I am probably the only Baptist on the planet that looks forward to the pop cultural pronouncements of the Vatican’s daily newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. I sit by the internet for months waiting to see what they’re going to come up with next. Seriously, I love those guys. Their editorial staff reminds me of the stereotypical youth pastor: really nice, solidly Christian, but trying way to hard to be hip.
For example, back in February they released a list of the top ten rock and pop albums of all time. To give you an idea of their taste, consider that number ten on the list was David Crosby’s “If I Could Only Remember My Name.” I’m not kidding. They picked a album that Even David Crosby would be embarrassed to include on his list. But—bless their hearts—they put that out there for the world to see.
Then in June they thumbed their noses at Illinois Nazis by declaring the 1980 comedy The Blues Brothers to be a “Catholic Classic.” Not just a classic, mind you. A Catholic classic. (If Pope Benedict follows their recommendation and watches the movie he might be in for a surprise.)
But just when you think you can count on the LR editors to be twenty years behind the curve, they go and throw us for a loop by pulling out a reference that is only six years old.
Analyzing a 2005 episode of The Simpsons, the paper declares, “Few people know it, and he does everything he can to hide it, but it is true: Homer J Simpson is a Catholic.”
Well, not really. Although Bart and Homer did convert for one episode, in every other episode in which they go to church they attend the “Presbylutheran” First Church of Springfield.
Nevertheless, unlike some people, I give them props for trying. I would never mock them in the indirect (and funny) way that Carl Olson of Insight Scoop does by finding Catholicism in every show on TV:
• “Desperate Housewives” is surely Catholic since it is about a neighborhood with families—and if the Catholic Church isn’t all about neighborhoods and families, who is? Besides, from what I gather from commercials (having never watched DH) the show occasionally broaches the topic of sex, which is something the Catholic Church occasionally mentions, albeit with a somewhat different take.
If they editors of LR read the Ignatius Press blog, then Olson may soon be getting a job offer from Rome.
(Yeah, I know David Mills linked to this story yesterday. But it needed context.)
October 20th, 2010 | 8:10 am
Their editorial staff reminds me of the stereotypical youth pastor: really nice, solidly Christian, but trying way to hard to be hip.
You nailed it, Joe. Trying waaaaaaaaaaay to hard. On the plus side, it provides fodder for folks such as myself who find pop culture interesting and worth talking about on occasion, but prefer not to worship it. Thanks for the link!
October 20th, 2010 | 10:32 am
Great post, the best yet on L’Osservatore Romano and the Simpsons, which is saying something as we all secretly love the Pop statements from the ‘Vatican’s official newspaper’ and can’t wait to blog it!
October 21st, 2010 | 2:50 am
Is L’Osservatore using “Catholic” in the narrowest sense (“in denominational communion with the Pope at Rome, and thereby barred from sharing the eucharist with other Christians”), the broader sense (“one universal Christian church”, as per the Apostles’ Creed), or the maximalist sense (“good, nice, enjoyable, praiseworthy”)?
I don’t see how anyone could watch “The Simpsons,” especially “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star”, and conclude that Homer is Catholic in the narrowest sense above. The broader sense, possibly. The maximalist sense, certainly. Witness how many Catholic bloggers have hailed “Lord of the Rings” as a “deeply Catholic” book/ film.*
*(Hint: if “LOTR” had been “Catholic” in the narrowest sense, Frodo would have given the Ring to Aragorn, who would have prayed a blessing over it and then used to crush Sauron militarily. The Kings of Gondor would still be reigning today, enthroned at Mordor, which would still be named Mordor, although only the most offensively bigoted fundamentalists would insist on still calling the Dark Tower “Barad-Dur”, as if to imply some kind of contunuity between King Ar-Pharazon Aragorn XXXVI and Sauron the Dark Lord…)
October 21st, 2010 | 4:57 am
@Rod
No. If LOTR would be really an analogy to Constantine (that is what you are referring to) Sauron would have converted at some point of the story and kept his empire.
But you know, the Lord of the rings is not an analogy, as the Catholic Tolkien insisted.
October 21st, 2010 | 10:34 am
Yesderday was the Gospel from Luke referring to how he will come like a thief in the night at an unexpected hour.
Being entertained by the Simpson’s is on the list of activities I would not wish to be found engaged in at that time. Crude, rude, arrogant and insensitive as it is, my children were steered away from those TV shows that poison the spirit.
As silly as the article on Homer Simpson is, it does a great deal of harm to the Church and the Gospel. So did all the other attempts by the newspaper to protray itself as being ‘hip’ people of the world. In the words of our Lord….
