The British monarch is the head of a church that remains apart from the Holy See. It was particularly curious to see that the future British king was born on the very same day Pope Francis, vigourously pushing to transform the Catholic Church without actually changing it crucially, starts his journey to Brazil, his first international
trip as pontiff.
The coincidence should give us a strong sense of how
loyalty is impossible to converge, especially as the whole
world is considered.
Overjoy is Rio developed alongside overjoy in London. Differentnewcomers in both occasions, and different was the meaning of
'newcomer' in each case.
São Paulo archbishop, Dom Odilo Scherer, said the pope - who is also a monarch but is
not seen as such by most - is identified as a father by the mob, whose one remarkable feature is to lack, also according to that religious authority, strong references. Despite the negative views of the archbishop about the illusion of the crowds, the affective component of the pope's profile is perceived by the Holy See as most relevant; actually now the popularity of the pope is intentionally pursued by the Church of Rome, while the 'imperial' factor must remain forgotten.
And the newborn royal baby? Quite the reverse is observed. He is already seen as a highly respected monarch, despite just born. Here, being a monarch comes first; affective linings desirably follows.
The British monarchy has its own past as a strong reference, without any appeal to the Divine. The Church of Rome, by contrast, still strives to keep its history distant from collective memory and relies on the Divine obsessively.
