The Countercultural Way of Christ’s Love

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is always a pleasure for me to come to this campus-ministry program Mass here at St. Stephen’s Church that serves all of you who are part of the George Washington University family. 

In a particular way, I want to offer a word of support and encouragement to your chaplain, Father Greg Shaffer. All of us have come here this evening for two purposes: to celebrate Mass and to stand in solidarity with a good priest.

I am inspired by the ministry here. I often use Father Shaffer and you students of the Newman Center as examples of the New Evangelization. In fact, my recent book, entitled New Evangelization: Passing on the Catholic Faith Today, begins by describing my visit here and witnessing the vitality of this chaplaincy.

In today’s Gospel, we are reminded of two very important elements in the life of the Church, foundational elements: that Jesus is risen from the dead and offers us a whole new way of life and that Jesus chooses, appoints and empowers shepherds of his flock.

In the encounter between Jesus and Peter, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” And in answer to the affirmative response of Peter, Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

For 2,000 years, successors to Peter and those who work with the bishops  — priests all over the world — have that same charge: Feed Jesus’ flock. 

The whole world watched one month ago as the Church chose the most recent successor to Peter, Pope Francis. He continues to do the same work that was assigned to Peter, to every priest: “Feed my sheep!”

With what is the flock to be fed? 

There are two great sources of nourishment for those who claim to be a part of the flock of Jesus, those who wish to be associated with the risen Lord, those who have encountered Christ alive in their hearts, in the world, in the Church today. 

Those two sources are the word of God and the sacraments — the Eucharist.

But before we even begin to talk about the word of God and the sacraments of the Church as that substance with which the flock is fed, we have to ask: Who are the members of this flock? Who are the sheep of Jesus’ flock?

If anything is clear from the Gospel, it is that some have chosen to follow Jesus. Jesus has chosen some to work with him in guiding his flock. 

But the choice to follow Jesus and his visible presence in the world today, that is, the Church, is rooted in the free will of people who say, “I would like to be your disciple. I want to be with you. I want to be a part of your Church.” 

Not all who hear the words of Jesus, not all who hear the words of the Church, not all who hear the words of the Gospel, the word of God, choose to follow. 

With respect to those who do not choose to follow, we do not impose those words of the Church on anyone. We propose the ways of the Kingdom of God in terms that the world can understand and examine, in terms they may freely accept or reject. 

There are recorded in the Gospel many episodes of those who found what Jesus said to be simply “hard sayings,” and they would no longer walk with him. 

When Jesus was proclaiming his teaching that his own body and blood would be food for his flock, that the Eucharist that he would establish the night before he died would be the sustenance of his family, there are those who simply walked away. 

They said: “We cannot take this; we cannot accept this; we are not going to follow this.”

Jesus did not respond by changing the teaching. 

Even when they said to him, “You need to be current; you need to be contemporary; you need to be politically correct; you need to be with the times,” Jesus did not say, “Oh, then, I will change my teaching.” 

He simply said, “No, this is my body; this is my blood. This is food for you; this is sustenance for eternal life.” 

And some simply walked away. 

Jesus continued to be a countercultural voice. 

Jesus did not change his teaching — indeed, he could not change his teaching because what he teaches is truth. 

He announced with firmness that he had come from God, that God loves us, that there is a way to live that is in conformity with God’s plan and will. 

He proclaimed that he had come to confirm the commandments of God. He proclaimed that he had come to bring us new life and a way of walking with him. He announced the Beatitudes. He announced his law of love.

All of this Jesus offers to us. What he does not offer to us is the right to change his words, his vision, his revelation, his teaching of truth and love to conform with any particular cultural demand today. 

Priests — your chaplain, pastors all over this diocese, bishops all around the world — are trying to be faithful to that Gospel teaching. That is what they announce. This is who they are — preachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They cannot change Our Lord’s message. They pass on the Good News.

Yet there are those who claim that voices for the Gospel should be silenced, that we should be silenced. 

There are those who say there is no room for any other view but their own. 

As the first reading for the liturgy today reminds us, “When the captain and the court officers had brought the apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them, ‘We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name?’” (Acts 5:27-28). But the text goes on to point out, “But Peter and the apostles said in reply, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:29). 

