Can Benedict tweet ex cathedra?
According to the infinitely wise dictionary.com, ex cathedra means “from the seat of authority; with authority: used especially of those pronouncements of the pope that are considered infallible.” Therefore, will every Papal tweet be completely flawless? I’m not Catholic, so this debate is slightly out of my reach; I just want to know if his hashtags are holy. What happens if his fingers cause a typo? That could be morally catastrophic.
Does Petrine Succession apply to Twitter handles?
Petrine (or, Apostolic) Succession is the Catholic doctrine that the authority of Peter – whom they consider the Prince of Apostles – is extended infinitely to each Pope. The question that surfaces is this: does the same authority flow through the Twitter handle? If so, does that mean the next Pope will assume control over the @Pontifex account? That could be problematic; what if Benedict forgets the password?
Is he willing to engage in philosophical debates?
I hear the Dalai Lama has a Twitter account – aptly named @DalaiLama. I wonder if these two gentlemen would be willing to take of their gloves off for a 12-Round bout on the Internet. That would be pretty cool! Something tells me that Pope Benedict would use the hashtag #ExCathedra to claim victory.
When will he launch an Instagram account?
This is necessary if the Catholic Church is attempting to stay relevant. I don’t know about you, but I would love to see a filtered shot of sunset in Vatican City, from a window of the Apostolic Palace – with Saint Peter’s Basilica in the foreground (with just a hint of vignette). I’m already crying over the sheer beauty of such a view!
When will he surpass Lady Gaga?
Let’s be honest, the Pope deserves more Twitter followers than Lady Gaga. He definitely won’t call his followers little monsters – and his tweets will likely be coherent, grammatically correct, and meaningful (which may not be said of many celebrities). If he dethrones Lady Gaga as ruler of Twitter, all will bow at this sight of his holy hashtags! Okay, that is probably a little extreme….
For clarification, this post is completely intended to be humorous - there is no maliciousness or aversion in the preceding paragraphs; I merely sought to arouse laughter by highlighting the (unrealistic) extreme results of Benedict's Twitter profile. In fact, I really think this is a brilliant idea from the Catholic Church. What are your actual or funny thoughts on Pope Benedict's Twitter profile? Leave your two-cents in the comment section below!
Let’s be honest, the Pope deserves more Twitter followers than Lady Gaga. He definitely won’t call his followers little monsters – and his tweets will likely be coherent, grammatically correct, and meaningful (which may not be said of many celebrities). If he dethrones Lady Gaga as ruler of Twitter, all will bow at this sight of his holy hashtags! Okay, that is probably a little extreme….
For clarification, this post is completely intended to be humorous - there is no maliciousness or aversion in the preceding paragraphs; I merely sought to arouse laughter by highlighting the (unrealistic) extreme results of Benedict's Twitter profile. In fact, I really think this is a brilliant idea from the Catholic Church. What are your actual or funny thoughts on Pope Benedict's Twitter profile? Leave your two-cents in the comment section below!
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nicely done Nick! I'm wondering if he has special "Twitter" vestments that must be worn during hashtag meetups? I mean does he wear the little cereal bowl beanie or the inverted post-digger mitre hat or the papal tiara? Vexing cyber decisions indeed!
ReplyDeleteThanks Tor! It truly is a profound question - which hat should be worn when sending Tweets to millions of followers. The world may never know....
DeleteEntertaining but slightly unrealistic haha. It is extremely rare for an ex Cathedra announced announcement to be made and it requires a lot more factors other than just sitting in a special chair so I don't think we need to worry about to many infallible tweets. Also I doubt the pope will actually be the one physically tweeting. Rather someone else will probably manage the account with "pope approved" tweets. You brought up some interesting thoughts though still :p
ReplyDeleteHaha, I completely agree: it is largely unrealistic. The humor is found in the (satirical) unrealistic nature of each point, in combination with the extremism of their results. Thanks for the comment!
DeleteI am reading this as an internet bystander who stumbled across this blog and as someone who would identify themselves as "agnostic" but, although I'm sure there is a bit of light-heartness going on here,there is also a tone of almost poking fun at the Pope for chosing to do this. Many prolific figures have Twitter accounts and handle them in respectable ways, so I would expect nothing less from the pope. I trust he knows the limits of his job. You also write this as if you are separating yourself from Catholics, who are still Christians themselves. As an agnostic, that was never something I fully understood so forgive me if I'm wrong. Just a third party point of view.
ReplyDeleteUnderstable. Of course, this post is purely meant to be be humorous; I have no aversion to Catholic Christians or the Pope himself. In fact, I commend the Vatican for taking this course of action! This is merely a funny observation.
DeleteOn the basis of certain doctrinal issues, I would not align myself with the Catholic church; however, I do not write this post out of opposition or disagreement - but out of silliness. No matter what the scenario, I like to observe through the filters of comedy and extremism (as in taking everything to the "extreme" for the sake of humor, see points 1 and 2 for example). If I seem to be poking fun and brought offense to you - I assure you, that is not my intent. I also assure you that I poke more fun at my own tendencies of religiosity more than any other ;) haha
Thanks for the feedback!