Friday, August 24, 2018

Flannery O'Connor And Anglicans?

Bp Barron, according to recent YouTubes, is working on a new feature that focuses on key Catholic players, including Fulton Sheen and Flannery O'Connor. An interesting sidelight to Sheen is that he seems to have had more ecumenical sympathy with Billy Graham and Robert Schuller than any Anglicans -- I would guess Sheen respected their understanding of media. But Flannery O'Connor -- what did she think of Episcopalians?

I 'm not a Flannery O'Connor scholar, but a while ago, it was easy for me to read through all her work -- her career was short -- and I don't believe any Episcopalians appear specifically in her stories. But there are people who might well be Episcopalians. There's one character in her story "The Enduring Chill" who could well be one. A young man, Asbury (now, there's an Anglican name), has gone to New York to become an artist, but has had to return home due to illness. This summary brings out the situation:

But now, he’s convinced that he’s dying and has badgered his mother into calling a Roman Catholic priest to visit him. Asbury had met a Jesuit priest in New York who was hip, witty, intellectual—all the things he fancied himself to be. Starved for intellectual stimulation, Asbury assumed that another priest would be the perfect conversation partner. At least he would be far better qualified than any of the narrow minded, uneducated Protestant clergy in town. When the local priest finally arrives, however, he is not at all what Asbury was expecting. What entered his room was not a polished intellectual but “a massive old man” who introduced himself as “Father Finn—from Purgatory”:

“It’s so nice to have you come,” Asbury said. “This place is incredibly dreary. There’s no one here an intelligent person can talk to. I wonder what you think of Joyce, Father?”

The priest lifted his chair and pushed closer. “You’ll have to shout,” he said. “Blind in one eye and deaf in one ear.”

“What do yo think of Joyce?” Asbury said louder.

“Joyce? Joyce who?” asked the priest.

“James Joyce,” Asbury said and laughed.

The priest brushed his huge hand in the air as if he were bothered by gnats. “I haven’t met him,” he said. “Now. Do you say your morning and night prayers?”

Other than CS Lewis, I don't believe Bp Barron has much to say about Anglicans, either. In fact, I'll bet he has a lot more to say about Billy Graham.