We are not talking about ancient history and faraway lands. We are talking about our own lived experience in our country.

The Church’s long history recounts many examples of efforts to silence her teaching. 

Pope Francis is the 266th pope. Nearly all the first 60 popes were put to death for the faith by those in political power who disagreed with Jesus, his Gospel — and, therefore, his Church’s shepherds. 

We have seen this over and over again, in various forms of narrow-minded discrimination and blind bigotry. 

Catholics have suffered at the hands of all kinds of movements, the Ku Klux Klan, the Know Nothing Party, the burning of Catholic churches and convents in various parts of the then-Protestant colonies.  

This history teaches us that, like any freedom, religious liberty requires constant vigilance and protection or it will disappear.

And so, here we are.

The idea that the pastor of a parish today or the chaplain of a religious community and campus ministry today should simply be silenced because he faithfully announces the Gospel of Jesus Christ — that he should not be allowed to engage in dialogue with our culture, even in a place that is dedicated to the free and diverse expression of ideas — may seem somewhat radical today, but you have to remember there have always been those who try to force their totalitarian views on all of us.

When we talk about marriage, when we speak about the dignity of human life, when we teach about the natural moral order — these are all elements that we find deeply rooted in the consciousness of the Judeo-Christian tradition. 

Just because someone wants to change all of that today does not mean that the rest of us no longer have a place in this society. 

Remember after someone says you cannot speak here, then comes the sentence, “And you do not belong here.”

I want to make something very, very clear: Our response must be the response of Jesus Christ, the response of his Church, a response rooted in love. When we are attacked, there will always be the temptation to respond in kind. But we must respond out of who we are: We are followers of Jesus Christ.

But we also need to remember that we all know people — homosexual and heterosexual alike — who may disagree with particular teachings of the Church, but do not express that disagreement by demanding that the Church and her ministers be silenced.

We all struggle to live up to the demands of the Gospel — even when we fail — because we know that what Jesus and his Church teach are the words of everlasting life. 

The Church calls us to keep trying to draw closer to Christ. 

This we do, not because we are perfect, but because he is the Way, the Truth and Life. 

We must be inclusive; we must recognize the bonds of mutual charity, and we must continue to reach out to all of those brothers and sisters who come to Mass to be with us. We must be allowed to do so freely.

The Catholic Church welcomes everyone and tries to walk with them on life’s journey, while at the same time upholding a moral law by which we are all obliged to live. 

We have so much more to offer, and so does America. 

There should be tolerance and respect among all people. 

There has to be room enough in America in a society as large, as free and pluralistic as ours to make space for all of us.

Dear brothers and sisters, never be ashamed of Christ, his Gospel, his Truth — or your identity as Jesus’ disciples. Always be proud of who you are.

Thank you for standing up for the freedom to speak our faith, and thank you for standing up for your chaplain. 

God bless him and all of you.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl is the archbishop of Washington.

Book on church architecture much more than pretty pictures

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Websites offer information on Easter, other religious traditions – Standard …

There is a wealth of information on the Internet for those seeking more knowledge about a particular religion or religions in general.

This is another in a series of occasional articles on some of the sites that are out there and what they offer about religious subjects.

• History.com/topics/history-of-easter

This site offers a fun but educational look at Easter. There is a short article on the history of Easter, plus two excellent short videos on the traditions of Easter and the history of Easter. Elementary school children to adults can learn about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and how that led to the addition of eggs, bunnies and the celebration of spring to the spiritual traditions.

There is also a link to a chaplain’s Easter speech to U.S. troops at Iwo Jima two days after the horrific fighting had ended. The chaplain refers to the many who died during the World War II battle. He quotes John 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

• Thearda.com

This is the main site for The Association of Religion Data Archives. It looks at the growth of many denominations in the United States and encourages the use of its data on other websites with widgets and buttons.

There are plenty of statistics for those interested in religion demographics.

For example, it outlines the percentage of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints members by county in the U.S. Statistics from 2010 have Morgan County at No. 3 (88.9 percent), Box Elder County at No. 11 (81.4 percent), Davis County at No. 18 (74.7 percent) and Weber County at No. 30 (60 percent).

The site also reports that, in 2010, Weber County had 18,933 Catholics.

