The image of a bishop or pope can evoke images of funny costumes and hats and men who are not too human. I am fascinated by the human side of these public figures and I will blog shortly on what I think is perhaps one of the most faithful and enduring love stories I have read about in a while. The love of Halina Krolikiewicz for Karol Wotjtyla and I believe his love for her. Not because it was ever consummated, but because in their perhaps mutual, but more likely individual decisions not to pursue it, they hardly counted the cost so strong was their conviction or faith - call it what you want. Another man I have a lot of respect for is Angelo Roncalli, who was later to become Pope John XXIII. In an entry in his diary in 1939, when he was in Instanbul, many years before he became Pope, he wrote the following:
Every evening from the window of my room...
I see an assemblage of boats on the Bosporus;
they come round from the Golden Horn
in tens and hundreds ... a most impressive
spectacle of colour and lights ...
These lights glow all night
and one can hear the cheerful voices of fisherman.
I find the sight very moving.
The other night, towards one o'clock,
it was pouring rain
but the fisherman were still there,
undeterred from their heavy toil...
Very little is left in this land
of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
Debris and seeds...
We must do as the fisherman of the Bosporus do,
work night and day.
3 comments:
I am looking forward to these stories of men crowned with hats! Now, this is something all photographers know: put a hat, large or funny, on the head of a child, and you get the most serene facial expression. Does this hold true for the clergy as well?
Perhaps for some? What I find fascinating is that many RC clergy are (sadly) moving away from clerical garb and many of the smaller non mainline denominations are adopting its use. Almost as if in an attempt to clothe themselves with authority, which younger RC priests tend to do immediately following ordination - perhaps for the same reason. Having said that, I am a conservative and wish clergy would wear their garb but for different reasons.
Dressing up shows respect, be it a tie, shoes, something new, etc. Like you, I would prefer tradition to be followed, to tell people that the clergy show that tey are serious. This topic of what a hat means can of course be developed, it is so very interesting.
I have once made a summary of Masks. Have you noticed that a mask will sometimes reveal more than it hides?
Thank you for the comments on my blog. Hi Rodney, I can remember in History of Art we used the French word 'passage' for the work of Cezanne, where one colour or form would flow gently into the next! It is a term we could really use more in English!
Post a Comment