Author Archive: Bill Black
I'm a baby boomer, lefty Democrat, Boston Irish Catholic, born in 1953. I work as a public affairs consultant in Washington.
Somebody please explain….
Postscript: I watched it again. Now I get it.
Blame Bush
We’re in the aftermath of a financial crisis — and there’s overwhelming evidence (pdf) that recovery from financial crises is almost always protracted and difficult.
What Is It About Opthamologists?
I really struggle to understand how somebody who can handle the intellectual rigors of medical school can be so dumb when it comes to public policy. What’s up with that?
Andrew Sullivan Contemplates Death
I live in this awareness. But I also live in the awareness that eternity is here already, that the majesty and miracle of God’s creation resonates through every second of our lives and every particle of matter within and without us. That is how I interpret Oakeshott’s deeply Christian (and somewhat Buddhist) understanding of salvation as having nothing whatsoever to do with the future. The unity and individuality and wonder we are told we will only know then is actually here now, shielded from our own eyes by our own mortal fear, by our own avoidance of death, by our own inability to grasp that this struggle we fear is actually already over, that God loves us now unconditionally, overwhelmingly, this knowledge prevented solely from penetrating us by our own sense of inadequacy, or our looking away, or are losing ourselves in the human and worldly things that I understand by sin.
So I do not believe our consciousness is utterly different after death than now. I believe, with Saint Paul, that this is the same divine experience, but through a glass darkly. I believe it is Love, because Jesus showed me so. And I await with with great fear because I am human and I await with great hope because of the incarnation and resurrection of God in human history.
How Can He Leave??
I’m no fan of LeBron James, or any sports figure who reaches God-like stature. But I have to say, I will think well of him if he responds positively to the people of Cleveland.
EMBED-We Are Lebron Video – Watch more free videos
40 Songs, 4 Cords
Let it Rain
I’ve always loved the song, Let It Rain, but just learned the story behind that song from the Crooks and Liars website:
Lyricist Roger Penzabene penned the words after finding out that his wife was cheating on him and he tragically committed suicide a week after the single was released.
Now, listen to the song in light of that news. I’ll never hear it the same again.
Vatican PR
Excuse me, while their “PR” may be pathetic, it has been an accurate reflection of their view of the situation. According to most comments coming from the Church, the primary problem is the persecution of the Pope. That’s what they believe and that’s what they are saying. And, while the Post notes that the Vatican has not consulted with the American bishops who have been through this kind of scandal, it would seem that the Vatican’s view is shared by the American bishops. Contrasting the lack of PR strategy in Rome with the presumably better responses in the U.S., the piece points out:
There appears to be a more organized effort, particularly in the United States, to defend the pope. American bishops across the country, including Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, took to the pulpit and op-ed pages over the Easter weekend. “What happens when a pope is persecuted?” was the title of a news release by the Atlanta-based Catholic public relations firm Maximus. “Martyred Popes” was the name of a blog post by American Catholic writer Robert Moynihan.
“Martyred Popes”?? That’s the superior American approach to handling the scandal? God save us from the Church!
The lack of a full acknowledgment of the problems is what’s hurting the Church, not its PR strategy. The PR strategy comes after the operational response, which is currently sorely lacking. Only then can the Church begin to rehabilitate its reputation by communicating to its audiences its true remorse. And they would prove that true remorse by taking steps that go beyond institutional protection. The Church is nowhere near that phase yet.
All this said, I think there is a PR strategy at work. Think about it. Think about the current message about the persecution of the Pope. Think about which audience would respond to that message. They are arming the die hards with an explanation in order to hold onto them. They are not, in any way, seeking to reach people, like me, observant Catholics who are disgusted and whose only explanation is to chalk it up to human frailty that afflicts the Church just like any other human institution.
Sadly, while I look for a divine response more in keeping with the teachings of Jesus, a true humility, a true remorse, an acceptance of responsibility for the sins that have been committed, I wait in vain.
In a telling paragraph in the story, a man named Barry McLoughlin is cited:
Barry McLoughlin, who holds crisis management seminars for U.S. bishops and helped them craft the tougher 2002 rules, said he’s “in agony” watching the Church fail to get its footing. He said people around the pope may be too intimidated to deliver bad news to his face.(emphasis added)
It was the tougher rules that helped the American Church begin to move on, not its PR strategy. As a person who works in PR, suggesting that the Vatican’s problem is PR, gives PR a bad name.
Enough, enough, enough, enough….
But the future pope also noted that any decision to defrock Kiesle must take into account the “good of the universal church” and the “detriment that granting the dispensation can provoke within the community of Christ’s faithful, particularly considering the young age.” Kiesle was 38 at the time.
I have a Catholic friend, more conservative than me, but who recognizes how bad things are getting. Still, since he believes all media outside of Fox News represent a liberal conspiracy against all he holds dear, including the Church, he admires the Church’s seeming imperviousness to media criticism. He exults at how ridiculous any idea that the Pope will step down. He says, “It will NEVER happen, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, etc.” I have to say, I can’t easily conceive of the Pope “resigning.” I’m not even sure what that means, it sounds so strange.
But things are truly getting out of hand. We are clearly in Watergate territory now where it is impossible to contain the damage. And every dismissive response from the Vatican simply fans the flames.
I would say to my friend, never say never.
Why I Remain a Catholic
How do some of us stay in the Church? In grief, in sadness, with a resolve not to be shut out by those who say they are speaking in the name of the Father. We just don’t believe them. The Church is not an institution; it is the people, people who are now wounded and scandalized, not only by the sexual crimes of priests, but more important, by the cover-up by those in power. In 1959 the election of Pope John XXIII was a surprise, a kind of miracle. It happened once. It could happen again. We wait, in stubborn hope, for the return of miracle. We want to make sure some of us are at home when it happens.
Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for flagging it.