The site includes a resource center with learning modules, quizzes, a teacher sharing center, a religious dictionary and a research hub explaining social theories, concepts and measures of religion.

• Catholic.org/encyclopedia

Here you can a browse a thorough collection of information related to the history of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis said he took his papal name in honor of Francis of Assisi, who was born in Italy in 1181 or 1182 and died in 1226.

Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan Order and is widely credited for making the Nativity scene an important part of Christmas celebrations. Francis traveled significantly for the time and tried to show his love for Christ by taking a vow of poverty.

Pope Francis is from Argentina. The encyclopedia also provides a synopsis on the history of the Catholic Church in Argentina.

• History.lds.org

The LDS Church has expanded its online historic offerings. This year, the adult curriculum for Sunday school is the Doctrine and Covenants, a collection of LDS revelations mainly to church founder Joseph Smith.

The online site offers a historical perspective and explains what was going on at the time of many of the revelations. DC 19 encourages Martin Harris to help with the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon. Harris later mortgaged his farm to help pay for the Book of Mormon’s publication.

The site also has a church history timeline. For example, the church began its association with the Boy Scouts of America 100 years ago.

There is also a section on who belonged to what pioneer company. An Internet archive catalog offers PDFs of many publications from the late 1800s and after.

• Biblegateway.com

This is the place for anyone who wants to study, read and even listen to a variety of editions of the Bible. There are reading plans, search tools, devotionals and blogs on the Bible. Be aware, though, the site has many ads to get around.

Modern church continually evolves – Quad-City Times

Patrick Buchanan’s column (“South American anchors Catholic conservatism,” March 16) demonstrates his lack of knowledge concerning the history of the Catholic church and the history of Christianity. He asks, “But if the church could have been so wrong for so long, while the world was right, and many had suffered for centuries because the church erred, what argument would be left for remaining Catholics?” This is Buchanan’s argument for the church not to change its teaching on the ordination of women and the gay marriage issue or birth control. This mentality is also the reason for the disastrous cover-up of the pedophile scandal. Indeed, refusing to correct its errors is the reason people leave the church.

Church teaching has changed over the centuries, thanks be to God. The church no longer burns heretics at the stake; no longer supports slavery; no longer insists the world is flat; and no longer condemns democracy. Thank heavens for those changes otherwise there would be no church today. What devastates the church is its stubborn unwillingness to be open to the discoveries of science and modern Biblical scholarship; to be willing to acknowledge its failures and correct its errors.

The church is after all a pilgrim church that must be open to the Holy Spirit. I’m betting the Holy Spirit prevails.

Arthur C. Donart

Thomson

Pope Francis Establishes Panel of Advisors

The most significant step in the history of the Catholic Church

Pope Francis Establishes Panel of Advisors

Monday, 15 April, 2013 | 16:55 WIB

TEMPO.CO, Rome – The newly elected Pope Francis has decided to change the structure of the Catholic Church by establishing a panel of advisors consisting of eight cardinals. This decision is considered as a positive revolution of the church.

According to historian Alberto Melloni, author of the book Corriere della Sera, the Pope has taken “the most significant step in the history of the catholic church in the last 10 centuries” because for the first time ever, the Pope will be assisted by a panel of advisors.

The panel will be led by one of the most dynamic figures in Catholic leadership, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa from Honduras and the President of Caritas Internationalis, a charity organization.

Members of the panel are chosen to represent six continents, including Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who imposed a “zero  tolerance” policy on sexual abuse in his archdiocese of Boston, and George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney, who identified the case of leaked Vatican documents as “ a substantial problem which needs concrete solution.”

Another member of the panel is Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, the Archbishop of Kinshasa from the Democratic Republic of Congo, who was responsible for supervising Congo’s transition to democracy after the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko’s dictatorship.

In an interview with an Italian television Tgcom24, Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga stated that the panel’s first objective is to address the controversial Vatican Bank. He explained that the panel will devise a scheme to “revise the Apostolic Constitution originated from 1988 designed by Pope John II”.

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Pope Francis: "The Word of God Precedes the Bible and Surpasses It" – About

On April 12, 2013, Pope Francis, in a meeting with the members of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, explained succinctly the Catholic understanding of Scripture, shared with the Orthodox Churches, but rejected by most Protestant denominations.

