Anyone know this Catholic church?
I'm home today, fighting a sore throat, trying to keep it from turning into something else. A useless attempt I know -- it'll be what it's going to be -- but the rest makes me feel better at least. I was feeling generally lousy while mixing cereal and a banana, waiting for the water to boil for tea, when it struck me how easy it is for me to complain about the mildest of inconveniences. Here I am in a beautiful house in a safe neighborhood, surrounded by acres and acres of trees. I have plenty of food, I have clean running water that I rarely give a thought to and I know that, if this were to turn into something more than just a cold I have a world-class health center I can turn to.
And yet I bitch and curse when things don't go my way. Do you know how little of the world's population has all those things I mentioned above -- or even some of them? Time to buck up Walter and be grateful.
On a completely different note I watched a BBC World News videos of Christopher Hitchins talking about the Catholic church. As you may know he is a hard-hitting atheist and certainly no friend of any Christian church -- but he's also a clear-thinking, intelligent man who doesn't waste respect on sacred cows. He makes his points far better than I can, so I encourage you to watch this short piece.
I also watched Stephen Fry's comments from the same debate. He starts by saying, "I genuinely believe that the Catholic church is not, to put it at its mildest, a force for good in the world..." The most important point he makes though follows a bit later: "let's not call it child abuse -- it was child rape -- the kind of child rape that went on systematically for so long..." You can view the video to follow the argument, but I am struck by his use of the word rape. It was rape. It is rape. Let's face that fact. "Child abuse" can convey horrendous images of course, but it also comes in degrees, some of which are not even physical. The seduction of young boys by priests was rape, clear and simple. Those priest are rapists.
Finally today, to lighten the tone a bit: for those of you waiting breathlessly for the promised update: Carnegie Hall is dead to me, at least in terms of being a subscriber. I spoke by telephone with their box office manager and he was mainly interested in arguing with me and making excuses. Count me as just one more subscriber lost by arrogance.
(Answer: the church is in Mondsee, Austria; it was used for the wedding scene in the film version of The Sound of Music).
(Answer: the church is in Mondsee, Austria; it was used for the wedding scene in the film version of The Sound of Music).
I knew that! You'd never suspect it from the fairly restrained Baroque exterior, but the Baroque interior looked really over-the-top in the movie. And it is. It's the former late-15th-century abbey church of St Michael. The crypt goes back to the 11th century. It's now a parish church. My photographs also show that deep-blue sky in contrast to the yellow facade.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I had to dig around and look some of this stuff up.
-dd
I for one am glad it is being called rape by someone. Our PC world has watered down phrases such as "child abuse" to include things like being yelled at or given a dirty look, to the point where it really has no impact. It is an attempt to minimize the real meaning. Much like "friendly fire", it downplays the reality.
ReplyDeletePC talk has diluted the language to the point nothing really means much anymore.