Catholic Humor: Explained
Okay, so, as there's just been a conclave, a new pope, and a retired pope, there's been increased attention to the Catholic Church lately and, as a result, I've seen a lot of Catholic memes, some of which are quite funny because, contrary to the popular belief that Catholicism is somehow a religion based on guilt, suspicion, fear, et cetera, et cetera (and Latin - you'd be right about that), we do have a sense of humor. If you disagree, one only needs to watch HBO's The Borgias. Anyway, the problem with some of these memes is that you need to know something about Catholicism to get the joke, so I'm going to explain some memes that I've seen recently that non-Catholics might be confused by. I'm not a theologian or anything, so I apologize if these aren't the most detailed explanations, but, you get the idea. Without further ado, I give you Catholic Humor - explained.
Okay, so there's been a lot of talk about how Pope Francis is the first Jesuit Pope. The Jesuit order was a quasi-militant monastic order that was formed partially as a reaction against the Protestant Reformation, and, was, in fact, very successful in their mission. Their success was partly due to their absolute allegiance to the Pope, which is what the meme is responding to. This allegiance is partly why there's never been a Jesuit Pope before. At the time of it's formation, the order was frightening to many of the crowned heads of Europe because they saw the order as a threat to their sovereign power, actually, the order was suppressed for some time for this reason. It's not really funny ha-ha, it's just sort of witty.
Something else commonly misunderstood here. A lot of people are confused by the idea that, in conclave, the Holy Spirit "picks" the new pope. Actually, it doesn't quite work like that. When conclave begins, the cardinal invoke the Holy Spirit with the chant Veni, Sancte Spiritus ("come Holy Spirit" - Latin again). But this is more of an invocation to God to help them make the right choice. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirits can guide our actions and help us make good decisions. The idea is that the Holy Spirit inspires the Cardinal's choices. The idea is that the new Pope is quasi afflati Spiritu Sancto ("as if inspired by the Holy Spirit" - look how much Latin you're learning!). This meme is just taking this idea to it's logical conclusion.
Here's another thing a lot of people don't seem to understand about Popes. When someone is elected pope, they take a regnal name. Technically, this isn't required, but the name the Pope chooses symbolizes to the world the sort of Pope he's trying to be and whom he's emulating. Also, as in many cultures, the changing of a name symbolizes an important change in one's life (think Saul/Paul in the bible). Usually the name is originally based on that of a saint or one of the apostles - hence the name Francis, a nod to St. Francis of Assisi and St. Francis Xavier (who was a Jesuit - coincidence, I think not!).
Ok, as you probably know only the red bird in the picture is called a cardinal, a Cardinal in the religious sense of the word is an ecclesiastical prince of the Church (they usually wear red, so that's very fitting - also, not a coincidence). And, it is the college of cardinals that elects new popes in a process known as conclave. I didn't think that that was actually difficult to understand, I just like birds (unlike Sheldon Cooper).
Anyway, this was sort of a more factual/serious blog than I usually write but I hope it was useful to you anyway. Next time, I'll try to be funny or something.
But still, see how useful Latin is?
Just sayin'
Something else commonly misunderstood here. A lot of people are confused by the idea that, in conclave, the Holy Spirit "picks" the new pope. Actually, it doesn't quite work like that. When conclave begins, the cardinal invoke the Holy Spirit with the chant Veni, Sancte Spiritus ("come Holy Spirit" - Latin again). But this is more of an invocation to God to help them make the right choice. Catholics believe that the Holy Spirits can guide our actions and help us make good decisions. The idea is that the Holy Spirit inspires the Cardinal's choices. The idea is that the new Pope is quasi afflati Spiritu Sancto ("as if inspired by the Holy Spirit" - look how much Latin you're learning!). This meme is just taking this idea to it's logical conclusion. Here's another thing a lot of people don't seem to understand about Popes. When someone is elected pope, they take a regnal name. Technically, this isn't required, but the name the Pope chooses symbolizes to the world the sort of Pope he's trying to be and whom he's emulating. Also, as in many cultures, the changing of a name symbolizes an important change in one's life (think Saul/Paul in the bible). Usually the name is originally based on that of a saint or one of the apostles - hence the name Francis, a nod to St. Francis of Assisi and St. Francis Xavier (who was a Jesuit - coincidence, I think not!). Ok, as you probably know only the red bird in the picture is called a cardinal, a Cardinal in the religious sense of the word is an ecclesiastical prince of the Church (they usually wear red, so that's very fitting - also, not a coincidence). And, it is the college of cardinals that elects new popes in a process known as conclave. I didn't think that that was actually difficult to understand, I just like birds (unlike Sheldon Cooper).Anyway, this was sort of a more factual/serious blog than I usually write but I hope it was useful to you anyway. Next time, I'll try to be funny or something.
But still, see how useful Latin is?
Just sayin'
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