The best of the Catholic blogosphere

✣ Highlights from the week online

The Vatican has been re-organised, with six of its departments now compressed into two mega-departments, called dicasteries. One result, says Sandro Magister at chiesa.espressonline.it, is a rise in unemployment. Senior figures such as Polish Cardinal Stanisław Rylko and German Bishop Josef Clemens have been left temporarily jobless after their old positions disappeared.

Magister observes that 50 lay employees “should not be in any danger, because Pope Francis has said repeatedly that he will never fire the father or mother of a family. But a different fate may be in store for the 18 clerics and four Religious.”

The Italian Vatican-watcher says these 22 officials “could be sent packing out of the blue, back to their respective dioceses or congregations”. He concludes that the group will have to wait until the publication of the next Annuario Pontificio, which will contain the updated organisational structure of Roman Curia, to learn their fate.

‘Here comes everybody’

At patheos.com, K Albert Little pays tribute to his local church’s 7pm Sunday Mass – “the proverbial last call in town”.

He writes: “When James Joyce coined the phrase ‘‘here comes everybody’’ to describe the Catholic Church he must’ve been thinking about this, because here we are: the doctors and lawyers and professors; the students and single parents and humble homemakers.”

The last Mass of Sunday reminds Little that Catholics are “anything but homogenous”. There’s “the heavily tattooed dad who shuffles in with his kids, collapsing into the pew with a sigh and a weight on his shoulders I can’t imagine”. Then there’s “the Carmelite nuns, in their long black monk-like habits, thick knotted ropes tied around their impossibly thin waists – and bare feet.” Little realises: “This is the thick of things, and these are my people.”

A papal cigarette ban

Churchpop.com tells the story of the world’s first smoking ban. It came from Pope Urban VII, who in 1590 responded to the discovery of tobacco. Anyone caught using the stuff “in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe, or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose” would be excommunicated.”

The ban was overturned by Benedict XIII in the 18th century.

In any case, churchpop.com noted: “The Church did not ban smoking in general, just smoking in and around churches, which probably isn’t a good idea.

“In the appropriate context, the Church has generally taken the approach that such things can be enjoyed if used in moderation.”

✣ Meanwhile…

Bishop Richard Umbers, who was consecrated an auxiliary bishop of Sydney on August 24, posted a Facebook video a few days before in which he asked his mother for advice.

She told him: “You’ll have everybody making a fuss of you. But just remember you’re only Richard Umbers.” The bishop said she later added: “Accept everything the Lord sends you.”

It has previously acclaimed the music of Oasis and films such as Skyfall. Now the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, has praised the cultural contribution of Star Trek.

Noting that the television show began 50 years ago, during the Cold War, L’Osservatore said that “Star Trek proposed a true model of co-operation” and discovered new civilisations “in order to propose peaceful relations on a foundation of equality.”

✣ Nigerian Catholics should put their phones away: that’s the message of one of the country’s most senior pastors, Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos.

Speaking at the dedication of a new church, the archbishop lamented that some churchgoers would read the news on their smartphones during homilies.

“Such an act does not show reverence to God and should be banned in places of worship,” Archbishop Martins said.

✣ The week in quotations

Without the Eucharist, will risk becoming routine and heartless
Cardinal Nichols
Jubilee Mass for volunteers

We are in the pulpit as proclaimers of the Gospel, not as political leaders
Cardinal Wuerl on priests dabbling in politics
Column in the Catholic Standard

I do not see myself as a failure
Benedict XVI in his forthcoming book
National Catholic Reporter

✣ Statistic of the week