#Relevance of the Catholic Church

[chicago-geniza]

JD Vance killing the Pope on Easter is even better optics than Liz Truss killing the Queen. What a time to witness figureheads of the ancien regime being felled by figureheads of the newer, stupider, somehow even more conservative* world order

*in the colloquial sense not in the pure-economic or strict-adherence-to-tradition sense because they are obviously future-oriented acceletationists wearing the language-garb of "return to the past" as an ideology. Don't @ me I know what words connote in context lol

[alliluyevas]

looking at course selection for next semester (already???). one thing i miss about undergraduate is that the requirements were so much less specialized and you could take things across a broader range of interests. obviously that is the point of grad school and i have decided to focus on 19th century america and i'm not upset about that but I'm also like. i wish i could take readings in the history of the catholic church or cultural memory in early islam.

[istherewifiinhell]

conclave review: oh no catholism for me thanks i just wanted to overhear the conversations of old men whimpering and crying

also. lmao

[disclaimer text from the credits: The events, characters and firms depicted in this motion picture are fictitious, any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual firms is purely coincidental]

[queerpyracy]

i made the apparently extremely foolish assumption that i would easily be able to find some culturally significant catholic church in geneva that would have been operating as such at the time this fic is set in but as it happens apparently the calvinists were like "thanks this is ours now" for everything that is significant enough to be written about in english

[unproduciblesmackdown]

For today’s video, I give you one of the longest standing Christmas Extravaganza traditions: The Virgin Mary and The Virgin Mary Dancers cheering up Santa with their burlesque rendition of “Santa Baby” feat. Sabels, Suspenders, and Stripping. The ‘Nice List’ always was overrated, anyway. Choreo by @cogrobs, Costumes by @bren_bash

[molluskzone]

eve and her family were initially written to be catholic (because that is the ONLY religion i have any personal experience with) but im kind of enraptured (LOL) by the very concept of rapturing. so i think i might make them evangelicals instead? that will be such a pain though i have 0 experience with evangelicals. or really protestants of any flavor.

[precambrianhottopic]

i don't think i could believe in god if i tried but oh man do i think religion is cool

[thetruearchmagos]

Still unsure whether I should the 12 Worlds 'No Popes' or 'Too Many Popes To Count'

[lanteanserver]

I think technically speaking, I'm not an Irish Catholic or an English Catholic, but I'm a Ro[a]m[i/a]n{g} Cat{-}holic until and unless they excom{m/eow}nicate me, and really, if they're going to do that,

[what-even-is-thiss]

I do genuinely feel bad for any Catholics today that liked that guy but at the same time I’m like I’m not Catholic why does that guy get to sit in at the UN and no other religious leader does and why does his death have to matter to me like if the current bishop of my denomination died nobody outside of my church would notice why do the Catholics still have a whole ass country even if that country is tiny

But like whatever you know. I’m not here to stop people from mourning I’m just here like why do I even know about this why is this guy relevant to my life

[howisthepope]

Top candidates for new pope?

In no particular order (based on the list by CNN but my own rating)

Cardinal Pietro Parolin 70 yo Secretary of State for the Holy See. This means he has been working in a position of power within the Vatican for a bit Has been a representative in Venezuela, present for Colombia's peace agreement, has been helping improve their relationship with Vietnam and China. Outspoken about Gaza so expected to clash with Trump. A bit conservative but his strength is his diplomacy 7/10

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi 69 yo archbishop of Bologna. Was asked to lead a peace mission in Ukraine, member of Sant'Egidio which helped end the Mozambique civil war in 1992. Likes to bike around Bologna. Has done outreach to LGBTQ catholics 9/10

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle 67 yo leader of the Vatican office for evangelization Has worked closely with leaders of churches in the developing world. He used to be President of Caritas but had to step down so there are some questions about his leadership skills. For that 6/10

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio Siongco David 66 yo bishop of Kalookan. He is very outspoken for injustice and faced criminal charges for preaching against drug war killings when Duderte was president. Has said that the next pope needs to focus on being inclusive and being a 'field hospital' for the wonded. Seems to be well-liked overal 10/10

Cardinal Gérald Cyprien Lacroix 67 yo archbishop of Quebec. This one was on the list but I don't get why? was member of the Council of Cardinals which advises the Pope. There have been alleguations of sexual abuse in 1980 by a 17yo woman. The investigation was done by the Vatican and found no proof, but I take that with a huge ass grain of salt. Could be innocent but if there is even a chance... the people will not like him as Pope. There would be no trust. 0/10

