roman catholicism

Chris Knight's avatar
Bishop Basilius, Ralph Napierski, Roman Catholic Church, Italian Orthodox Church, Vatican, conclave, Cardinal Sergio Sebiastiana
“One of these is not like the others.  One of these
just doesn’t belong.”

No matter your religious persuasion (even my Catholic friends are finding this hilarious) you gotta admit that this is pretty funny!

On Monday a man identifying himself as “Bishop Basilius” of the Italian Orthodox Church arrived at the Vatican supposedly to attend the meetings in advance of the conclave of cardinals which will elect the successor of Benedict XVI, who stepped down from the papacy last week.

The problem is, there is no such thing as the “Italian Orthodox Church”.  But that’s not what aroused the suspicion of the Swiss Guard.  It was mostly because Bishop Basilius was wearing a cassock that was too short, black tennis shoes, a “strange-looking chain” holding his crucifix, and a purple scarf around his waist instead of the traditional sash.

Oh yeah, and he also donned a black fedora.

Basilius ...

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Chris Knight's avatar
Pope Benedict XVI, retirement, abdicates, abdication, Roman Catholic Church, history, helicopter

Pope Benedict XVI, the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to depart the seat of Bishop of Rome voluntarily instead of dying in office, flies off by helicopter: leaving the Vatican and the post he has held since 2005.

Now begins sede vacante. The “time of the empty chair”. One which in the days and weeks ahead, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will seek to fill in prayerful guidance. Thus will this most persistent of institutions continue with a lineage of leadership stretching back to the ancient of days.

But in the meantime, though I am not Catholic, this blogger wishes good luck and godspeed to Benedict XVI. May his days be long and fruitful!...

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Chris Knight's avatar

I was already up in the wee hours of the morning when the news came out of the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, announced that he will be resigning the papacy at the end of this month.

My first thought was “is this a joke?”, but that notion lasted the better part of 8 seconds. When it finally sank in that His Holiness would, indeed, be exiting the post he has held since succeeding John Paul II in 2005, my mind went reeling. And it hasn’t slowed any throughout this day.

I am not Catholic, but I did know that it had been a long… like, a waaaay long time, since a sitting pope had left the Holy See by choice. It turns out that the last time was Pope Gregory XII. That was in 1415.

Nearly six hundred years ago.

Ummmm… “wow”?

Consider ...

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Chris Knight's avatar

This evening I had the opportunity to do something that I’ve wanted to do for most of my life: attend the Christmas Eve Mass at a Roman Catholic Church.

I am very happy to report that it was as beautiful as I had long expected it to be. Although I am not Catholic, nonetheless I came away from the experience feeling that God had ministered to my spirit in a way that I have needed Him to these past few days especially.

That, and it was a pleasure to celebrate the birth of Christ with my Catholic brethren. Turns out that just about all the Christmas hymns were those that I had already grown up with 🙂

Here’s a photo I shot just before the Eucharist tonight at St. Veronica’s…


The church was packed solid! We had to sit in one of these three adjoining hallways that had been ...

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