The above video highlights a sad chapter in Pope Benedict’s papacy, but the video shows a bit of the Apostolic Palace that Pope Leo will use as His Holiness’ residence to include a few people of His Holiness papal court who will live with him in community:
Thank God that Pope Leo understands the sacramentality of the monarchial court. The sacramental image of kings, queens, princes, princesses and palaces and their trappings is embedded in Jesus Christ’s very words. The Gospel for Thursday of the 20th Week of Time is a prime example.
Only Catholic puritans would askew the imagery of earthily kingdoms as a metaphor for the Kingdom of God on earth and most especially in heaven. The trappings of kingly things is indeed a sacramental sign that Pope Leo is recovering after the stripping of it for the past 12 years.
Soon Pope Leo will move into the Apostolic Palace papal apartment and take with him his papal court.
Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II and all other popes, except for our most humble pope of all centuries, Pope Francis, all had their kingly court.
Lifesite news reports this about Pope Leo’s court:
Pope Leo is to be accompanied by a small community, somewhat mirroring the style of Pope John Paul II. Alongside his private secretary Father Edgard Rimaycuna Inga – whose presence is not out of the norm – the Pope will be joined by a small group of Augustinians.
The religious – believed to be three in number and from Nigeria, Italy, and the Philippines – will join the daily household life of the Pope, taking meals with him and being present at his private Masses.
26 comments:
"Thank God that Pope Leo understands the sacramentality of the monarchial court. The sacramental image of kings, queens, princes, princesses and palaces and their trappings is embedded in Jesus Christ’s very words."
Utter nonsense.
Monarchical "trappings" are signs of power. The kingdom of God is about the powerless.
Monarchical "trappings" are about accumulated wealth. “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’"
Monarchical "trappings" are about societal status. "...and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something,..."
Sad that you know nothing about redemption, but given your theological leanings, completely understandable..
Fr. Michael, I'm curious where you see the limits on this. Where does one draw a principled line between outward trappings? Your line of thinking would seem to apply to all vestments. Yet, we know from the Old Testament, for example, that God gave specific instructions about these sorts of things.
News media spin...
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Fox News:
-- Pope Leo opts to share papal residence with four associates, breaking with tradition
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Herald Sun:
-- Pope breaks with tradition in Vatican’s most exclusive pad
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AI Overview:
"Pope Leo XIV is breaking with modern tradition by moving into the official papal residence in the Apostolic Palace and sharing it with a small number of "flatmates" from his religious order."
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Pax.
Mark Thomas
Fr. ALLAN McDonald - Sad that you know little about Scriptural hermeneutics, preferring the very Protestant eisegetical method - reading your own ideas, opinions, and prejudices into the Scriptures rather than drawing out the author's meaning. But, then, you've told us here many, many, many times how poor your seminary education was, so this should not be surprising.
Next, you'll be touting the Prosperity Gospel, telling us that God wants us all to be materially wealthy.
Marc - Ostentacious wealth and the trappings that go with it - palaces, titles such as "prince of the Church" and "monsignor" (my lord), sumptuous and expensive fabrics like watered silk and satin, precious jewels on miters, etc - have nothing to do with redemption. The vestments used at mass are not monarchical in origin and can be very elegant and beautiful without ostentation.
For most of these young reporters 12 years of one pope living in the Vatican II Motel 6 is a lifetime. They should be reprimanded for not doing their homework.
Marc, fr. Calvin is just jealous. You hate what you can’t have and what you are passed over for. Ask him about the palace he lives in on Wilmington Island next door to Paula Deen!
I can see the distinction you're making, but I'm not sure how it applies objectively -- who determines what is ostentatious?
Father McDonald said..."Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II and all other popes, except for our most humble pope of all centuries, Pope Francis, all had their kingly court."
Pope Francis (requiescat in pace), in line with the above holy Popes, had a Papal Household.
From: AI Overview:
"Pope Francis has often expressed gratitude to his papal household and Vatican employees in general.
"In summary, Pope Francis has a history of recognizing and appreciating the contributions of his papal household and other Vatican employees, both in his formal addresses and in his actions, demonstrating a focus on their well-being and acknowledging their vital role in the functioning of the Church."
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Example:
ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS TO THE GENTLEMEN OF THE PAPAL HOUSEHOLD AND THEIR FAMILIES
Friday, 10 January 2014.
Excerpt:
"Dear Friends,
I greet you all and I thank you for your service, which consists in welcoming and accompanying the many dignitaries who come to meet the Successor of Peter, as well as being present at official ceremonies and receptions.
"Dear Gentlemen, the various authorities and other dignitaries who come to visit the See of Peter have their first contact with, and form their first impression of, this Household through you."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Nothing humble about living in the Vatican II Motel 6. $200,000 a month more than if he chose the palace.