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu 65 yo archbishop of Kinshasa. Respected moral voice of his country. Represents the growing church of Africa and is leader of a church of more than 7 million catholics. Strong defender of democracy and human rights and stands up against warlords and corruption. Against blessing same-sex couples 6/10

Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero 72 yo archbishop of Rabat, Morocco. His experience in Morocco has given him expertise in dialogue with Islam. Has also worked in Paraguay. Advocate of the synod reform process (making the church more inclusive, participative and relevant to the Modern world). Would be quite in line with Pope Francis' views 8/10

Cardinal Péter Erdő 72 you archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest He is the conservative option if anything and an ally to the President of Hungary, Orban. I don't see anything compelling but if the cardinals want to go the conservative route, he is the nr 1 candidate 0/10

[punk-butch-bitch]

This whole idea from Conservatives/the right in general that men are “leaders” is completely a farce even in their own groups, and I can speak to this firsthand because I grew up in it. Super Catholic, church services were all in Latin, women weren’t allowed to wear pants or cut their hair shorter than their shoulders, and they were sporting all of America’s current insane political views a decade before they became more popular. And men still did jack all.

I was running the church choir in all but name by the age of 14, despite the choir director being a man in his 20s. Women handled all the childcare and child rearing, women were the ones who organized everything. Who put up the decorations for each season. Who provided the food. Who kept the church clean and in repair. Who taught the children during Sunday School. They were the ones who made decisions for their families, the ones who kept tabs on everything, the ones who organized playdates and homeschool meetups and church potlucks. Women built everything and men only placed their stamp of approval on it to claim the work.

And I wish more people would WAKE UP to this realization. Being a leader means nothing if you aren’t actually working. Simply sitting on your ass and giving the occasional instruction is not true leadership, nor is it even the servant leadership Christ himself advocated for. Those men were completely useless in the grand scheme of things and we would have continued on without them with relative ease. They hold onto relevancy by forcing women to depend on them financially but that’s all they have to stand on. And it just pisses me off idk this is just a rant

[todaysdocument]

The Religious Issue in American Politics April 21, 1960

Collection JFK-2.3: Papers of John F. Kennedy: Pre-Presidential Papers: Senate FilesSeries: Files Related to Speeches and the PressFile Unit: John F. Kennedy Pre-presidential Papers; Senate Files; Speeches and the Press; American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington DC

From the Office of Senator John F. Kennedy

Room 362, Senate Office Building

Washington, D.C.

FOR FLAT RELEASE AT 12:00 NOON (EST), THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1960

THE RELIGIOUS ISSUE IN AMERICAN POLITICS

Following is the text of the address of Senator John F. Kennedy before the American Society of Newspaper Editors:

I have decided, in view of current press reports, that it would be appropriate to speak with you today about what has widely been called "the religious issue" in American politics. The phrase covers a multitude of meanings. There is no religious issue in the sense that any of the major candidates differ on the role of religion in our political life. Every Presidential contender, I am certain, is dedicated to the separation of church and state, to the preservation of religious liberty, to an end to religious bigotry, and to the total independence of the office-holder from any form of ecclesiastical dictation.

Nor is there any real issue in the sense that any candidate is exploiting his religious affiliation. No one's candidacy, by itself, raises a religious issue. And I believe it is inaccurate to state that my "candidacy created the issue" -- that, because I am replying to the Bigots, I am now "running on the religious issue in West Virginia" -- or that my statements in response to interrogation are "fanning the controversy". I am not "trying to be the first Catholic President", as some have written. I happen to believe I can serve my nation as President -- and I also happen to have been born a Catholic.

Nor am I appealing, as is too often claimed, to a so-called Catholic vote. Even if such a vote exists -- which I doubt -- I want to make one thing clear again: I want no votes solely on account of my religion. Any voter, Catholic or otherwise, who feels another candidate would be a superior President should support that candidate. I do not want any vote cast for me for such illogical reasons.

-2-

Neither do I want anyone to support my candidacy merely to prove that this nation is not bigoted -- and that a Catholic can be elected President. I have never suggested that those opposed to me are thereby anti-Catholic. There are amply legitimate grounds for supporting other candidates -- (though I will not, of course, detail them here). Nor have I ever suggested that the Democratic Party is required to nominate me or face a Catholic revolt in November. I do not believe that to be true -- I cannot believe our convention would act on such a promise -- and I do believe that a majority of Americans of every faith will support the Democratic nominee, whoever he is.

