Nul points for the UK bishops

Eurovision song contest news.

Well, it was "nul points" for the bishops of England, Scotland, and Wales this week, as their pastoral letter "Down with carbon", sung by Mad John Arnold and the Stooges, failed to convince anyone in this Pentecost-themed Eurovision Song Contest. Its strident chorus, "Build back better! Build back better!" wasn't the hit they had expected, and nobody could find anything much about Pentecost in the lyrics apart from a bit about how the Holy Spirit was backing mighty rushing wind power rather than tongues of fire.

Bad news for the bishops!

Why, even the Germans, with their fetching rainbow vestments and their song "We'll bless anything", sung by the heavyweight team of Cardinal Marx and the Schismatics, managed to get three points. Still no mention of Pentecost, however.

No entry from the Vatican, whose "Pachamama Blues" would have been a certainty for the 2020 competition; apparently the money reserved for preparing an entry is now resting in someone's bank account. However, they may take some credit for Italy's winning entry of "Tutti Fratelli ice-cream", sung by Massimo and the Beans.

"They're starting to throw rotten tomatoes, lads. Sing louder!"

Tonight their disgruntled manager Vincent Nichols complained, "We did our best to write a modernist song, throwing away all that old-fashioned stuff about the Holy Spirit leading us to truth, let alone St Paul's irrational prejudices against fornication, gross indecency, sexual irresponsibility, idolatory and sorcery. We concentrated on the message of St Greta of Thunberg, the Venerable Biden, and Boris the Green (formerly 'that fascist Boris Johnson')."

Well, we already knew that the days of Vincent Nichols, were numbered, as the Vatican struggles to find a worthy successor, but this fiasco can only hasten his downfall.

Pope decides to Build Back Better

We thought at first it was simply a tweet from whoever manages Pope Francis's Twitter account (believed to be a teenager on work experience, judging by the quality of the tweets), but no, it appeared on the Vatican's own site.

The theme of this year's celebration is “Building Back Better: Toward a Disability-inclusive, Accessible and Sustainable post-COVID-19 World”. I find the expression “building back better” quite striking. It makes me think of the Gospel parable of the house built on rock or sand (cf. Mt 7:24-27; Lk 6:46-49). So I take this special occasion to share some reflections based on that parable.

Unfortunately, to everyone else in the world "Build Back Better" means something else. It is associated with the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, and even Joe Biden's election compaign.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld Klaus Schwab - tipped to become a cardinal any time soon.

Yes, all the most powerful creatures in the world - Bill Gates, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, even Joe Biden's dog - all agree that we must Build Back Better.

Of course, this is not the first time that Pope Francis has appropriated a political slogan for his own purposes. Previous Vatican "themes" have been "Yes, we can!" and "Feel the Berg!" not to mention "Francis has a plan for that!" and "Best Pope Money Can't Buy" (this last one is no longer used, following negotiations with China).

Top Catholic Joe Biden refutes claims that he hasn't got a leg to stand on.

So what is in store for the Catholic Church when it participates in the Great Reset? God's Own Great Reset is believed to involve a return to the book of Genesis - drop each person into a garden containing an apple tree and a malicious snake. Those who don't eat the apple go to Heaven, those who do go to Hell. But Pope Francis has other plans.

As Job 1:21 points out, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Well, the Great Reset does not involve stealing everyone's clothes - although several prominent cardinals thought that this would be an interesting feature - but it doesn involve taking away everyone's money.

In the future society based on Brave New World / 1984 / Fahrenheit 451 / choose your own dystopia, but perhaps Austen Ivereigh's new book about the Pope will count, everyone will remain at home all day. No more public worship, nothing but staring at a telescreen all day long, no bars, no shopping, just daily deliveries of low-fat vegan climate-friendly chemically synthesised food. It's better! It's Better! It's BETTER!

How to Build Back Better.