Marc - "characterized by vulgar (such as the current Oval Office) or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice."
"See how wealthy and powerful I am? I've got precious gems on my incredibly expensive silk vestments, the most costly tapestries hanging in the halls of my unnecessary "palace" where only the rich and powerful can see and appreciate them. And you think YOU have an impressive approach to your palace? Just look at this colonnade my guy Bernini designed for me. Those columns are Tuscan order, in case you didn't know. Isn't that impressive?
As for the rectory I live in, Bryson Drive is a dirt road, maintained by some of the folks who live on it. Built by Msgr. Jim Costigan, may he rest in peace, it is a comfortable home for two priests with two apartments at either end and common space - living/dining rooms, kitchen, half bath, and laundry room - in between. Oh, it has a screened in back porch, too.
Paula Deen's former home, Villa Sacadura, is a waterfront mansion and is 2.6 miles from my rectory. It sold in 2023 for $8.4 million. Ostentacious.....
(Sacadura appears to translate "extraction." Don't ask me...)
I think it’s about each pope being true to themselves.
Francis said he needed to be around others. Politically he also didn’t want access to him controlled by the Curial mafia or his visitors monitored. Leo prefers to live in a small community.
Horses for courses really!
I used to like the way Francis would pop out to the opticians or his favourite shop.
Father McDonald, you have determined that Pope Francis (requiescat in pace) lacked humility. That is your opinion.
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Father, my comment at 2:33 pm focused upon your declaration that "Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II and all other popes, except for our most humble pope of all centuries, Pope Francis, all had their kingly court."
I noted that Pope Francis, in line with the holy Popes that you had referenced, had a Papal Household. In addition, Pope Francis had praised and thanked his Papal Household for their service to God, as well as Holy Mother Church.
Thank you.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
For Fr McD everything is newspeak so humility means self-referential.
It could be that the finery that offends some is actually appropriate since it respects both the giver and the God to whom it is given. The Pope treats both respectfully by displaying and using the gifts, elevating them for other to see. He then uses the attention the finery draws to proclaim the need for Peace and Justice. He is using his allotment of talents well. Hiding gifts squanders them gift in false humility out of cowardice.
I think I agree with the particular things you’ve mentioned here, but I’m not sure how principled it is. Vulgarity is in the eye of the beholder and probably dependent on one’s frame of reference and points of comparison.
I was struck recently by going to a very early morning weekday liturgy with our assistant bishop who was in town visiting. This bishop is an abbot and has been a monk for many years. But as dictated by the liturgical practice, he vested outside the altar, which appears to me to be a laborious practice that involves many vestments and obviously a nice mitre. There’s something powerfully symbolic about seeing this man go from simple monk to fully vested bishop in rather ornate episcopal vestments.
I think that is a good pattern that, to me, is wholly appropriate. But it is rather different from living in a palace, which has little symbolic meaning in the Christian context.
I wonder if they’ll have a cat?
K, this will ruin your day. The great legal scholar, Jonathan Turley, demolishes Letitia James and the puppet judge on their lawfare case against President Trump! Another case of how evil and corrupt your Party is!
https://jonathanturley.org/2025/08/22/engorons-half-billion-dollar-error-court-tosses-trump-fine-as-unfounded/#more-235003
What, you mean "being around others" doesn't require the ostentatious humility and exorbitant cost of turning multiple floors of the Vatican guesthouse into a second apostolic palace? Absurd!
Nick
Marc,
There is a certain reasoning that cannot but logically lead to yukky Fr. Jimbo celebrating Mass in his Hawaiian shirt on his friends' living room coffee table. Y'know, because vestments are just old trappings that were Roman street clothes. A truly modern liturgy would be celebrated in modern street clothes, naturally.
Nick
rcg - I am not among those who are "offended" by some kinds of finery. I often visit museums and galleries to enjoy the finery that has been collected over the ages.
I don't think that using precious gems, watered silk, satin, priceless tapestries, and the other monarchical trappings that have become attached to the papacy is how the Church is to go about proclaiming the kingdom of God. The trappings have become, at best, a distraction, and, at worst, an end in themselves.
Who among the saints ever proclaimed "See how wealthy and powerful I have become in material things!"?
A saint refrained from proclaiming God's wealth as his own because it isn't. The Pharisee was proud of acts that were indeed good, including giving wealth. It was his pride in doing otherwise proper things that was at odds with God's intent. I think many modern people have made Charity and glamourous poverty a prideful thing.
I hope Leo doesn’t wear his white cassock for meals. Wouldn’t want spaghetti sauce staining that white silk!
Of course he will wear the red mozzetta.
“the sacramentality of the monarchial court”
I googled this and it means nothing!
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