What, then, is the so-called religious issue in American politics today? It is not, it seems to me, my actual religious convictions -- but a misunderstanding of what those convictions actually are. It is not the actual existence of religious voting blocs -- but a suspicion that such voting blocs may exist. And when we deal with such public fears and suspicions, the American press has a very grave responsibility.

I know the press did not create this religious issue. My religious affiliation is a fact -- religious intolerance is a fact. And the proper role of the press is to report all facts that are a matter of public interest.

But the press has a responsibility, I think you will agree, which goes far beyond a reporting of the facts. It goes beyond lofty editorials deploring intolerance. For my religion is hardly, in this critical year of 1960, the dominant issue of our time. It is hardly the most important criterion -- or even a relevant criterion -- on which the American people should make their choice for Chief Executive.And the press, while not creating the issue, will largely determine whether or not it does become dominant -- whether it is kept in perspective -- whether it is considered objectively -- whether needless fears and suspicions are stilled instead of aroused.

[katakaluptastrophy]

You know when you're at a dinner party with God and things start to get...weird...? It's Maundy Thursday, and it's time for more Bible study for fans of weird queer necromancers!

It's currently Holy Week, the week where (Western) liturgical Christians reenact the events of Jesus' death and resurrection in real time. And today, it's Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the Last Supper, where Jesus ate with his friends before he was crucified.

Before we get to the Locked Tomb, what's so special about the Last Supper?

There are actually a few significant things that happen during the Last Supper, but this is where Jesus introduces the concept of communion:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood. - Matthew 26:26-28

This isn't actually the first time Jesus has told his followers they will need to literally eat him:

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. - John 6:53-56

If you're thinking that sounds a bit intense, you're not alone - the Bible says that "many" of his disciples left after being told that they were apparently going to have to eat Jesus to be saved and resurrected.

While many Protestant denominations take this symbolically, Catholicism teaches transubstantiation: that when the priest prays over the bread and wine at mass, they really do become Jesus' body and blood.

With this in mind, let's circle back to necromancers:

"Overseas to Corpus. (She likes the word corpus; it sounds nice and fat.)"

This is probably Corpus Christi College, Oxford (named after the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, where the church celebrates the real presence of Jesus in the eucharist). The symbol of the college is a pelican - there's even a fabulously gilded pelican atop the sundial in their main quad.

What do pelicans have to do with the eucharist? Quite a lot, actually... The pelican is a really old symbol for Jesus, because it was believed to feed its young on its own flesh and blood in times of famine. The pelican on the Corpus Christi sundial is pecking at its own chest.

The pelican, like Jesus, was believed to give its own body to save those it loved.

Okay, so we've talked about Jesus, and weird cannibal birds, but why is this relevant to necromancers?

Specifically, the necromancer, the Necrolord Prime. John Gaius styles himself as "the god who became man", echoing Jesus as "the word became flesh". His entire pastiche of divinity is a sort of bootleg Catholicism. But while Catholicism posits Jesus' offering of his own body as foundational to the salvation and resurrection of humanity to eternal life, John's godhood relies the exploitation of other's bodies as the foundation of an empire of eternal death.

I've mentioned before in discussing Lyctorhood, how vampires have been understood to represent a sort of inversion of the eucharist because instead of consuming Christ's blood to receive eternal life in heaven, they consume other people's blood for an cursed eternal life on earth. John, and the Lyctors who followed him, gained power and eternal life from the consumption, body and soul, of another person.

In Catholic theology, Jesus offered his own body to degradation and death for the eternal salvation of humankind, but John forcibly consumes someone else's in service of his own apotheosis and immortality, dooming humanity in the process. He wants to be a Catholic flavoured god, but without the suffering that entails. But he's perfectly willing to outsource that suffering to others.

There's something just achingly awful about Alecto liking the feel of the word "corpus" - "body" - when she so hates the body that John constructed for her. John describing Alecto as "in a very real way" the mother of humanity and the mother pelican on the Corpus sundial rending her own flesh for her children. John forcing the earth into a personification of femininity and playing Jesus on another's sacrifice. His daughter, unwillingly trapped in her own corpse walking around with the wounds of her significant self-sacrifice like the resurrected Christ but yet again another body exploited by John in support of his performance of godhood. It brings to mind a very different fantastical engagement with Catholicism, where in the Lord of the Rings Tolkien - riffing on St Augustine - suggested that evil cannot create, it can only mock and corrupt. The ethics of The Locked Tomb may be messier than that, but there's something indicative in how John shies away from his creative powers - his abilities to grow plants, and manipulate earth and water - in favour of his dominion over death.

