Post by Séamus on Jul 9, 2020 12:27:36 GMT
On the feast of Maria Goretti this week I noticed somewhere a photo taken of her enormous 1950 canonization crowd,possibly still unsurpassed,an event I often see,without deliberate intent,as a zenith moment for modern Catholicism before the tide began turning. Recently Pope Francis declared Sr Maria Laura Mainetti (Holy Cross Sister) to be a martyr,paving the way for her official sainthood. Like her young countrywoman of less than a century earlier she died forgiving her murderers,otherwise it's harder to see a stronger contrast.
While occultism was rife in Italy in Goretti's time, probably more so among the elites,it was still a society that seems centuries rather than decades away from our own times,when a largely secular-dressed nun(this speaks as much of European society as of the direction of the Congregations themselves), alone on the streets at night performing social work(which says as much of modern family life as of the changes in church ministries), is stabbed to death in a satanic ritual by three ordinary girls she had herself taught in a religious school.
I've no idea what the educational system is in Italy, whether church schools have a blurred system with the state or clear-cut distinction like more traditionally secular states,but one can't help wondering what the Congregation,twenty years ago now,made of their own alumni performing this act,an extreme example of Catholic education's fruits being at worldwide low ebb.
The trap set by one of the occultists,all of whom received sentences that seem light in comparison with Alessandro Serenelli's 30 year incarceration- claiming to need to talk with Sister as she was contemplating an abortion- may make Sr Maria a pro-life champion in the eyes of many; bearing in mind situations like the Irish Sisters of Charity having to withdraw from healthcare,the societal change in how it views health and wellness is perhaps more significant- compare, as one example, with a member of her own order- (St)Br Andre of Canada who,only decades earlier in a hemisphere that had never experienced Christendom per se,as a Catholic religious, was able to command respect over the masses and was considered a healer of body and soul.
She won't be the first beatification seen as part of a battle against dark spiritualities- Barto Longo and South African martyr Bonaventure are others,but she certainly exposes the spiritual darkness of the new century in a profound way. As is often said- the vacuum of irreligion is eventually filled with something else,often a sinister something else.
While occultism was rife in Italy in Goretti's time, probably more so among the elites,it was still a society that seems centuries rather than decades away from our own times,when a largely secular-dressed nun(this speaks as much of European society as of the direction of the Congregations themselves), alone on the streets at night performing social work(which says as much of modern family life as of the changes in church ministries), is stabbed to death in a satanic ritual by three ordinary girls she had herself taught in a religious school.
I've no idea what the educational system is in Italy, whether church schools have a blurred system with the state or clear-cut distinction like more traditionally secular states,but one can't help wondering what the Congregation,twenty years ago now,made of their own alumni performing this act,an extreme example of Catholic education's fruits being at worldwide low ebb.
The trap set by one of the occultists,all of whom received sentences that seem light in comparison with Alessandro Serenelli's 30 year incarceration- claiming to need to talk with Sister as she was contemplating an abortion- may make Sr Maria a pro-life champion in the eyes of many; bearing in mind situations like the Irish Sisters of Charity having to withdraw from healthcare,the societal change in how it views health and wellness is perhaps more significant- compare, as one example, with a member of her own order- (St)Br Andre of Canada who,only decades earlier in a hemisphere that had never experienced Christendom per se,as a Catholic religious, was able to command respect over the masses and was considered a healer of body and soul.
She won't be the first beatification seen as part of a battle against dark spiritualities- Barto Longo and South African martyr Bonaventure are others,but she certainly exposes the spiritual darkness of the new century in a profound way. As is often said- the vacuum of irreligion is eventually filled with something else,often a sinister something else.