THE CRITICAL CARDINAL: Carlo Martini embarrasses Pope by saying Church '200 years behind'

Share/Save/Bookmark

THE CRITICAL CARDINAL: Carlo Martini embarrasses Pope by saying Church '200 years behind'
by Darius Kadivar
01-Sep-2012
 

"The truth is something that cannot be hidden". "Feigning wealth, power, confidence, good health or activism is simply a way to exorcise the fear of time slipping away from us."

- Cardinal Carlo Martini (1927-2012)


« The child sex scandals oblige us to undertake a journey of transformation”

- Cardinal Martini


Pope Benedict is now faced with a difficult choice: whether or not to attend Cardinal Martini's funeral in Milan on Monday - which many leading Catholics say would be a powerful affirmation of Church unity. (Source: persianrealm.com)


Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini passes away at age of 85:

 

David Willey BBC’ Roman Correspondent writes :

« Cardinal Martini was a renowned academic and biblical scholar, as well as a prolific author of popular books on religion.

But it is highly unusual for a leading member of the Catholic hierarchy openly to challenge Church teaching - or rather to criticise the way in which the Church often expresses its teaching with negatives and prohibitions rather than encouragement to believers.

Pope Benedict is now faced with a difficult choice: whether or not to attend Cardinal Martini's funeral in Milan on Monday - which many leading Catholics say would be a powerful affirmation of Church unity.

The Pope has rarely awarded red hats to Catholic leaders of any nation who dare to question traditional doctrine. »


*************************

*************************

THE MORAL TIGHTROPE

*************************

*************************

A Moral Tightrope:

 Scene from the Shoes of the Fisherman :

In this most poignant scene from 1968's "The Shoes of the Fisherman", Cardinal Kiril Lakota finds himself under the spotlight, wading into deep philosophical/theological waters. During a brief respite from the papal conclave, the priest who had spent 20 years in a Siberian labour camp is asked how he reconciles the justification of violence with being a bishop of the very church Jesus Christ established. While his reply runs the risk of leaving many of his peers incredulous, possibly bearing the brunt of being ostracized, it actually serves to be the defining moment of his rise to the See of St. Peter... the moment when prisoner 103592R dons the Shoes of the Fisherman.


In The Shoes of the Fisherman (Last Scene):

The last scene from the 1968 movie with Anthony Quinn. Great scene from a great movie. MGM copyright.

(WARNING SPOILER)



*************************


*************************


THE CRITICAL CARDINAL


*************************


*************************

Cardinal Carlo Martini says Church '200 years behind' (bbc)

Italian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini has described the Roman Catholic Church as being "200 years behind" the times.

The cardinal died on Friday, aged 85.

Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera has published his last interview, recorded in August, in which he said: "The Church is tired... our prayer rooms are empty."

Martini, once tipped as a future pope, urged the Church to recognise its errors and to embark on a radical path of change, beginning with the Pope.

Thousands of people have been filing past his coffin at Milan's cathedral, where he was archbishop for more than 20 years.

 The cardinal, who had retired from the post in 2002, suffering from Parkinson's Disease, is to be buried on Monday.


'Old culture'

Martini, a popular figure with liberal stances on many issues, commanded great respect from both Pope John Paul II and his successor Pope Benedict XVI.

The cardinal - a member of the Jesuit religious order - was often critical in his writings and comments on Church teaching, says the BBC's David Willey in Rome.

He was a courageous and outspoken figure during the years he headed Europe's largest Catholic diocese, our correspondent says.

Cardinal Martini gave his last interview to a fellow Jesuit priest, Georg Sporschill, and to a journalist at the beginning of August when he knew his death was approaching.

The cardinal had returned to Italy from Jerusalem, where he had settled on retirement in 2002 to continue his biblical studies.

Catholics lacked confidence in the Church, he said in the interview. "Our culture has grown old, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up, our religious rites and the vestments we wear are pompous."

Unless the Church adopted a more generous attitude towards divorced persons, it will lose the allegiance of future generations, the cardinal added. The question, he said, is not whether divorced couples can receive holy communion, but how the Church can help complex family situations.

And the advice he leaves behind to conquer the tiredness of the Church was a "radical transformation, beginning with the Pope and his bishops".

"The child sex scandals oblige us to undertake a journey of transformation," Cardinal Martini says, referring to the child sex abuse that has rocked the Catholic Church in the past few years.

He was not afraid, our correspondent adds, to speak his mind on matters that the Vatican sometimes considered taboo, including the use of condoms to fight Aids and the role of women in the Church.

In 2008, for example, he criticised the Church's prohibition of birth control, saying the stance had likely driven many faithful away, and publicly stated in 2006 that condoms could "in some situations, be a lesser evil".

Corriere Della Sera plans to give a copy of his last book entitled Speak From The Heart to all its readers.


Related Blogs:

VATILEAKS: Pope's butler arrested in Vatican leak inquiry

CROWN OF THORNS:
Egyptians mourn Coptic Pope Shenouda III

BLIND FAITH: Leader of Ultra-Orthodox
Jewish Community Dies at 102

CLOSER TO GOD: Iconoclastic author of
«Creation», Gore Vidal, dies age 86

Related Pictory:

THE SHAH & THE FISHERMAN: Pope Paul VI greeted by Shah in Tehran (1970's)

DISCRIMINATION:
 Vendetta Against Anglican Bishop in Iran
(1980)

ROYAL CHRISTMAS: Shahbanou Visits Church in Rezaiyeh
(1970's)

ROYALTY AND 
FAITH:Ayatollah Jannati Kisses Shahbanou 
Farah's Hand (1970's)

Other Related Blogs :

Queen Elizabeth Greeted by British Baha'is at Diamond Jubilee's multi faith reception

Morocco's King Mohammed VI allowing
 Female Imams to take charge

AKHOUND 
AKHOUNDEH: Russia's Patriarch in furore over airbrushed luxury watch ;0)

FISH & FAITH : "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen"

Share/Save/Bookmark

more from Darius Kadivar
 
Darius Kadivar

Vatican concern over Savile award

by Darius Kadivar on

Vatican concern over Savile award (bbc)

 

The papal knighthood given to Jimmy Savile "should not have been bestowed", a Vatican spokesman has told the BBC.

