It Takes Two To Tango

This is much the allegorical poetry, too of the reed offshoot of Pope Francis’ work Amoris Laetitia which enumerates and explains the “joy of love” when we do not condemn nor discriminate against the homosexuals, the divorced and remarried men, and especially women who are as capable as the men in serving the Church. In analogy, the Pope’s Prefect of the Dicastery of Doctrine of Faith, as a younger priest giving catechesis to teeners, had been poetically analyzing what joy and empty kisses could mean if there is no real appreciation of the person being kissed and this came out as a book, Heal Me with Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing. This is therefore, the unmistakable match between mentor and mentee, the dancer and the partner in their passion to what is given them as their focus. Wherefore, even if they stare at each other penetratingly or looking at separate distances, the footwork will not miss the Argentine tango as the leader guides the hand and the embrace dispositions the body contour. The joy therefore is to find and pasture God’s marginalized people and offer them the best expression of kindness and mercy possible. In fact, some part of Pope Francis’ opus may have been written by Fernandez who knows him by heart as a careful worker who doesn’t any back jobs.

Designing a pastoral method to a new doctrine without causing any furor as possible is a hard job. The Holy Office which used to persecute heretics, hunt dissidents and enforce sexual morality must now find the rationale for the heresy to understand it, communicate and sympathize with dissidents and redefine sexual norms in a modern world. It is therefore, not strange for Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller not to be given a chance anymore to speak why he shouldn’t be removed from the said Office when it was still called a Congregation. Today, in the Dicastery the die is already cast according to the will of the Pope. And Victor Manuel Fernandez, the poet-theologian is the perfect partner for the tango overture, Mi Buenos Aires Querido.

Procedurally, Pope Francis is following what had been envisioned before by the Sankt Gallen Mafia (SGM) as the most urgent reforms needed by the Church today and it is but natural that he follows these emergent concerns. It is an open secret that key elements of the SGF were the ones who vigorously campaigned for him during the conclave which elected Benedict XVI where he emerged as the dark horse. Naturally, the same group would try it again in the very next conclave after SGM’s most dominant figure, Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini asked Benedict XVI to resign in 2012. Tricked into believing that Cardinal Angelo Rafaele Sodano would most likely be elected, being a traditionalist, the German Pontiff did, paving the way to Francis’ election. With Cardinal Reinhard Marx of what is called the shadow curia, made up also of powerful Council of European Bishops Conferences members Pope Francis and his kissing mouthpiece, Cardinal Fernandez are following a tight but danceable agenda: the ordination of married men to make up for the lack of priests, the communion being given to divorced and remarried men and women, and the ordination of women and the blessing of same sex couples is just the opening salvo. For this slow but sure approach to the objectives, Victor Manuel Fernandez has this to say about his dance instructor, the pope; “he wanted to change the Church in ways that can’t be outdone by future popes.” In other words, Pope Francis may be slow in his approach to reforms but the changes he makes are irreversible. That’s it, the fish is caught by its own mouth, the changes made are meant to be permanent fixtures not just trial balloons. For this, our study group has proposed for the Tango Argentina team the classic La Comparsita by Julio iglesias.

Dualism is a main feature of the Vatican II Church. A pastoral approach to change would necessitate someone shepherding and someone following. Although not claiming to be theological-doctrinal, any modern approach to any change within the church should rationalize a study and respect for traditions. This being the case, the Quattor abhinc annos of St. Pope John Paul II and Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum seem to stand on the way of Pope Paul VI’s Novos Ordo Misale, hence Pope Francis has to write his moto proprio letter Traditionis Custodes to limit the use of the Traditional Latin Mass by putting it under the definitive supervision of the Holy See. This dualism, which he learned from Pope Paul VI who pushed his aggiornamento or Church updating into the Vatican II sessions who was in turn hoodwinked by Freemason Cardinal Annibale Bugnini into believing that what he brought for approval was what the participants wanted and then going back to them he will them that it was what the Pope wanted. And so, you see, this dualism is that “crack where the smoke of Satan entered,” the dual manifestation of what seemed to be a singular truth. We are therefore unanimous in choosing the Tango masterpiece by the modern singer Shakira, Te Aviso, Te Anuncio with both for Ate and nothing for Kuya.

