When I taught RCIA classes on papal infallibility, and this was when I was very ultra-montane, I would say that there are different levels of papal authority, a hierarchy of teachings depending on how it is framed.
As it concerns infallibility, no pope could create new teachings out of whole cloth. For example, if a pope declared that Jesus was an alien from a distant planet, we would not have to believe it and in fact the pope would be a heretic. There are protections built in to protect rank and file clergy and laity from abusive papal teachings that have no place in Catholic Scripture and Tradition.
The same is true of any pope dabbling with weather and declaring this, that or the other is an infallible truth when it comes to climate.
The same is true with elevating “pop psychology” to a level of magisterial importance as Pope Francis seems to like to do.
Don’t get me wrong, popes are entitled to their opinions, but the office that they hold which is of the utmost importance for Catholic unity in orthodoxy means they should be careful with hobbies they hold as amateurs in psychology and weather.
Thus, in Pope Francis’ recently released book, “Hope” the aging pope, as aging people are wont to do, repeats many of his non-magisterial memes which His Holiness has done over and over and over again.
Here are a couple of quotes from his book as Crux reports, that we can say, wow, I like that, or wow, I can’t believe he said that and then discount it altogether:
In his autobiography, he also defends his work against traditionalist Catholic priests, who has often accused of being “rigid.”
“This rigidity is often accompanied by elegant and costly tailoring, lace, fancy trimmings, rochets. Not a taste for tradition but clerical ostentation,” he writes.
“These ways of dressing up sometimes conceal mental imbalance, emotional deviation, behavioral difficulties, a personal problem that may be exploited,” Francis claims.
He explains the traditional look of a newly elected pope didn’t suit him.
“They were not for me. Two days later they told me I would have to change my trousers, wear white ones. They made me laugh. I don’t want to be an ice cream seller, I said. And I kept my own,” the pope says.
“The red shoes? No, I have orthopedic shoes. I’m rather flat-footed,” Francis writes.
He also speaks about his sense of humor.
“Irony is medicine, not only to elevate and enlighten others but also for oneself, because self-irony is a powerful tool to overcome the temptation of narcissism. Narcissists continually look in the mirror, they get all primped up, they observe themselves over and over again, but the best advice in front of a mirror is always to laugh at oneself. It will do us good,” the pope says.
My final astute comments: Let me put my pop psychology hat on and join the pope in analyzing his comments above. It seems to me to be very narcissistic as he is saying that he is much better than Pope Benedict in forgoing papal dress, lace and the rest of it which means he isn’t rigid and he is superior. It is another kind of way of saying “look at me” as I look in the mirror and what I see is so much better than what preceded me! I am pleased with myself!
Humility has nothing to do with this outlook, it is as narcissistic as the narcissism he condemns. What a study in pop psychology this pope is!
1 comment:
It's hard to trust a man who can't wear the uniform appropriate to him. I'd think much less of a judge who just throws on any old damn black sheet of fabric for court.
And don't you know red shoes cannot be orthopedic?
Nick
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