Some months ago – was it last year? – one of my friends at choir asked me, with some degree of trepidation, if I were in agreement with the perspectives expressed at the blog Rorate cæli, to which I link. As in fact I tend to find some of the views expressed on that blog to be rather too close to the SSPX, and rather to the "right" of my own, I explained as much to my worried friend (much to his relief!), and then added an editorial comment to the link to Rorate cæli that I have in my blogroll, to the effect that I find some of their views "extreme", implying therefore that I do not in fact share their views, lest my own views be taken as wholly in agreement with all of theirs.
As soon as Pope Francis was elected, that same blog featured some rather unflattering commentary about him, in contradistinction to the more positive tones of various other blogs to which I also link, with whose views I am in rather closer agreement – and the rather insulting tone of the many comments added to some of the Rorate cæli posts about him particularly scandalized me (as I mentioned in a recent post). For that reason, I added to the editorial comment to my blogroll link to Rorate cæli, inserting the phrase "and they don't like Pope Francis".
Just to-day, I received a very polite email from one of the contributors to Rorate cæli, explaining that my labelling of it as extreme, with a warning, was not exactly helpful, and could make trouble for that blog. I had not realized that that could get it into trouble, and do apologize for any inadvertent harm I may have done to that blog.
I have therefore deleted that reference, and simply retained "NB They don't like Pope Francis" as my editorial comment, in order to distinguish my views from those who express their views at Rorate cæli – since that seems to me to be a fairly matter-of-fact statement about their take on our new Supreme Pontiff (though of course, as Catholics, they acknowledge him to be the Pope, I hasten to add, and doubtless pray for him and revere his sacred office – a cat can look at a king, after all).
UPDATE: Strange to say, in further correspondence I learn that those operating Rorate cæli in fact do like Pope Francis – ! – so in a spirit of compliance I will relabel their blog "Not quite my cup of tea". Let readers make of that what they will; my blogroll exists primarily as an easy method for me to jump to read my usual selection of blogs, whether I agree with them or not.
UPDATE: Strange to say, in further correspondence I learn that those operating Rorate cæli in fact do like Pope Francis – ! – so in a spirit of compliance I will relabel their blog "Not quite my cup of tea". Let readers make of that what they will; my blogroll exists primarily as an easy method for me to jump to read my usual selection of blogs, whether I agree with them or not.
I hope that those who contribute to and run Rorate cæli will understand my motives in seeking to distinguish my blog from theirs, and at the least forgive me any harm I may have done them. I pray that they and all bloggers – even unworthy me – will, by their contributions online, continue to advance the cause of Christ, to the glory of God and for the salvation of souls.
4 comments:
I'm not sure quite how they can get 'in trouble' given that their leading columnists post anonymously! And in trouble with whom precisely?
More importantly, if they are in trouble, perhaps there is a reason for it?
In fact RC seem to be adopting a rather aggressive policy of contacting offline anyone who even remotely criticises them at the moment.
I certainly got such a note from 'New Catholic' and did slightly modify a post in response. If I had realised how widespread their campaign of silencing criticism was, I would have thought twice about doing so.
In any case, I also removed the link to their blog from mine in response to the tone of the attacks on the Pope.
Those who wish to advance the cause of Christ need to think long and hard about how they use the medium of blogging. I'm all for vigorous debate. Giving space to nutty conspiracy theories in the comments box and extremely unchristian and uncharitable sentiments does not in my view do that.
Yes, I too was a bit surprised - however, unlike the comments on their blog, the emails I have received have been most courteous, and I thought it simple enough to comply.
For the record, I was asked to:
"please... remove the "warning" you have in your link to us... While we appreciate being linked by others, the nature of the "warning" may lead third parties to derive specific legal consequences based on your choice of words, that is, they may have legal consequences in several different nations that can adversely affect us and cause us grave legal consequences (for instance, in several nations in the European Union)."
I assume that referring to a religious blog as "extreme" in a "warning" about it may potentially have made trouble for them, given EU laws that by all accounts grow more anti-Christian by the hour...
I'm wondering seriously if Rorate Caeli cares a snap of the fingers about the perils of European Union laws. After all, such laws penalise Nazi Holocaust denial and Nazi Holocaust minimisation, but that doesn't stop one Marcelo Gonzalez on RC's site from being a Nazi Holocaust minimiser:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/feastofeden/2013/04/traditionalists-expert-on-pope-francis-is-holocaust-denier/
As I (and a fair few others) see it, the trouble with RC is that ever since the last papal election it has been, in practice, sedevacantist; but its founders don't have the intestinal fortitude to admit to their own sedevacantism. I would also question the legitimacy of any blog which, while loudly asserting its Catholicism, is controlled by a committee. The Catholic Church is hierarchical, not collegial.
Oh dear!
I was enormously surprised that one of those running Rorate cæli would bother contacting me about my former warning about their blog; I am horribly shocked to hear that one of their contributors has espoused the sort of wink-wink nudge-nudge the-Axis-didn't-intend-to-commit-genocide views that all Catholics ought spurn.
I distrust Rorate cæli more and more; I never liked their SSPX slant, and now to find anti-Semitism crawling forth is even worse!
Was I too naive in acceding to their requests?
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