Well that should make fans of West Ham United feel right at home.
Posted on 01/28/2015 11:21:28 AM PST by Gamecock
On Sunday in St. Peter's Square, balloons were released as a gesture of peace instead of the traditional symbol of flying doves.
This comes one year after an attack by a seagull and a crow on the symbolic birds ignited protests by animal protection groups.
Ever since Pope John Paul II started the tradition of releasing doves on the last Sunday of January every year, children have been at a window of the papal studio overlooking the square with the pope, setting free a pair of doves for world peace, according to the Associated Press.
In 2014, the act of goodwill turned ugly when the birds were attacked mid-flight.
After the children, alongside Pope Francis, tossed a pair of doves from the window, a seagull swept down, then a crow got into the action, and the doves were attacked.
Animal rights advocates demanded the church put an end to the dove releases.
They appealed directly to Pope Francis himself, who is the first pope ever to take the name of Saint Francis of Assisi, a holy man known for his adoration of birds and other wild creatures.
When children in the square let go of their balloons pope Francis said, according to the Associated Press, "Here's the balloons that mean, 'peace.'"
Many gulls make their nests atop the colonnade of St. Peter's Square, not far from the Tiber River, and there they look for garbage. For an animal advocacy group, this meant putting the dove's lives at risk by freeing them.
After the seagull and crow incident, there were all kinds of Tweets and Facebook posts using words such as "demonic," "omen" and "apocalypse" to describe what the attack on the doves meant.
So, why did the seagull and crow attack the doves?
The National Geographic put it simply by saying the doves were attacked because they were "bred to be unnaturally white."
“As God is my witness I thought turkeys could fly”
Well that should make fans of West Ham United feel right at home.
It can be repurposed! Pope Francis to Build Showers for Homeless in St. Peter’s Square
Or maybe, instead of treating the faithful as if they are middle schoolers at assembly, dispense with trite gestures in favor of a heartfelt Papal prayer that mankind embrace Christ as the Peacemaker.
I don’t know about that, but I did miss another parallel here.
Both birds are predators of opportunity. Scavengers - those who come after. Hawks and Eagles are hunters. When they eat, they are not tidy either. Scavengers follow them.
Another thing about eagles and hawks, they are often harassed by smaller birds. I have seen it often - two or three birds flying around a hawk or eagle and diving at it from above, in turns.
Peace - picked apart by scavengers. Eagles undergo a great deal of risk when they hunt - diving into lakes to go after fish, etc. Not so with seagulls or crows.
The dove is the symbol for Holy Spirit in my Book.
Same here.
Just to show that I’m not biased as some believe, I didn’t believe this at first. I thought it was a joke.
But YES! It is true apparently.
This imposter is such a joke.
yes
The symbolism of the dove is intertwined throughout the Old and New Testament.
God’s Covenant symbols are being hijacked and perverted. Substituting the dove for a balloon is repugnant.
Well, ok. There would be nothing wrong (and much right) with having the Pope act like the adult in the room.
Or even like a genuinely faithful Vicar of Christ who regards prayers as more important than the optics of ascending balloons and fluttering but unmolested doves. There are even Popes who would have regarded the sight of predators after the doves as instructive of the wickedness of the world and that being peaceful is not enough to assure that one will be treated peacefully. It also seems to me that a Church that truly cherishes its martyrs would be less squeamish about seeing the occasional dove picked off by a gull or hawk.
But you’ve seemed to miss the most important thing here: animal activists were offended.
And NewChurch doesn’t like to offend.
“I guess hot CO2 (hot air) going up, with strings attached, and in a colorful package is as symbolic as you can be.”
Try He - CO2 sinks...and H is explosive...
Except traditional Catholic laymen and clerical — they are prime targets for Pope Francis.
Yes. That’s for sure.
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