Papal ring is in question! To kiss or not to kiss?

 

 

REUTERS in DECCAN CHRONICLE

 Mar 27, 2019

 

The evolving Catholic Church culture now presents a new dilemma of whether kissing the pope’s hand is appropriate or not.

 

Cover Photo: While visiting a Catholic shrine in Loreto on Monday, Pope Franics repeatedly kept withdrawing his right hand as a long line of people bowed down and tried to kiss the ring on it. (Photo: AFP)

 

 

Note: It is all a question of culture wars between  the conservatives and liberals, those who want to see the Church continue its Constantinian royal dress, with pomp and power as a way of living and those who  want to replace it with a democratic model, where even the US top executive is called “Mr. President”.

All a fashion parade; yesterday’s craze is replaced by today’s; Thus goes the glory of the world – sic transit Gloria mundi  — without making an impact on history!

Francis himself when talking on the phone with a distraught youngster in Milan, nicely told him to call him “Tu” (You) in the singular) because the apostles did not call Jesus “Your Holiness”. We have been campaigning against all these honorific appellations which are totally against the teaching of JESUS (Mt,23, 8-120).

Besides whom are we to follow and imitate: Jesus or Constantine? So follow the self-emptying of Jesus by serving others and not lording over anybody and everybody. God’s grace and blessing flow only to the lowly!  james kottoor, editor CCV

 

Please read below the news

report in Deccan Chronicle.

 

Vatican City: To kiss the ring on the pope’s hand or not to – that is the question in the minds of many now. On Monday, when Pope Francis visited a Catholic shrine in Loreto, he repeatedly withdrew his right hand as a long line of people bowed and tried to kiss the ring on it.

 

The footage went viral and the pope’s refusal quickly entered what are known as the Catholic cultural wars between conservatives and progressives. LifeSiteNews, a conservative Catholic website that often criticises the pope, called the episode “disturbing” in the headline of an article that included a long history of the rings pope’s wear and their significance.

 

Rorate Caeli, a website read by Catholic traditionalists, tweeted, “Francis, If you don’t want to be the Vicar of Christ, then get out of there!” Papal biographer Austen Ivereigh, a supporter of Francis, countered by tweeting: “He’s making sure that they engage with him, not treat him like a sacred relic. He’s the Vicar of Christ, not a Roman emperor.”

 

“It’s high time kissing bishops’ rings disappears altogether. It’s just ridiculous and has nothing to do with tradition. It’s an import from monarchies. Much of the pomp around bishops should be ditched,” tweeted Jesuit priest Russell Pollitt.

 

Some Vatican watchers noted that even former Pope Benedict, a hero to nostalgic conservatives and his predecessor John Paul, did not like having their hands kissed, at least not by long lines of people, for the sake of expediency.

 

One Twitter user recalled that when he visited Pope John Paul with a group of 50 people they were told specifically not to kneel or kiss the papal hand. The Vatican did not say why the pope was so insistent on not having the ring, a simple silver one with a cross, kissed in the long receiving line on Tuesday.

 

“Sometimes he likes it, sometimes he does not. It’s really as simple as that,” said a close aide to the pope who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The aide added he was “amused” by all the reaction.

While visiting a Catholic shrine in Loreto on Monday, Pope Franics repeatedly kept withdrawing his right hand as a long line of people bowed down and tried to kiss the ring on it. (Photo: AFP)