She Who Must Be Obeyed

Lord Young is the only person, who works at Number 10, other than the Prime Minister, who has his own office, according to an article in The Times today. I like the last paragraph. Asked if he will retire, as he is 81, this is his reply.

Never, until She herself calls me from upstairs. I am convinced it must be a woman upstairs as women are doing everything. You must remember that I have been married 57 years to the same wife. I’ve worked for Margaret Thatcher. I know who my bosses are.

I agree with him, although I’ve never worked for a female boss, but I was married for forty years.

Two Quotes From Antonio Carluccio

The Times yesterday had two quotes from Antonio Carluccio.

Religion is hypocritical.

He says that he abandoned it forty years ago. With me it was probably nearly sixty, when I discovered how good science is.

Cooking is good for attracting girls.

He says he taught himself, as he couldn’t afford to go to restaurants.

I’m teaching myself, not because I can’t afford the restaurants, but because restaurants don’t cook what I like. As to whther it attracts girls, I couldn’t possibly comment.

Floats For The Palm Sunday Parade In Seville

After seeing the Metropol Parasol, I wandered through a few churches looking at the floats for the afternoon’s Palm Sunday parade.

In some ways, I find these sort of Holy Week parades obscene. All that gold, silver and expense, when in many places in the world, there is a great deal of poverty and starvation.

If you reckon this is all too ostentatious, then look at some of the churches in Ecuador and other parts of South America. It does seem that Pope Francis is trying to move the Roman Catholic church to a different and more humble plane.

But will he succeed?

Men In Odd Uniforms

There were quite a few men going around Seville in very odd uniforms.

I dread to think, what would happen, if someone tried that in say Alabama, most of Africa and parts of the UK.

How Many Roman Catholic Priests Are Married?

Most people, myself included, would have answered none to this question. But now after this case reported here and in several papers like The Times, the question is how many other priests are leading a hypocritical double life?

I think the Catholic church should take serious action to stop priests from doing things their vows of chastity explicitly forbid them. I’m told that there are fiendish devices available on the Internet, which have their origins in those, that mediaeval knights locked around their ladies interesting bits.

Alternatively, they could change the vows and make them more in line with the real world.

Cardinal Says Paedophilia Not Criminal

This astounding statement was made by Cardinal Wilfrid Fox Napier and is reported here on the BBC. Here’s the first few paragraphs.

The Catholic Archbishop of Durban, Wilfrid Fox Napier, has described paedophilia as a psychological “illness, not a criminal condition”.

The South African cardinal told the BBC that people who were themselves abused as children and then abused others needed to be examined by doctors.

Do these guys live in the real world?

A scandal sheet has pointed out that hailed Pope is actually an anagram of paedophile. Search for the phrase in Google and you find a lot of matches.

My father who was a stickler for spelling would probably be arguing that paedophile is properly spelled with a diphthong. As I said in this post, diphthongs in letterpress type have a really solid feel.

Football In The Vatican

I’ve just found this article about the Vatican City football team.

It’s definitely worth a read and I don’t think anybody would find it offensive.

The Daily Mirror Isn’t Impressed With Pope Francis

I found this article on the Daily Mirror written by a journalist, who comes from the Falkland Islands.

I think most people in the UK, would agree with what he says, as we tend to have fairly strong feelings about those faraway islands in the South Atlantic. I don’t think I’ve ever met a UK citizen, who thinks we should give the island to Argentina.

The writer of this article finishes off like this.

So Pope Francis, I urge you to join the rest of us in the 21st century and recognise the Falkland Islanders’ democratic rights.

Oh, and while you’re at it, how about changing your mind on contraception, abortion and gay rights into the bargain?

Sadly, I think there’s more chance of me becoming the next Pope than any of that happening.

I think my advice to the Pope would be to stay out of the row and try to be a calmiong influence on all parties.

 

 

A Comment On The Election Of The Pope

I cut this out of the BBC web site.  It is a comment, that I suspect is typical of the way many Catholics are thinking.

I am praying that the conclave has voted for a progressive Pope. The aggressive rebuking of homosexuals and continued opposition towards contraception have left me doubting whether my social values are compatible with my Catholic faith, to the point where I have considered abandoning my faith. I hope the new Pope will treat these subjects with compassion rather than contempt.

It will be a tragedy, if they elect another backward thinking Pope.

We need leaders, who look forward with clear and radical scientifically-based answers to solve the problems of the World.

Cardinal O’Brien In The Doo-Dah

I can’t say I hold a brief for the views of Cardinal O’Brien, as what right does anybody have to deny anybody a proper marriage, be they straight, gay, divorced or widowed.

So I was rather pleased that Stonewall’s bigot of the year, has got dropped in it, from a great height by a former priest and some other complainants. The priest left the priesthood and got married, which probably sums up the real fault of Catholic doctrine. Being denied your instincts, like wanting to have a meaningful relationship with someone that might lead to marriage, surely causes more problems than it solves.

The full story is here on the BBC.

I do fear that if people like O’Brien are choosing the new Pope, what sort of dinosaur will they choose?