A profanation

Wednesday December 9, 2015 - St. Syrus of Pavia

The one who is writing this post has always been extremely sensible to the beauty of Creation: nature, landscape, wildlife. At the point of being a supporter of a few conservation groups for almost thirty-five years (before quitting in 2014). He is an avid birdwatcher even though he can't find the time he'd like to dedicate to this activity. He's also an amateur landscape and nature photographer and he's passionate about photography. He never stops enjoying looking at high quality photos, movies, and visual media in general. 

The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1633-1634).
Nicolas Poussin
National Gallery, London.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

All of that because the Creation and its inherent beauty are a sign of the beauty and glory of the Lord. But things are ordered in a hierarchy. There's Nature, then man and the Lord is at the very top of the hierarchy. Everything has the proper place in this hierarchy and what appropriately stays in a place can't appropriately stay in another. Man can't go higher than the Lord, Nature can't go over man or the Lord. The silly man looks at Nature and worships it instead of its Creator:

20Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what He has made. As a result, they have no excuse; 21for although they knew God they did not accord Him glory as God or give Him thanks. Instead, they became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22While claiming to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for the likeness of an image of mortal man or of birds or of four-legged animals or of snakes. 24Therefore, God handed them over to impurity through the lusts of their hearts for the mutual degradation of their bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and revered and worshiped the creature rather than the creator, Who is blessed forever. Amen.
Romans, 1:20-24.

That's why the same images of the beauty of Nature that are properly contemplated at an exhibit are not appropriate in a church or on its façade; let alone the Mother of all the churches, which is St. Peter in Rome. A church is the tabernacle of the Lord and using it for incompatible purposes is a sacrilege. This is the definition of that word: “irreverent treatment of sacred things, persons or places, i.e., those dedicated by God or the Church to sacred purposes.”.

What was made yesterday in St. Peter's Square was a sacrilege, aired with the active participation of some of the highest ranks in the Vatican. This is something for which all Catholics should be very sorry - and worried. Unfortunately many are not understanding the issue because of the triumph of sentimentalism, the eclipse of reason, the inability to understand the meaning of symbols, the dissolution of any aestethic sense.

PS This explains also why the past year I quit my membership of all the conservation groups I supported: they have been overwhelmed by pagan attitudes, that unfortunately are paving their way even deeply into the community of believers.