Abandoned Altars

An era is ending in Western Christianity.

For better or for worse, a way of life that began in the deserts of Egypt over seventeen hundred years ago is coming to an end. At least, in its Roman Catholic form. It will mean the end of a legacy that extends from the preservation of literacy itself through the Dark Ages to that most terrible instrument of fanaticism, the Inquisition.

The BBC reports that the number of Roman Catholic religious — that is, monks and nuns, brothers and sisters in both cloistered and mendicant communities — declined by a full 10% in just one year. Worse, the numbers of consecrated women, whose ill-paid efforts actually keep the institution running from day to day, declined by no less than 25% while John Paul II was in office.

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I’ve rarely watched Fox’s “Bones” mystery series for more than a few minutes. But zipping through last night, I noticed it seemed to involve clergy abuse, so I stayed. And I was utterly appalled by the way it turned out.

The main plot woven in among all the silly on-going themes seemed to be about a murdered priest found in a graveyard. There were several dead priests, actually, and the cemetery business was some unrelated graverobbing that was quickly solved. Turns out, though, that one had been rumored to be a pedophile, despite the pretty altar boy’s strenuous claims that their personal interest in him was purely platonic though he knew everyone thought otherwise. The lab showed that the croaked clerics had been poisoned, and one bludgeoned with a chalice for good measure also (!).

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Sometimes, papal absurdity is just too much to resist.

Papal Letter Blames Atheism for World’s Worst Styles

(PARODY) Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized modern-day atheism in a major document released today, saying it had led to some of the “worst fashion choices” ever known to mankind.

But in his second encyclical, Benedict also critically questioned modern Christianity, saying its focus on individual salvation had ignored Jesus’ true message that Christians must dress better than the infidel.

“Saved by Hems” is a deeply theological exploration of Christian beauty in the fashion world - that in the suffering and misery of the street, Christianity provides the faithful with beauty secrets straight from the Kingdom of God.

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Once upon a time, in a land blessed with peace and prosperity, there were certain good sheepleherds. These boys and girls were bothered by things they had heard. Bad men who pretended to be good were hurting other children in temples everywhere and no one could stop them. Their leaders turned away and would not listen.

“This is not right,” the good children said. “We must help them.”

And so they got together to go on a crusade. “We will fight them,” they said. “We will stop the bad men. We will tell the supreme wizard who will make our leaders listen. Everything will be better, just like it used to be, once again.”

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