To be honest, after listening to how what's going on in Malta could affect the Vatican's own sovereignty, I want to puke. But I am reminded of Hilaire Belloc's quote:
"The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold as divine -- but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight."
Thank you Ed for your work with reporting on this. I am very grateful for it, as bitter as these implications may be, they are, as you say, important.
Wait, if you all are going to mark in the episodes when the "meat" of the content starts, can you also mark whether or not the episode has a "game" at the end? I get so hopeful for the game, and then so sad when you don't have one. Its a roller coaster of emotion that you could spare me with a few words, if you'd be so kind ;).
I appreciate the deep dive on Malta, but I was left with some questions. It seems to me that the Holy See/Order of Malta situation is not similar to U.S./Bahamas. In the latter case, the more powerful neighbor exerts an implicit suzerainty over the weaker (or something like that), but it's not like the entire political class of the Bahamas has made a religious vow to whomever the president of the U.S. is. That religious obedience strikes me as the distinctive factor here. It raises the question of whether the Order's independence has always been merely notional given that the Pope can control it like a marionette if he wants to. There seems to be a built-in self-destruct button on the Order's independence.
I take Ed's point to be that once you raise the question in people's minds of whether unusual little sovereign entities can and ought to be suppressed as subjects of international law, you might not like where their minds go next, and I'm sure he's right about that, but I don't see the Holy See's situation as analogous to the Order's—given that there is no similar "self-destruct" button in the Holy See's internal self-conception, if that makes sense.
BTW... thanks also for discussing the Munich report. It is not pleasant to contemplate, but important to discuss in detail.
Has anyone looked at whether there is a connection between frequently hearing confessions and moral failures? In other words, do priests who hear more confessions have more tendency towards sexual sin? There are warnings in Scriptures about temptation in the context of correcting another Christian who is sinning that presumably would apply within the context of confession as well. I think it would be difficult to hear such grave things frequently and not have it affect you, and become numb to it because of how ‘easy’ absolution might seem if you are the one offering it.
To be honest, after listening to how what's going on in Malta could affect the Vatican's own sovereignty, I want to puke. But I am reminded of Hilaire Belloc's quote:
"The Catholic Church is an institution I am bound to hold as divine -- but for unbelievers a proof of its divinity might be found in the fact that no merely human institution conducted with such knavish imbecility would have lasted a fortnight."
Thank you Ed for your work with reporting on this. I am very grateful for it, as bitter as these implications may be, they are, as you say, important.
Fabulous report on Malta!! Thank you, Ed.
Wait, if you all are going to mark in the episodes when the "meat" of the content starts, can you also mark whether or not the episode has a "game" at the end? I get so hopeful for the game, and then so sad when you don't have one. Its a roller coaster of emotion that you could spare me with a few words, if you'd be so kind ;).
(For the record, I am Pro-Banter, keep it coming)
I appreciate the deep dive on Malta, but I was left with some questions. It seems to me that the Holy See/Order of Malta situation is not similar to U.S./Bahamas. In the latter case, the more powerful neighbor exerts an implicit suzerainty over the weaker (or something like that), but it's not like the entire political class of the Bahamas has made a religious vow to whomever the president of the U.S. is. That religious obedience strikes me as the distinctive factor here. It raises the question of whether the Order's independence has always been merely notional given that the Pope can control it like a marionette if he wants to. There seems to be a built-in self-destruct button on the Order's independence.
I take Ed's point to be that once you raise the question in people's minds of whether unusual little sovereign entities can and ought to be suppressed as subjects of international law, you might not like where their minds go next, and I'm sure he's right about that, but I don't see the Holy See's situation as analogous to the Order's—given that there is no similar "self-destruct" button in the Holy See's internal self-conception, if that makes sense.
BTW... thanks also for discussing the Munich report. It is not pleasant to contemplate, but important to discuss in detail.
Has anyone looked at whether there is a connection between frequently hearing confessions and moral failures? In other words, do priests who hear more confessions have more tendency towards sexual sin? There are warnings in Scriptures about temptation in the context of correcting another Christian who is sinning that presumably would apply within the context of confession as well. I think it would be difficult to hear such grave things frequently and not have it affect you, and become numb to it because of how ‘easy’ absolution might seem if you are the one offering it.