This is truly a turning point for Pope Francis and the pandemic, breathtakingly so! More than 10,000 in this Iraqi stadium for this papal Mass, the largest number of Faithful at a papal Mass since the shut-down in Italy. The only thing that I find truly mystifying is that instead of using the Latin language for the Mass, the Holy Father uses Italian! It makes no sense whatsoever.
The altar girls holding the Holy Father's staff and miter are wearing veils. Nice touch!
12 comments:
Father McDonald,
The same people who criticize the pope will be the first to want to share the common cup, shake hands at the Pax, etc., the minute their government masters tell them it’s ok
By the time of Dante Italian had developed from a bastardized form of Latin into a language in its own right, with a distinctive literature.
So-called Middle English emerged at the same time, with its exemplar being Geoffrey Chaucer. English then borrowed heavily from Latin to become the English of Shakespeare.
PF has shown a preference for Italian over Latin, despite the fact that the former is not his native tongue. Unlike Spanish or English (or even French) Italian is hardly a universal language.
Well, so much for reduced crowding due to security and pandemic. Frankly, even though I think masks useless, and shutdowns counterproductive, I also think packed gatherings of any significant duration exceptionally foolish. I pray for the sake of those there that this was not a case of tempting their Creator.
Anonymous at 10:43 - you would be correct if the stadium gathering was different than their current behavior. They are likely gathering in large groups on a daily basis, anyway.
rcg....a lotta ifs there and no evidence, and meanwhile, two wrongs do not make a right, even with papal participation.
Of course, if this turns out to be a disaster, not as if we would ever see firm evidence of such, or maybe even hear of it, this far away, which cynically I must say is part of what drove this decision by the Vatican to go ahead with this foolishness.
COVID is surging in Iraq because the people don't endure the social distancing and isolation of the West. There is no reason to expect the Iraqi's in attendance at the Papal Mass to be significantly different in their daily behaviour to from other Iraqis as a group. Your glum summary may be true, but concurrently one could say that since there is no difference in the disease rate among Christian Iraqis from the rest of the population, then the Pope should go to help them Spiritually since he has had the vaccine.
I wonder if the Pope conducted Mass in Italian for the benefit of his entourage? I think it would make sense to conduct every Mass ina foreign (sic) country in Latin to show the unity of the Church in the Liturgy.
Not having been to Iraq in several years, now, and no plans of going back, "been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, wouldn't wanna do it again," I have absolutely no idea what the population has done in virus response.
Neither do I trust news organizations to provide a clear picture, as same as the USA, I could show packed venues or ghost towns to support whatever story I decided to spin.
The more educated and tuned into the West Iraqis have surely been more cautious and more followed health directives broadcast worldwide, but a papal visit is going to draw them, as well.
But, let me put on my sunshine face and say this was a GREAT idea and will not cost some of the faithful their lives, and this marks a turning point where the Vatican will now do the same thing in the West, in full view of far more detailed media coverage downstream from the event.
Is it logical to conclude that by this trip to Iraq, that the Pope thinks there are dangers to the people of Iraq even greater than COVID? Obviously Pope Francis had a sense of urgency when he made such a dangerous trip. The Mass in Italian? I cant figure that one out. Perhaps he simply forgot to say it in Latin? I doubt it. Maybe he didn't want to go against a regions preference for saying Mass in Arabic, a language he might not be familiar with. Latin might have aligned the his trip and the Mass too much with "the West" and he might have wanted to avoid creating a political upheaval.
Rcg,
Latin would have been appropriate. He’s reverting to “That 70s Show!” Not a good look
Rcg,
Latin would have been appropriate. He’s reverting to “That 70s Show!” Not a good look
There is an excellent new online Catholic publication:
The Pillar.
The Pope would have been unfamiliar with the Chaldean rite, its texts, chants, rubrics and language. In which case he would have been best advised to merely preside over the liturgy and leave the celebration to the local clergy.
I can't see how Italian would be any less 'western' than Latin. Historically, the ancient eastern Churches were antipathetic to Byzantium and so if they are still averse to any language, it would be Greek.
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