Papal Tiara of Paul VI – the Last Italian Pope *

Like everything else in a changing world, the objects that once displayed power and might are now doorstops in our temporary trash recycle culture.

One such object is the Last Tiara, of the centuries old symbol of Roman usurpation of power, in the form of the triple crown of popes.  The above Tiara was used to crown Pope Paul VI in 1963.

Paul VI was the last Italian pope *, discounting of course the very short 33 day reign ended by the murder of John Paul I by Bankers and Mafia Dons, banking customers?, not satisfied with the Vatican’s banking services etc. Couldn’t they just return the toaster to the bank and close their accounts? Geez.

Well anyway, the crown is currently in the Pilgrimage Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC.

I saw this object when it was doing a national tour for charity in the late sixties. Paul VI gave up his crown to feed the poor.  What sick twisted logic and thinking back then in the church during and after Vatican II.  Mama mia.

I saw the object in the lobby of a bank in downtown Philly at the SW corner of Broad and Chestnut Streets, the Wall Street type financial center of Philly in its day.

I see on Google Maps that that bank lobby is now selling music DVDs and Video Games and across the street the one time main branch of the Girard Trust Company, a marble replica of the Pantheon in Rome, which is now a mere entrance way and lobby of a five star hotel.  Talk about the current disposable trash culture.  Must be getting old or something.

When I saw Paul VI’s tiara I was young and still a catholic.  I took some photos and showed them to my uber-Catholic aunts and uncles and their response was something I will always remember. That as Irish Catholics there was a pope, in a holy card, but I-talians, on a personal level and personal prejudice level, were another matter altogether.  Whatever.

With the arrival of the Global Media Rock Star Pope John Paul II and his private political agenda in Poland and his “reform of the reform”, turning back the clock to the middle ages to forget Vatican II, this last crown of the last Italian pope is no doubt just another cash cow relic to fleece the pilgrims in the Washington shrine.  Vials of the real Blood of Christ relics down the next aisle for your shopping consumerism pleasure. LOL

The crown BTW sat on the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome during the last sessions of Vatican II during the early reign of Paul VI.  No doubt besides relic status, the papal tiara has trophy status of sorts to the Neocons, Satanists, Masons, Bankers now in control of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome.  

Have a nice day.

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How Goes Maine So Goes The Nation ?

The political saying above was about Presidential Elections that saw the State of Maine voting for the winner 90% of the time in the past century. Maine in the past seemed to be right in the middle but on the fine winning edge of how to judge the mood and course of the nation.

Gay marriage has come to Maine. There is obviously something going on out there in the world. Being the flaming liberal that I am, I believe in equal rights and opportunities for everyone. The liberal in me is also still a little bit homophobic. That is what I was taught in the American Culture that I grew up in. The American Culture I will die in someday in the future will have Gay Marriage almost everywhere. Theory is one thing. The facts staring at you in the face is quite a different thing. It will take some getting used to (for me at least).

I have known and socialized with Gay people in the past. Having lived on and off in NYC for close to a quarter century, it is impossible not to know any gay people. Live and let live has always been the common attitude for the most part. Hate crimes can happen just as easily here in NYC as they do in Wyoming. Social mores can change. Human nature remains the same.

This is where the paradigm shift happens in our Global Culture. This is where there are no real roadmaps. What was described in the Bible as a no-no is now getting mainstream secular attention. Without a Constitutional amendment supporting rights to gay marriage I would guesstimate this status will be a permanent civil function of a dozen to half the fifty states in the next decade. Once the novelty, fear and bias wears off, perhaps all or almost all states will recognize this as a legal status.

Isn’t it odd how so much of what the common culture now wants comes from the culture itself and not from tradition and not from sacred texts anymore? The secular state has arrived even with all the right wing evangelists screaming and kicking and spouting ancient words every step of the way.

What I first thought of as a Global Town Square and as perhaps a variation of the old concept of the “global village” is nothing quite as I imagined it to be – today.

We all not in a physical town square anymore. We are in a virtual town square and it is the same in Iowa as it is in New York City. We cling to our homes, our worlds and we wrap ourselves in a bubble with cell phones, iPods, earphones, laptops and centered around the virtual Yellow Pages, Webster’s Dictionary and Sears Catalogue of the new age – the Internet. We reinforce our own view of the world instead of the other way around as it has been for centuries.

My need to be spiritual depends on me. I do not trust the moral authority of the Christian or Catholic Church that I have seen reshape itself into its own financial and survival mode self interests and at the expense I think of the people who once sat in the pews of churches. Even the intimacy of being in a small church or chapel to pray or meditate is dwarfed by Mega churches designed more for rock concerts than spirituality that I feel comfortable with.

Part of my reason for writing this blog has been to keep an ongoing interest and observation of the day to day lives of people in the domestic end of my street and all the way to the national culture generated from Hollywood, NYC or Wash. D.C.. The view I see today is a remarkable but twisted view through a prism.

What I see through that prism I sometimes do not grasp easily or understand but stand by in cautious curiosity and feel that no matter what I see or feel does not matter much. The world and the culture is evolving all around us. I only hope that the end results or the discernible results down the road somehow match what is now, has been and will hopefully remain a human culture.

The future has arrived! (and we all remain pilgrims in search of something)