More symptoms of The Francis Effect™.
Now that we have the most wonderfullest and fluffiest Pope ehvur, people’s true colors seem to be emerging. It is as if they are rushing to prove the old adage: Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.
But that usually isn’t the problem for people who write on Catholic issues at the Religion News Service, this time in cahoots with WaPo.
Here is a sample of a loopy piece, not because it is news you need to know, but because it has good examples of the idiocy spawned by TFE. To be fair, this may simply be a matter of filing something on a slow news day.
Watch what happens.
RNS () — Could a woman vote for the next pope?
Pope Francis has said repeatedly that he wants to see greater roles for women in the Catholic Church, and some argue that he could take a giant step in that direction by appointing women to the College of Cardinals — the select and (so far) all-male club of “Princes of the Church” that casts secret ballots in a conclave to elect a new pope.
Whether it’s even possible is a matter of debate. But that hasn’t stopped the feverish speculation, which was sparked last month by an article in a Spanish newspaper in which Juan Arias, a former priest who writes from Brazil, wrote that the idea “is not a joke. [So, an ex-priest writes about this and its off to the races. That’s a joke.] It’s something that Pope Francis has thought about before: naming a woman cardinal.” [I’ve thought about buying a Bugatti Veyron. Hey! I’m serious! I really have!]
Arias quoted an unnamed priest [Yes, it does get better. The ex-priest quotes an unknown priest.] — a Jesuit, like Francis — who said: “Knowing this pope, he wouldn’t hesitate before appointing a woman cardinal. … And he would indeed enjoy being the first pope to allow women to participate in the selection of a new pontiff.”
That was enough to start the ball rolling. The report was quickly picked up by Catholic media in Italy and then raced around a church that, in the months since Francis’ election, has been primed to expect the unexpected from this pope. [That’s true enough.]
In the U.S., the Rev. James Keenan, a fellow Jesuit [I was pretty sick of Jesuits before this pontificate. But now….] and a well-regarded moral theologian at Boston College, started a post on his Facebook page soliciting nominees for the first female cardinal. [Because petitions from liberal Jesuits on Facebook is how the Church’s laws are shaped.] Keenan said he wrote the post mainly as a way to recognize the many women who would be “great candidates.” [Just imagine…] On his list: Linda Hogan, a professor of ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin; Sister Teresa Okure, a theology professor at the Catholic Institute of West Africa in Nigeria; and Maryanne Loughry, associate director of the Jesuit Refugee Service in Australia.
[…]
Blah blah blah.
Gibson, the writer, goes on to add some BS about the Borgias, because the topic lacked only that.
It is the silly season, my friends. Make popcorn and try not to let it get under your skin.
