Althouse: "Pope Benedict is a teacher, not a showman. And like a teacher, often you have to rely on his eyes to convey his innermost thoughts."

April 20, 2008

"Pope Benedict is a teacher, not a showman. And like a teacher, often you have to rely on his eyes to convey his innermost thoughts."

I'm not a follower of the Pope, and I haven't been following the Pope, but I'm incredibly glad to see our old blogfriend vbspurs — AKA "Cheers, Victoria" — live-blogging Pope Benedict's trip to New York. Without her, I would not have known that Kelly Clarkson sang "Ave Maria" to him in Yonkers.

ADDED:

15 comments:

vbspurs said...: Gosh, thanks for the linkage, Ann! :)

You have an uncanny ability, honed through years of reading briefs, to pick out just the right comment in a given piece. Your focusing on the "eyes" bit is a testament of that.

That's precisely the part of my blogpost I wanted people to absorb the most.

This is a Pope of small gestures. Of sweet moues. Of shy glances.

He's like everyone's favourite Music teacher, lost in his own inner world of beauty and peace.

BTW, I had never heard Kelly Clarkson before -- or, let's say, I wasn't aware of having heard her, maybe I had unknowingly.

I was very impressed. I hope the standard of the following AI winners have been as good?

And now...wait for it...

Cheers,
Victoria

;); 4/20/08, 3:21 PM
ricpic said...: Yeah that Papolino, a real sweetheart.

America? Borders? Screw that! Let 'em in. Let 'em all in. There'll be problems sure, but hey, it's the enlightened thing to do.

Grazie, PipiPapiPapolino. Tantie grazie.; 4/20/08, 4:06 PM
vbspurs said...: Shepard Smith is saying that media are a jaded bunch, of course, but that he's never seen such a reaction from them -- as even they are reaching for their cell phones and taking snaps as the Pope circles the bases (not figuratively either. He's just reached the spot A-Rod knows well).

Also the commentators touched on why a lot of people question why he didn't go to Boston. Is it because that's the real Ground Zero for the Roman Catholic Church?

(In America)

Yes, possibly. But I think this concentration of places so far, are spot on.

Just now Father Morris of Fox (the cutey-pie priest who was going for his Business degree, but whose college roomie intended to be a priest, suddenly finding himself switching and becoming a priest himself) said that he is telling the crowd, with his short visits, that he'll be back. Especially to America.

I hope so.

Surely, it hasn't escaped anyone's notice that going to Cologne, Sâo Paulo, Washington, DC and NYC are hitting the big and important towns, first and foremost.

He doesn't have time on his side. He needs to be seen by the largest amount of people, before it's "too late".

Instead of giving it an air of despondency or even urgency, going to key cities has the effect of concentrating the purpose of his message.

His message is reall simple. Never mind the show, it's the faith.

That he never even implies "stupid" at the end, is what makes him special.

Well, it's Sunday, and it's a beautiful day in SoFla. Hope that others can comment, here and my blog.

Either way, thanks again! It's always a pleasure to come back to my blog "home" -- Chez Althouse.

Cheers,
Victoria; 4/20/08, 4:12 PM
vbspurs said...: Awesome Kelly Clarkson Youtube link! I am poaching that, with H/T.

That's one of the best Ave Marias I've ever heard. They said she "insisted" on singing it to PBXVI. Heh.; 4/20/08, 4:20 PM
Laura Reynolds said...: Love me some Kelly Clarkson and love Victoria (cheers indeed). Best Ave Maria I've heard was from the wedding in Prizzi's Honor; 4/20/08, 4:45 PM
rhhardin said...: He looks like Ming Flash Gordon serials.

``Your Majesty, we have captured the Earth people.''; 4/20/08, 5:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Victoria,

Thanks for the Mass blogging. I, too, watched it on Fox. CBS should bag Katie Couric and put Shep Smith at the anchor desk.

I must say, as a lapsed Catholic, that the visit to ground zero and the Mass at Yankee Stadium were very moving.

The Pope's sincere apology for the sexual abuse inflicted on some of the faithful by pedophiles masquerading as priests has caused me to re-think my absence from Catholocism.; 4/20/08, 5:51 PM
Chris Althouse Cohen said...: That was a great clip. I was watching over some American Idol performances the other day, and I think she remains the best singer ever on that show. Jennifer Hudson is a close second.

For those who never saw her on that show, here are a few links to her best performances:

Without You http://youtube.com/watch?v=wjEol3XtgvU

You're All I Need
http://youtube.com/watch?v=BRnlSOmHbFI

Stuff Like That There
http://youtube.com/watch?v=OAW9TPIV1bA

Natural Woman
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8DzHcAs8mMY; 4/20/08, 5:55 PM
vbspurs said...: Hey SteveR! Thanks for the kind words. Prizzi's Honour, wow, it's been yonks since I've seen that. A rewatch is in order..

