Tag: Rome

Roman Sunrise – Podcast Launch

Christian Renaissance Movement4 Comments

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am launching a podcast. It will be the flagship production of my little company’s fledgling “Media Group.” There will be other shows coming down the line… hopefully sooner rather than later.

After years of waffling and delay, I am happy to announce the show and its title: Roman Sunrise.

I don’t normally talk much about my personal life on these pages, for various reasons. The truth is, I’ve been in a bizarre hurricane of professional and existential twists and turns in the past year or so especially.

In 2016 I wanted to come to Rome for two years, just to finish the STB. Well, it’s been almost eight years at this point. I finished the STB. I finished the STL. I’m almost done now with the STD. And I am now presuming to be in Rome for the long-haul – until something obviously better induces me to leave. I have tried to leave Rome 5 times now – to return to the USA, to go elsewhere in Italy, to go teach in a seminary in Nigeria, to move to France, and to move to Ireland. It has not worked. I am resigned to staying here, in this strange city, with its barely functioning bureaucracy, its gaggles of tourists, its absurd lunch hours… I am HERE.

I don’t mean to complain. There are obviously many consolations too, both natural and supernatural, and there are far worse places to be than Rome! In the end, I actually do love it here. It’s where I’ve really grown up. It’s where most of my important friendships have been made. It’s where I’ve learned the most about God and my own journey towards Him. It is home. But it is not the paradise that people might think.

Nor is it the cartoon-villainy that others think. All the keyboard warriors sitting nice and cozy in the USA (or wherever) who think that everything bad that happens in Rome is the outcome of some concerted plot by scheming cardinals playing 5-dimensional chess have an outsized presence in social media and pseudo-journalism, and they often get huge followings because the narrative is so simple and satisfying: “FRANCIS IS TRYING TO DESTROY THE CHURCH! ACT NOW!” And then, in the next breath, they will mock “NPC’s” for saying “Orange Man Bad!” Hot tip – don’t do that.

It’s true… Roman shenanigans are sometimes very wicked, and they are sometimes very calculated. Other times – most times? – failures are due to systemic mediocrity or cultural dispositions which allow bad things to go unchecked or be magnified. “Monsignor doesn’t want to make his best friend of 40 years look bad. He’ll try to make this go away, or pass it off to someone else.” “His Eminence has a lunch reservation in 15 minutes. Then he will not be back in the office today, and he’ll just want to start the weekend early after a hard couple of days and a busy travel schedule next week. So we’re just not going to have time to deal with this right now.” “The Archbishop is not in Rome at the moment, because it’s August. It will have to wait until September, but there are other files he needs to deal with first, because there is a bit of a backlog. So maybe October or November…” “Father is afraid that the Pope won’t like that decision, so he’s just going to let this sit and hope it kind of goes away or that someone else can deal with it.”

Not exactly inspiring stuff. But not jaw-dropping scandal either. It’s the epiphenomenon that is really bad – the stuff that comes as a grand result of all the little problems. Sure, there ARE very bad actors here, other than the Devil… who is really the Enemy we need to worry about… But until you understand that most guys are really just trying to go along to get along, or were literally asked out of the blue by chance to serve as some undersecretary in a dicastery whose mission they have essentially no special competence in, or can’t get a meeting with the Cardinal Vicar because they annoyed the wrong person in the Lateran 5 years ago… you don’t really understand Rome.

I’ve had it in mind to do this podcast for years. I’m glad I waited. I’m in a position to do this show precisely because of all the years I’ve been here, living in different communities, trying different things, getting to know different “layers” of the city. Now I’m a bit seasoned. I actually know some stuff… I have a bit of a feel for what things are really like. What I want to do with the podcast is bring out some more of the complexity of stories in the headlines. There are enough doomers and gloomers out there, telling you that everything is awful, the sky is falling, etc. If that’s what you’re into, then Roman Sunrise is not for you. This podcast will do the hard thing of being fair, even to people I personally find to be very annoying, stupid, and toxic. I want to respect the truth – which sometimes means not drawing conclusions but just laying out the story, giving some context and theological insight, and letting you decide. You can be a journalist or an activist, but you can not be both at the same time in the same way.

