Pope Deposes Seagull

Courtesy of The Edition

You will not fail to have noticed that a new chap, one formerly Jorge Bergoglio (the kids had fun trying to pronounce that, believe me), is now the somewhat unexpected Pope Francis. Lots of firsts (first Latin American, first Jesuit, first Jorge Bergoglio, and so on), lots of drama, and from me lots of prayers for a chap who seems to have struck the right note from the off. 

I will leave the specifics to the commentators and other self-appointed blogging experts, and simply observe something that struck me and others yesterday.

Do you know where you were when the present Archbishop of Canterbury was announced? The leader of over 76million Christians, the news of Archbishop Justin's appointment to a world-level Christian leadership role was greeted with as much of a whimper as anything. I doubt that they stopped Cash in The Attic, or delayed Eastenders for that. Were you waiting for the momentous news from the vantage point of a tent in Canterbury? 

Then you get the situation as just unfolded across the Tiber. People staring at chimneys. People tweeting about seagulls. People camping in Squares, waiting. Commotion, tension, expectation, smiles, joy! Then the smoke (which has its own Twitter Account). Tens of thousands of people cheering. Pomp, ceremony, pageant, more expectation, Sunday-best birettas, a new man emerges to the cheers of a world. 

I wonder what might be behind this. What do we learn about the new Pope? That he was a modest and humble man who did good work with the poor, cooked his own paella and took the bus. Of the Archbishop we learned simply that he did the Alpha Course and may once have had another job. Don't get me wrong, I am faithful to my leader and loyal too. I don't care what Course he did because the Spirit called him on. What accounts for the difference?

I have written about this before. You speak to a member of the Pope's church and they won't describe themselves as Christians, but as Catholics. A denominational pride and self-identity would quickly emerge and although international numbers are sliding for them too, you would be talking to a person who belonged to communities who knew that it was right to go to church, that it was not a matter for secrecy. They know that their leader is important to them and I frankly doubt of many Catholic bloggers bash their Pope. I see a reverent loyalty that is lacking in the corridors of the Church of England because we would sooner wage our own private wars, publicly. The Catholics also have a decidedly proud affection for ceremony and ritual whereas in our little church we seem to be afraid even of the title "priest" or indeed those roles that such a title demands. They have a way of marking the moment, making it special, binding it up in ancient ritual which despite being arcane, still works and still means something. 

I pray for the new Bishop of Rome as, in his way, I truly believe he prays for me and my family. I wish him a good and successful  pontificate as one, I hope, who will walk in grace and goodness with a heart for those matters that clearly meant so much to him before yesterday.  For the rest of us, I pray that we can learn a little from what we witnessed yesterday. 

Having Their Cake and Blessing It

Before I start, apologies for the lengthy absence. It has been a period of time characterised by spending time away from home for all sorts of reasons, though chief of which was our week away in Wales. Lovely, ennet!

I have returned to the Blog in fine fettle, rested and ready for the steady acceleration to the festival of moment of the birth of Jesus; you know, Christmas and all that! For me, that will bring with it my beloved mince pies, my less beloved Away in a Minger but the overall sense of fluffy red and gold that insinuates itself into every fleeting thought. Nice. 

I have also returned to this Blog with a bee in my bonnet (and having been to Wales, have mastered the art of saying "bumblebee" in the Welsh accent. Stonking). I digress. I witnessed something today that annoys me, believe it or not. 

I am a priest, a vicar, a God botherer - a worker for the Lord. When I am asked to officiate over a funeral, I think it is reasonable for the mourners to expect that I will lob in the odd prayer, a little Bible if you will, and allude to the resurrection somewhere. Some may, in line with a trend I am fast disliking, expect me to use the death of their nearest and dearest to sell my church as a value-added to death. Either way, the funerials will be Christian, overtly, proudly and honestly. 

Then you get the Humanists, disciples of none less that Archbishop Dawkins (whose existence I refuse to accept). Their book, Funerals Without God, sets a clear scene for the punters. You will get a funeral without God (though interestingly, they refer to "God" as distinct to "a god" or funerals "without a make-believe deity" which is different - and means that they must have a view of the God I have a view on). If I went to a Humanist funeral (as distinct from the more honest and upfront civil ceremonies), I might expect some secular poetry, Elvis and happy reminiscence. 

