But is it Catholic?

[katycarl]

Y'all will be fascinated by this article on InsideCatholic about the suitability (or not) of sticking the moniker "Catholic art" on any art that's in accord with Catholic truth:

insidecatholic.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4612&Itemid=48

How does this relate to Dappled Things as a magazine of art and literature inspired by -- or, as I tend to formulate it to myself, in harmony with -- the Catholic tradition?

Discuss.

[dhunt]

Dear Katy,
I read the article, confess I didn't read all the comments, nor make one myself. Haven't seen the film either, but it sounds like something I'd want to see. So, with all those limitations, I submit that I agree wholeheartedly with the author. I'm not sure that it's completely healthy to obsess with the question of what constitutes Catholic art/literature, as sites and blogs have recently done. A bit much navel-gazing, I think, since it necessarily involves much broader, and more difficult questions like, what is art? what is Catholic? And even if those questions were answered to universal satisfaction (a miracle on a scale of the immaculate conception), the result would be an unhealthy in- or ex-clusivity, ultimately destructive to "Catholic art" itself.

As for the author's assertion that such an apellation here would be offensive to Jews, she's quite right. Truth is not a possession of the Catholic church; rather, the Catholic church is a possession of Truth. Let us worry more that we belong to Truth than that Truth belong to us. To reverse that relationship is to depart from Truth altogether and possibly to enter a very dangerous realm. We are God's; he is not ours.

[majorminor]

Hi all, I'm new here my name is Paul... This is the first thread that caught my eye and I wanted to comment that the author of that article is correct in my opinion as Catholic as a word is so closely tied to the Catholic faith...

I could see that film described as catholic in the "Universal" sense of the word... You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate it, however I'd personally avoid it.

As for Dappled things?
Yes absolutely it is Catholic! In both senses of the meaning.

In fact I'd like to say thank you for publishing it!

[katycarl]

Hi Paul,

Welcome! And you're welcome, in both senses. DT is a labor of love for us and it's always a joy to see someone else enjoying it.

I'm interested in your reasons for avoiding the specific film the article discusses, as well as how you answer the larger questions that avoidance raises. If a piece of artwork is "catholic" in the universal sense but not "Catholic" in the specifically religious sense of dealing with men and women who profess the Catholic Faith, or even in the somewhat broader sense of dealing with themes dear to the Catholic tradition, when and why might a Catholic have good reason to avoid it, if ever?

Thoughts? I myself have not seen the film, so I'll be going mostly on the reviewer's apprehension of it, but we can discuss other specific pieces of work if they seem more well-known. Longtime DTers, I know we've had this discussion before, but I wonder how your own thoughts are maturing on the topic? For myself, I have been developing an ever stronger sense of a call to engage with works in the secular tradition, in order to better understand it and engage it from a Catholic viewpoint.... which means that I avoid very little in my reading and viewing, except for works that seem to exist solely for the sake of blasphemy or vulgarity. (The word "solely" there being very important.) How about y'all?

[bluemaydie]

Katy--

I thought Paul was saying he'd avoid using the word "Catholic" in the mere sense of "universal," not that he'd avoid the film in question. I could be wrong.

That said, I like your questions, too. I haven't seen the film. I think, however, that avoiding non-explicitly-Catholic works is a mistake. We are, after all, men and women before we are Catholic. (It's a fallen world; we're born before we're baptized.) Therefore, it's important to accept and engage works that address our humanity even if they don't address--or directly address--our faith.

Moreover, our non-Catholic brethren are men and women, as well. We must engage them; therefore, we must engage their works. Example: I don't listen to pop music much (unless "So You Think You Can Dance" is on). When I get together with friends, and they start talking about some song I haven't heard, I can't contribute to a discussion of its merits. This may seem a feeble example, but when everyone's going on about how deep the latest Coldplay song is (*shudder*) it's a disadvantage. I can't pop in and either agree or suggest something better. ("Coldplay? Pah! Let me tell you about 'O Salutaris Hostia!' That's good singin'!")

I'll stop here, as I'm pretty sure I'll be repeating myself if I go on. In short, We must engage the merely-universal-catholic works as well as the smells-and-bells-Catholic ones.

[majorminor]

Oh no, I meant avoiding using the word Catholic to describe the movie. It could very easily be misunderstood to be condescending by someone who is not Catholic to describe it that way.

It would be better IMO to describe it as "Enriching for Catholics to watch".

I personally would never avoid any movie, music, literature or art, that was coming from a different culture or viewpoint as long as it was an honest expression of the human condition. (Unless it treated my Catholic culture unfairly. I wouldn't want to support that.)