Can you be a journalist and a theologian? I think so. But one has to be careful not to cross the wires of objective orthodoxy and individual intentions, which happens all the time. The theological aspect of the show is going to be accessible but also deep. I am repeatedly told I have the gift of breaking down complicated topics into digestible pieces. Well, I’ll do a lot of that then and go light on the nerding out. We will cover many, most, or almost all stories from a theological angle (and sometimes a canonical one, when necessary). To be very clear, I am a pretty hardline Thomist, and in other things mostly what would be called “conservative.” I am not, however, in the “everything is MODERNIST!” camp, nor am I all that impressed with the attempts at promoting or theologically demonstrating something like the implausibility of evolutionary theory. No thanks.

We will normally have a 30-45 minute show covering three or four major news stories or other things which I personally find interesting that are going on in the world of theology and pastoral practice, in the broadest sense. Occasionally, we will do a human interest piece, or some kind of historical or cultural exposition. I’ll stash away a few episodes recorded way in advance to pull out when I can’t get around to recording a fresh one for whatever reason.

Almost every week I will have a co-host – regulars whom you will get to know a bit. Guests will be on every month or so. Part of the advantage of the approach the show will take is that a lot of different characters will possibly be open to talking to us… Not just the same handful of people, every time, with the same predictable opinions on the controversy du jour. At least, this is my hope.

My dream for Roman Sunrise is that it becomes the talk show where people go for serious, nuanced discussions about Church news from a deeply theologically informed perspective.

Mid-March will be the right time for this to launch. Your Friday morning commute on Tax Day (March 15 – YIKES, IT IS COMING!) will hopefully be accompanied by the inaugural episode of Roman Sunrise…

Why that title? Well, it evokes “morning talk show” vibes, which is nice. It has a hopeful feel to it, which is great. And anyone who has actually seen a sunrise in Rome knows that it’s something you wouldn’t mind seeing again. So, there you have it. And come on, do we need a show with a Latin title telling you that THIS is the show that will “save the Church” or whatever? Again, if that kind of thing is what you’re into, take a hard pass. Or, give it a chance, and maybe see that the clickbait stuff is the journalistic equivalent of junk food. Maybe my content won’t always taste the best, but deep down you will know that it’s healthier for you…

We will be the only English-language podcast in Rome covering both news and theology in any depth. I’m glad you can be part of this! I will post about how to find and follow us on various platforms in the days before the launch. (I might put up an “Episode 0” just to establish our active existence.)

If you would like to help with financing this project, or other upcoming projects in Pro Fide Media Group (which will be creating an independent “ground-up” Catholic communications empire, beginning in Africa), please contact me.

The Twilight Post

Christian Renaissance Movement3 Comments

Eamonn Clark

Today I read a few interesting things. One was a passage from Peter Kreeft’s book on C. S. Lewis and the third millennium. Another was from Fr. Bede Jarrett’s classic biography of St. Dominic, whose feast is today – now in its last hours.

The former spoke about the inability of people today to think rationally and objectively about moral life, in accordance with Lewis’ famous thesis in The Abolition of Man about so-called “men without chests” who have a body and a head but seemingly nothing in between to mediate… no “chest” to bring the passions in line with what reason really demands.

The latter spoke about the great Albigensian heresy, which denied the goodness of matter. This served as the catalyst for St. Dominic to found the Order of Preachers, just over 800 years ago.

San Sisto Vecchio, the first residence of St. Dominic and his confreres in Rome. He quickly established a convent for nuns there, whom he visited often.

I have made three posts on the “new Albigensianism” (here and here and here); I think some current of the argument therein matches the claim of Kreeft (and Lewis) about “men without chests.” Let these points and questions serve as a sort of haphazard conclusion to that little series, in honor of today.

The exterior of the ancient church of Santa Sabina (built in the early 5th century), where St. Dominic moved after San Sisto Vecchio. The exterior here is mostly original. The view is from the famous “Orange Garden” on the Aventine Hill.

