This is me, Eccles

This is me, Eccles
This is me, Eccles

Thursday 9 February 2017

Whom do we obey, the bishop or the pope?

Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, generally agreed to be one of the truly saved English bishops, has raised an interesting question, the title of this post.

Egan tweet

The bishop's dilemma.

For Catholics at least, the generally recognised hierarchy is

YOU < PRIEST < BISHOP < POPE < GOD.

"God" here means the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit, with an optional Spirit of Vatican II joining Them - and "Pope" here is also a trinity (jolly Frank, grumpy Bergoglio, and the rarely-observed wise Francis). Moreover, for some people, POPE = GOD.

Now comes the dilemma: for the people of Portsmouth we may fairly say that the Bishop is the chap to obey, more than the Pope is. For the people of Malta, the bishops are... well, never mind, but nobody in their right mind should listen to them.

Poster from Rome

Not everyone is satisfied with the Pope.

The poster above shows that even obeying the Pope can be problematical. Our Italian is not good, but it seems to say "You is not saved, only we is saved." This is of course the recognised way of submitting complaints (Latin, "Dubia") to the Pope.

If thy priest offend thee, then of course thou shouldst stick posters of him all round the town.

Bad priest

FATHER ARTHUR, YOU ARE A COMPLETE MORON! HANDS OFF THE SOVEREIGN MOTHERS AND TODDLERS GROUP! GET THOSE GUITARS OUT OF MASS! STOP BORING US WITH HOMILIES ABOUT YOUR HOLIDAY IN BOURNEMOUTH! WHERE IS YOUR MERCY?

Finally, some people will take complaints to the highest level...

God

GOD, THE WEATHER IS SO LOUSY AND I AM IN A BORING JOB AND NOBODY LIKES ME AND I DON'T LIKE YOUR TEACHING ON ADULTERY AND THAT MAN BURKE IS DRIVING ME NUTS. WHERE IS YOUR OMNIPOTENCE? LOVE, FRANCIS.

5 comments:

  1. For some bishops there is the question who to obey-Jesus or Moses?Since Moses might give you a divorce and Jesus is rigid on this point...

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  2. My priest translated the poster differently, he said it's written: "yo Frank! this photo of you impersonating the grumpy cat is absolutely gorgeous, the chief of the order of Malta laughed so hard that his belly has to be refitted. Will God's mercy bring us more of your usual 'advice dog' skits?

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  3. Hmm... http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2017/02/wapo-publishes-insane-oped-about.html

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  4. "THAT MAN BURKE IS DRIVING ME NUTS" Now wood dat be Mgr Patrick or Cardinal Raymond Leo? And another "Dubia", is Pope Francis hisself a "Dubia"?

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