tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post5652642808094189210..comments2023-10-01T03:05:01.291-07:00Comments on GAY MYSTIC: Excised from the public record: Charles de Foucauld, Louis Massignon and the 'Gay Connection:Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post-62026593397523087232011-04-04T02:36:26.144-07:002011-04-04T02:36:26.144-07:00am truly sorry to have offended you. I frequently ...am truly sorry to have offended you. I frequently forget how easy it is for innocent visitors to wander into this blog on the basis of a simple google search.<br /><br />My main focus was really upon Louis Massignon, who clearly seems to have been a divided gay soul, and whose biography, like so many gay figures before him in Church history, has been so carefully edited and whitewashed. Take a look at what has just recently happened with Blessed John Henry Newman, with every attempt made to rationalize his decision to be buried in the same grave with his life time companion, Ambrose St. John. It is assumed to be enough to demonstrate that Blessed John had no overtly expressed sexual desires for Ambrose St. John to prove that he was not 'gay," the term gay or homosexual then very conveniently defined exclusively in terms of sexual desire or lust, rather than in orientation. It is a very clever slight of hand but a dishonest one. Newman's case is very close to that of Louis Massignon. Charles de Foucauld is in a very different category, and I must confess to being genuinely shocked when I first heard the suggestions I mentioned in the posting.<br /><br />The 'rumors' surrounding Blessed Charles, a great saint if ever there was one, have come to me from more than one African source, however, and bear consideration - even if they prove to be no more substantial than the desert sands. You are correct, however, in that unsubstantiated insinuations about a saintly figure can cause scandal unless qualified. My error there in not making certain facts clear.<br /><br />Blessed Charles has been my mentor and guide for over forty years, since I first encountered his story in the Jesuit novitiate. He is also the model for my own contemplative, hermetical lifestyle. Like you, I consider him a friend, and his photo figures prominently on my own altar. I would not credit any rumors of sexual impropriety on his part, simply because he gives evidence of having transcended the passions in his spiritual evolution. This is not to say that he had become inhuman, with no inclinations whatsoever, only that they had been so profoundly sublimated and integrated into his spiritual being as to make 'temptation' a thing of the past. With Blessed Charles, peace reigned throughout the whole house of his interior being. This would not have deprived him, however, of his appreciation for human beauty, and we would assume from his past that he would be more inclined towards the feminine than the masculine. Were that not the case (which I really don't believe), he would not be the first 'gay' figure in church history to have engaged in frequent heterosexual affairs, and to have any contrary incidents of a same sex nature carefully airbrushed out of the picture. My African sources are suggesting just such a scenario, that there seemed to be a visible history of entertaining handsome young men - which in itself proves nothing. Would we expect him to be entertaining handsome young women? They also suggest that the conventional story with it's anti-colonial subtext provided a convenient cover for a more problematic explanation. Is it worthwhile to disseminate such unsubstantiated rumors, is it even ethical, given the scandal that might be caused by casting aspersions on the reputation of holy man? Only in a personal bog that is dedicated to the exploration of gay themes throughout church history and the difficulty of rescuing such gay history from centuries of deliberate obfuscation and denial.<br /><br />"When one can suffer and love, one can do almost anything. Even things in this world which seem impossible."Richard Demmahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116799651068476195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132410343235772418.post-32255680409258039752011-04-03T06:59:08.843-07:002011-04-03T06:59:08.843-07:00If you look hard enough and with enough unrestrain...If you look hard enough and with enough unrestrained imagination, you can come up with anything you want. Given the anti-colonial struggle and the resistance to the French and other colonial powers, I think the death of Blessed Charles de Foucauld can be most believably understood within this context.<br />Blessed Charles has been a great intercessor for me and he is a wonderful friend. I think this posting you have made is libelous; at first glance it would appear that you have some evidence; as I read what you have posted, I can't even call your "evidence" flimsy; there is no evidence whatsoever. <br />Blessed Charles pray for us; Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Amen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com