The meeting was held at the conclusion of the annual assembly of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, and the Holy Father noted that the theme of the assembly this year had been “Inspiration and Truth in the Bible.”

As the Vatican Information Service reported, Pope Francis emphasized that this theme “affects not only the individual believer but the whole Church, for the Church’s life and mission are founded on the Word of God, which is the soul of theology as well as the inspiration of all of Christian existence.” But the Word of God, in the Catholic and Orthodox understanding, is not confined to Scripture; rather, Pope Francis noted,

Sacred Scripture is the written testimony of the divine Word, the canonical memory that attests to the event of Revelation. However, the Word of God precedes the Bible and surpasses it. That is why the centre of our faith isn’t just a book, but a salvation history and above all a person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh.

The relationship between Christ, the Word Made Flesh, and the Scriptures, the written Word of God, lies at the heart of what the Church calls Sacred Tradition:

It is precisely because the Word of God embraces and extends beyond Scripture that, in order to properly understand it, the Holy Spirit’s constant presence, who guides us “to all truth,” is necessary. It is necessary to place ourselves within the great Tradition that has, with the Holy Spirit’s assistance and the Magisterium’s guidance, recognized the canonical writings as the Word that God addresses to his people, who have never ceased meditating upon it and discovering inexhaustible riches from it.

The Bible is a form of God’s revelation to man, but the most complete form of that revelation is found in the person of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures arose out of the life of the Church—that is, out of the life of those believers who encountered Christ, both personally and through their fellow believers. They were written within the context of that relationship with Christ, and the selection of the canon—of the books that would become the Bible—occurred within that context. But even after the canon of Scripture is determined, Scripture remains only a portion of the Word of God, because the fullness of the Word is found in the life of the Church and her relationship to Christ:

In fact, Sacred Scripture is the Word of God in that it is written down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sacred Tradition, instead, transmits the Word of God in its entirety, entrusted by Christ the Lord and by the Holy Spirit to the Apostles and their successors, so that these, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, might faithfully preserve it with their preaching, might expound and propound it.

And that is why severing Scripture, and especially the interpretation of Scripture, from the life of the Church and her teaching authority is very dangerous, because it presents a portion of the Word of God as if it were the entirety:

The interpretation of Sacred Scriptures cannot be just an individual academic effort, but must always be compared to, inserted within, and authenticated by the living tradition of the Church. This norm is essential in identifying the proper and reciprocal relationship between the exegesis and the Magisterium of the Church. The texts that God inspired were entrusted to the Community of believers, the Church of Christ, to nourish the faith and to guide the life of charity.

Separated from the Church, either through academic treatment or through individual interpretation, Scripture is cut off from the person of Christ, Who lives on through the Church that He established and that He entrusted to the guidance of the Holy Spirit:

All of what has been said about the way of interpreting Scripture is subject finally to the judgement of the Church, which carries out the divine commission and ministry of guarding and interpreting the word of God.

Understanding the relationship of Scripture and Tradition, and the role of the Church in integrating the Word of God as revealed in Scripture into the Word of God as revealed most fully in Christ, is essential. Scripture lies at the heart of the life of the Church, not because it stands alone and is self-interpreted, but precisely because “the centre of our faith” is “a salvation history and above all a person, Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh,” and not “just a book.” Tearing the book from the heart of the Church not only leaves a hole in the Church but tears the life of Christ from the Scriptures.

(Pope Francis venerates the book of the Gospels at Easter Vigil Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, March 30, 2013. Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

One month in, Pope Francis is on the right track

Editor’s note: Michael D’Antonio is the author of “Mortal Sins, Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal.” He is a former religion writer for Newsday.

(CNN) — Thirty days of signs and signals have revealed to the world in Francis I, a pope who seems eager to earn the title pontiff, or bridge-builder. Beginning with his choice of a name, which evokes the beloved image of St. Francis of Assisi, the former cardinal of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, put the world on notice that change was afoot by forgoing the fancy red slippers and ermine stole favored by other popes.

Since then he has shown a remarkable common touch in his encounters with the public and greater sensitivity to others than the man who came before him.