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales confirmed it has written to the Holy See to ask if the honour can be posthumously removed.

The Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, called for an investigation, recognising the "deep distress" of Savile's alleged victims.

Savile, who may have abused some 300 people, was granted the award in 1990.

 


Darius Kadivar

Church of the future? The unfinished business of Vatican II

by Darius Kadivar on

Church of the future? (bbc)

 

The unfinished business of Vatican II

 

This week the Vatican celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council (often known as Vatican II), called by Pope John XXIII in 1959 to reform and breathe new life into the Catholic Church as it prepared for the beginning of the third Christian millennium. Pope John said the idea had come to him "like a flash of heavenly light".

Rea

apfsm

by Rea on

The only Mary I believe in is Mary Magdalene. ;o)


amirparvizforsecularmonarchy

Oh My God, Rea How DARE YOU ! Mary the Queen Of the Universe

by amirparvizforsecularmonarchy on

Was not a Virgin???? Are you really suggesting this, jehdi?  You must be one of them believers in Science, shame on you.  With thoughts like that you could mislead those of perfect faith, for example did you not know the dinosaur skeletons are a test by god, the dinosaurs never existed, just because we find a bone here and there.  And you insult the faith and non existent suffering of those who supported the well thought out and democratic revolution of the wise among Iranians, that Savak was an organization used to harm human rights not defend them, by torturing people!


maziar 58

...

by maziar 58 on

F A khan

Pedophilia exist in all cultures and religions.

And YES ; FYI we Do have Akhond Bache baaz Too.

Maziar


First Amendment

.

by First Amendment on

Fine, Mr. Kadivar.........you won't see me around anymore...........
Still friends, though.........


Darius Kadivar

FA What you Can Do ? ...

by Darius Kadivar on

How about this for a Start ? : Stop pretending you didn't get my point ! ...

Don't insult my intelligence or yours for that matter ...

I respect your often witty and even sarcastic observations, however ideologically at odds with mine, when they are indeed relevant not when they are merely Cheap Shots ... 

This has absolutely nothing to do with your first comment here for which I merely protested to you for embedding your video given that I myself have been subject to deletion for merely that technical abuse in the comments section ...

 

But There comes a time when attempting to share one's "humor" once too often ... becomes a "solitary pleasure" ...  and yours is truly becoming one ...

 

à Bon entendeur Salut !   

 

DK 

 

PS: As for the Late Princess Shams She doesn't need your blessings to be remembered ... Thank you ... 

 

Being Princess Shams

 

 


First Amendment

.

by First Amendment on

I can't control myself either........what can I do? Don't you want me to visit your blogs? Just let me know and I'll oblige.......I have no intention of trashing anyone's blog no matter if it's written in ten short minutes or throughout sleepless nights, whether it's a valuable scholarly work, or a piece of junk practically incapable of being more trashed out..........If you think sexual abuse by Catholic priests is a funny, trivial or distracting subject then I believe you deserve the Retarded Boy to be your king...........I think the upcoming "adminless" site suits you best........Until then let's have a minute of silence for the late princess Shams (luckily she was not a boy)........

 


Rea

Overall, Church reformed itself

by Rea on

But not voluntarily, not because it had wanted to. Rather, because it's been forced to reform.

Is the Church as an institution still behind its time? Of course, it is.

Take for ex. celibacy of catholic priests forcing them into hiding their partners and their children and living in perpetual sin and fear of punishment (according to church dogma). 

Then, divorce. The same thing, out of touch with reality on the ground.

As for the church teachings (say, the virgin birth of Jesus among other things) being well behind time, woudn't go into it for it is a matter of faith.


Darius Kadivar

FA jan I cannot control Your repeated distracting Comments ...

by Darius Kadivar on

I can Only signal them since Only the ADMIN Can unembed the link or not ... 

I am not running the site nor being paid for what I blog but merely using it like everyone else ...

Personally As long as your or other people's comments are relevent to the blog's content I have no problem with it.

I am Just asking you folks not to trash any creative effort just because you want to sound "subversive" and gratuitously "rude" or "insensitive"....

For on the long run It's Neither Funny nor rewarding  to see such repeated sardonic behaviors like yours trashing a blog just for "fun" or to set "scores" particularly when one has worked hard and at times through sleepless nights in an effort to be a minimum creative in sharing such material in terms of photo compositions and rich video content.

 

Thank you in advance for your "understanding" ...

 

Bon Weekend !

 

DK 

 

 

 


First Amendment

.

by First Amendment on

Did it myself..........you didn''t have to ask them..........it's your blog.......


Darius Kadivar

NOTE TO ADMIN: Please don't delete FA comment just unembed video

by Darius Kadivar on

Thanks !


amirparvizforsecularmonarchy

Sadly this is not one of the times to be proud to be a muslim

by amirparvizforsecularmonarchy on

While corrupt islamic authorities are harming Iranians, their peace, human rights, freedom and progress.  In Iran the Church is 800 years behind and this is nothing to be proud of either as a muslim.


First Amendment

.

by First Amendment on

I don't know of the exact number of the years...........but pope knows better than most, that for so many years the church has been behind the boys.....

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1SRdt0dCLM

There're times that you have the right to be proud of being a Muslim......