Cardinal blogs on Rome

Here's a link to send to that crazy religious aunt of yours, who believes that the Internet is all porn and pagans.

The newly elected Catholic Archbishop of Boston and a priest of the Capuchin order, Cardinal Seán O'Malley, has started his own blog. The blog has been started in conjunction with the cardinal's visit to Rome, and may continue as a regular thing, as part of an effort to reach out to modern-day Catholics.

"Communicating with, supporting and serving Catholics of the Archdiocese at each of our Parishes are our top priorities. This blog is our newest effort to speak directly with you, as I'm looking forward to sharing my Rome experiences with everyone," O'Malley said in his blog.

The blog seems to be an overt attempt to show the human side of the cardinal and connect with regular people. He talks about the fact that he overstuffs his carry-on and is afraid of getting hassled at security because of it, and that his Rome flight is delayed during a stopover, to remove the luggage of a passenger who did not board.

It's actually pretty humorous in that there are several of the typical "hey, here we are hanging out over food and alcohol" pictures, only with cassocks.

One thing, though, is painfully obvious. Cardinal O'Malley, or 'Cardinal Seán,' as he goes by in his blog, does sort of miss the idea of blog-as-first-person-narrative. Someone else is obviously taking the pictures, since the cardinal is in most of them.

Photos of Cardinal O'Malley, iconography, and churches aside, the written content is actually not that religious, but more of a Rick Steves Through the Back Door guide to Rome's churches, focusing on the architecture, art work, and people the cardinal likes to visit when he is in Rome.

He does go into a little biographical history on some of the saints, whose churches he visits, but aside from a "god bless" closure, the blog is not preachy.

The blog is oddly compelling in that it is a behind-the-scenes look at how a cardinal spends his days, and one thing becomes very clear as you read.

You know the cliche that priests have it pretty good in terms of life quality and comfort--aside from the celibacy thing of course. From what O'Malley writes in his blog, it all seems to be true.