The metaphysical world of The Locked Tomb is clearly not intended to be the same as that of Catholicism. But with hindsight, perhaps John was onto something when he was surprised that he didn't "get the Antichrist bit" from the nun too.

John isn't the Antichrist. But he is, thematically, anti-Christ.

If we're talking about John and Jesus, there's also, of course, the question of Resurrection. But we've got to go through Hell and back before we get there on Sunday...

[hellequinist]

ok had some proper time to digest whatever the fuck happened in the world of ghost so. yapping/rambling session because perpetua and copia already foil each other so much just solely based on designs and im losing my marbles

ive seen some miscellaneous thoughts floating around so some of them may be echoed here but. yeah

im especially going insane over the potential sun/moon dynamic shenanigans we can get here… copia’s colors are blue and gold (apologies, i don’t know specific colors) whereas perpetua appears to be purple and silver. now, gold and silver have obvious relevance, both being metals commonly used for jewelry and whatnot. blue and purple, however, are more interesting choices. typically, sun + moon shenanigans are represented w/ blue and yellow, so having purple instead is a Choice. yet, it fits — especially given the shades they’re wearing, purple can represent the night sky whereas the blue can represent the daytime sky. combine that with the metals, you get the sun/blue sky and the moon/night sky. a lot of copia's little designs on his outfit resemble stars as well.

and this especially comes into play w the eclipse shown during the rhrn montage when imperator sees her life flash before her eyes. i saw a comment somewhere suggest that this could represent perpetua eclipsing copia, or surpassing him.

and then in addition, we have perpetua’s cool ass metal gloves + metal looking mask too. like yeah its a half mask bc its toblerone but also like. having a mask on skull paint which already should be kinda masking half ur face is. An Interesting Concept and i definitely think theres more to be said about it... almost like double masking in a sense??

a lot of the glittery stuff on copia also feels equally distributed across the entire design, whereas w perpetua it's really concentrated on his specific accessories/jewelry. like copia's entire outfit is Sparkly As Fuck...

shoutout to my friend (@galaxy-of-me) for pointing this out but even their face paint differs in the balance between black and white. copia’s facepaint is mostly all white, with the black being used to distinguish the little jaw bones or lack of them in skeletons. however, perpetua’s black skullpaint has the opposite effect. it highlights kinda the “main” parts of his face (and helps to highlight the mask).

also the design of their clothes is interesting. like, copia's reads w more circles/curves whereas perpetua's feels more rigid and sharp. something something shape language. it also stands out to me how copia's has like. a solid blue that's divided on the front of his chausible by black whereas perpetua's is just solid black solely divided in the middle by purple. this is also seen w the mitres...

ok and. back designs from that really quick camera shot we got. idk what colors it's gonna Specifically be but you can already see some kinda lace thingies on perpetua which is cool... like i'm not sure if this is a cape of sorts (since copia's is more of a cape) so idk if it's fair to draw Exact Comparisons here... but on another note the lappets/ribbons from the mitre are also diff. copia has star looking things (again) whereas perpetua's are more rounded/oval shaped (sun and moon content AAAAUUGHHHHHHHH).

and then in regards to lore like. if we assume that satanized really is perpetua's backstory (I HOPE IT IS!!) it would make their backstories like. Very Opposite. i think it's commonly believed that copia grew up in the clergy or wtv under sister, but then this would mean perpetua possibly grew up in the catholic church or in an abbey of sorts. so, already they grew up in different environments and thus have different viewpoints on a Lot of things. i am SO excited to see how this is gonna play out oh my days

[anarchotolkienist]

you’re attacking that neopagan kind of birthstone post about druid plants, but could you please elaborate or at least clarify the explicit trope that is being used that has been historically weaponized?

I used to spend about a good third of my time on this godforsaken website attacking that idea, but sure, I'll do it again. This will be a bit of an effortpost, so I'll stick it under the readmore

There is a notion of 'celts' or Gaels as being magicial and somehow deeply in touch with nature and connected to pre-Christian worldviews that the people who decided to make up the "Celtic tree astrology" used. This is also why Buffy used Irish Gaelic as the language of the demons, why Warhammer uses Gaelic as Elvish, why garbled Scottish Gaelic is used by Wiccans as the basis for their new religious construct, why people call themselves Druids to go an say chants in bad Welsh in Stonehenge, or Tursachan Chalanais, or wherever, etc etc. This stuff is everywhere in popular culture today, by far the dominant view of Celtic language speaking peoples. Made up neopagan nonsense is the only thing you find if you go looking for Gaelic folklore, unless you know where to look, and so on and so on. I could multiply examples Endless, and in fact have throughout the lifespan of this blog, and probably will continue to.