Post-modern millennials (PMM’s) are inclined to downplay the role of reason. They do this at the service of the body’s urges, whether their own or another’s, especially a supposedly “oppressed” group or minority. While reason serving passions are nothing new, the direct suspicion of reason as having a mediating role is. Like the Albigensians and Manichaeans before them, they are wont to do terrible things to the body; the “perfecti” of the Albigensians preached suicide by starvation as the great liberation, the height of control over oneself and the existentially freeing release of the soul, and PMM’s treat unnatural sexual acts – and the manipulation of the body itself by surgery – as something similar. Like these groups, there is an orthodoxy (increasingly on display in the West’s courts and legislatures), and there are even “preachers” of a sort who attempt to make converts, especially among young, vulnerable children. Reverts are not allowed – just ask Amazon. However, unlike these groups, there is also an open and direct diminution of the importance of reason and the pursuit of truth. Therefore, speech and its part, language, must be absolutely strangled. If an “oppressed person” is somehow mistreated in speech – namely, by suggesting that the desire the person has is not healthy – then one is hating that person. It is a strange accusation, because it is supposed to help the person, but it is seen as an attempt to hurt.

And so we have the “pyramid of violence,” featuring the infamous “microaggression.” Even more than that, we have the startling claim echoed constantly that any derivation from the increasingly ghoulish sexual orthodoxy of the Left is not simply “hate” but is equal to physical violence itself. (Just ask the critics of Mario Lopez.) This is due to a perceived inability to process an idea expressed by language which is at odds with one’s perception of one’s own desires. The foreign idea is not to be accepted or even rejected, it is not to be processed – it is argued that the introduction of such an idea is, first, “triggering” for the oppressed person, making him/her/xir/them uncomfortable. (Thus, the logic of the “safe space.”) Second, worse than this, is the even more serious claim that one will do violence to himself (or herself – etc.) after the introduction of an unwanted idea. Therefore, to speak against the orthodoxy which psychologically protects these people from themselves simply is the same as physically attacking them, even killing them.

Now, of course it is possible to drive a person to self-harm, and this should certainly not be a goal or come from total recklessness. (It is certainly possible to drive someone to hurt someone else, granted.) But the greatest ally here is VERITAS – TRUTH! We are not sexual animals, gendered animals, or racial animals, we are RATIONAL animals. The capacity to reason is what makes us human, and it CAN be appealed to, especially if those with the “ethos” – the authority – use their platforms wisely by aiming at rational persuasion rather than through fear, anger, egoism, or anything less than what is noblest in our nature. To try to shut down free speech is typically to trap people’s minds in darkness, leaving those with the power the ability to wield it with a vengeance. We are naturally inclined to seek the TRUTH, but usually we do need to be exposed to the ideas which point to it to reach it. In general, it seems better to let people hear bad ideas, even wicked ideas, and let those ideas be exposed for what they are by rigorous public discourse. We can’t create a utopia by blocking out unwanted ideas which might tell us we are desiring something bad for us… in fact, that is just what Christ came to do: call to repentance, and then offer salvation. That is the real “safe space,” where infinite rational discovery is engaged in by seeing God.

The interior of Santa Sabina, where St. Dominic used to wander around each night in prayer. Much of the interior seen here is original – the current barrier would have been part of a rood screen in his day.

All this leads me back to the issue of voluntarism (bound up with nominalism)… Most Western people today who believe in Heaven think of it as a slightly better version of this world. How boring. And how Muslim… I truly wonder if there is a connection here with the voluntarism of Islam, where obedience – not rational friendship with a loving, personal God – is the primary virtue. No thinking required, just do what you are told. And there in Islam we find a boring vision of Heaven as well. Eye has seen and ear has heard what Allah has prepared.

I find it possible that the scholastic rediscovery of Greek philosophy through contact with the Arab world in the 13th century could have somehow infected European Christianity with voluntarism. Could some voluntarist undercurrents in Averroes or Avicenna have somehow made it into the Franciscan schools? Perhaps. I don’t have enough information. I will save it for another day.

That brings me to my last point today… I will be disappearing for a while. Christian Renaissance Movement will be suspended indefinitely as I hopefully prepare to enter religious life in the near future. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you. If you have enjoyed these pages over the past few weeks, months, or years, please reach out and let me know – I have loved engaging with my readers, and I hope to do so once again in the future. When that will be, I do not know. Until then, do good, avoid evil, and have a chest.

St. Dominic, pray for us!

10 Reasons to Enroll in a Roman Pontifical University

Christian Renaissance Movement6 Comments

Eamonn Clark

Almost 2 years ago, I decided to leave the United States and move to Rome to study. There were, and probably still are, people who thought I was crazy for doing so. I can understand the sentiment, but it was an excellent decision. In this post, I want to demystify the “Roman Schools” a bit and give 10 reasons why taking the leap is totally worth it for anyone who wants a good theological or philosophical education.

