bearing blog

Michelangelo

From the L. A. Times:

Throughout the two-day conclave, Mahony said, he and other cardinals were moved by the fact that they were participating in a historic event in the dramatic setting of the Sistine Chapel, adorned with paintings of damnation and salvation by Michelangelo, including the "Last Judgment."

"I kept looking up at all the paintings, at Michelangelo's works, and thought, the only thing that stayed the same in this room is everything that Michelangelo painted here."

He said that as he and others studied the artworks, it occurred to them that the message of the paintings was timeless and as relevant in the 21st century as they were when they were made in the 16th century.

I like the idea that Michelangelo is the messenger chosen from among all the people of God to remind the cardinals why they are there; what it means to Feed my sheep. 

This is what we need, says Michelangelo.  Let me show you what the stakes are.

He is the ordinary person's representative in the conclave.

OY

Ah, the Associated Press:

For some Israelis, the new pope's condemnation of abortion, same-sex marriage and his embrace of other conservative stands has raised concerns of closed-mindedness — an attitude they fear may be connected to residual anti-Semitism.

Does anybody actually read this stuff anymore?  Since when is one's opinion of the meaning of marriage "connected to residual anti-Semitism?" 

I wonder how ordinary Germans, seventy and older, are reacting to this  "socially conservative German = Nazi" fantasy.