Whatever he's paying to whomever sets this stuff up for him, it's too much. And whatever thanks he gives people like me for doing his proofreading for him, it's too little.
This is a glossy and glitzy pamphlet with lots of B-roll shots of the Vatican and footnoted (!) bromides.
The recent canonization of Saint John Henry Newman provides a most welcome opportunity to explore the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church and in our lives. In acquainting ourselves with the Cardinal’s writings, which in so many ways resonate with and anticipate the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, we will learn how he was taught to pray by the Holy Spirit.2 In the first two sections of this pastoral letter I would like to consider some of his insights on this topic.3 From there, we proceed to a focused reflection on the theology of Confirmation, the Sacrament of the Spirit, and on the necessary preparation for receiving the Sacraments of Initiation.This takes me back to the question of audience. A scholarly theologian, like B C Butler, uses footnotes because he's primarily addressing an audience of colleagues whose level of interest and expertise will make them ask precisely what the source or authority of particular assertions is, especially if some may be controversial. Other writers in different contexts use footnotes to affect a phony erudition. The craziest examples i've seen are people who write for ordinary model train hobbyists and footnote their articles. It's hard to imagine something more incongruous, but footnoting the bromides in a glitzy pamphlet, frankly, comes close.
A visitor asked the other day,
Do you think that Bp Lopes is under pressure to make the experiment of the Ordinariate work?I would imagine so, and I would imagine that this glitzy pamphlet, complete with scholarly footnotes, is part of his response. Let's make a comparison, though, of two bishops, one of whom is Bp Lopes, and the other is doing things much, much better. Here is Bp Lopes:
