Watching news coverage of the attack on B16 during Midnight Mass, I was struck by the magnificence of the interior of St Peter’s.  It is central the the theory of the papacy that is stands in a direct line of succession to St Peter, and thus to Christ himself. The obvious thought then, for this time of year, was to compare the surroundings of our modern popes

with  those of the one he says he represents:

Two more Irish bishops have resigned over their respective roles in the Irish abuse scandals.  Four down, one to go.

Remember that these are the first ever bishops to resign, anywhere, over their roles in abuse cover-ups, and that the extent of their activity or (non-activity) was no worse than that of numerous other bishops in the US and elsewhere. This is progress, and important progress of a sort, but there remains a long way to go.  We still need to see governments elsewhere put the church under the microscope, as the Irish did;  and we need to see the power structures in the church to look beyond punishing those involved to serious examination of the causes – and ending them.

This they are unlikely to do themselves, so we must keep reminding them:  the causes of the long-standing problems with clerical abuse, of children and of vulnerable adults, are well-known, and lie deep inside the institutional nature of the church.  These are the obsession with power and control; the insistence on compulsory celibacy; and a disproportionate number of psychologically immature, sexually repressed men in the priesthood, resulting from inappropriate methods of selection and training.

Two more Irish bishops quit their posts over child abuse criticism

Roman Catholics across Ireland were attending Christmas Day Mass yesterday as two more bishops resigned.

Eamonn Walsh and Raymond Field bowed to weeks of intense criticism and pressure, announcing at services that they planned to quit their posts as auxiliaries in the Dublin Archdiocese. They are the latest senior clerics to stand down after the Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, James Moriarty, and the Bishop of Limerick, Donal Murray, resigned over the damning Murphy report that exposed the church hierarchy’s shocking inaction and cover-up of paedophile priests over decades.

Bishops Walsh and Field announced their resignations in a statement as Midnight Mass took place around the country. “As we celebrate the Feast of Christmas, the birth of our Saviour, the Prince of Peace, it is our hope that our action may help to bring the peace and reconciliation of Jesus Christ to the victims/survivors of child sexual abuse,” they said. “We again apologise to them.”

(More from Times Online)

Kittredge at Jesus in Love Blog has a Christmas treat for the followers of the queer saints that she and I both like to explore: “Gay King Wenceslas“.  In a notable achievement, she is drawing on some unpublished research, and also has a great image of the famously “good” king – and his page. I don’t want to detract from Kitt’s work, so to see the picture, you will hvae to follow the link above and read it for yourself.  Jus t ofr starters, I give you only  the standard, soppy picture – and a teaser from the fascinating text:

Good King Wenceslas

There’s good reason to believe that Good King Wenceslas was gay. Yes, the king in the Christmas carol.

Saint Wenceslaus I (907–935) was duke of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic). The carol is based on a legend about Wenceslaus and his loyal page Podiven. According to the story, it was a bitterly cold night when they went out to give alms to the poor on the Feast of St. Stephen, Dec. 26. Podiven could not walk any farther on his bare, frozen feet, so Wenceslas urged him to follow in his footsteps. His footprints in the snow stayed miraculously warm, allowing the pair to continue safely together.

Many details in the Christmas carol are pious fiction, but the king and his page are both grounded in historical truth. Dennis O’Neill, author of “Passionate Holiness,” shared with this blog his unpublished research about the loving relationship between Wenceslaus and Podiven.

This image has many resonances for me. I first saw it in 1973 or ‘74, reproduced in a Christmas calendar prepared by my first employer,  Market Research Africa, who annually  produced impressive calendars based on South African art works.  For a long time, this image in particular, hhung on my living room wall. Years later, after the advent of democracy, I saw the original in the parish church of Regina Mundi, in Soweto.

Madonna and Child of Soweto: Laurence Scully

The obvious significance is as a reminder that Jesus and his family were not the white Caucasians they are usually represented as.

The greater significance is that this has hung throughout the turbulent years of the South African transition in  the parish church of Regina Mundi, Soweto -a  church which was frequently a focal point in the long struggle for justice. A large church, it often functioned as an informal substitute cathedral for Soweto.  (As it happens, “Regina” was one a fairly common “European” name given to African women; “mundi” sounds like it could easily be an African language surname.  It was often claimed that South African policemen,  unschooled in Latin or the ways of the Catholic church, would scratch their heads in frustration that they could not find this “Regina Mundi” woman who was said to cause so much trouble.)   And cause trouble she did.

