Are you a bearded vegetarian? If so, rule yourself out as a seminarian for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter (FSSP). The traditionalist society has released a questionnaire for those interested in training at one of their seminaries – there are currently 10 men from England and Wales in formation.
In reply to whether a seminarian can be a vegetarian, the society says that because of the large numbers of people the kitchen has to prepare for they are unable to accommodate special dietary needs unless it is due to a diagnosed medical condition. “Therefore, we expect all seminarians to eat all of the meals prepared for us, even those that should contain meat. This is one of the many rules seminarians need to abide by when living and studying here,” according to the lates
05 October 2013, The Tablet
Only carnivores, please
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User Comments (1)
The title of your post hints at the difficulty of the point you hope to make. You point to the obvious human tendency to “label” and “stereotype” “the other” – Pakistani, Christian, American, Muslim.
So? What about “the burning alive of a poor Christian couple who allegedly destroyed pages of a Qu'ran”? How do people discuss the evil of this action?
You string together a list of labels: “weapons of mass destruction”, “devout Catholic”, “the religious right”, “war on terror”, “paedophile priests”, “fundamentalist”, “burqa-clad woman”.
The Catholic Church has worked hard to confront the evil of “paedophile priests”: confronting the guilty, denouncing the crimes, compensating victims, begging forgiveness and instituting safeguards.
Where is the similar (and loud) response of Muslim leaders coming against fellow Muslims burning people alive…against cutting off the heads of people…against crucifying people, including children…against raping young girls? Where is their denunciation of evil… calling evil what it is…evil?
Using language, we must wrestle with how to effectively discuss these issues in their totality. Regarding this “poor Christian couple,” the most important matter is to confront the evil, of the people who did this…and of the culture that gives cover to such evil.
Imagine the reaction of English Christians if this atrocity had happened on their streets...if the Bible were waved as the justification! Confront evil...and labels/stereotypes will evaporate