The beauty of subtle change...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYw8JR1N90o&feature=related

Embedding has been removed from the above video, I urge you to follow the URL and view it, especially if you are younger than 35. It is the video of Sinead O'Connor's performance of "War" on Saturday Night Live. She made that performance in 1992. The video shows her very powerful performance in which she ends with the tearing of a photograph of the Pope.

Sincere apologies were issued by both SNL and Ms. O'Connor following that performance. Even at a young age, I was saddened by her apology. Her very apology reduced the impact of what was then and still is now, a very powerful message. Sinead all but disappeared from public view in the U.S. following that performance. She paid a very high price for her "disrespect", both personally and professionally. She had the guts to do, what many of us wanted to, and yet, we all fell silent as she fell from grace.

Not this time around....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_pope_britain

LONDON – Britain's Foreign Office issued a hasty apology Sunday to Pope Benedict XVI after publication of an internal memo in which officials joked he could open an abortion clinic, launch a range of condoms or sing a duet with Queen Elizabeth II during a four-day visit in September.

The document, sections of which were published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, also proposed the pope could bless a gay marriage, and acknowledge the clerical sex abuse scandal by establishing a hot line for abused children, or honoring abuse whistleblowers.


So, you felt the need to aopolgize? I find that somewhat hard to believe. It appears apologetic on the surface, but if one looks a little beyond the writing, and remembers the punishment dolled out to Ms. O'Connor, I see it quite differently, and it gives me hope.

First of all, those suggestions are not only appropriate, but perfectly toungue in cheek funny. An abortion clinic? Blessing a gay marriage? Good stuff there, kids. However, my favorite is the hotline suggestion. Well done. I don't see WHY that would be offensive to such good people leading such a diligent and loving flock.

Junior officials wrote the memo following a brainstorming session intended to discuss ideas for the visit, the first to Britain by the head of the Roman Catholic Church since Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Though some included advice for Britain's government on how to approach the abuse scandal, the ministry condemned many of the proposals as "ill-judged, naive and disrespectful."

Britain's ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, met senior Vatican officials offer a formal apology and one individual involved in drafting the memo has been transferred to other duties, the ministry said.


This is truly a thing of beauty. Several people opened their mouths and allowed their voices to be heard. I find it interesting that this memo was "leaked" so carelessly. Was it really? I also find it curious that only ONE of the participating parties was punished, and by punished, I mean "transferred". How appropriate, after all, isn't that what Popey on High did with his offending priests as Red Hat Wearing Ratfucker? Oh, the Karma. Well played, ministry. I feel that transfer was MORE than the aprropriate punishment, in light of the behavior of the "falsely offended" members of the vatican.

"The Foreign Office very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offense which it has caused," the ministry said in a statement. "We strongly value the close and productive relationship between the U.K. government and the Holy See and look forward to deepening this further with the visit of Pope Benedict to the U.K."

The document featured a diagram listing people likely to have an influential role during, or in commenting on, the visit — which ranked Scottish singer Susan Boyle, the surprise reality television star, as more important than Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

An accompanying note acknowledged many of the ideas contained in the memo were extreme. "These should not be shared externally...," it read, explaining the document was "the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."


Translation: "We are sooooo sorry that we hurted your feewings, but guess what? Susan Boyle is more important than your archbishop!" I also love the attatched memo to the memo. "Don't hold us accountable, after all, these are just ideas...as far fetched as they are, we are looking into them. *wink wink*"

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said an apology from Britain had been received through the Holy See's embassy. "They supplied all the explanations, and there is nothing to add," Lombardi said.

Do I sense a large roll of duct tape with this one? Lombardi FINALLY kept his mouth shut? I guess he would have to, after all, how can one argue with, "oops, my bad...don't know how you saw that...we are looking into it...we transferred one person...um...somewhere else...kinda."

Sheer perfection.

Britain's Scotland Secretary Jim Murphy on Sunday branded the suggestions contained in the memo as despicable. "These are vile, they're insulting, an embarrassment, and on behalf of the whole of the United Kingdom, I would want to apologize," he said, during an election debate.

During his visit to Scotland and England, Pope Benedict XVI will give a speech in London, attend an ecumenical service at Westminster Abbey and conduct a public mass in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park.


Then the blowhard speaks. There is a key phrase here that can explain his "outrage". Do you see it? "DURING AN ELECTION DEBATE".

Nice try, Jimmy.

So, the changes that have been ever so subtle in the past eighteen years since Ms. O'Connor's performance are that people are not so afraid to speak out against big organizations that shroud themselves in "respect". The penalty seems to have also lessened as the shock waves of the corruption of Catholicism ripple accross the globe.

Thank you, Sinead. I will only accept your apology for apologizing. All those who call out the wrong doings of the most powerful should raise their heads high, and pity those who live in fear of reprisal from those who, themselves, have recently fallen from grace.