Francis by Patrick J. Marrin for October 25, 2018

Well, I was going to ask which Pope was in the picture looking like The Scream, but then I went back and looked at the first frame.

nice side joke with the “Scream”

One of the issues with the Catholic Church is its long-standing legacy. Institutionalized by the Roman Emperor Constantine and preserved and formulated by medieval monarchs. Is is built very much on an Imperial model with the the pontiff at the top, cardinals and bishops on the next level of the pyramid, clergy below that and at the very bottom, the people.

This model worked until the beginning of the 20th century when an event know as “The Great War” deposed the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the Rominovs. Colonialism waned throughout the remainder of the century.

The Catholic Church is still working on the old, top-down, dictatorial model and they wonder why the people feel disconnected with the church. Is anyone up there listening?

I’m beginning to think almost anybody could do a better job than the bishops of cleaning up the Church.

In the early church, the congregations chose their own bishops.

amen

The Pope is a glorified bishop originally.