1. "As you know, due to the pandemic, today I[, The Pope,] was unable to celebrate Baptisms in the Sistine Chapel, as customary."
That quotation, excluding my square-bracketed parenthesis, comes from the translation of H.H. The Pope's remarks, after the Angelus recited on Sunday, January 10, 2021 (the New-Order Feast of The Baptism of The Lord), in The Holy See Press Office daily bulletin item "The Pope’s words at the Angelus prayer, 10.01.2021":
(those translated remarks are also available here:
with the original Italian of that item (titled "Le parole del Papa alla recita dell’Angelus, 10.01.2021") available here:
and the Italian remarks are also available here:
If that sentence translates "Come sapete, a causa della pandemia, oggi non ho potuto celebrare i Battesimi nella Cappella sistina, come di solito." correctly, then His Holiness seems to have misspoken. For in no sense of the word was The Pope unable to celebrate the customary Baptisms. There is no suggestion that His Holiness was physically unable, nor is there any indication that The Pope was morally unable (unable, that is, to celebrate the Baptisms without disproportionate inconvenience), nor was His Holiness legally unable. For The Pope is the Sovereign of The Vatican City State, and even in other jurisdictions the civil sovereign has no authority over the Sacraments, and even in those jurisdictions where the civil sovereign regulates the Sacraments de facto, the relevant regulations usually contain exceptions for ministers of religion, and it's easy to baptise babies in a COVID-safe fashion. It seems, then, that His Holiness was really unwilling, rather than unable, to baptise the babies in question. (According to the Vatican News report "Covid-19: Pope will not celebrate Baptisms in Sistine Chapel", dated January 5, 2021, "the baptisms will take place in the parishes to which they belong":
It's unclear, however, when those Baptisms were expected to occur and what the differences are which 'enable' them to take place in the babies' respective parish churches but not in the Sistine Chapel as planned.)
Labels: Francis Bergoglio, morals, politics
2. According to Richard Baxter, Adam Contzen "concludeth as the true and common judgement, that the power of making Laws, is by nature in the multitude or whole Common-wealth; and that no one Prince hath more than the people give him. And that the people when they choose a Royal Person or Family, may reserve this right, that he shall abrogate or make no Law without them: that all Civil power flows from the people; and that none without Tyranny can take this power from them: And that such a Tyrant is worse than he that beateth the innocent, because he wrongeth and oppresseth more."
That quotation comes from The second part of The nonconformists plea for peace, by Richard Baxter, printed for John Hancock, London, 1680, available at the Oxford Text Archive and The University of Michigan Library's website:
Baxter said that after he said that "It seems heretofore some Canonists thought otherwise", but, in the opinion of Contzen and perhaps of Baxter, "now the common vote is against them", so the "common judgement" in question refers to that of (presumably Catholic) Canonists. Contzen's Politicorum libri decem is available at Google Books (Baxter cited book five, chapter five, which begins on pp. 310 and 278 of the following two versions, respectively):
Labels: Democratism, morals, politics
3. "Fundamental structures of the state that are in principle beyond the reach of the prince include the leges fundamentales; these laws embody, according to the doctrine formulated by Innocent Gentillet and Bodin, basic laws which constitute the state insofar as its essential political order is concerned. Insofar as the political order was conceived as a monarchical order, this concept at the same time strengthened absolutism."
That quotation comes from p. 903 in ""What a Good Ruler Should Not Do": Theoretical Limits of Royal Power in European Theories of Absolutism, 1500-1700", by Wolfgang Weber, in The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Winter, 1995), pp. 897-915:
Labels: morals, politics, regalism
4. H.M.A. Government says that it will contribute up to seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the establishment, in partnership with The A.C.T. Government and the A.C.T. Jewish community, of the (permanent) Canberra Holocaust Museum and Education Centre.
See the Joint Media Release "New Canberra memorial to commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day", dated Jauary 27, 2021, issued by The Hon. Alan Tudge M.P. (at the time, Federal Minister for Education and Youth) and Mr. Andrew Barr M.L.A. (at the time, A.C.T. Chief Minister):
and Mr. Tudge's Transcript "International Holocaust Remembrance Day", dated January 27, 2021:
That facility seems to have been conceived as an upgrade of the pre-existing National Jewish Memorial Centre, judging by The Age's Federal politics news report "‘A brighter, more tolerant future’: $750,000 funding for Holocaust museum in Canberra", by Rob Harris, dated January 27, 2021:
According to the Transcript "Doorstop interview, ACT Jewish Community Centre", dated January 27, 2021, The Hon. Josh Frydenberg M.P. (at the time, de facto Federal Treasurer) said that the money was "to be matched, to be in partnership, with the ACT Government to establish a Holocaust museum here in the ACT":
I don't know whether, when Mr. Frydenberg said "to be matched, to be in partnership," he (a) misspoke by saying "to be matched" and then corrected himself by saying "to be in partnership" or (b) spoke as he intended to speak, but (b) seems more likely, given that Mr. Barr was quoted in his Joint Press Release as saying that
The ACT Government looks forward to supporting the ACT Jewish community with a financial and in-kind contribution towards the project as it develops and progresses over the coming year.
In addition to the Canberra centre, Mr. Tudge said, according to the latter Transcript, that
Our ambition is to have such centres right around the country. They’re already now in four locations where funding has been committed for four locations and we hope to see them in every major city in Australia
and in his Joint Media Release he is quoted as saying that
Our government has committed funding, in partnership with respective state governments for the construction of similar centres in Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.
(According to Mr. Harris,
the Jewish Holocaust Centre in Elsternwick, Victoria, the Jewish Community Centre of Western Australia, the Queensland Holocaust Museum and Education Centre, and the Adelaide Holocaust Museum
are the four exact places to which Mr. Tudge refers.) Regarding earlier developments, see the Media Releases "New Holocaust Museum in South Australia" (which relates to item 5.3 of part 2 of my last issue of "Notes"), dated October 16, 2020 and "New Holocaust Museum in Queensland", dated September 30, 2020, both issued by The Hon. Dan Tehan M.P. (at both times, Federal Minister for Education):
Labels: Jews
Reginaldvs Cantvar
St. David's Day, A.D. 2021
