Sunday, October 06, 2024

Moses more merciful than Jesus

The retirement of this month of Cardinal José Luis Lacunza brought to mind one of the reasons that synodality in such rough shape. Cardinal Lacunza was one of the cardinals "from the peripheries," created the first cardinal from Panama by Pope Francis in 2015. He was not the archbishop of Panama City, but rather the bishop of David, a smaller diocese, all the better to make the point that Cardinals could come from anywhere.

Cardinal Lacunza's 80th birthday falls on 24 February 2024 (today!), so his retirement was expected. It was accelerated after an odd disappearance a few weeks ago, which sent the authorities in search of him. When he surfaced, unharmed, after a few days Lacunza apologized for what he called "a stupid prank."

As a new Cardinal he made a splash early at the Synod on the Family in 2015. He argued that Moses, who permitted divorce, was more merciful than Jesus, who did not. "Why can't Peter be more like Moses?," Lacunza asked.

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Wednesday, September 04, 2024

The Chosen

The Chosen is far from perfect, but had enough astonishing moments to keep me watching its first four seasons. The writing is at times strong but is trapped in the bad habits of today's popular movies and TV: too many wry, self-aware quips (especially for a show about holy things), over-explanation failing to respect the viewer's intelligence, and subplots driven by contrived interpersonal drama.

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