The Book of St Richard, Chapter 27

Continued from Chapter 26.

1. So Richard continued to grow in years, if not in wisdom.

2. And he spake out, saying, "Let us consider eugenics, dearly beloved. It worketh for cows, horses, pigs, dogs and roses. Would it not work for humans?"

3. For Richard was dreaming of a Master Race of biologists, wise in the ways of the selfish gene.

4. Such people would naturally become experts in religion without needing to study it.

5. They would know how to deal with mighty theocracies by sending them lewd images, such as are known as the no-graphy of the poor.

6. They would be as fertile as the cow, as swift as the horse, as plump as the pig, as fearsome as the dog, and as fragrant as the rose.

"The Master Race shall feed on the finest honey if they can't get human flesh."

7. However, the people mocked him, saying, "Richard, by thy wibblings thou hast done wondrous things for the cause of the Lord God, but thy praise for eugenics shows thee to be as mad as the hatters of Wonderland."

8. However, Richard was undismayed, for he had recently written another book, designed for young people, and entitled "Outgrowing God."

9. For the publishers had said, "The children have had their brains washed with the word of the Lord, and it time for us to wash their brains with the word of the prophet Richard."

10. However, the children were unconvinced by the word of Richard, saying "Look, we may be only four years old, but even we can see that the ontological hypotheses underlying his Kantian rejection of the Almighty do not hold water."

"Hey! The God Delusion is even sillier!

11. However, Richard was undismayed, for the book was a bestseller, being Number Twelve Score and Five in the Times List of Barking Mad Books by Dotty Professors.

12. And so the long spiritual journey of Richard continued towards its very distant end.

Continued in Chapter 28

Pope admits: "I don't really like Catholics"

After a very successful meeting with Rome's Lutheran church, Pope Francis has finally said what many people suspected all along, namely, "I don't really like Catholics."

The Diet of Worms. On behalf of all Catholics, an apology for "judging" Martin Luther.

"Of course, I'm not referring to people like my great friend, the intellectual giant, Walter Kasper," he added, "nor to people like Fr Tommy Rosica and Fr Jimmy Martin S.J. Some people don't really think of these as Catholics, anyway. But as for the rest..."

Pouring out his woes to a sympathetic audience of Lutherans, the pope went on to say that practically all Catholics were airport gnostics, leprous neo-Pelagians, existential parrot-Christians, Renaissance functionaries and pepper-faced tourists. "Thank God for Martin Luther," he added. "He certainly put Catholics in their place."

"You little promoter of the poison of immanence!"

"Wait until the Year of Mercy starts," he added. "Those Catholics won't know what hit them! Then, when it ends, we'll be just in time to celebrate the Reformation!"

It is felt that Pope Francis may be disgruntled by the outcome of the recent synod, when he was severely embarrassed by constant references to scripture and tradition. However, as pope, he gets the final word, and is said to be ready to take the Catholic church in new directions, following the lead of the great Martin Luther.

Pope Francis nails his 95 theses to the door of St Peter's.

Should noisy adults be allowed in church?

One of my younger readers writes:

Dear Uncle Eccles,

What should we do about noisy adults in church? I am six years old, and I go to Mass with my parents and Lucy, my sister. Lucy is only three, and very well-behaved, usually either sleeping, reading a book such as Charles Kingsley's Water-babies - she scribbles on the heretical parts - or drawing pictures with crayon.

Warning: probably a book to upset Blessed John Henry Newman.

My parents are naughtier, but I am usually able to keep them under control by hissing "Ssshhh!" at them when they start chattering.

However, other adults are not so well behaved. Part of the problem is that they aren't trained to be quiet, as those of us who attend St Tharg's Primary School are. So we often hear adults chattering through those parts of the service that are less exciting than others, for example:

1. the bit before it starts, when worshippers are encouraged to discuss their neighbour's clothes and hairstyles;
2. the sermon - although I personally found it very interesting when the priest said he was appointed only for those who lived in the parish, and he wanted all visitors to get lost;

Welcoming worshippers to the parish.
First polite native: Who's 'im, Bill?
Second ditto: A stranger!
First ditto: 'Eave 'arf a brick at 'im!

3. the prayers, which always sound the same - I'm told that some churches make them more varied by saying "In our cycle of prayer we pray for all who live in Lembit Opik Terrace, for the people of Liberia, for the diocese of Luton and Bishop Loquitur, for all librarians, liberals and libertines, and for all limpets." But we don't do that;
4. the "peace", which the grown-ups just use as an opportunity to cuddle each other (yeugh!);
5. that Scottish song near the end, about someone called Angus Daly, which I don't understand.

