Re-read Project. Read originally in Portuguese in the 80s in my Eça de Queiroz phase.
“Her old religious
devotion was reborn, full of sentimental fervour; she felt an almost physical
love for the Church; she would have liked to embrace and to plant lingering
kisses on the altar, the organ, the missal, the saints, on heaven itself,
because she made no real distinction between them and Amaro; they seemed to her
mere appendages of his being.”
In “The Crime of
Father Amaro” by Eça de Queiroz, translated by Margaret Jull Costa.
I remember my feelings when I first read it. My
take now is quite different.
For starters, let me just state that I was
raised a catholic and I'm still a practicing one.
Since the 80s I learnt a few more things along
the way, namely that the first pope (Peter) was married and so were many
subsequent ones. In the Greek Church, parish priests are required to marry,
primarily to head off problems like the ones depicted in this classic of
Portuguese literature. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says it is better to marry than
to burn with sexual desire and risk "fornication". This biblical
injunction was one reason the protestants dropped the requirement like a stone.
The original reason for priestly celibacy is that priests were handing down
their offices to sons, taking them out of church hands. Concubinage was winked
at partially because any children would be illegitimate and thus could not
inherit. The pope who declared celibacy the rule was warned about the problems
it would generate, which we see to this day. I no longer believe "The
Crime of Father Amaro" was an attack on Catholicism, neither to Catholics
in general, but as an attack on corrupt people and corrupt institutions. The
priests are human beings; therefore, some are better persons than others. But
the truth is that most priests have to live in a world of hypocrisy and power.
And as everybody knows: "Power corrupts". I am not saying that the whole of the Catholic-Hierarchy is full of hypocrite people, but that several of them
succumbs when faced to the power and wealth. What I am saying is nothing new or
a revelation by any means, it happens since ancient times, not only among
Catholics or Christians in general but among ANY members of ANY institution
where power and ambition are present. That means: Everywhere... from
politicians to priests thru entrepreneurs and military. Corruption is everywhere
as the opposite: well-intended people.
I've known despicable people who are Catholics,
Protestants, Jews or Buddhists or atheists and good people from any religion (or
without religion) as well.
The usual take on this movie is "corrupt
(catholic) church exploiting its followers, in a world where God is
absent". This makes sense if you are an atheist or agnostic, but not
otherwise. If God is ever-present in our daily lives, he must be given a role
in this book. The Bible has many stories where the Lord uses temptation to
judge and strengthen the character of his servants. Mortals use their free will
when faced with temptation. Those who fall are sinners and God will punish
them, but also forgive those who repent.
How does this fit with the story of "The
Crime of Father Amaro"? Father Amaro is a young promising servant of God,
however he is also weak: he is lustful, and his rapid career has made him
inclined to pride/vanity. The Lord chooses to try the character of his servant,
by tempting his lust with (the also lustful servant) Amelia. Amaro falls,
partially because of his weak commitment to abstinence ("I was forced
to"). Amelia herself falls, but also commits the sin of trying to seduce
Amaro away from his vocation. Amaro resist this, thus proving worthy of God's
trust. Amaro is a sinner, but he doesn't repent. Thus God tries him (and
Amelia) a second time, this time on the 5th Commandment. Although Padre Amaro
is the instigator and accomplice, he tells Amelia in front of the church altar,
that she must use her free will. She does and violates the 5th commandment. For
this God punishes her with death. Amelia's death is also the instrument God
uses to punish Padre Amaro, who finally admits his sin and repents. The Lord
tempted, punished and forgave Padre Amaro.
In the end, from a spiritual perspective the
book is a strictly moral story about the faith in God. Amaro keeps his and
proves worthy and Natário loses his and are condemned to eternal damnation.
From this point of view, only an atheist could see this film as an attack on
the Holy Roman Church. Father Natário is truer to his faith than either Brito
or Amaro. Father Natário can turn away from the Church without turning away
from God. Not once does he imply that it is God who wants him to leave his
people, that it is God forcing him to make a choice between reassignment and
excommunication. He knows full well he is up against the Bishop, not God. He
chooses his honest mission rather than give in to the Bishop.
The Catholic Church is hardly "God's sole
appointed representation on earth" ... even in a small country village
where someone like Dionisia can raise a crowd to attack the
"heretic," there are still many who can see the small-mindedness of
that "one true religion" idea. Certainly someone as intelligent as
Father Natário would fall into that group. If anyone deserves to go to hell,
it’s probably Padre Amaro. Amelia's sin was one of desperation, while Amaro's
is one of selfishness. Who is the one who commits the bigger sin, the desperate
mother who kills her child, or the person who urges her to do so? We all have
moments of desperation. Thankfully, most of them do not lead to the death of
another person, but Amaro was hardhearted in his treatment of Amelia and his
child. His punishment is that he has to live with the blood of Amelia and their
child on his hands.
Of course, the politically correct response to
my comment is "well, if Amelia had access to legal abortion, she would not
be dead". Yes, and if all cliffs and bridges had protective railings, then
any desperate mothers who wanted to push their children off them would not be
at risk at falling off themselves. The clue is not to facilitate abortion, but
to counsel those desperate enough to consider it.
On a side note. I'm so sick of people that would
love to tell a a writer how to make his/her books. SO WHAT if they don't tell
all the sides of a story? Would the Wizard of Oz be a better book if we spent book time exploring all the positive contributions flying monkeys or munchkins
make to society? No! SO WHAT if it blasts something about your particular
group? People of all religious groups do and say horrible things. There should
be more movies that dare to say and do the things that people do in real life.
Priests rape, deacons kill abortionist, abortionist kills fetuses, Jews kill
Arabs, Arabs kill Jews, Americans kill anything they can get away with,
particularly each other, and kid-show hosts have child porn. Life just sucks
sometimes so would you mind:
1) SITTING DOWN
2) SHUTTING UP
and let the rest of us enjoy learning
something.
Even if I hated this book (which I didn’t; on
the contrary), I’d have to stand up for it because if I didn't, then we’d have
lost a little more freedom and even that is waning by the day.
2 comentários:
Being an American myself, I would definitely kill you for this post, if I could get away with it!
But you know, passports, visas, plane tickets, etc, they all leave a trail.
So I guess you are safe. For now.
:-D
Not real up on Catholicism as I grew up non-denomination Protestant and now go to a 7thDay Adventist church. But I whole heartedly agree that any "organization" ends up with bad apples. And they end up giving a bad name to the whole thing :-(
I'd give you a few pointers on being and travelling anonymously by using the Dark Net, by I won't in case you come knocking on my door in the middle of night...Instead I could maybe come knocking on your door in the middle of night...lol
I'm also not up on Protestantism. In Portugal the Protestants are very few.
Our catholic heritage comes from the middle ages. We had 2 Portuguese popes: Damasus I, and John XXI. Also the Templars, and the Jesuits were a very strong influence on Portuguese religion.
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