For those who are interested the National Catholic Reporter has more photos Cardinal Rode in all his worldly splendor. They also have an interview with Cardinal Rode which is every bit as fascinating to read as his celebratory finery is to contemplate.
I couldn't help but notice how the above photo demonstrates what an inclusive church Cardinal Rode's vision encompasses. Notice all the poor people and women? What can you expect, this is a photo taken at the consecration of some male Deacons. No wonder there are no poor people or women. Sheeesh. This was a ceremony for the important people in the Church.
In his interview Rode maintains he had nothing to do with either the LCWR investigation or the Legionnaire's. I'm quite ready to believe that was true in the case of the Legionnaire's. I'm not so sure about the LCWR. Rode blames it on younger members of LCWR congregations and American Cardinals in Rome. I guess that proves that the Vatican is willing to take some sisters seriously. He then glowingly describes the new religious orders and the numbers of new adherents and how wonderful all this is for the Church. This comes after he has this to say about Vatican II:
Looking back, Rodé believes that Vatican II, while designed to generate a moderate reform, instead triggered “the greatest crisis in church history.”
“In the 16th century, during the Reformation, many religious left the church and many convents were closed, but it was geographically limited, more or less to Northern Europe,” he said. “In the French Revolution, there was another catastrophe, but it was limited to France. The crisis after the Second Vatican Council, however, was the first truly global crisis.”
“We’ve paid a very steep price due to a secularized, worldly mentality,” he said.
Judging from his choice in liturgical dress up, no one is going to accuse Rode of having a 'secularized, worldly mentality'.
When he says we, I can't help but think he's not really referring to the whole church. I think he's referring to the Church he lives in. That's the Church that hasn't quite assimilated it's really 2009 and not 1609. That's the Church that doesn't believe it has anything at all to do with the exodus of people out of the pews in the West. That's the Church that blames Vatican II for every ill that actually had it's genesis in the clericalism and theology of the pre Vatican II church. That's the Church that believes the only good gays are closeted clerical gays who dress in Trenten drag. That's also the Church that believes the only good nuns are the ones in cloistered monastic closets whose clothes conceal every facet of their sexuality and individuality. Apparently it's easier to deal with the feminine in the Church when the feminine is presented as colorless drab a-sexual clones. A type of feminine identity which doesn't compete at all with the male cleric in all his peacock glory. Natural law operating at it's finest, I guess.
Basta, I say!! The pictures themselves are worth thousands of words. I don't need to add any more.
