"Certain events are by themselves highly symbolic... The 'cosmic nightmare' of one of the most bizarre pseudo-theologians of the 20th century, and its most dated religious thinker, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, was celebrated with a major conference, on November 9-10, in the Society of Jesus's own Pontifical Gregorian University, dedicated to finding a role for him and his ideas in the 'new evangelization'.Thus Rorate Caeli introduces its post of the English translation of Agnoli's article.
"Italian journalist and commentator Francesco Agnoli could not believe his eyes either, and so he wrote the following in opinion daily Il Foglio on November 8."
The conference concluded, it is reported, with a "Holy Mass with readings from the Mass on the World of Teilhard de Chardin" (S.Messa con letture dalla Messa sul Mondo di Teilhard de Chardin) in the University Chapel.
It just doesn't get any weirder than this. The Faith reduced to the Magical Mystery Tour?!
The reader who sent me the link to this article commented: "... but this comment takes the cake in my book ... Still laughing ...
"I now bracket him with another title which was read with admiration when I encountered him: Jonathan Livingston Seagull."[Hat tip to J.M.]
It was only a matter of time before they dug up this mouldering old heretic and dusted him off for a new generation of impressionable dullards. The nouvelles of V2 loved him with an everlasting love, as they had Bergson forty years earlier -- to them, Teilhard was just another poor persecuted victim of Humani Generis.
ReplyDeleteHow the V2 fathers loved their bubbles, bangles and beads!
It is significant that, in "Principles of Catholic Theology," our present pope lauded Teilhard's influence upon V2 -- influence, he says, which was especially felt in "Gaudium et spes" (p. 334 in the spiffy new indexless Ignatius edition).
Ralph,
ReplyDeleteI've wondered about the erstwhile Cardinal Ratzinger's references to this so-called Jesuit too, not only in "Principles," but even in "Introduction to Christianity."
There are so many from this period though. It makes one scratch his head and wonder. What was it? Not EVERYONE was dropping acid and doing mushrooms. I'm convinced it must have been something in the lava lamps.
PP, I don't know if Teilhard dropped acid or did mushrooms, but he was into that stuff we now call the New Age. If he was practicing some of the meditation techniques that he would have had access to, they woud have fried his brains just as well as acid or mushrooms.
ReplyDeleteI tried to read Ratzinger's "Introduction to Christianity" once. I had to look back to the title page repeatedly, because every few pages I found my self wondering what the gibberish I had just read could possibly be an "introduction" to.
ReplyDeleteIt was even worse than the nightmare I had after reading the Hahnmei$ter's "First Comes Love," in which the Holy Ghost spoke to me in Florence Henderson's voice.
Adam's Family Values? =)
ReplyDelete