Finnegan's Awake

Has Catholic education failed us?

Does the Pope speak for you?

Following a four-day jaunt to England and Scotland, Pope Benedict is safely ensconced back in Vatican City, declaring that Catholic faith in Great Britain is alive and well. The Holy See rightly chose to defy would-be assassins who threatened his life and was rewarded with hundreds of thousands of adoring fans - sorry, worshipers. No...flock-members? We'll just say Catholics.

In this op-ed piece on Monday, "The Pope and the Crowds," columnist Ross Douthat spun the numbers of admirers (totaling, by his own account but not laid out by him this way, roughly 5 percent of the Catholics in Great Britain, and less than 1 percent of all Christians in Great Britain) to claim that hey, people love the Pope! Catholicism is making a comeback, people. Who knew?

Douthat claims that even in a time of crisis (and let's add gross systematic incompetence bordering on malevolent negligence), Catholics still support the Pope because he signifies that which does not change about the Church. Catholicism doesn't give in to silly fads, like those crazy Anglicans do, so they stay strong. They also believe in symbolism:

"But in turning out for their beleaguered pope, Britain’s Catholics acknowledged something essential about their faith that many of the Vatican’s critics, secular and religious alike, persistently fail to understand. They weren’t there to voice agreement with Benedict, necessarily. They were there to show their respect — for the pontiff, for his office, and for the role it has played in sustaining Catholicism for 2,000 years."

First of all, I find it highly unlikely that Douthat, or anyone, can testify to the state of mind of the 260,000 or so Catholics who showed up to see the Pope. Secondly, I think that some radical change is needed for the Church to sustain itself, in first world countries at least, and that it's logical to hope that that change comes from the top down, i.e. the Pope, but not realistic. The Pope is undeniably a political figure, and every politician wants nothing more than to stay in power. A man who, in some sense or another, controls a billion people throughout the world, is not going to do a thing to loosen that power.

Pescetarian delight

So this marks my third solid week of being a weekday pescetarian, which begs the immediate questions, what the hell is that, and is it contagious? A weekday pescetarian, as defined by me, probably the only person actually practicing this diet, is someone who doesn’t eat meat during the week, but who will eat seafood anytime. A vegetarian who will eat fish. But only Monday through Friday. Come the weekend, I’m all carnivore.

This is weird, I know. I’ve gotten a few odd looks, but mostly I try not to make it a big deal, because that would be pretentious and irritating. It’s an arbitrary rule I’m imposing on myself – though I broke it once for Chinese chicken and broccoli, and am prepared to break it if at another person’s home and am served meat, or if I’m offered pretty much any free food. I am eating far less meat than I was before, and even on the weekends, I don’t feel the need to go running for the nearest cheeseburger. But why does that matter?

The ultimate wedding faux pas