Real Men Wear Lace

Fr. Blake has an excellent post on Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, a prelate it is obviously unwise to mess with:

Wearing yards of red silk, lace and gloves one might not believe the Cardinal bites open his own beer bottles and wrestles crocodiles but read this article from the Washington Post of 2005.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, 75, leads the Vatican's office for priests. He has since retired from this job and heads Ecclesia Dei. Although dozens of priests have been killed in Italy for straightforward talk, Castrillon has a reputation for courage and outspokenness.

Over the years, he has called on a Colombian president whose election campaign was financed by drug traffickers to step down, branded lawmakers bribed by traffickers a national disgrace and urged voters to reject a presidential candidate because he supported the right to divorce.

...Castrillon is remembered as fearless in action as well as words. He would walk at night through the streets of the mountain town with a huge cup of hot coffee and bread for the beggars and mentally ill people who slept on the sidewalks.

From his pulpit, Castrillon accused Pereira police of killing prostitutes, street children and beggars in a lethal "social cleansing" program.

Well, he is Colombian after all. I expect after facing down murderous drug lords and bloodthirsty genocidal "police" in a South American rogue state, the Birkenstock-clad wrinklies of the English Catholic episcopate aren't much of a challenge.

His Eminence celebrated the Mass of All Time at Westminster Cathedral yesterday afternoon. I understand it was well-received... by some. I hope they exorcised the place first; who knows what sort of creatures were lurking around since the inaugural number of the Cardinal's Lectures on Faith and Public Life earlier this year.

Father Blake notes about the Mass:

I was on the sanctuary assisting in choro, looking down the cathedral it was glorious to see a huge number of people standing at the back and in the side aisles, there was a good mix of ages but the under 40s seemed to dominate.

From the Mulier Fortis:

The Pontifical High Mass at Westminster Cathedral was everything I hoped for, and more. It was incredibly moving to see the Cathedral completely packed out with people. Once again, I noticed that Communion was a very reverent affair, without the chatter which often accompanies large Masses.

Heh.

Face it hippies...