“If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”
L’Osservatore Romano is in need of some serious reform. Articles such as this sully Holy Church by smearing her with the world’s dirt rather than cleansing the world with a pureness of heart.
October 21st, 2010 | 11:05 am
You know, if you listened to that David Crosby solo album you would be aware that the emphasis on vocal harmony, especially on a song like ‘Orleans,’ actually makes it a logical pick. [And for the record, Crosby is justifiably proud of that record.]
Similarly, a tv show like the Simpsons actually carries at its core a prevailing moral current, a belief in family, community, & love.
At a time when so-called Conservatives are praising hyper-individualistic authors like Ayn Rand (the very opposite of Catholic ['cath- tholous' - 'throughout the whole']), it is refreshing to see bits of popular culture that celebrate community.
October 21st, 2010 | 10:18 pm
Benedikt, “Aragorn armed with the One Ring” is as far as I would be normally willing to go with the “If LOTR were REALLY [Roman] Catholic…” thought-experiment, and if you want to go further and say “No, actually, an even closer analogy to the Papacy is Sauron….”, that’s a bridge (no pun int/d) too far for even this Orange Whig Protestant.
Either way, my point is the same. “It’s of evil origin – cast it into the flames, don’t try to baptise it” (err, “Christianize” it… “Valar-ize” it?) is more a Protestant than a Catholic response to the relics of an ungodly empire. That Galadriel looks a bit like the Virgin Mary, and that she gives the hobbits magic bread (hint, hint) that will sustain them, doesn’t outweigh this.
October 22nd, 2010 | 2:55 pm
We have a show that says:
1) JFK is in Hell
2) the trashing of the liturgy by “the spirit of Vatican II” is worthy of mockery
3) scantily clad women distributing communion are worthy of mockery
4) Rock music at Mass is worthy of mockery
5) The position of the Anglican Church is “Lord Jeezus, we know our country became Protestant for the sole reason that our fat, mean king wanted to dump his faithful wife. But we know You’re on our side. So please help us crush these heretics who think your Mother should be revered.”
6) The Sacrament of Reconciliation is cool
7) Fish on Fridays is cool
8) If there were separate Heavens for Catholics and Protestants, Catholic Heaven would be cooler, and Jesus would be there, not in Protestant Heaven.
So far, sounds like The Catholic Cartoon Blog to me.
Here’s some more things one learns from watching _The Simpsons_:
9) Everything in the world is worthy of mockery except sincere religious faith, which should be respected.
10) A devout Christian man (Ned Flanders) is the ideal everyone should aspire to and has (other than being widowed when Homer killed his wife) everything going for him versus this dysfunctional loser Homer Simpson.
11) Even though Homer Simpson is a dysfunctional loser, marriage is indisoluble, and despite temptations, he and Marge stick together. Indeed, despite his many faults, Homer has never been unfaithful to his wife, though she has been emotionally unfaithful to him from time to time.
12) Liberals like Lisa Simpson are absurd.
13) The family goes to church every Sunday.
14) In the episode where Homer decides to become a Heathen and skip Church, he experiences the wrath of God directly.
15) In an episode “Simpsons’ Bible Stories” where the characters imagine stories from the Bible during an especially long sermon, the Armageddon scene has all of them going to Hell except for baby Maggie.
Conversely,
16) When Ned Flanders prayers, God answers.
There is far more positive portrayal of Catholicism, in particular, Christianity in general and definitely of religion on _The Simpsons_ than any other network TV show today.
October 22nd, 2010 | 9:04 pm
> “these heretics who think your Mother should be revere”
Now even by the strandards of a cartoon show, that’s a cartoonish depiction of Anglicanism. (Virgin of Walsingham, anyone?)
Uh, JC… you do realise that nice Flanders is depicted as going to that same nasty Episco-something church, right?
October 22nd, 2010 | 10:11 pm
So, Anglicanism *wasn’t* started because a fat, mean king wanted to dump his faithful wife?
Actually, they go to the Church Reformed PresboLutheranism.
The quote was from an episode parodying great women of history, from a segment on Elizabeth I. Rev. Lovejoy was an Anglican bishop blessing the fleet before the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Yes, Flanders is a Protestant, but still makes the point that he’s a sincere believer and held up as the ideal.
October 23rd, 2010 | 1:14 am
No, I believe if you ask actual Anglicans they would say it was started by Augustine of Canterbury (and probably add that at least Henry VIII wasn’t impregnating his own sister).
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