Sunday, July 20, 2008

Annoying Take on Newman Beatification Moves...

It;s disappointing that the Telegraph has put the following spin on Newman's proposed exhumation.
The final request of Britain's most famous Roman Catholic convert, Cardinal Newman, is to be overriden as the Vatican prepares to make him a saint.
It was Cardinal Newman's dying wish that he be buried with his closest friend in the grounds of the house they had shared as priests.
But now, nearly 120 years after his death, Britain's most famous convert to Roman Catholicism is to be reinterred in a sarcophagus in preparation for his becoming a saint, leaving the remains of his friend behind.
The decision to separate the remains of John Henry Newman and Ambrose St John has upset figures in the Church and led some to question whether it is embarrassed about their relationship.
[snip]
Martin Prendergast, a homosexual campaigner in the Catholic Church, claimed the Cardinal's relationship had caused misgivings in the Vatican and slowed his path to beatification. "I don't think they can just pretend the relationship didn't exist," he said.
"We shouldn't be afraid of acknowledging that he had his trials and torments yet was able to deal with these in a positive manner, without compromising his commitment to celibacy."
That's a most unfair reading...

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Oh dear...

One of the things which are capable of pulling me out of seclusion is an article such as this about the forthcoming Brideshead film. It makes for depressing reading. For example, the scriptwriter says:
"Although the book is set in the rarefied world of the aristocracy between the wars, it still speaks directly to many of the issues that count as 'current' - religious fundamentalism, class, sexual tolerance, the pursuit of individualism. For those reasons, I didn't feel I had to worry about the TV series and, as I wrote, I felt that more and more."
Religious fundamentalism in the novel Brideshead Revisited? I really can't understand what character's religious outlook could be so described.

Thursday, July 03, 2008

Hiatus

Hi folks,

Life is hectic at the moment. Being dropped from Seraphic's list of daily reads (because it's not been daily for quite some time) reminds me that I should apologise for this indefinite period of absence.