The Jesuit Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini was mentioned earlier because of the SGM. He and Swiss Cardinal Ivo Furer, the influential former president like Martini of the powerful Council of European Conferences of Bishops, used to host the informal gathering of cardinals who make use of their time planning and vacationing in St. Gallen. It was the same duo who initiated the talks concerning church reforms in the Swiss town. Even when in Rome, it was Cardinal Martini who would initiate gatherings of groups of at least ten cardinals whenever conclaves are called, for some coffee and snacks to deliberate determining who the next pope will be. These same procedures are done discreetly to influence the outcome of the conclaves. Pope St. John Paul II aware of such politicking opposed the influence of Cardinal Martini especially because they were polarized for being a traditionalist and modernist, respectively. In 1996 Apostolic Constitution written moto proprio; Universi Dominici Gregis the same pope tried to avoid all kinds of electioneering which were the loopholes in Paul VI’s 1975 Romano Pontifici Eligendo sometimes even on the pain of excommunication but the methods of Cardinal Martini outwitted such safeguards. As the Belgian Cardinal Godfried Maria Jules Danneels who made the mafiosi analogy, it was such syndicated style in Martini’s leadership which made SGM posh and effective. It is in this jackal-fox cunning, skirting norms and forms, orders and borders, and even wills and walls, that Martini and Bergoglio find attraction in each other as partners. Martini will ensure his enthronement while Bergoglio will ensure his agenda-legacy to flourish. Such that when Martini died Pope Francis accorded him the reverence of someone prophetic and as a “father of the whole church.” Such tribute exudes Pope Francis’ kind of leadership and reflect it as well, in a new light. Thus, our tango theme here is Mi Confesion by Gotan Project.

But parallelisms do not end there. In fact, if Madam Helena Blavatsky were alive now, she would have raised the specter that perhaps Pope Francis is possessed by Carlo Martini or that they are in a necromantic communication. We will consider them one by one as if the two were both in complementary dance steps. First, as the better intellectual leading the dance, martini said, “In the past, the Church probably talked too much about the sixth commandment. Sometimes, silence would have been better.” Bergoglio, being more pastoral stated, “We do not insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods.” The gentlemen meant the same thing, the Church had to study some other issues or if talking about them isn’t helpful, silence would be better. Second, Martini focusing on heinous murderers like Hitler, thought that he hoped that God would release everyone from the possibility that they too, “can be with God” upon repentance. For him, he wanted to be released from such a task of belief and believed that it would be better “if such people are simply extinguished.” For Bergoglio, “Yes, there is hell but nobody knows if there is anyone is there.” Then he proceeds to contradict, “They are not punishing those who do not respect and can not therefore be forgiven disappear. Hell does not exist. The disappearance of the sinful soul exists.” And lastly for our purposes, Martini concerning homosexuals simply said, “It would never occur to me to judge them.” Again, Bergoglio is more expressive when he said, “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord, and has goodwill, then who am I to judge him?” it has never been recorded that the two discussed things for a long time but Martini believed that the Church is 200 years old delayed while Bergoglio persists in making reforms whenever possible. The spiritual urgency matches fanning a flame of emergent change as they figure hand in hand. Hence, we dedicate the tango tangent as they whirl about on the dancefloor of spiritual change, Mano a Mano.

But Martini is no more and Pope Francis still has a kindred spirit in Cardinal Fernandez. We believe that these two are not just good tango dancers but are good gaucho cowboys skirting the Argentine pampas, as well. We feel that as good riders they wouldn’t unnecessarily frighten the livestock downhill to their detriment. We pray that their quest will not be as ridiculous as that of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. There are many on the dancefloor who may be content with some waltz or reggae. It was Martini who said that the church does not just give out orders and Bergoglio should respect that opinion. Some far African nation may find your Fiducia Supplicans queer in their Catholic communities and may find the guidance unnecessary. We believe that you know what blessing means and what kissing means. We believe Cardinal Fernandez is not guilty about the witch to bitch kiss. In fact, Cesaria Evoria’s tango version of Besame Mucho (Kiss Me a Lot) was originally composed by the Mexican Consuelo Velasquez, who at the age 15 when she composed it had never been kissed yet. So why shouldn’t we believe a Cardinal catechesis to teen-agers? So, we offer you Evoria’s tango version as a sign of peace.

Karam Mazinger Zingh
Rampador Alindog II
Hang Yu Sil (Giuseppe Han)