I love to think of this painting, so vividly representing the reality of the Incarnation, sitting quietly in the church through those long years – while the real presence of the incarnated Christ, always with us, worked alongside the people of Soweto, supported by  the Catholic Church in South Africa, to end the injustice.

In just the same way, the incarnated Christ will surely work alongside us queer Christians, as we too fight injustice – this time perpetrated by the churches.

Also, I just like the image.

Read More:

Madonna and Child of Soweto

Church of Regina Mundi, Soweto

eunuchs

Companions of St. Eugenia of Alexandria, these were two of her teachers who accompanied her on a somewhat romantic journey, and at the end were martyred with her.

Select bibliography

Dukakis, Megas Synaxaristes, translated in various volumes by Holy Apostles Convent, (Buena Vista, Colorado,

various dates ), sub. Eugenia

Szarmach, Paul E., "Aelfric’s Women Saints: Eugenia", in Helen Damico and Alexandria Hennessey Olsen, eds., New

Readings on Women in Old English Literature, (Bloomington IN: Indiana UP, 1990), 146-157

That sound you hear?  It’s dominoes falling.  A second Irish bishop has resigned, Bishop Jim Moriarty of Kildare and Leighlin.

There are three more resignations that Dr Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, is wanting to hear about.  See the CNN News, and also Whisper in the Loggia

Last month Indian authorities agreed to list eunuchs and transgender people by using the term “others”, on official documents. I would have liked to draw attention to it then, but did not.  Now, having missed the opportunity once, I get a second chance to take note of a major legal breakthrough for trans and other gendered people in Asia, as Pakistan is now headed in a similar direction, this time by court decision. In both India and Pakistan, the “Hijras” represent a distinct social group, but this will have significance and run-on effects beyond just these two countries.

From BBC News:

Pakistani eunuchs to have distinct gender

Pakistan’s Supreme Court says eunuchs must be allowed to identify themselves as a distinct gender in order to ensure their rights.

The eunuchs, known as “hijras” in Pakistan, are men castrated at an early age for medical or social reasons. The court said they should be issued with national identity cards showing their distinct gender. The government has also been ordered to take steps to ensure they are entitled to inherit property.

‘Respect and identity’

There are estimated to be about 300,000 hijras in Pakistan and they are generally shunned by the largely Muslim conservative society. They tend to live together in slum communities, surviving through begging and by dancing at weddings and carnivals. A hijra association has welcomed the order, saying it is “a major step giving respect and identity in society”. Indian authorities last month agreed to list eunuchs and transgender people by using the term “others”, distinct from males and females, on electoral rolls and voter identity cards, after a long-running campaign by the members of the community.

As a corrective to the sentimental, emasculated “Baby Jesus” take on Christmas, I offer instead this remarkably adult advent hymn which we used at the end of our LGBT Soho Mass last Sunday:

Neapolitan creche

Recessional: We cannot tell     (The Londonderry Air )

We cannot tell how Bethlehem , Christ’s birthplace,

where bombs explode and deadly missiles fall,

may speak to all the leaders of the nations

out of the shadows of a concrete wall.

But this we know, that all God’s pilgrim people

who live in hope that one day wars will cease,

must join to build a highway through the desert,

a road where all may come and go in peace.

We cannot tell how we can end the conflict,

where walls divide and many faiths compete,

or make of Bethlehem , the town of David

a House of Bread where open hearts may meet.

But this we know, God shepherds all the people,

seeking to guide us with a righteous hand,

and calls us all to pray and work for justice

in Bethlehem and all the Holy Land .

We cannot tell how those who have been wounded

by hate and fear passed down throughout the years

may hope to reap a harvest of rejoicing

from seeds once sown in bitterness or tears.

But this we pray, O God of love and mercy,

that in your strength and guided by your grace,

with all your people, we may find forgiveness,

and make this world your holy dwelling place.

(UPDATE: In the comments thread, a reader who likes this post led me to take a look at his own site, focussing on hymns, whihc has some great commentary on soppy, sentimental hymns and the Bishop of Croydon’s objections.  Take a look at “Conjubilant With Song“)

Protus and Hyacinthus were the eunuch slaves who were the companions of St. Eugenia of Alexandria. They served as her two teachers who accompanied her on a somewhat romantic journey, and at the end were martyred with her.

Select bibliography

Dukakis, Megas Synaxaristes, translated in various volumes by Holy Apostles Convent, (Buena Vista, Colorado,various dates ), sub. Eugenia

Szarmach, Paul E., “Aelfric’s Women Saints: Eugenia”, in Helen Damico and Alexandria Hennessey Olsen, eds., New

Readings on Women in Old English Literature, (Bloomington IN: Indiana UP, 1990), 146-157