First, a distinction. The universities are not colleges, and the colleges are not universities. If your seminarian friend goes to the North American College, that does not tell you what university he attends – it could be one of a dozen or so. A college is where a student (especially a seminarian) lives and would usually receive mostly non-academic formation, like help with personal growth or practicums on how to celebrate the sacraments. Some students live in religious houses (convents, monasteries, etc.) or in their own apartments and are therefore not at any college whatsoever.

There are many kinds of degrees that can be earned at the universities, though the three which are probably most pursued here are the theology degrees: the S.T.B., the S.T.L., and the S.T.D. Respectively, they are the Roman versions of a Bachelor’s, a Master’s (“Licentiate” or “License”), and a Doctorate. To study for the S.T.L., one must have the S.T.B. – a normal Bachelor’s in theology will not cut it, though some courses might be accepted for credit. The S.T.D. requires the S.T.L. The S.T.B. requires having a sufficient background in philosophy, although this can sometimes be made up for while studying for it.

A Pontifical University is a school which is accredited by the Holy See, and the degrees conferred (especially the S.T.L.) give one a heightened professional freedom within the Church. There are many such universities around the world, but here are 10 reasons why any prospective pontifical student should consider moving to Rome to go to school.

  1. It is cheap as dirt. I first approached a former professor who had done studies in Rome to ask about some of the basic things. One of them was money – it must be pretty expensive to go to some of the most storied schools in Church history, right? Wrong. Plan to spend about $2,000 on tuition… Not per class, not per semester, per year. There are not many extra fees thrown in either, and the ones that are added are reasonable and also relatively low. For example, a final comprehensive degree examination might cost 250 euro, a pre-requisite Latin class might cost 300 euro, etc. (Fun fact: when Fr. Karol Wojtyla finished his doctorate at the Angelicum, his diocese was so poor it couldn’t pay for the degree, so he technically did not receive it. When he became John Paul II, he made a visit to the university. Unsurprisingly, his degree was finally conferred!) Cost of living is the only hurdle, as it is impractical (and illegal) for most students to work a full-time job. However, part-time work is possible, and there are scholarships available. Private fundraising is possible as well, which is how I obtained most of my funding. Parishes and individuals are very generous with students coming here.
  2. You will get admitted. This was another concern I brought to my professor. I’ll never forget his response when I asked what was required for admission: “A pulse.” As long as you can gather the paperwork and pay tuition, you’ll be good to go. Every university has open seats which they are looking to fill, and they will gladly take your money and let you sit in class. It doesn’t matter how many intellectual giants, saints, and popes went to the Gregorian – you do not have to be any of these to get in. Low admissions standards may be the reality at some other pontifical universities, but given the tuition rate, it is especially true in Rome.
  3. You will pass. The entry-level degree programs (like the S.T.B.) are designed to be easy enough that the vast majority of students can pass. The difficulty might vary somewhat from university to university and from professor to professor, but in general, it is quite hard to fail a class in the entry-level degree programs. (To go on to the next degree level, you do need to get a good G.P.A.) Attendance policies are also quite lenient.
  4. There is real, meaningful diversity in the student population. At the larger universities, there will be students from around a hundred different countries or more. The networking alone is worth the price of tuition.
  5. You will learn Italian. Yes, most universities are taught exclusively in Italian, (with the notable exception of the Angelicum, which also teaches in English,) but most other students are in the same boat. There are ways to learn course material without knowing any Italian, such as note-taking systems, but with a little effort, immersion in the language will slowly render the fruit of fluency. Being able to add that to a resumé is a definite bonus.
  6. There are some of the world’s best professors here. Nowhere else is there such a concentration of competent Catholic intellectuals. And many of the big names who aren’t teaching here often visit to give talks at conferences.
  7. It’s Rome. Enough said…
  8. It’s Europe. If you want to go to France for the weekend, you can. If you want to take your spring break to go backpacking in Germany, no big deal. Etc. Everything is right next door.
  9. There are some extremely specialized programs, too. On top of your standard degrees, there are entire schools dedicated to Christian archaeology, oriental Christianity, scripture studies, patristics, and so on. (NB: Some of these might be pontifical institutes rather than full universities.)
  10. The degrees carry global respect. “You went to Santa Croce? Wow, you must know your stuff,” etc. It is a big advantage to go to a school which is known around the world for its high quality education.

