Shoes of the Fisherman

[OldMan]

See the 1973 movie "Catholics" with Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen. I know it's only a movie, but it mirrors current affairs. One wonders just why such a movie was made...

[DrBombay]

See the 1973 movie "Catholics" with Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen. I know it's only a movie, but it mirrors current affairs. One wonders just why such a movie was made...

Maybe it wasn't made.  Maybe they just want you to think it was made.

[Joshua]

So what happens when the Church sells off all her wealth and the people eat all the food it buys and the next day, they need more food but the money's all gone?  Funny thing about the human body....you can't just feed it once and be done with it.  It kinda requires a constant input of food.

Oh, you mean we're dealing with a Hollywood Utopian wet dream, not the real world?  Gotcha.

Bingo.

[OldMan]

See the 1973 movie "Catholics" with Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen. I know it's only a movie, but it mirrors current affairs. One wonders just why such a movie was made...

Maybe it wasn't made.  Maybe they just want you to think it was made.

The same way they want you to think V-2 is compatible with Catholic doctrine?

[DrBombay]

See the 1973 movie "Catholics" with Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen. I know it's only a movie, but it mirrors current affairs. One wonders just why such a movie was made...

Maybe it wasn't made.  Maybe they just want you to think it was made.

The same way they want you to think V-2 is compatible with Catholic doctrine?

Yes.  Indeed.  It's a bit of a sticky wicket, is it not? 

Siiiiii....it is.

[AntoniusMaximus]

See the 1973 movie "Catholics" with Trevor Howard and Martin Sheen. I know it's only a movie, but it mirrors current affairs. One wonders just why such a movie was made...

From what I understand the screenplay was written by an atheist or agnostic.  And it isn't actually supporting trad position, rather you have a doubting abbot who keeps doing things just because that is the way it has always been done not because he believes in the power of it, whereas you have the young social justice priest trying to get the abbey to change to be modern and hip after a fictional Vatican IV.  So you have the two dominating beliefs of the 70's the Church needs to change because the ritual is hollow (and even cynical to the point that going to places like Lourdes means you are being duped by the Church) and that the change needs to be more focused on improving the lives of people as oppose to just the salvation of their souls.  Naturally, in all of this the testimony of the faithful monks are disregarded because they don't figure into the screenwriters interest.

[Jacob]

So what happens when the Church sells off all her wealth and the people eat all the food it buys and the next day, they need more food but the money's all gone?  Funny thing about the human body....you can't just feed it once and be done with it.  It kinda requires a constant input of food.

Oh, you mean we're dealing with a Hollywood Utopian wet dream, not the real world?  Gotcha.

The events in the movie are I have been told only a small part of the book.  Perhaps it's addressed there?  :)

Any scenario involving the Church selling off her wealth is nothing but a fantasy I'm afraid.  I believe the Church even has an agreement with the Italian government that prohibits selling most of her treasure.  There's something to be said for preserving cultural patrimony....the Good, the True, the Beautiful and all that....

Like I said:  :)

[Anastasia]

IIRC, the treaty is not with the Italian government, but with the UN. The Vatican and a lot of other countries signed a Treasures of Humanity treaty, which prohibits them from selling any of the Vatican and/ or its art collection, and requires that they keep them available for the general public to see. The idea being that if the world's art got sold to private collectors, they'd go into those collectors homes and never be seen publicly again. So, even if the Vatican tried to sell, the U.N. would certainly block the sale in court. After all , if the Vatican gets to do it, all the other countries with budget problems ( i.e. all of them) wll start asking why they can't.