27 oct

Read an article in The Economist about an atheist church in London.  It seems to be hugely successful. The so called Sunday Assembly has grown in one year from 1 assembly to 30 assemblies. According to one of the guys behind this atheist religion, this would make it the fastest growing church in the world. Its repertoire of stories, jokes and singing to life music seems to be in demand. The Economist is sceptic though. ‘New churches disintegrate acrimoniously when a charismatic leader withdraws or looses control, or when enough money flows in to be worth fighting over. Neither is yet a problem for the Sunday Assemblies, but it might one day. Such are the trials and tribulations of non-prophet organizations.’ Brilliant journalism. Funny and insightful. The Economist has always been sceptic of the non-profit organization, I suppose. And as sceptic about prophet organizations too, again I suppose. And here they could make their scepticism clear in one sentence. I have become sceptic about saints. This was caused by the Chapelle Saint Laurent in Montmorillon. I have always been dazzled by the unquantifiable amount of saints that are available in the catholic church. I understand that sainthood for centuries in a row was just for sale, and I also understand that it is just good marketing to come up with a new holy person now and again. But the end result is that there is just too much of a good thing. The problem with Saint Laurent is that they basically painted every available saint on their walls and roofs. It didn’t make sense anymore. As I understood it this was meant as an educational tool for seminarists, but it obviously didn’t really work. This church is now an exhibition room and part of a old folks home. We’ve seen plenty of churches now, and I study carefully the sculptures of saints, partly because some of them are stunningly beautiful. There might be thousands of saints available, but it is clear that some are more popular than others. I will leave Jesus and Maria alone, they are Hors Categorie as they would call the highest mountain tops at the Tour de France. The top five is: 1) Anthony of Padua, always recognizable because he holds a kid. Also the saint my dad is named after and if we would not visit so many churches, I would burn a candle for him in front of each one. 2) Theresa, I think of Lisieux. Don’t know anything about her except that Bernini made the most spectacular sculpture of her in Rome. I do not remember the flowers there, she might be a different one alltogether, but I remember thinking that her face expression, supposed to be caused by heavenly visions, might as well have been the result of very worldly sensations. Or as our Roman landlord, a delightful spirited woman, would say it: Theresa, oh la la. 3) Jeanne d’Arc, always in shining armour 4) Anthony of the desert, with a little pig, don’t know why. Some of the pigs are just a delight. The first desert father/monk. 5) Pastor of Ars, who needs no further explanation. A clear number 5, maybe even a 4 or a 3 in Burgundy, but not as popular in far away Poitou, although you still see him here. Here in Poitou you often see Bernadette, the one of Lourdes. I always think she is the Mickey Mouse of catholicism, but only because Lourdes is definitely the Disneyworld of the catholic world. But then I have never been to Disneyworld, but I remember being appalled by Lourdes when I saw it as a 12 year old kid. The one saint I am missing here is st Francis the friend of animals and one of the noblest people that ever lived. I have simply not seen one sculpture of him. It can not be hate of Italians, Anthony of Padua is an Italian and you see him everywhere (not only in france). But that is really enough, I think. Who needs Hippolyte, Victor, Hilaire and all the others. I agree with The Economist that a prophetless religion is bound to disappear, but a little more saintless church would be a welcome thing.