Archbishop Lays Flowers at Altar to Hindu Deities

You just have to wonder “What the hell is this guy thinking?” some days.

No doubt he has some nuanced explanation. But for some reason none of the one I can think of (and I’m pretty good at nuance in these matters) really overcomes the basic common sense of St. Paul:

Therefore, my beloved, shun the worship of idols. I speak as to sensible men; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel; are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1 Cor 10:14-22)

Somebody might say, “Well, an offering of flowers is not sacrificial since there is no shedding of blood involved, so it wasn’t really an act of worship.”

Well, in Scripture, sacrificial offering need not involve the shedding of blood. There were grain offerings, wave offerings, and heave offerings too. They were all acts of worship.

Somebody might say, “Well, he didn’t mean to worship in his heart.” Fine. I’m sure the people Paul is talking to don’t mean to worship idols either. But he still tells them not to partake of the sacrifices offered in pagan temples and gives them no Jesuitical excuse about how they can chow down at the temple of Apollo but worship Jesus alone in their hearts. He knows, in other words, that when everybody around you is worshipping Apollo and you participate in that worship physically, you are sending the message to all the world “I’m with them. I worship Apollo too.” Similarly, the Archbishop’s foolish act sends a message, whether he wants to or not, that he is worshiping Hindu deities.

Somebody will undoubtedly say, “Then doesn’t this mean that, despite your protests, you are really worshipping Mary when honor her?” No. Hindu devotion is quite clear: It means to honor Hindu deities as gods. Those who engage it in are agreeing to the grammar of Hindu worship when they engage in acts of worship of Hindu gods. But the grammar of Catholic devotion to Mary is also quite clear: she is not being honored as a goddess but as a mere creature. Indeed, attempts to honor her as a goddess are heretical.