April 19, 2005
Hinge
It’s never been all that clear to me whether the birds or the prelates came first or how the name got associated with the color. Cardinal means hinge, I’m told. Maybe a not-all-that-remote connection is that hinges are also what things hang on, even outcomes like the new pope everybody’s waiting for.
It’s possible we could wait a while. Back in the 13th-century in Viterbo, Italy, after three years of no decision for a new pope, the townspeople got fed up. They removed the palace roof, exposed the holy electorate to the elements, and sent in only bread and water. The deadlock quickly broke. It must have scattered all over the place, for a layman was elected and became Pope Gregory X. The record says he accomplished much in his five-year reign.
Maybe there’s a precedent here. We don’t have any Anglican cardinals, but we’ve sure got some wannabes. They’re so busy pontificating that they’re losing sight of the church’s real mission and wasting a lot of time and money fussing over the details. Next time these primates get together, maybe we ought to blow the roof and send in nothing but bread and water, then, if the laity will even have it, turn it over for them to take a crack at the whole thing.