To make a long history extremely brief (you can ask me for sources on specifics, or ask me to expand if you're interested), this is directly rooted in a mediaeval legalistic discussion in Catholic justifications for the expansionist policies of the Normans, especially in Ireland, who against the vigourous protestation of the Church in Ireland claimed that the Gaelic Irish were practically Pagan in practice and that conquest against fellow Christians was justified to bring them in like with the Church. That this was nonsense I hope I don't need to state. Similar discourses about the Gaels in Scotland exist at the same time, as is clear from the earliest sources we have postdating the Gaelic kingdom of Alba becoming Scotland discussing the 'coastal Scots' - who speak Ynglis (early Scots) and are civilised - and the 'forest Scots' (who speak 'Scottis' (Middle Gaelic) and have all the hallmarks of barbarity. This discourse of Gaelic savagery remains in place fairly unchanged as the Scottish and then British crowns try various methods for integrating Gaeldom under the developing early state, provoking constant conflict and unrest, support certain clans and chiefs against others and generally massively upset and destabilise life among the Gaels both in Scotland and Ireland. This campaign, which is material in root but has a superstructure of Gaelic savagery and threat justifying it develops through attempts at assimilation, more or less failed colonial schemes in Leòdhas and Ìle, the splitting of the Gaelic Irish from the Gaelic Scots through legal means and the genocide of the Irish Gaels in Ulster, eventually culminates in the total ban on Gaelic culture, ethnic cleansing and permanent military occupation of large swathes of Northern Scotland, and the destruction of the clan system and therefore of Gaelic independence from the Scottish and British state, following the last rising in 1745-6.

What's relevant here is that the attitude of Gaelic barbarity, standing lower on the civilisational ladder than the Anglo Saxons of the Lowlands and of England, was continuously present as a justification for all these things. This package included associations with the natural world, with paganisms, with emotion, and etc. This set of things then become picked up on by the developing antiquarian movement and early national romantics of the 18th century, when the Gaels stop being a serious military threat to the comfortable lives of the Anglo nobility and developing bourgeoise who ran the state following the ethnic cleansing after Culloden and permanent occupation of the Highlands (again, ongoing to this day). They could then, as happened with other colonised peoples, be picked up on and romanticised instead, made into a noble savage, these perceived traits which before had made them undesirable now making them a sad but romantic relic of an inexorably disappearing past. It is no surprise that Sir Walter Scott (a curse upon him and all his kin) could make Gaels the romantic leads of his pseudohistorical epics at the exact same time that Gaels were being driven from their traditional lands in their millions and lost all traditional land rights. These moves are related. This tradition is what's picked up on by Gardner when he decides to use mangled versions of Gaelic Catholic practice (primarily) as collected by the Gaelic folklorist Alasdair MacIlleMhìcheil as the coating for Wicca, the most influential neo-pagan "religion" to claim a 'Celtic' root and the base of a lot of oncoming nonsense like that Celtic Tree Astrology horseshit that started this whole thing, and give it a pagan coat of paint while also adding some half-understood Dharmic concepts (three-fold law anyone?) and a spice of deeply racist Western Esotericism to the mix. That's why shit like that is directly harmful, not just historically but in the present total blotting out of actually existing culture of Celtic language speakers and their extremely precarious communities today.

If you want to read more, I especially recommend Dr. Silke Stroh's work Gaelic Scotland in the Colonial Imaginary, Dr. Aonghas MacCoinnich's book Plantation and Civility in the North-Atlantic World, the edited collection Mio-rún Mór nan Gall on Lowland-Highland divide, the Gaelic writer known in English as Ian Crichton Smith's essay A real people in a real place on these impacts on Gaelic speaking communities in the 20th century, Dr. Donnchadh Sneddons essay on Gaelic racial ideas present in Howard and Lovecrafts writings, and Dr. James Hunter's The Making of the Crofting Community for a focus on the clearings of Gaels after the land thefts of the late 18th and early 19th century.

@grimdr an do chaill mi dad cudromach, an canadh tu?