Friday, February 08, 2008

Things you don`t expect to hear: no 1


Papal Secretary of State quotes Woody Allen. (Ansa)


Cardinal Bertone has been noted for a sense of humour. He is an ardent fan of Juventus football team, and has even acted as commentator on football matches for Genoese television stations. He once observed that although the Vatican opposed human cloning, "an exception might be made in the case of Sophia Loren". Nonetheless he still caused surprise when he began a homily at a Mass to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the San Egidio community on February 1st by quoting Woody Allen`s line ` God is dead, Marx is dead and I don`t feel too well myself`! He went on to denounce the state of mind of a large part of humanity which is apparently always more and more unhappy and less confident of the future.


Whatever next?

4 comments:

Mulier Fortis said...

I like his comment about Sophia Loren!!

Dr. Peter H. Wright said...

"More and more unhappy and less confident of the future."

Yes, I think I can explain that.

In these secularist times, the more people have, the more they want.

There's nothing particularly new about this.
More money, more power, more sex, more holidays, more food, for drink.
There's no end to it.

And it doesn't bring happiness, because the passing pleasures of this world never can.

Of course people have no confidence in the future.

They don't believe in it (and this frightens and unnerves them).

They don't believe in the past either.

(It is timely to re-read Pope Benedict's condemnation, in December 2005, of the hermeneutic of discontinuity, or rupture, with the past. Wise words !)

People only believe in today, and today's pleasures, and today's values.

(No old fashioned moralising from the past, please !)

But they won't find happiness until they find peace.
And they won't find peace until they find Truth.

Oh dear, I didn't mean to rant!

But I mean it anyway.

James M said...

Excellent! Father I hope you don't mind me pinching the comment on Sophia Loren for my blog...though somehow it does seem funnier on yours (???)

Fr Michael Brown said...

James, be my guest. I`m delighted you found your way to this blog. I`ll add yours to my blog roll.