Vestments As Poltical Statements
Thomas at American Papist points out the absurd notion put forth by the Ordinary Ministers of the Media, in this case Reuters, that the Pope intentionally selected green vestments to show his support for the current fad of eco-mania. In support of this claim, Reuters cites….well actually nothing. Of course, green vestments are perfectly ordinary for ordinary time in the liturgical calendar. The support for this silly conclusion is based solely on a few remarks in which the Pope speaks about safeguarding creation. The Pope is definitely supporting the environment but not all the policies that the eco-pagans would like to read into it. To read the mainstream coverage is to think that the Pope will soon designate Al Gore as a cardinal and personally drafted the Kyoto agreement. This is of course absurd. You can read the Pope’s extended remarks at AmP.
This all got me to thinking. If using vestment color as an endorsement of any liberal hobby horse becomes a fad, what kind of headlines might we see next?
Pope Supports Gay Marriage
This advent, the Pope intentionally wore purple to signal his covert support for the Gay and Lesbian lifestyle. The Pope needs to preach in this way because the right wing curia at the Vatican would never let him openly endorse gay marriage. However, his intentions are now clear.
OR
Pope Endorses Hillary Clinton
Pope Benedict signaled his support for the presidential candidate by wearing rose colored vestments on the same day the Hillary Rodham Clinton wore a rose colored pant suit to a nationally televised debate. Vatican watchers indicate that this is a clear sign the the Pope has taken a position on the American election.
On the other hand, here are some headlines you will not see:
Pope wears white as a call to purity, chastity.
Pope wears Red to call attention to the plight of the unborn.
Pope wears black to lament the culture of death.
No, we will not see those headlines because the Ordinary Ministers of the Media make up the news to impress their friends and those stories wouldn’t sell well at their dinner parties. How about “Pope wears dunce cap to protest media stupidity?”