An open letter to the College of Cardinals

Your Holinesses,

Forgive me if I have breached any sort of protocol by writing this letter. Am I allowed to even call you that? I had no idea how to go about addressing you, so I decided to take a punt on "your holinesses". I figured it was safe, as you would probably hold out some claim to be righteous dudes, and one of you is probably going to be the next pope, after all. Although I've some thoughts of my own about that, as you'll soon discover.

Hoping It Will All Go Away

The biggest news story in the world by far (apart from who Sandra Bullock's husband's been humping) has been the Catholic Church's efforts to deal with the numerous child abuse scandals plaguing it.

This is bad news for the Pope and the hierarchy of the Church, but they've seen off worse scandals, and the institution will survive.

But the confused and disorganised responses to the crisis suggest there is nobody on top of things. The Pope appears to be hoping the whole thing will just blow over. Why else would he stay silent while others stupidly compare the treatment of the Church to anti-semitism, or dismiss the scandal as "idle chatter"?

I don't know whether the Pope has been personally involved in any of the cover-ups. His supporters say he has energetically pursued abusers and tried to drive them out of the Church. But he and the other notables of the Vatican profess to be devoted to God, while continuing to deny what is becoming increasingly obvious - that many of the cover-ups were sanctioned, if not ordered, by those at the top. If these men have sinned they should be falling to their knees and begging forgiveness. Their public countenances suggest they are still in denial, or are just hoping they'll get away with it.

Hardly the behaviour of men who profess a selfless devotion to God.

Pope's Hurt Feelings Just Like The Holocaust

I hate to blaspheme on the eve of Easter Sunday, but...

JESUS CHRIST!

Victims' groups and Jewish representatives expressed anger last night after the pope's personal preacher compared criticism of the Catholic hierarchy over cleric sex abuse with persecution of the Jews.

Addressing Pope Benedict and other members of the Vatican leadership at a service in St Peter's, Father Raniero Cantalamessa read a letter he said he had got from a Jewish friend. It said: "The passing from personal responsibility and guilt to a collective guilt remind me of the more shameful aspects of antisemitism."

Thousands of children were abused and had their lives wrecked, and the Church deliberately concealed much of the wrongdoing. Those in charge are now under pressure to explain why they did so little to address the problem. They are feeling the heat and are not enjoying the criticism.

Yes, that sounds just like anti-semitism – except for the bit where centuries of religious hatred fanned largely by the Church explodes into genocide.

Avatar: Any Good?

I think I may be unwell. Perhaps I should lie down.

Because I am in agreement with the Vatican on something.

Specifically, the Vatican’s newspaper and radio station have apparently criticised the James Cameron Avatar blockbuster for being a simplistic and sappy tale, and for there being little behind the images.

It happens that I saw Avatar last night. It was actually the first film I’ve been to in three years (I kid you not – but it’s hard to get babysitters for the little ones), so it is fresh in my mind.

Is it worth going to? Absolutely. Was it a masterpiece? Visually, yes. The special effects are stunning and bring life to a bizarre fantasy world.

But the storyline was the weak point. It was indeed sappy. I’ve also heard it described as Dances with Wolves in Space. That pretty much sums it up. In any Hollywood flick where a bunch of bad guys are doing bad stuff to the poor simple and lovable natives, you expect the hero to give the baddies a good butt-kicking. And there will be a girl, a romance, a falling out and a reconciliation.

There is also a faintly racist odour about the film. I don’t want to overplay this, because after all the natives in the movie are an alien species. But it is hard not to see parallels between the aliens and the tribesmen of Borneo or the Amazon rainforests. If a film was made about a white guy coming to save the Amazonians, would we be comfortable with that? I’m not sure this is really an issue – just a lingering unease that was left with me, I guess.

But generally the film is all good stuff, even if it is a bit hokum. People are saying Avatar is Oscar material, though I’m not sure. Certainly it ought to win a bucketload of technical awards. But best picture?

On the other hand, my ability to get to the movies triennially doesn’t qualify me to pick award winners.

Back to the Vatican. Thankfully, some of the other things said by the Vatican about Avatar return me to my usual disdain for things emanating from that place. Such as the concern expressed that the worship of nature in the film and within the environmental movement generally threatens a return to paganism.

That’s a bit rich coming from a religion whose many symbols and practices evolved from the paganism of the Romans and other religious groups (especially Mithraism and the Cult of Cybele).

And if we have to worship something then isn't Nature a more likeable god than the one in Leviticus?