Try as he did, Francis’ immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, never looked comfortable in his own skin, let alone in pastoral contact with others. Clad in his ornate robes, he seemed to keep the world at arm’s length in a way that betrayed his long service as Rome’s “Rottweiler” (a nickname he received from the press) in charge of disciplining those who deviated from doctrine.

While personally warmer, the pope before Benedict, John Paul II, was stern when it came to religious matters and approached the world with an Us vs. Them mindset. As the church was rocked by a seemingly endless number of sex abuse scandals — thousands of child victims and systematic cover-ups by the hierarchy — he blamed secular society, especially the media, and capitalistic materialism.

In contrast with John Paul and Benedict, Francis doesn’t seem capable of greeting anyone without a big, sincere smile and whenever given the choice between clerical privilege and everyday human experience, he opts for the human.

This was demonstrated most clearly as he visited a jail during Holy Week to symbolically wash the feet of a dozen people who represented the apostles. Among them were two women and two Muslims. Their presence, and Francis’s ease with them, dismayed traditionalists who recoiled at the sight of females and non-Catholics being included in the ritual. It thrilled those who hunger for a more accessible and inclusive church.

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The survivors of clerical abuse, who I have come to know during three years of writing my book “Mortal Sins,” hope that Francis will bring real change. However, they have been discouraged by 30 years of church evasions and counterattacks and are understandably wary.

Tough-minded evaluators, they criticize Francis’ record on abuse in Argentina. There he was among many of the world’s Catholic bishops — fully 25% — who failed to meet a deadline for establishing policies to deal with complaints and priests who were accused, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Victims also wait for Francis to demonstrate that he will discipline offenders and reveal their records. “We don’t think statements make kids any safer,” SNAP leader Barbara Blaine told me this week. “Unless he makes kids safer, he’s not doing his job.”

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Blaine’s “show-me” attitude is echoed by her SNAP colleague Peter Isely, who was sexually abused when he attended a Catholic boarding school in Wisconsin. Isely said he admires the new man’s style and sees, in his personality, reason for hope.

“St. Francis was the single greatest reformer in the history of the Catholic Church,”‘ noted Isely. “My favorite quote by St. Francis is, `Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.’ Confronting and reforming the church’s global system of child sex abuse and cover-up, that is doing what is necessary. If Pope Francis does that, who knows what’s possible? Better yet, what’s impossible.”

Jeffrey Anderson, the attorney most responsible for the waves of litigation that have revealed the church’s secrets on abusive priests, is even more optimistic. Regarded by some as the most dreaded enemy of institutional Catholicism, Anderson told me, “This pope has already demonstrated in action and words a humility we haven’t seen before. I see that as revolutionary and it is in direct contrast with the hubris that was the source of the abuse crisis. It gives me hope that he can, if he chooses to, go against the power structure and fundamentally change things. For today I have hope like I never had.”

Although I am also skeptical of church leaders and well aware of the hierarchy’s long-standing failure on the abuse issue, Francis’ first 30 days have led me to agree with Anderson when it comes to the new pope’s personality. This is a shift for me, and I make it tentatively, because like all Catholics and former Catholics, I know we are susceptible to the influence of church stagecraft. We want to believe, and that desire has been exploited too often in the past.

If Francis makes the changes that the church must make to end the sex abuse crisis, it will happen because he grasps and wields the power of his office. As a cardinal, he was bound by his oath of obedience to “go along.” As pope, he is the one who makes the rules and requires others to obey. What if one of those requirements included an open, transparent and serious program to make children safe and heal the trauma of the past 30 years?

Many of history’s transformational figures have been men who, when they finally achieved power, used it in surprising ways.

Theodore Roosevelt, son of wealth and privilege, became the trust-busting enemy of corporate monopolists. Southerner Lyndon Johnson used his considerable skills to champion civil rights. Richard Nixon, Republican friend of industrialists, created the Environmental Protection Agency.

Francis has his chance now.

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The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Michael D’Antonio.

Embracing Bibles instead of bumper stickers

It’s been 53 years since the election of JFK, and Rev. Anthony Yasi of the Universal Life Church proved in a recent letter-to-the-editor that Catholic bashing is still alive and well in this country. 

No, I don’t mean the Protestant-on-Catholic sort. Rather the seething, irrational contempt for them, more deeply rooted in today’s American seculars.