Christopher, thanks for all the Youtube links.

Is perhaps the most unintended result of this Papal USA visit the fact that I have become a Kelly Clarkson fan?

I like "belters". Ethel Merman is missed.

Cheers,
Victoria; 4/20/08, 8:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Me too, MIchael H. That B-16 knows just what to say, doesn't he?; 4/20/08, 8:55 PM
vbspurs said...: Michael, I missed your comments! Thanks for the compliment. :)

I think the obvious successor for Katie Couric is Anderson Cooper, not an irreverent bastid like Shepard Smith.

I like Shep, it's not that. I just think Anderson has the gravitas in a younger mold, to be a hallowed evening news anchor. He's utterly wasted at the 10 spot on CNN, as well.

BTW, my mother was very unimpressed, even a little miffed with Smith's commentary at Yankee Stadium's Mass.

I guess I am more used to the irreverent tone of the internet, because I didn't think his patter was all that egregious.

He had some rather negative commentaries about the Pope, said in a flippant manner.

I had to remind her that Fox News is not EWTN, and though they may be politically conservative, Fox has never been all that solemn about religion. Also, it can not be assumed everyone watching is Catholic.

I recorded the Mass, so I'll have to be on the lookout for those comments.

Cheers,
Victoria; 4/20/08, 8:55 PM
Bender R said...: Victoria and others --

Actually, Fox can be a bit annoying at times -- what with it's insistence on taking up 85 percent of the screen with their graphics, and all too often feeling the need to fill the air with blabbing on and on. EWTN didn't have the graphics, but they too NEED TO QUIET DOWN!! (Where is C-SPAN when you need it??)

Quite pleasantly surprising was CNN's coverage at the Yankee Stadium Mass. Not only are Delia Gallagher and John Allen excellent commenters, but Soledad O'Brien had the grateful commonsense to shut everyone up during most of the Mass.

MS-NBC did have George Weigel, but it also had a couple of other commenters who routinely brought down what was otherwise a joyous discussion.

As for those who do not generally follow il Papa, you are strongly urged to go read his various remarks in full. Still the university professor that he once was, Benedict is a master teacher.; 4/21/08, 9:27 AM
vbspurs said...: Bender, thanks for the link! I had the Homily as transcribed by another site, but it's always important to get the real deal.

John Allen and George Weigl are largely considered the two most savvy commenters on the Vatican, in the English language.

John Allen tends to be professorial, whereas Weigl is full of gossip but not irrelevantly so.

The latter is a bit like Rocco Palmo, of the Whispers in the Loggia blog. I heard from the Catholic blog tom-toms that his entries were a little too untrustworthy, but I see many of those Catholic bloggers have changed their tune.

That's my go-to blog about anything Vatican related.

BTW, Pope Benedict's immediate order of business on his return to the Holy See will be to appoint a new Cardinal. One of the fiercest pro-life Cardinals, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo of Colombia, died on Saturday.

We'll get to see just what kind of theologian the Pope appoints, and if he continues the hard-line.

Cheers,
Victoria; 4/21/08, 1:59 PM
Bender R said...: Yes, very sad about His Eminence. For those who want to read a couple of his excellent writings (or at least written under his authority), highly recommended is --

The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality (e.g. 10. Man is called to love and to self-giving in the unity of body and spirit. Femininity and masculinity are complementary gifts, through which human sexuality is an integrating part of the concrete capacity for love which God has inscribed in man and woman. "Sexuality is a fundamental component of personality, one of its modes of being, of manifestation, of communicating with others, of feeling, of expressing and of living human love". This capacity for love as self-giving is thus "incarnated" in the nuptial meaning of the body, which bears the imprint of the person's masculinity and femininity. "The human body, with its sex, and its masculinity and femininity, seen in the very mystery of creation, is not only a source of fruitfulness and procreation, as in the whole natural order, but includes right from the beginning the nuptial attribute, that is, the capacity of expressing love: that love precisely in which the man-person becomes a gift and — by means of this gift — fulfils the very meaning of his being and existence". Every form of love will always bear this masculine and feminine character.
11. Human sexuality is thus a good, part of that created gift which God saw as being "very good"); 4/21/08, 2:47 PM
vbspurs said...: Thanks for the link again, Bender. :)

"11. Human sexuality is thus a good, part of that created gift which God saw as being "very good")"

It is said that this encapsulated John Paul the Great's ideas on sexuality in their entirety.

Coincidentally, mine too.

Cheers,
Victoria; 4/22/08, 1:06 AM