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SYNOD: POPE FRANCIS AND SOUNDING LIKE A BROKEN RECORD ON PRIESTS AND MONEY

 Silere non possum is an Italian blog. And like the reporter Sandro Magister, also Roman, it calls a spade a spade as it concerns the catastrophe of the current pontificate, as the now deceased Australian Cardinal, George Pell declared. 

Here is a Google Translation (with some rough spots) of the Italian post from today, October 26:

“A nice silence was never written,” someone would have said. In the final phase of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod, Pope Francis does not miss an opportunity to speak and return to some of his favorite mantras: protection money and money. Yes, the Pontiff is the standard-bearer of the ecclesiastical boomers who lash out against the new generations and claims the word despite history having shown how "this school" has shamefully failed.

In the eighteenth general congregation Bergoglio takes the floor and speaks, in Spanish, in order to attack, without any hesitation, those who he considers clerical. In the Vatican City State a synod is being celebrated in which we talk about everything except Jesus Christ and the bishop of Rome chooses to throw into the cauldron a few statements which are taken up by the press with the same emphasis that journalists lose when the Pope talks about euthanasia and abortion.

Disconnected from reality

“It is painful – states the Pope in front of the participants of the synod – to find in some parish offices the “price list” of sacramental services in the manner of a supermarket. Either the Church is the faithful people of God on the move, saint and sinner, or it ends up being a company providing various services. And when pastoral workers take this second path, the Church becomes the supermarket of salvation and the priests simple employees of a multinational. This is the great defeat to which clericalism leads us. And this is very sad and scandalous (just go to the ecclesiastical tailoring shops of Rome to see the scandal of young priests trying on cassocks and hats or lace books and dresses)".

The Pope's words are, once again, completely disconnected from reality and serve him to demonize everyone and make himself beautiful in the eyes of those journalistic entities who then love to relaunch him with emphasis. He had already addressed the same words to the Sicilian priests. It would be useful if Bergoglio named the parishes that have a price list in the sacristy. Statements of this type only serve to target parishes, all and indiscriminately, and to put them in a bad light. Anyone who does not experience these realities, listening to the Pope's words, will be led to demonize them and make "all the same things". The saddest thing is that there is no trace of these episodes. As is known, in fact, the sacraments are offered by the various parishes completely free of charge and the offerings are regulated by the individual Episcopal Conferences in order to support the costs of the individual parish.

What the Pope does not do, because he has evidently never lived in a parish, is tell people how many expenses a parish has. The Church does not live on air and individual parishes do not enjoy the various Bill Clintons, Bill Gates and George Soros who bring briefcases full of cash to Santa Marta. At the end of the month, therefore, the parish priests also receive the letter with the electricity, water and gas bills. Added to these are countless expenses that serve to keep the buildings alive but also the services that the faithful (the Holy People of God, as some like to call them) enjoy and make use of.

1968 carelessness

It is incredible that a Pope who speaks of "shepherds with the smell of sheep" does not realize that today, especially in the suburban parishes that he talked about so much, there are thousands of families who come to bring their children to "do communion” or to “confirm” and dictate their conditions. “You have to have a florist, the best in Rome. You need to have a photographer, especially in the neighborhood. Aren't you going to the restaurant? That's better too." Families with 3 or 4 children who have all, rightly, designer clothing and an iPhone always in hand.

When the parish priest points out that it is right that these contribute to the good running of the parish, people now parrot the Pope's words. So, Your Holiness, what do we want to do? Do we send all the bills to 00120 Vatican City? Do we also send the Iban like Michele Di Tolve? Are we talking to his cousin? It is emblematic that the Pope speaks about these things during a synod in which he says that the laity must collaborate and be taken into greater consideration. As if we weren't already at the mercy of the sudden changes in mood of the various hags who inhabit our sacristies.

This sloppiness has created countless problems in the last ten years. In the Vatican the results are evident and the figures of Peter's Pence speak clearly. After all, how can you blame people? A simple believer may ask himself: "But if the Pope also speaks badly of priests, what are we helping to do?". In fact, if someone did not dip into the coffers of the various powerful people who pay to see two idiotic things written about the environment, they would be less bold in front of the media because the money would run out and the lavish lunches in Santa Marta would not be possible.

