Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: November 10, 2019
Thanks to those who offered positive comment on my column in last week’s issue of The Carpenter. I spoke about the recent meeting in Rome which dealt with the huge region of the Amazon in South America. I also recommended taking more “extreme” reports of what the bishops recommended to the Pope – or what the Pope thinks – with a grain of salt: the truth is usually less novel and interesting than headlines and tweets!
But it might be good to dwell a bit more on one thing that was widely-publicized during the Synod. You may have noticed it. In a preparatory celebration, a tree from the Amazon was planted in one of the Vatican gardens – they even put a handful of earth from each South American country into the hole they dug! Many representatives from the region attended, some in native garb – and prayers were said asking God’s blessing on the meeting. So far, so good.
Attendees also brought some artwork and artifacts from the region. Pictures of these caught the attention of some. In particular, one colorful carving of a pregnant woman was often featured, no doubt because similar artworks have often been used in non-Christian, “native” religions – although such a figurine I suppose could also be quite readily used to represent any mother, even the mother of Jesus. (I’m especially smiling as I think of the famous image of the pregnant Indian girl some 3,000 miles away in México City, known as Our Lady of Guadalupe!) The artwork then was moved to a church parish in Rome for display during the Synod.
Anyway, much indignant outcry ensued from a tiny but vocal minority, mostly on social media. Surely a few were simply taken aback by the fact that the female figurine was unclothed, as many Amazonian peoples are each day. Others went so far as to accuse the Holy Father and other attendees of heresy and pagan idolatry! Some were so outraged that they broke into the church, stole the artifacts, and dumped them in the Tiber River that runs through Rome – proudly making a YouTube video of their theft! – although police divers were able to recover them.
All of that would simply be silly if it also wasn’t wrong. I guess they thought that if you display something non-traditional, or not specifically religious, in a church – or even make use of a non-Catholic symbol in a respectful way, seeking to be inspired by its beauty or uniqueness – you still must be considering it more important than God Himself! That of course is not true. If it were and we took it to the extreme we couldn’t display pictures of the dead at funerals, put Mesopotamian and Greek art in the Vatican museums, or consider a sunrise or mountain an inspiration! We’d have to ban national flags from our churches and dollar bills from our collection baskets, forbid Mass outdoors and in secular settings like hotels, and so forth!
The truth is that Catholicism rightly understands God always is supreme, but that His creation – including us – is very good (as the Bible says again and again in Gen 1!). Sure we can misuse things, even our own art and efforts, but we can also use them in very productive, inspiring and good ways. Some have always thought that use of images in religion, like statues and icons, stained glass and mosaics, is idolatrous and wrong. But the Church in her wisdom rejects that kind of limited perspective. Rather, we affirm a multivalent approach to art and to human creativity, realizing that many unconventional things can, in the long run, lead us to God.
That’s my two cents’ worth, anyway! If you’ve read this far, thanks!
Very Rev Paul D. Counce
