.
Superior Pontiff
for Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas,
deposed November 11, 2023
Our Father in heaven gives the Bread
On which the need of souls is fed.
With doctrine and devotion rife,
I am he, the Bread of Life
Now sin no more, but follow me,
Not blinded by the enemy;
Strong against hellish missives hurled,
I am he, the Light of the World.
Outdoors stands Peter, and without
Authority to broadcast doubt,
As from the housetops comes a shout,
I am he, the Door devout.
Hireling and wolf speak blasphemy,
But I know mine, and mine know me,
The faithful Shepherd, I am he.
Relieving moribund abjection,
Freeing slaves of groveling grief,
I am he, the Resurrection
And Life of them that love belief.
I am he, the only Way,
I am he, the thorough Truth,
I am he, the joyous Life
Who triumphs over jealous strife.
My duty I do not resign,
But forced out, having guarded well,
Still joined to branches true I dwell,
I am he, the very Vine.
I am.
.
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Margaret Coats lives in California. She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University. She has retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others.
Prayers always help, Mike.
But after ten years of horror, this Bergoglio’s antics can’t surprise me any longer, no matter how degraded and indecorous they might be.
A “Pope” partying with trannie prostitutes? Is there anything that this guy won’t do?
Oh dear,
not something about him. But more about him.
What comes from posting in a hurry.
Hey, anyone else hear of the pope’s latest atrocity?
https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-says-conflict-between-israel-hamas-has-gone-beyond-war-terrorism-2023-11-22/
He puts Israelis on equal moral footing with Hamas. At least he’s consistent in his siding with baby-killers.
He would have been more honest if he had taken the name Judas instead of Francis, and that’s the kindest thing I can say about him.
Josh, it was predictable that Bergoglio would finally decide to stand up with the left-liberal chorus to condemn Israel for defensing itself. The man simply can’t bear not being a part of “the current thing.”
As for Milei changing his tune, that was a very slick Peronista move on Bergoglio’s part. He calls up the newly elected Argentine president to congratulate him and make nice. Naturally Milei has to reciprocate in some way, and calls him “the Holy Father.” This was deliberately designed to make Milei look hypocritical. Pope Putz scores a point.
Diplomatic exchanges and greetings are always purely formalistic. We all addressed the leader of the Third Reich as “Chancellor Hitler” before the war started.
Dear Margaret,
I have had time to read your post properly now and can understand the issue a little more now.
Yes the Greek Orthodox Church allows some priests to marry although they cannot become bishops etc. It was one such village priest that I remember so well even after all these years that taught me all about the love of Jesus. He was married with a family. His face shone when he spoke and he radiated warmth and affection for his class. I suppose I have based my views on him.
There was an olive grove right next to the church then and in my childish imagination I imagined Jesus walking there. There were shepherds outside the village too and it was as if I was living in biblical times!
Later on going abroad real trials and tribulations began, it seems that we must all face them one way or another, I survived because of my faith. I often thought that we had moved to Sodom and Gomorrah because I had so much knowledge of the bible at a very young age and precisely because I attended church every Sunday where a part of the bible would be read . So it wasn’t long before I had heard the whole of the New Testament.
This very month I have heard that very church there has now been turned into a mosque by the Turkish invaders and settlers who displaced my entire family both my mothers side as well as my fathers.
I don’t know why but the whole situation hardly gets a mention anywhere. when I do mention it, and I do, often, eyes usually glaze over and I can imagine many reading my posts thinking, oh no not Cyprus again , give it a rest Mia!
But I do not include your good self or most others here who have commented back so kindly.
But I digress. Should priests be allowed to marry? I am still of the opinion that they should be given the choice. In fact isn’t there a passage in the New Testament that suggests just that. If any of you wish to remain celibate it is to be desired but if you feel you can’t then by all means marry. I have paraphrased it. Now I must look it up.
Thank you for giving so much time and thought to my comments.
Also thank you prof, Salemi , Susan and Mike . I find that we might not change the world but I know it helps me to have discussions such as these.
I hope that in some way I may be able to help too.
Happy thanks giving tomorrow.
“I don’t know why but the whole situation hardly gets a mention anywhere. when I do mention it, and I do, often, eyes usually glaze over and I can imagine many reading my posts thinking, oh no not Cyprus again , give it a rest Mia!”
Why? Because the world has been taken over by the devils incarnate we euphemistically call leftists, who hate Christians because they hate Jesus and everything He stands for. If it were Christians invading a Muslim land, you can bet they’d be all over the subject.
I don’t react as you describe. I believe word needs to get out. What if you wrote and submitted a poem about Cyprus and what’s going on there? That would be the best way to get the word out.