Imagine if Reverend Father David Cloake pitched up without a collar (no, scrap that - some don't), without a Bible, placed a goat atop the box and catafalque, slit its throat and let it die as a blood offering to Grunthos the Flatulent. Imagine if I presided over a funeral service without speaking of the Lord at all. You'd have every right to kick my reverential butt!

Today, I witnessed a sharply dressed Humanist high-priestess (ordained into the church of Dawkins) offer Jewish blessings - truly. I have heard of Humanists employing the Lord's Prayer in their "ceremonies" (you know the one, Our Father, the one in Heaven, yada yada be His name). I saw her directive to the staff of the very nice crematorium asking them, at a future service, to pause to give people time for their prayers. She played Ave Maria (Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee). If this were retail or business it would surely breach trading standards. 

The thing is, I find the lack of integrity offensive. If people asked me for a funeral sans-God, I would have to decline. It is the right thing for me to do. If I were to stand up as a Humanist but invite invocations of a God I protest as delusion, I would be acting immorally. Simply put, it seems that they want their cake and to bless it. I would have far more respect for a group of people who told me I was delusional and therefore mentally unwell (for it is, I am sure, what they think) if they didn't then profit from our sentiment, literature and sacred texts.  At least true atheists have the honour to talk of God as I might be inclined to talk about pink elephants - which is to say that in either case, they just wouldn't arise in a conversation. 

Liturgical Leftovers

Life for me, these days, is a tapestry of funerals marriages and CBeebies. I work, I come home, I relax with the Twins Aculae - and share with them their pleasures. CBeebies.

For those who kindly read this on distant shores, CBeebies is the BBC television channel aimed at the six-and-unders. We have such joys as The Tweenies, not one of my favourites; Mr Tumble, a great love in the hearts of my kids; Bob the Builder (yes he can); Mr Maker and the unquenchingly energic Sarah-Jane. A new programme has emerged in this year, an excellent production - Let's Celebrate. It is a production that focusses on the great celebrations of the world-faiths and other community. For us, Easter and Christmas have both been done, as too has the Notting Hill Carnival. Eid for the Muslins, Wesak for the Buddhists, and also Vaisakhi, Eid al-Fitr, Holi, Purim, Diwali, St Patrick's Day, St David's Day, St George's Day, St Andrew's Day, Norouz, and Chinese New Year. Marvellous!

Even though I am 32 years too old for CBeebies, I find this programme informative and enjoyable, and the kids love it - and that is always good. The quality and balance of each programme is laudable - even if Thomas Ticker is a pain in the derriere! However, it is wonderful that the BBC provides such a programme, a celebration (broadly) of the joyousness of faith and its outpourings in the lives of so many people. 

What is also interesting is the liturgical structure that so many of the World Faiths have. Ceremony is hugely important. As a ceremonially-biased Christian, I pondered this. I pondered and wondered why it seems that only in Christianity, so many want to lay aside ceremony and that dirty-word 'liturgy.' The head of our Body, Jesus Christ, was himself a liturgical creature. He was born and raised into a practicing Jewish family where Temple presentation, baptism, and even the rites surrounding death were held as important. I would even go so far as to suggest that humans are liturgical creatures. Watching the expressions of other faith groups pressed home to me the apparent fact that only Christians in some quarters want to do away with such things. I worry about it, if I am honest. 

The drive for absolute spontaneity and freedom in worship worries me. Why are we so heart-set on putting aside ritual and ceremony? Such things are often regarded as stifling and limiting, which is wrong. Ceremony, ritual - liturgy; these things provide edges and a direction. Such 'routine' ensures that we do what needs to be done, that we share in the re-enactment of the same rituality of our ancestors whose ritual inheritance we enjoy in our lifetime. Spontaneity within liturgy is good and right, but why is it that only Christians seem to want to distance themselves from their past. It isn't just about now, because 'now' is about us, and our faith is altogether more than just 'us'.