It can be very intimidating to move to another country.  Family and friends from home will probably be very far away. And it is certainly difficult – sometimes maddeningly so – to deal with Italian bureaucracy. But there are so many people here who feel just as lost… Family and friends from home will want to visit… And as for the bureaucracy, well, you just have to suck it up!

I welcome any questions through the contact tab.

Ci vediamo…

Some art in the Roman Forum!

Christian Renaissance Movement1 Comment

I was in the Roman Forum the other day to see Santa Maria Antiqua… It is the oldest church in the Forum, connects to the Imperial Palace, was the one-time seat of the Bishop of Rome, and it has some killer frescoes. Due to ongoing renovations and excavations, it is rarely open – this year it allowed visitors in for a few months, and the last time it did so was 1980. Sadly, as of tomorrow (Sunday, 10/30/16) it will be closed for who knows how long (the figure I heard was 20 years). Since you missed your shot, let me provide it for you!

First things first… Behold, the first basilica in the world!

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It has a sunroof.

No, it is not the brick building. That’s the old Roman curia – before it was a Church thing, it was a Roman thing. You are looking through the basilica, which is a ruin. You can see the pillars sticking up out of the ground. Once again, before it was a Church thing, it was a Roman thing. We baptized both ideas, and they stuck around.

Another first… Behold, the first real CCD classroom on planet Earth!

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The church itself is to the right, and leads up towards the Imperial Palace and observation platform. Hold that thought.

Before there was coffee and donuts at RCIA, there was the Oratory of the 40 Martyrs. If you teach Sunday school, here you can go back to your roots. Let’s take a look inside, shall we? (Click to enlarge the photos.)

The Byzantine influence is almost as clear as the weathering. But all throughout the site there are slightly different styles, reflecting the fact that there were many different patrons and artists at work over the ages. Like the rest of the Forum, there are layers, and analyzing this site is made especially difficult by the unique character these frescoes have among contemporary Roman works.

Here’s the exterior of the church:

Santa Maria Antiqua is called “Antiqua” for a reason… She’s been around since the 5th Century! After Constantine, the Forum became more than just a safe place for Christians, it became an opportune place for worship.

Into the church we go!

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The hanging picture is called an “iconostasis.” Notice the use of arches, with the apse in the back (surrounding the iconostasis). Many of the frescoes are in rough shape, but we will look at some of the better preserved ones.

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The left side of the nave.

Yes, even the pillars were decorated. See the one on the right there? This place was like stepping into an ecclesiastical coloring book. Every inch was covered, it seems.

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Close-up of the wall.

Here is an image of some the frescoes in one of two “corner chapels,” on the right side of the nave near the back… It is called the “Chapel of Physicians” (or the “Chapel of the Medical Saints”), where there would be constant intercession for the sick, whether the infirm were present or not. (The other is the “Chapel of St. Theodotus” on the left.) Apparently St. Francis visited this place, by the way, when he was in Rome.

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The saints pray along too! They cover all four sides.

The apse has the earliest Roman image of Mary as a Queen, and the image of the Cross (in the Chapel of St. Theodotus) is notable as well…

Pope John VII was totally enamored with Santa Maria Antiqua. Not only did he commission a ton of work on the church, he also moved there, way back at the start of the 8th Century before there was an Associated Press to misunderstand why he might do such a thing. However, only about a hundred years later, an earthquake would cover much of the church, leaving it dormant for 1,000 years or so. (The Chapel of the Medical Saints apparently remained accessible, and somehow people forgot there was a church attached!)

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Another view. This looks over where the ambo would have been toward the main altar.

Here there was a main altar and a “holy table” further back near the apse where the gifts would have been prepared.

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From the holy table toward the main altar.

To make sure that everyone understood that Christianity was not ditching its Jewish roots, there was significant emphasis on the Old Testament. Here is a sarcophagus with stories of Jonah and some more frescoes of OT events:

It was lunch time in Rome, which beckoned, but in the end the platform won out. The long climb was definitely worth it. Panning left to right:

There’s just too much to point out. Sorry. But do notice that the corner of the church is on the top left. The rest of the view is mainly out towards the Quirinal Hill and Capitoline Hill (the Forum is on the Palatine).

Considering that you will probably never actually be inside this amazing church… you’re welcome for the quick glimpse inside!

Post by: Eamonn Clark