Before I am accused, like JFK was, of taking orders from the Pope in writing this column, I should note that I am, in fact, not a Catholic; I’m Jewish.

If you have not read Rev. Yasi’s column, I’ll sum it up quickly: Rev. Yasi, in writing a response to the director of the Catholic Center at UVM, who wrote a response to a Cynic writer about the virtues of faith, decided to — instead of rebutting the Father’s point — attack the history of the Catholic Church. 

His rant would have made Martin Luther cringe.

His point: “Faith isn’t the answer.” What, then, is? Rev. Yasi doesn’t really say. He’d prefer to destroy bridges and leave the rebuilding to moral cowardice.  

After all, if you take a look at his church’s website, the only doctrine is, “Do only that which is right.” 

And if that includes bashing other religions because their doctrine is slightly more developed than a John Lennon song or pithy bumper sticker on a Toyota Prius, Rev. Yasi is on board.

Nevermind the fact that the church’s website, on its homepage, states, “the Universal Life Church wants you to pursue your spiritual beliefs without interference from any outside agency, including government or church authority.” 

By “church authority” or “outside agency,” I suppose it exempts itself.

Though there are evident theological distinctions between my religion and Father Schnobrich’s, I can admire the fact that his doctrine is rooted in something which is far more profound than Rev. Yasi’s unspoken — but true — doctrine, “Do that which feels good.” 

I suspect that Rev. Yasi is jealous of the fact that Father Schnobrich has actually found spiritual meaning in his life.

After all, Catholicism offers its adherents a stringent, yet profound and fulfilling doctrine.

What’s more, it’s original. After all, even Stalin could have told you that it’s good to do what is right, even if by “right” he meant smashing printing presses and packing farmers into mass graves.

Moreover, Rev. Yasi utterly fails to recognize the right of which his church speaks. The good deeds, of which his church is so fond, stem from post-Enlightenment, Judeo-Christian values. 

The average fundamentalist Muslim from Wackistan could tell you that obliterating the United States, also known as “The Great-Satan,” is right. 

I do hope that Rev. Yasi would condemn such religiously motivated hatred, but to do so, would interfere with what makes another “feel good.” 

The words behind Rev. Yasi’s column serve not to criticize the specifics of Father Schnobrich’s doctrine, but to condemn that the Father even has a doctrine.

Disdain for promiscuous sex? “Trite dogma!” declares the reverend. Aversion to abortion? “Unscientific!” Opposition to gay marriage? “Your opinions are rooted in hatred.”

It’s not only jealousy that inspires so much irrational hatred for Catholics, it’s ignorance, too.

If you’re a socially-conservative Catholic at UVM, you don’t think abortion is murder. 

You just want to crackdown on those lippy broads setting up camp at the Planned Parenthood downtown. This appears to be Rev. Yasi’s view.

People actually have strong convictions and a certain rationality behind what they believe.

As Father Schnobrich pointed out in his column, people don’t actually hate the Catholic Church; rather, they hate what they think is the Catholic Church. 

Rev. Yasi never quite progressed beyond a sixth grade understanding of the Catholic Church. 

And why should he? His “church” never came with a manual, only a bumper sticker.

Challenges Facing the Roman Catholic Church

Watch This Fascinating Video To Learn How Vatican City Is Ruled

Despite its tiny size, the Vatican is, on the surface at least, set up like many other countries. It has a police force. It issues passports, operates jails, has citizens and passes laws. Beneath the surface, however, Vatican City is an utterly bizarre place with an utterly strange set of rules meshing democracy and absolute monarchy.

The above video was created by CGP Grey, the same folks who recently gave us a great clip explaining how to become Pope. This effort is slightly broader in scope, but it’s no less fascinating or watchable and ranks right up there with the services best videos.

The system the Vatican employs might sound stupidly complicated, but much of the rigors are actually needed since the Catholic Church feels the Pope is God’s representative on Earth. Because of that belief system, he really does logically need to have the authority to overrule the Cardinals. That being said, it’s not surprising that this has led to more than a few abuses of power in the centuries long history of the Catholic Church.

To learn more, consider becoming a priest, moving up the ranks, earning one of roughly five hundred Vatican City citizen passports and then asking the powers that be a few questions.

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