Thank you Joshua, I really appreciate your kind reply.
I would love to write a poem but so far I have not been able to.
I seem to be able to make some attempts but find it difficult to create something worthwhile. I have one or two short poems in Greek that are not bad but they are awful when translated.
I do think though that the more I post and comment the more it helps me to communicate about the issue. So now not only will I remain hopeful that one day I might manage a credible poem I will make more of an effort. Thank you for your encouragement.
I wish you all the best. I really did not think that you were one of those not willing to listen. That is why I find myself returning to this site over and over again. Not least because of the excellent poems and knowledge of everyone here of course; it is without doubt one of the best places to be!
Mia, I think the verse you are looking for is 1 Corinthians 7:28.
Also, many agree with you.
I Corinthians 7:25-28
Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give counsel, as having obtained mercy of the Lord, to be faithful.
I think, therefore, that this is good for the present necessity, that it is good for a man so to be.
Art thou bound to a wife? Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife.
But if thou take a wife, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marry, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless, such shall have tribulation of the flesh. But I spare you.
Verse and context show that Saint Paul speaks of all Christians male and female, not of priests. This is the Biblical support for teaching that virginity is superior to marriage. It is, without meaning that persons who marry do ill, or that persons already married should seek to change.
Now what does Jesus say to the men He chose as Christian priests? First He tells them that marriage is indissoluble. Then comes Matthew 19:10-12
His disciples say unto him, if the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry.
Who said to them: All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given.
For there are eunuchs who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made so by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take.
Celibacy required for the priesthood, and for some other vocations, is a divine gift. The apostles accepted, as very recently did a young man I know, who will be ordained after two more years of training. The Church gave him five years before asking him to accept the gift.
“Eunuch for the kingdom of heaven” means a man who disciplines his heart, not one who mutilates his body. In the third century Origen was said to have misunderstood this, but we are not sure he did. No one should misunderstand Our Lord now.
All this is why Chaucer wrote The Wife of Bath’s Tale.
Yes, the Wife had her jolly interpretation of Scripture, and as many husbands as the Samaritan Woman at the Well, I believe. Come to think of it, that woman (now Saint Photina) turned the conversation with Jesus from her life to the thorny issue between Jews and Samaritans about where to worship.
Wasn’t Peter married? And weren’t others of the apostles married?
Also, weren’t at least four of the popes married?
Weren’t the Levite priests married?
Mike, if you’re really interested in those first two questions, I’ll recommend the same book I mentioned to Mia, “Apostolic Origins of Priestly Celibacy,” by Christian Cochini, S.J. It contains all the evidence about married clergy from the first seven centuries of Christianity, starting with the New Testament. You read the documents themselves in addition to what the author says. As I warned Mia, it takes forever (metaphorically).
No thanks, Margaret. I know the answer. Peter was married and Jesus was just fine with it. Also the answer is yes to the other questions I asked. I do understand that there are many reasons and subtleties that explain why the Catholic Church adopted this lifestyle for all priests, just as there are reasons why we are not supposed to point out the evil shortcomings of the clergy and the religious.
I think we need to make a distinction between celibacy and chastity.
Strictly speaking , “celibacy” just means the condition of not having a legally recognized spouse (that is, not having gone through the sacrament and public ceremony of marriage). But “chastity” refers to the practice of total continence (that is, avoiding any illegitimate sexual activity). Just because you’re “celibate” doesn’t mean that you are living a life of chastity, as any lusty but unmarried 18-year-old can tell you.
The eventual imposition of the universal rule of celibacy in the Latin Rite certainly had the spiritual and scriptural motives that Margaret has mentioned. But a more pressing mundane motive was the need to preserve Church property from being caught up in inheritance disputes with the legitimate sons of priests or hierarchy. By denying priests and other clergy the right to wed, the problem was solved. Any children a priest or bishop or abbot had with a mistress or a concubine were illegitimate, and had no legal standing to claim their father’s property by inheritance.
Was the “celibate” priest also supposed to be “chaste”? Sure, ideally speaking. But most of the hierarchy were sensible enough to realize that men are weak when it comes to sex, and some priests were surely going to have affairs, or keep concubines, or pay for the services of prostitutes. But these would just be personal, private sins that had no bearing on Church property, or Church discipline.
The poet John Skelton was an ordained Catholic priest, but he kept a mistress in his rectory, and sired a son on her. There was some grumbling from his parishioners, but Skelton just brought the infant to church with him on Sundays, presented him to the congregation, and asked if they could honestly find anything wrong in this innocent little kid. Skelton was “celibate,” but he was not “chaste.”
Thank you so much, Joe. That makes everything crystal clear.