Vaticaneese

Since the Vatican has urged its clergy to "get with it" and use the internet to spread the Good News, it is now looking at itself. Good thing, too. I try. My chapter tries. My friends try. All serious Catholics try. But try as we might, it takes a person with a strong sense of purpose, to successfully plow through Vatican documents.

Catholic News Service explains what the Vatican is trying. I readily identified with the passage reading that the Vatican recognizes that even the most papal sympaticoes are discouraged when reading papal texts.


"This is a topic we need to face in an explicit manner. Many times we speak, but in a language that is no longer comprehensible," he said. He said that's something that may be the focus of an upcoming plenary session of his council.
...

Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the communications council, launched what might be called a trial balloon on the question of language in a recent article in Cultures and Faith, a publication of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
...

As things stand, he said, the church relies too much on texts, which often use a vocabulary and forms of expression that are experienced as "unintelligible and off-putting even by sympathetic audiences."

He said the church needs to recognize that today's younger audience is fluent in "a language rooted in the convergence of text, sound and images," and will quickly move on if their attention is not immediately engaged."



My chapter is currently reading Caritas in Veritate. Oy Vey!
'

'till Somebody Loves You

You're nobody 'til somebody loves you
You're nobody 'til somebody cares
You may be king, you may possess the world and it's gold
But gold won't bring you happiness when you're growing old

The world still is the same, you'll never change it
As sure as the star shines above
You're nobody 'til somebody loves you
So find yourself somebody to love

These are the lyrics to You're Nobody 'till Somebody Loves You, by Michael Buble. I remember Dean Martin singing that. Am I dating myself? It's worth it. You young people miss out on this one. Good song.

The song came to mind while I was reading Caritas in Veritate. This Encyclical Letter is our assignment for Dominican Study Group.
Pope Benedict XVI says:
As a spiritual being, the human creature is defined through interpersonal relations. The more authentically he or she lives these relations, the more his or her own personal identity matures. It is not by isolation that man establishes his worth, but by placing himself in relation with others and with God. Hence these relations take on fundamental importance. Caritas in Veritate, chapter 5, 53.

See? You're nobody 'till somebody loves you. Community is a pillar. In a perfect world, we'd all be one family.

Caritas in Veritate

Caritas in Veritate is Pope Benedict's latest encyclical. Even since it came out, I've tried to read it. I admit it's very difficult. People call documents from the Vatican, "Vaticanese," because to us, they are hard to understand. It takes getting use to. Alright, it takes a lot of getting use to. But if you try--consistently, somehow you'll find yourself developing the vocabulary, the literary manner that is used. It has to be written to be translated and to be applicable to many cultures. That's how I look at it--it's hard to write, therefore it's hard to understand.

What caught my attention was the section on social justice. Considering the economic condition of the world, B16's words seem providential. The collapse of the world's financial system made people think about their personal and national financial systems. B16 asked for reform. He asks countries to restructure their financial priorities. A financial order that works for "common good." He asks to combat hunger and to open agricultural markets to developing nations. Rich countries should share the wealth.

The blog, "Catholic Culture," quotes the reaction of Lord Brian Griffiths of Fforestfach. He is a former economic adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and a current member of the House of Lords, a vice-chairman of Goldman Sachs International, a devout Evangelical Christian, and whose everyday work engages him in the future prospect of the global economic system, makes this extraordinary statement on encyclical:

Despite heavy competition from some of the world's finest minds, it is without a doubt the most articulate, comprehensive and thoughtful response to the financial crisis that has yet appeared.

I think so too, which is why I am, and will continue to, study it.