Anyway, you get my point. People with short attention spans, such as grown-ups, need something to distract them. Of course they have their smart phones, and so they can (and do) send texts and follow the cricket score when things are getting a bit dull, but it's not enough.

Mrs Emin drew a nice picture during Mass.

So it's bit of a dilemma, really. Most adults are not really needed in order to make the service go with a swing, and there should perhaps be some nursery arrangements made for them, so that we children can worship without being distracted.

Oh, and one last thing. We kids don't like songs such as "Shine, Jesus, Shine" or "If I were a butterfly": we find them patronising. Give us "Salve Regina" or "Iam lucis orto sidere", any day. Then we'll know we're singing a work written by someone who was actually religious, rather than just a greedy entrepreneur. I know the adults like dumb hymns, but we kids do expect something better.

Love, Alex Smith (age 6).

A modern "quiet" church.

Your application for the position of Pope

From the Human Resources Department, Vatican City

Dear Mr England,

Thank you for your application for the position of administrative officer, grade 12 (commonly known as Pope). Although the position is not actually Sede Vacante, unless you believe those cranky websites that say there has been no valid pope since the Council of Trent, we are of course aware that the current Grade 12 officer may retire at any time, and so it is advisable to keep a pool of well-trained people in reserve.

As you rightly surmised, the "conclave" at which popes are "elected" is merely for show, and the real business is the responsibility of Human Resources.

A trainee pope (possibly the next pontiff but three).

Your CV is indeed an impressive one, with a 2.1 degree in Politics, computer training, and "on the job" experience serving soup to homeless people. However, there are some clear gaps in your profile, which you may wish to remedy before re-applying in five years from now.

LATIN. You do not mention any Latin skills, but this is de facto the lingua franca of the Catholic Church (see the Vatican II documents) - indeed, we would be grateful if your re-application were to be made in Latin. This also helps us weed out applications from Latinophobes, especially smart Alecs who think we should be using Esperanto.

KISSING FEET. An important part of a pope's job is to kiss people. Whereas politicians tend to harass babies in this way, a pope is more likely to find himself kissing ugly and deformed people, not to mention the feet of complete strangers. Actually, this is not a difficult skill to learn, and we advise you to practise this on the London Underground. However, we bear no responsibility if an ugly deformed stranger decides to kick you in the face.

Excuse me, sir, you seem to be particularly ugly. May I kiss your feet?

RELEASING BIRDS INTO THE AIR. We have had some problems with this, recently, when Officer Francis refused to do a proper health and safety risk assessment before sending a hapless dove into danger at the hands of a seagull and a crow. Releasing a bird may seem easy, but we do demand that you attend an official training course before endangering doves in this way.

BLOGGING. Although your blog is generally excellent, it is not usual for popes to make a spectacle of themselves in this way. So far it seems you have resisted the temptation to post pictures of the baked beans on toast that you had for lunch, or pictures of yourself cage-fighting, but be warned we shall have to give your blog a nihil obstat before it can be accepted as an official papal document.

WELCOMING CHILDREN. You may wish to reflect on how you would react if confronted by the following situation. No hints!

An everyday problem for a pope.

Best wishes,
Cardinal Paperclip,
Human Resources, Vatican City.

Vatican criticises UN over child abuse

This week, the United Nations came under intense pressure from the Catholic Church, having been asked to explain its brutal treatment of children.

The sinister organization run by Fr Ban Ki-moon.

In a hard-hitting report, the Vatican pointed out that the UN in general took a very anti-child attitude, even supporting the murder of babies in the womb. Moreover, even children who survived the first nine months of life were in grave danger. As Fox News pointed out, children are being poisoned in Syria, forced into the army in Uganda, and sold for sex in Thailand. Even liberal Catholics concede that this is - by and large, and taking all things into consideration - against the Spirit of Vatican II.

Ban Ki-moon. Note the Satanic symbols on his shirt.

Perhaps the most sinister part of the UN is the so-called "Security Council", where notorious tyrants, such as Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir Putin of Russia, François Hollande of France, Barack Obama of the United States, and David Cameron of the United Kingdom, send representatives to discuss new ways of tormenting children: for example, by "air strikes" on any country that gets in their way.

Pope Francis asks Ban Ki-moon to explain his shirt (not shown).

Meanwhile, in England, God's representative in London, Cardinal-elect Vincent Nichols, has been at the forefront of attacks on the UN, even going so far as to mutter to himself "Hmmph, this really is not on!" when he read about their activities in the Guardian.

Rebels against the UN: these ladies refuse to sign up to the cult of Ban Ki-mono.