A PURITAN POPE?

From the Wikipedia in Spanish:

El movimiento nació originalmente como un grupo de estudiantes llamado Gioventù Studentesca (Juventud Estudiantil), todos alumnos del liceo clásico Berchet de Milán donde Luigi Giussani era profesor de religión; a partir del año 1969 empieza a llamarse con el nombre de Comunión y Liberación. El nombre indica la idea que tiene el movimiento acerca de que el gran acontecimiento cristiano concentrado en la figura de Jesús, vivido desde la comunión, es el fundamento de la auténtica liberación del hombre.

Martin Marty, professor emeritus at the University of Chicago Divinity School, in his weekly online column called “Sightings” says:  “I've been warned, and will heed the warnings, to expect a hard-liner on some controversial Papal Teachings and practices . . .  I've been in the company of Those Who Do REMAIN suspicious of his ties to Communio e Liberazione, which in our company of scholars studying fundamentalist movements deemed a rare Catholic Fundamentalism.”

So I went to Google to find out about “Communion and Liberation.”  I’m leaving the links in, but they might not travel.  

“The movement was originally born as a student group called Student Youth, all classical lyceum students at Berchet Milan where Luigi Giussani was a professor of religion.   From 1969 the group begins to be called by the name of “Communion and Liberation.” The name suggests the idea that the movement is about the great Christian event focused on the figure of Jesus, lived in Communion, as the foundation of the authentic liberation of humans.” 

The founder of “Communion and Liberation,” Luigi Giussani, born in Desio, near Milan, Italy. His father, Beniamino Giussani, was an artist and anarchist who instilled in him a love of beauty, particularly in poetry, painting and music, and a desire for justice. From his mother, Angelina Gelosa, he received his religiosity. Giussani entered the Milan diocesan seminary at a young age, where he discovered a way to understand "secular" works of art (such as the poetry of Giacomo Leopardi and the music of Ludwig van Beethoven) as expressive of the religious sense and as unconscious prophecies of Christ's incarnation.”

“From its beginnings as Student Youth (1954), the life of the Communion and Liberation movement is centered in the liturgy, prayer, charity, and song. It also pays particular attention to the culture, art and music.”

“Under the new name Communion and Liberation, the movement Giussani founded attracted university students and adults in addition to high school students. Members of the movement, which Giussani led from 1969 until his death in 2005, became influential not only in the Church but also in politics and business.”

“In 1983 he was given the title of Monsignor by Pope John Paul II.  Giussani outlined his views on politics in a famous address to an assembly of the Italian Christian Democratic party at Assago on February 6, 1987.  “Giussani died in 2005. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI, delivered the homily at his funeral.”

One of the principal characters in papal intrigues is a man named Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan, another who once headed “Communion and Liberation.”  (This group is quite different from the Liberation Movement, which is one of the reasons that Francis I speaks against Liberation Theology.)  “After the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Scola was considered to be among the papabili as the only man who might reverse what Vatican insiders see as the decay of European culture. The conclave elected Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI.”

“In a review of Cardinal Scola's 1996 book, The Nuptial Mystery, Luke Timothy Johnson writes in Commonweal magazine about Scola's "condemnation not only of abortion and of genetic engineering, and of birth control, but also of feminism, of homosexuality, and of cultural traits Scola associates with feminism and homosexuality, namely individualism, libertinism, relativism, narcissism, and even nihilism.”   According to Johnson, "the cardinal's logic, in fact, seems to be that feminism is responsible for homosexuality, because the more women act like men, the more men are likely to want to have sex with other men."

“In 2013, Scola was a front-runner candidate to become the new pope, and one Italian representative even mistakenly announced Scola's victory.  (Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, S.J. was elected, and took the name Francis.)”

Wikipedia links this movement to “Agnus Dei”, to which the far right Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia subscribes.  It may be that in its struggle to pull back from licentiousness and greed, the Catholic church may have chosen a broom so stiff that it will sweep away some of our civil liberties.  If Francis I insists that Communion is the heart of the Catholic Church, what will happen to all the people who are technically prevented from accepting it?  Will he go the way of his namesake saint (forgiveness and inclusion) or will he reveal an affinity for John Calvin, who constricted and darkened so many lives for centuries -- even now?  It appears that the road forks towards the right.  

Americans -- and remember that they are about half minorities now, just as they are about half female -- both of whom in a time of financial distress are far more likely to accept the ideas of a man who lives modestly and eschews Prada red slippers -- if he will take care of them.  Churches are wise to be charitable, because it creates loyalty.

People do things for various reasons, but it is not clear that Francis I was an alternative to Benedict and Scola.  He may, in fact, have been collaborating with them for his own reasons but, on the other hand, it may have been easier for Benedict to retire knowing that Francis would succeed him since he hasn’t got the image problem that Scola does, mostly because Francis is still largely unknown.  Scalia was much admired by conservatives until he landed in the Supreme Court as the Great Dissenter, hamstrung by his own recalcitrance but able to block liberals so long as Clarence Thomas shuts his mouth and agrees.

On the other hand, there is part of me that admires anyone who stands for something clearly defined and acted upon in his own life.  If Francis is foregoing all the pomp and circumstance, the reason may be that he needs the time and energy for far closer scrutiny and disciplining of other realities.  Clearly there is a pressing list of issues that need attention and reform.  Which items get priority and what curative actions may be taken is where the Devil enters with His Details. 

In an effort to think about all this, I ordered movies about Saint Francis from Netflix.  They’re quick and lazy ways to understand the Saint’s life, but also a way to see what the appeal is.  Just looking at how many movies there are tells you something.  The first two I’ve watched were both Italian, church-approved, each three hours long and including the same facts, but reconfigured to suit different tastes.   “Saint Francis” (2002) and “Clare and Francis” (2007) surprised me when I looked at the dates of their filming because it is “Clare and Francis” that is a sort of Fifties romantic version and “Saint Francis” that is poetic: fire, water, wind, flesh and stone with a better wolf, though it’s sure not a big old Montana timber wolf.  Both the Zefferelli version and the version with Mickey Rourke and Helena Bonham Carter have long waits attached.  The attraction is, well, love without consummation:  spiritual tumescence.  Sounds like high school stuff used to be and romance novels still are.  More Mother Teresa.