The reality is that most priests live on a measly salary that would not even allow them to make ends meet if it weren't for the rectory. The reality is that numerous parish priests and assistant parish priests spend their days among people and do not worry about how many offerings are made because they trust in divine providence. They are men who have given their lives to the service of Christ and the Church and are aware that "the Holy People of God" recognizes this generosity and also makes themselves present with economic support in addition to active collaboration.

The reality is that many priests work hard every day to obtain contributions that serve to pay for a series of tasks that serve to offer a family environment to people. Let's think about the reality of the oratory. The expenses are many and there are no tax breaks whatsoever as some newsagent claims. Yet these realities are also fundamental for the family who is happy to bring their children to grow up in healthy environments that can pass on the faith to them. Yes, some parishes work so well that they may seem like companies but the term "company" is not something horrible, on the contrary. These are realities that allow the growth of young people, the sharing of faith and also, why not, offer work to people in difficulty. If "the company" moves with the premise of offering a testimony of faith, it is a good "company".

It is clear that Francis has never experienced these realities because he has always been busy being photographed on buses in Buenos Aires rather than visiting his parish priests and asking them if they needed anything.

The fetish for lace

After ten years the clergy are tired of always hearing the same old things. Silere non possum has repeatedly highlighted how this term "clericalism" is an easy way to silence everyone. No one has given an objective explanation for it and we find ourselves using it as an accusation, as a label, to be attached to anyone who "is in our soul".

Today Francis says: “This is the great defeat to which clericalism leads us. And this is very sad and scandalous (just go to the ecclesiastical tailoring shops of Rome to see the scandal of young priests trying on cassocks and hats or lace robes and robes)”. Therefore, if a parish offers services it is the result of clericalism. Most of these entities such as oratories are completely in the hands of lay people, but it is still clericalism. Then, if a priest goes to a tailor's shop to have a suit made, is it clericalism? Your Holiness, everyone who has a tailor who goes to Santa Marta can't be like you. Priests are humble people who have to go to tailors to cut costs.

Then it is clear that it is a choice of style. There are those who are decorous and have their measurements taken and there are those who are sloppy and prefer their black trousers to be seen under their white cassock which is 5 cm shorter. We wouldn't call it clericalism but decorum. It's not that poverty and simplicity can be translated as sloppiness and unkemptness.

Here, however, some fetishes of the Pope re-emerge as he loves to focus on these things. After all, it is the Sixty-eight mold, a real soul that emerges when these people speak off the cuff and spit out all their hatred. The problem of the Church, according to them, would be the fact that a cleric wears a spool with lace. They are the ones who look at whether that spool is 10 or 20 cm. They are the ones who focus on these things, not the young priests. People don't even care. On the contrary! People are used to praising decorum and beauty. And it is simple to understand that if a priest puts a lace he does not do it for himself but he does it for the celebration, for the Lord that he is representing and serving.

These sixty-eighters, here there is also the aggravating circumstance of being a Jesuit let alone, spend their day discussing these things. This is a real generational struggle within the clergy. By now, most young priests are very clear that the problems of life are very different. Soon, thanks to this pontificate, we will have to think about how to make it to the end of the month. These '68 priests, however, were used to having food ready every day, clearly served by the housekeeper, and therefore they always had a lot of time to chat about these things. Consider that in some seminars the entire training course is based on these criteria. We focus on whether the cleric has his hands clasped or not, whether he reads Philothea or not, whether he has lace at the altar or not. Entire training programs based on the ideologies of the various rectors on duty. This is the drama that is being experienced and that someone has chosen to divinely represent.

While the people of God, but not only, are losing their faith and the Church and the Pope are no longer certain points of reference, Francis chooses to dedicate a speech in which he brings forward all his worries within a Synod that nothing deals with these topics. What can we say, are we surprised that Rupnik and Zanchetta are covered up? Well, they don't wear lace. Rupnik doesn't even have a price list for the sacraments, he doesn't administer them either. For mosaics, however, millions circulate.