Back to Basics: Works of Mercy

Every now and then, some archbishop forgets bishopese and start talking like a bishop.

This time, Archbishop Carlson of St. Louis reminds us of the importance of praying for the dead.

Archbishop Carlson is politically incorrect for several reasons:

1) he reminds us of a typical Catholic teaching, the communion of saints. One wonders how many young Catholics – yes, even those in Madrid – would, when asked, be able to answer correctly as to what it is;

2) he reminds us of the importance of prayer;

3) he reminds us of the value that we as Catholics put on works of mercy;

4) he reminds us that our relatives and beloved in Purgatory need our prayers.

This clearly goes against a certain liberal, tambourine-armed mentality according to which canonisation by acclamation follows death and we shouldn’t do things so much differently than our brothers in Christ, the Proddies, lest they are offended and/or “hurt”.

Slowly but surely, a certain orthodoxy seems to timidly reappear in the way bishops present themselves and present Catholicism to their sheep. A long way to go for sure, but one registers such interventions with a certain satisfaction and optimism.

I am trying to remember how often I have heard such news in my past years in Italy. I can’t remember a single episode. OK, the Internet was not really there, but the only things one could hear were the usual sugary talks about The Young, peace ‘ n love, and The Young (I am forgetting something. Oh yes.. The Young).

Some twenty years later, I think we can say that at least the sprouts of a new orthodoxy are clearly visible.

Twenty years ago, who would have even mentioned the works of mercy….

Mundabor