Those of us who have been reading Catholics things on the interwebs will with fondness, respect and sorrow remember the wonderful, erudite, amusing posts of the late Fr. John Hunwicke. Fr. Hunwicke died 13 months ago.
He had had a few posts scheduled to publish which trickled out quickly.
What we didn’t know is that he had a draft of something for the death of FRANCIS tucked away.
It was published today.
Fr. Hunwicke was a terrific wordsmith which gave force to his prodigious mind.
I’ll make it easy to go to his posthumous post. HERE
Hang on to your caps.
One last offering from the great Fr. Hunwicke.
May he rest in peace.
UPDATE:
At the top of Fr. Hunwicke’s posthumous post, there is a quote from ancient Greek transliterated into English letters. Your ancient Greek might be a little rusty.
The quote is from Alcaeus. We have fragments of his poems, from the 6th c. BC. This fragment is a expression of celebration at the death of the tyrant of Mytilene whom Alcaeus clearly did not like. The Greek literally says,
νῦν χρῆ μεθύσθην καί τινα πὲρ βίαν
πώνην. ἐπεὶ δὴ κάτθανε Μύρσιλος…“We have to get drunk now and celebrate because Mursilos is dead.”
It was a “thing” in the ancient world to have celebratory banquets some days after the death of a person or after some public prodigy that foretold bad tidings. The Romans called this novemdialis, the nine day period, which is the term still used today for the period of nine days after the death of a Pope when Masses are celebrated for the repose of his soul just before a conclave would begin. We’ve heard this word recently, haven’t we.
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Judging from what Fr. Hunwicke says at end of the obituary it seems as though he would have been pleased with how Pope Leo has governed so far. I too am of the view that there can’t be a sudden U-turn. To try it would be counterproductive. It would require the same tyrannical means that Pope Francis was criticized for.
The obituary brought to mind what is reported about the funeral of Harry Cohn, a much reviled Hollywood executive from before our times. An IMDb page for him (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169902/trivia/) reports it as follows:
“It was absolutely no secret that many people loathed Harry Cohn, but Cohn actually enjoyed his reputation of being the most hated man in Hollywood. In February 1958 when he died, the classic comment (usually attributed to Red Skelton) upon seeing the large number of people showing up for Cohn’s funeral: ‘Give the people what they want, and they’ll turn out for it!’ When a member of the Temple asked the Rabbi to say ‘one good thing’ about the deceased, he paused and said ‘He’s dead’.”
Thank you for Fr. Hunwicke’s post.
The intercession of members of the Church in Heaven/Purgatory must be very powerful and helpful for us.
This is like a message from the dead, which is a bit eerie. But surely the dead may speak of the dead, and pray for him.
donato, great story, and another example of how celebrities back in the day had more ability in their pinkie toe than today’s celebrity duds do in their whole bodies.
Fr Hunwicke, God rest his soul, what a smart man and faithful servant of God. Francis deserved every syllable.
Not wishing to rain on anyone’s parade, I’ll say it seems to us now we have a chill Francis with manners. Charlotte has proven a point that is inescapable. We need know no more. But there’s more.
Father Hunwicke was a great and very scholarly priest and writer, and we were lucky to get him to come over to the Ordinariate in England. He was, of course, also a Jacobite, who would remember that kind of thing with great wit. And he policed his comment section, too. He dropped more than one of my comments due to the typos which all too often belabor them.
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Charlotte has proven a point that is inescapable.
Yes, that the Pope is not going to immediately make impossible that bishops try to suffocate the old rite. Did anyone seriously think it could be otherwise, except in a dreams about revenge etc, which, understandable as they are, the late Fr Hunwicke for one deliberately chose to hold undesirable. (I agree there.)
The Pope has not, as far as I‘m aware, praised the bishop‘s actions; nor appointed him. If anything, the timing suggests perhaps an urge to „create facts before it‘s too late“.
And of course, even you say „Francis with manners“. If the late Pope Francis had had more manners, his pontificate would have been much better. (A thing which, coincidentally, is also true about many offices in the world.)
I urge everyone to also read Father Hunwicke’s penultimate post dated 22 June 2024 which is about how the elite look down on “simple” people. My late parents were of course not perfect, but by their actions they taught me to treat low income people as well as I treated the rich and powerful.
I actually think this defect, snobbery, is a big problem with many clerics and theologians.
Imrahil: “If the late Pope Francis had had more manners, his pontificate would have been much better. (A thing which, coincidentally, is also true about many offices in the world.)”
Yes. Even from the first appearance on the balcony without the traditional appurtenances – bruta figura. Bad manners. Et requiescat in pace.
I am sorry that Fr Hunwicke got personal in the criticism of Francis. My sorrow notwithstanding, I agree with everything he said. It didn’t take very long after his election to see that he was a bit of a head-case.
He was also anti-intellectual. After having spent 8 years in Rome, reading St Thomas as well as the likes of St Augustine, Leo I, and Gregory I, I have been stunned to see a pope who seemed to have missed out on that in his formation.
He seemed to have done only two good things as pope: He ended the controversy about the validity of SSPX Confessions and Marriages, and he encouraged Confession.
Imrahil,
I don’t know when any Summorum Pontificum is coming, if it ever does. This pope doesn’t seem like someone who rushes into things. I do think much of what he’s doing now is implementing things arranged by Francis–as a bit of a loyal payback.
And I do think it’s significant that he chose the name of Leo, a pope who was elected 150 years ago.
Should be: any Summorum Pontificum restoration
My present hypothesis as to where Pope Leo stands is this: He is solidly orthdox and is seeking to solidify orthodox teaching but uses Francis’ favorite vague to meaningless buzz words and phrases as cover to keep the Francis plank of the Church at bay. Because the buzz words and phrases are vague to meaningless, he can do this without sacrificing orthodox teachings.