Warning: Ugly vestments...

...and bad theology go together.

Brought to you by the New York Times, your friendly neighborhood purveyor of anti-Catholic media, a story about dissident Belgium Catholics pretending to form their own parishes and be priests:  

BUIZINGEN, Belgium — Willy Delsaert is a retired railroad employee with dyslexia who practiced intensively before facing the suburban Don Bosco Catholic parish to perform the Sunday Mass rituals he grew up with.

“Who takes this bread and eats,” he murmured, cracking a communion wafer with his wife at his side, “declares a desire for a new world.” 

 I'd love to know what "Sunday Mass rituals" include those meaningless and trite words.The reporter doesn't have a clue what she's writing about, does she?

 At this sturdy brick church southwest of Brussels, men and women are trained as “conductors.” They preside over Masses and the landmarks of life: weddings and baptisms, funerals and last rites. Church members took charge more than a year ago when their pastor retired without a successor. In Belgium, about two-thirds of clergymen are over 55, and one-third older then 65. 

 "Conductors" drive trains and lead orchestras. Priests - men called by God and made into living icons of Christ through the sacrament of holy orders- have the authority and the responsibility to baptize, act as the Church's witness at a wedding, hear confessions, anoint the sick and dying, and celebrate Mass. Just FYI, folks, since you're apparently reeaaallly confused.

“We are resisting a little bit like Gandhi,” said Johan Veys, a married former priest who performs baptisms and recruits newcomers for other tasks at Don Bosco. “Our intention is not to criticize, but to live correctly. We press onward quietly without a lot of noise. It’s important to have a community where people feel at home and can find peace and inspiration.”

Interesting how their hero is Gandhi, and not a saint, isn't it? And that their focus is all about "living correctly" and "community" and "peace and inspiration", and not one word about worshiping, loving and serving God? But it gets even better. Here's the description of their "worship service":

Mr. Delsaert had no such qualms. He donned a rainbow sash — the church’s symbol of a worship leader — and carried his notes. “It’s the second time,” he said. “For me, it’s very intense. Reading is very difficult for me because I have dyslexia.”

Almost 150 people gathered around him for a service organized by teenage members who picked a theme of peace and music from John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

Mr. Delsaert delivered a homespun sermon that drew on his years as a railroad worker, urging parishioners to wage peace by talking to people in their daily lives. By bidding hello to a daily commuter, Mr. Delsaert said, “the man opened up to talk about train delays.”

“He seemed much happier,” Mr. Delsaert said.

During services, teenage members surrounded the table while a parish statement was read aloud: “We regret the pain caused by priests and those responsible in the church. We regret the damages to the victims, to the community and our church.”

Then a young girl lighted a rainbow-colored candle in the center of the table. She watched the flame flicker in memory of the 475 Belgian victims of sexual abuse.

Those priests who committed unspeakable acts will tremble before God when they must accept responsibility for destroying lives and souls. May God grant their victims healing and peace.

But no act of evil ever justifies apostasy, schism or heresy, any more than the treachery of Judas justifies abandoning Jesus Christ.

Nevertheless, I'm afraid that it wasn't the scandal that drove them out - though it certainly gives them a great excuse. I'm afraid that these folks lost their faith in the Lord and His Church a long time ago, when neither would condone today's trendy sins and become "relevant."

Or perhaps, due to the abysmal catechism of the past couple of generations, perhaps they were never taught the faith to begin with, and truly do not understand the nature of the priesthood, the Holy Eucharist, and the mission of Christ's Church.

I'm inclined to think it's a little of both, combined with the smoke of Satan, who delights in division and confusion.

St. Jude, exorcist, pray for us.

Reporting on the Pope

You know you're doing your job as Pope when you create these kind of headlines:

Hindus denounce Pope for being offensive to atheists

Pope's speech deemed 'wily and cunning' but 'playing it safe'

Video Ian Paisley denounces Pope Benedicts visit to Scotland

Atheists: Apologize for Adolf Hitler's crimes

European Raelian Movement Sues Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict trip: Why move John Henry Newman toward sainthood?

Steve Bell on Pope Benedict XVI and gay rights

Christians are in the world, not of it. Such bile wouldn't be spewed if the Holy Father had embraced the values of the secular world.

May God grant him many more years.

Oremus pro Pontifice nostro Benedictus.

Dominus conservet eum, et vivificet eum, et beatum faciat eum in terra, et non tradat eum in animam inimicorum eius. [Ps 40:3]

(Find the English translation here.)

How not to report about the Pope

From the AP, as published in the New York Times:

Pope Keeps Spanish Steps Tradition in Rome

ROME (AP) -- Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday lamented what he described as a steady diet of news about evil in the world, saying it hardens hearts, as he prayed at the Spanish Steps in a Christmas season tradition. [Ok, so one would expect, from the headline and this lead, that we're going to learn about what this tradition means.]

Shoppers who jammed the narrow streets, including Via Condotti with its posh shops, paused from buying Christmas gifts to catch a glimpse of Benedict as he was driven in a glass-sided popemobile to the square below the Spanish Steps. [What are the Spanish Steps and why are they a Christmas season tradition?]

''Every day, through the newspapers, television, radio, evil is reported, repeated, amplified, making us used to horrible things, making us become insensitive, and, in some way, poisoning us,'' the pope said after kneeling in prayer before a statue of the Virgin Mary to mark the Dec. 8 Catholic feast day in her honor. [Which is...? Surely what feast day is pertinent information.]

''Hearts harden and thoughts darken,'' Benedict said.

He also complained that the mass media ''tend to make us feel like spectators, as if evil regards only others and certain things could never happen to us.''

Instead, Benedict said, ''we are all actors, and for better or worse, our behavior has an influence on others.''

An aide held a white umbrella over the 82-year-old pontiff in a drizzle at dusk. Benedict wore an ermine-trimmed, crimson cape to guard against the chill. [Ok, so let me get the straight: what the Pope wore is more of a story than what he was doing and why?]

Benedict's next major public holiday appointment is Christmas Eve Mass, which he will celebrate at 10 p.m. instead of the traditional starting hour of midnight in St. Peter's Basilica.

The announcement by the Vatican that the pope had agreed with his aides to move up the appointment by two hours raised some concern about the pontiff's health.

But Vatican officials have insisted his health is fine, and that Benedict had agreed with aides to have more time to rest before a noon appearance to crowds in St. Peter's Square on Christmas Day.

Although Benedict at the start of his papacy ventured that he would travel far less than his globe-trotting predecessor, John Paul II, did in his 26-year-long pontificate, the German-born theologian has been making several international and domestic trips each year.

On Tuesday, church officials announced that Benedict would make several Italian pilgrimages in 2010, including a visit in October to Sicily, where the local church has been speaking out against organized crime. Other trips include a visit in May to Turin to see the famed Shroud and a journey in July to the central town of Sulmona, the spiritual home of the 13th-century hermit pope, Celestine V, the only pontiff to have resigned. [I wonder how many journalists hope Pope Benedict also resigns. ;-) ]

At least two foreign trips have been announced for next year: separate pilgrimages to the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Cyprus. Britain and Fatima, Portugal, are possibilities for other trips.

So, the reporter failed to include:

1. What the Spanish Steps are
2. Why the Spanish Steps are a Christmas tradition and
3. What feast day is December 8th (the Immaculate Conception, just FYI, AP).

But he/she did remember to include a description of the pope's hat. Gee, thanks.

Either the writer is a frustrated fashionista, stuck reporting real news when he/she would rather be covering the catwalk or some editor seriously forgot everything she learned in journalism school when she approved this for publication.

Regardless, this is a case of serious religion reporter FAIL.