“Jovial character”, cracking jokes about sacrilege. Okay, now I get it. This remains a scandal. And the Church looks bad. In part, because of the actions of people in the Church.
I agree with this. The outfits of the men and women who appeared in the fashion show do not trouble me nearly as much as the actions of the Church officials who went along with and supported this mockery of the faith. I expect nothing less of someone like Rihanna, or Sarah Jessica Parker, or whoever. But the complete utter lack of judgment and negligence of the Church officials who approved of this charade is the real scandal here.
From the National Catholic Register:
“We wanted to be involved and those behind it had good intentions,” a Vatican official told the Register. “As the Met is one of the most significant cultural institutions in the world, and our remit is to engage the world, we see it as important.”
But the Vatican was unaware of the Met Gala, and that the evening event would be used by some celebrities to dress up in a way deemed by many to be a sacrilegious mockery of the Church.
Is there anything that the Vatican is aware of these days? Someone left a comment in the Register that said it better than I ever could:
Perhaps it is about time:
a) that the Vatican learned English, began speaking it, and began understanding the culture of the Anglosphere world, rather than imagining everything through an Italian-Spanish-French-Portugeuse-sometimes Polish/German if the Pope is from there lens. The Vatican cannot continue to feign ignorance of a major part of the world.
b) that the Vatican stopped relying on Jesuits for direction.
And Cardinal Dolan definitely does not receive a pass here either; if anything, his actions are worse than those in the Vatican who lent their artifacts for the exhibit. He of all people should know better. Maybe he’s just desperate for the Church to be accepted at the cool kids’ table in New York City, but I know he’s already getting an earful from the Catholic press, and I can only hope he comes to recognizing the error in lending support and approval to such an event. But I’m not holding my breath.
Of course, the ultimate irony in all of this is that the leader of the Catholic Church at the Vatican, Pope Francis, has gone on the record multiple times since the start of his pontificate criticizing priests, bishops, and other clergy who wear old-fashioned vestments associated with the Latin rite for their showy and gaudy characteristics, in his opinion. Then here comes individuals in the Church supporting an event that is the epitome of glitzy, over-the-top fashion trends, charging $30,000 per ticket. And it’s not even for charity. I wonder if Cardinal Dolan would have been so proud to attend if Pope Francis had walked in, in person.
www.wisn.com
