Habemus Papam

The 19th Century won the Olympic gold for dogmas. The  Catholic Church created a firewall of absurd pronouncements which were supposed to protect it from the advancing hordes of secularists.
The Virgin Mary was also on a grand grotto tour, appearing to simpletons who became the spokespersons of generally Delphic "non sequiturs." Why grottoes? Why this "reality show" with a dying breed of shepherds and peasants, nobody knows. There was never room for some tete-a-tete with Einstein or Heidegger.

After this century of incoherence, there followed a century of personalities, inaugurated by Pius XII who saw himself as a Metternich in robes. The succession was equally sociologically interesting. Pope John XXIII was the real Catholic in the flock.  John Paul I was the Michel Piccoli "avant la lettre."  Paul VI was a Saint Germain existential pope.  John Paul XXII was the media pontiff, now we are stuck with Benedict XVI who just loves to be pope. The pope couture is the main beneficiary of the taste of the current pope for dress and decor. Zeffirelli must be in heaven (pun).

The "Habemus Papam" movie by Nanni Moretti (who plays also the role of psychoanalyst) is interesting, a sort of Camusian wandering through the absurd. It is both cruel and deeply humane,  a saga of panic and self-discovery at an unexpected level.  It is strange by the way how the Catholic Church which is besieged by scandal and corruption still has the power to move the masses as well as the power brokers. Stalin's "boutade" about how much legions the pope had, has been proven wrong. The Soviet Union is no longer, while the Vatican continues to rule, even when, at a close look, the wrinkles and decay can no longer be ignored. While the Church has lost a lot of its pertinence, its leader is, since Paul VI began what has become a tradition, travels all over the world.  In the Western world the churches look more often than not like empty vessels, but elsewhere the successors of Saint Peter have made a shrewd decision, replacing absurd theological flip-flops by their presence. From now on, the man overshadows the doctrine. It will certainly be revealing to see who is the successor of the current pope, and to try to understand where this enormous bureaucracy is heading. We speak here of the cardinals, nuncios, banking, real estate, who in the end are able to determine the balance of advantage.  I agree with Christopher Hitchens that God is not great but one should not underestimate the danger which the encounter with religion represents.

Darwin, Galileo and Newton were heroic. They would still be so today but the secular view has taken hold of Western Europe and the Vatican looks like an aberration in the technological tidal wave which unmasks yesterday's lies. The Catholic Church now acts like a colonial power which considers Africa, Asia and the US (which is, strangely enough, largely bigoted) as alternatives for the ground it had to give up elsewhere.  Logically it chooses the camp of the blind on social issues, together with the Islamists and the likes of Uganda & Co. The balcony of Saint Peter better stay empty, as it does in the movie, so that the decay remains hidden and the remaining Christians let their voices be heard. After all, Jesus Christ did not invent "this" church. The latter reinvented him.  Judas, too, is a man for all seasons.