and draw from the common treasury the amount they need.
It sounds an awful lot like what I thought the Sisters of Lorettor, of whom Fiedler is a member, did with their funds.
Wow…. except he differs from a Nun in that he is a layman….. or wait…. how does his life really practically differ from the life of a Loretto sister?
Oh, of course, he’s in union with Peter.
And today is the feast day of Josemaria Escriva, which I noted, and I am so happy about these appointments. Nutty is the word for the knee-jerk reaction of these so-called journalists and writers.
I wish the Fish-Wraps of the world would wake and realize that their magazines and newspapers are mediocre.
Sr. Maureen Fiedler should be sent to a cloister(where she can spend her time examining her life and the model she sets for catholic women). She was on a TV program last week with all her publicity for Network. More bad remarks about Paul Ryan. When she collects Social Security and Medicare, she can comment about the new budgets. Why even read her articles???
Greg Burke will do fine, Opus Dei or not. He won’t be found getting involved in a lot of Vatican gossip, I hope.
He’s a good choice. And good luck to him because he certainly has his work cut out for him. Just the day before, Cardinal Bertone said, “this is not a Dan Brown novel.”
And then, an Opus Dei numerary is appointed.
HA! The Vatican certainly needs someone who has the pulse of the media.
They are getting worried. The Vatican is getting a first rate Comms Director, can’t expect the Magisterium of Nuns to welcome that.
The folks in the Vatican could really have a lot of fun with these sorts of things. I’d play up the whole Opus Dei and Dan Brown pulp fiction novel connection to the nth degree.
“No one ever expects the Escrivarian Inquisition!” (feigned evil laugh then turning to the camera all serious like) “And you, Sr. Fiedler, we do hearby sentence you to…THE COMFY CHAIR!!!!!” *gasp!*
Sometimes it seems better to meet stupid with silly…
” . . . wait! I’ll come in again . . . “
Sooooooooo … how many albino monks is Greg Burke bringing along with him?
Happy Anniversary! Today marks one month since my baptism. I spent that month being quiet and contemplating what I wanted to do to contribute to the Church and the World. This post has given me the inspiration I needed: I want to fall backward to the 19th century!
Amusingly enough, I did a lot of reading about Opus Dei over ten years ago, and I always thought it was founded in the 20th century, and seemed oriented to the future rather than the past. The Good Sister Fielder’s bio makes me think she’s the one still fighting the battles of the 19th century.
Something that strikes me when reading pieces like this is how they come from such a place of fear. I recall Jesus saying “Fear not,” and when I finally understood what he meant I was on my way to a real life. There seems to be a lot of fear at the Fishwrap, but of what, I cannot say.
consubstatial with the tea party! bahahaha ha!
Let us hope we are falling back to the 19th century or even earlier yet. This is hysterical and a little sad.
Re: how it’s different from being a Sister of Loreto — Opus Dei numeraries live in community, whereas Sr. Fiedler just complains about community.
Yup, everybody says they want more participation from the laity. But when they get it, they don’t like it.
Congratulations to Mr. Burke!
Just to build on Papabile‘s comment:
Glad you no longer apply the epithet fair-minded to Allen. He isn’t always. Understandable considering the magazine for which he writes.
Love that “Habemas Papam” photo Fr Z!
@Fr Z,
Who was the better captain, Kirk or Picard?
“Are the Vatican and the tea party now consubstantial?”
I’m sorry Sister, are they ‘what’? I didn’t understand that last word. It’s not everyday speech, and so, being an average Joe Pewsitter, I think it’s entirely inappropriate for a professed religious to lord it over me by using a word I was told was to clever for me. It’s elitist clericalism run amok, I tells ya!
I too am glad you published that photo again, Father. I love it!
Does she just seriously have nothing else to do, or? Good grief. Next, she’ll be freaking out about the Real Presence too or something.
“It has been falling backward toward the 19th century.”
That’s wonderful news! At this rate, how long before the Papacy falls to the early 1st century? After all, per St. Malachy, the next and last Pope is Peter the Roman.
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Actually, the Fishwrap might be onto something with the Opus Dei connection. After all, the Holy Father did appoint an Opus Dei bishop, Abp. Jose Gomez, to that bastion of orthodoxy, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The more I think about it, the more I think that the heretics WOULD be the first ones to notice an actual threat to their current hegemony!
As for the quip about the 19th century, I find that pretty ironic. Lately I’ve been entertaining the notion that instead of taking the Church back to 1965 or 1962, we need to crank her back to about, oh, 1899. That is, I think, the last year in which we can be reasonably certain everyone and everything in the Church was sane and orthodox. (I would say crank her back to 1563, but that’s just too much of a fantasy!)