Umberto Eco quote:
"We don't have kings any longer and the few who are still there — they commit the same sins that human beings do.... I think the real Catholics in the days of the Pope's death were at home praying and the people in St. Peter's Square were atheists looking for a king."
(source)
"We don't have kings any longer and the few who are still there — they commit the same sins that human beings do.... I think the real Catholics in the days of the Pope's death were at home praying and the people in St. Peter's Square were atheists looking for a king."
(source)
posted by trawlerman at 10:05 PM
7 Comments:
No, no king. Pope. Papa. Father.
In the square to morn, to remember, to pray.
In the square to see the gift of another father, a servant, a humble and godly man.
If I wasn't on call that weekend, I would have been there.
(Peter the Atheist).
to mo(u)rn, grieve near the body, not content to remain home in prayer 2-3000 miles away. No, to be near the body of one they loved. To be physically present. Those are "real" Catholics too.
Get a grip Eco.
I think that I should point out that Eco does not explicitly call the Pope a king (though it may or may not be implied). He does speak to the fact that many people are searching for a king, yes, even searching for a king in the office of the papacy.
In contrast, we point to the true king, Jesus.
I almost wonder if Eco uses the word "atheists" here to describe those who have just lost their god, not people who have never believed in one. In the event of the death of their god, they amass and await the arrival of a new one.
>>>many people are searching for a king, yes, even searching for a king in the office of the papacy.
>>>In contrast, we point to the true king, Jesus
I see this as just another false dichotomy, as if it has to be Jesus or Mary, Jesus or the Pope, Jesus or the Church, the Bible or Tradition ... ... ... As if the office of the Papacy excludes Catholics from celebrating the feast of Christ the King the last Sunday Liturgy of each year.
Perhaps a few of those in the square were looking for a king, it is a natural tendency. Certainly this tempatation is not restricted to Catholics. Some see Doug Wilson as a king, some see James White as a king, some see Billy Graham as a king, and many many more see their local pastor as a king.
The overwhelming mass of faithful Catholics are not looking for a king to lord over them I don't believe.
The Pope on the Pope:
"The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law...On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism." [Pope Benedict XVI: From a Sermon at St. John Lateran (as quoted in L’Osservatore Romano May 11, 2005]
If it seems like I've established a false dichotomy, please forgive me, but I don't think that I ever said anything at all like the following.
The Pope is a king
Jesus is a king
There can be only one true king.
Jesus is the one true king.
Therefore the pope has no kingly role whatsoever.
After writing my comment, I suspected that you'd probably write something about "false dichotomies" and I almost deleted what I wrote and changed my comment, but I left it anyhow because I was too lazy to rewrite it in a way that excluded any sort of false either/or choices. Sorry.
Do I believe that there can be earthly kings (not the bishop of Rome, who is not a king, though there may be royal elements to the office of bishop) without that detracting from the kingship of Christ. Yes. Just as I believe that there can be earthly fathers without detracting from God's paternity.
As far as the Jesus vs. the Pope option, yes, I do think that this is true. There can be only one high priest.
Anyway, I'm not quite sure why you're so quick to defend the papacy as not being an "absolute monarchy" when no one has said that it is. I didn't even say that it's a monarchy, let alone an absolute monarchy. Even every earthly king's office (as biblically defined) fits the definition of pope that you quote, except substitute the word "state" for "church."
and, yes, if there are those bowing down to Wilson or anyone as absolute monarch, then, absolutely, we point to the true king, Jesus.
I was primarily reacting against the assinine Umberto Eco quote. I don't think your mind revels in dichotomies (thank God) and heartily agree that we have only one High Priest, as the Pope is only one of a great number of ministerial priests.
Though perhaps to that staunch atheist any piety related to the supernatural may strike him as humans grasping for a king.
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