Friday, August 2, 2013
Open Letter From Charly Boy To Pope Francis
Controversial entertainer Charly Boy wrote an open letter to
the present head of the Catholic Church.
Most of you are probably expecting a scandalous letter, but
i myself was shocked.
Read it below: -
The first 20yrs of my life, I seriously had this dream of
being a priest. I was overfed with an overdose of religion
which has always been a very serious business in my
family. You dare not be late for morning mass or else you
get the whipping of your life, yes my father was that strict,
no nonsense when it came to going to church or anything
spiritual. That’s where I’m coming from, we were a family
that prayed together and were very staunch Catholics for
that matter.
When I turned 16 I became an altar boy, at that time that
was the coolest thing to be, considering years of going to
bible classes and regular confessions. Eight months into the
spiritual things as an altar boy, I made a big goof; I drank
the priests wine and ate a bunch of Holy Communion
enough to fill me up. I figured I could be more spiritual by
that action, but I got expelled as an altar boy, needless to
say how scandalized and angry my father was then, OMG.
By the time I
turned 20, I’ve had enough religion to last me two life
times. By 1974, I left to further my studies in the USA, I
was overjoyed because for the first time, I was going to be
on my own. I was really carried away with my new found
independence. Being an adventurous young man I started
dabbling into not only the occult but with metaphysics,
Buddhism, astrology, magic and all that Jazz. However, I
still believe I was fundamentally a Catholic by birth, but the
catholic fate has suddenly become boring and old fashioned
for me.
When I read that controversial book, “In God’s Name”, all
the negativity I started to feel about the Catholic Church
became magnified in my mind. What about the s*x
scandals about priests and little boys. Hummmmmmm! I
am aware that the Catholic Church is not a perfect body,
and doesn’t claim to be one. Of course it is plagued with
the same corruption, scandals and sin as any other
organization. Last night as I was watching CNN, the Pope’s
visit to Brasil was being beamed to the world and all of a
sudden, there it was, “who am I to judge as long as they
walk in the light of Christ” Pope Francis on Gays. As
reflexes would have it, I jumped out of my seat and hugged
my TV, funny ha ha. Not because homosexuality has been
part of my advocacy through the years but because I feel
that every adult has a right to make their bed and lie on it as
they choose, and who the hell are we to judge. I have
always said that it is really not our place to judge those
who do not fit our view of normal. So once again the
church is attempting to evolve in order to keep up with the
rest of civilization. That is how a religion survives. Its
belief has to be flexible enough to stay somewhat relevant
to current or the public will abandon it.
Ever since the Pope’s election, my man has taken actions
that seem to be very ‘unpopelike’. He even used public
transport as a cardinal, he lives in a smaller quarter, he
asked for blessing before blessing the crowd which
gathered in St Peters square on the day of his election. But
my people, what is stranger than Pope France’s action have
been evangelicals’ reactions all over the world. Never
before has a Pope become so widely accepted by
Protestants and evangelicals. It’s a proud day for Catholics
and all mankind. Finally a Pope who doesn’t see himself as
equal to God, unlike our men of god down here. It is really
amazing. Every Pope in the Catholic Church’s past has had
a mastery over catholic rhetoric, because theoretically they
always say the right things. But Pope Francis has decided to
lead with his actions. Before delivering his message at the
Holy Thursday Mass, Pope Francis spent time on his Knees
washing the feet of young women incarcerated at a nearby
prison. This is the first time a Pope has ever washed the
feet of women, not to mention that one of the women was a
Muslim, which is another break in papal tradition. In the
holy book, the bible calls us to be the light to the world if
Christ is to be present to the world. This is why Pope
Francis’ way should be imitated for imitating him we make
Christ visible and that is what influences others to walk in
the way of Christ. So much to be said for our so called
“men of god” in this neck of the woods who strut around as
if they are God’s gift to mankind, most of them bunch of
con men and fraud stars who are continually ripping off
unsuspecting Nigerians, living in fancy houses, building
universities their congregation can’t even afford for their
children and buying private jets because their God is not a
poor God, as Nija’s hand over their pay checks in return for
a miracle because they have bought into the Hocus-pocus
that is Pentecostalism. Just look at our churches today, tell
me those priest, pastors or our so called men of god, who
makes Christ visible. Jesus needs us to make him Visible
and present in this troubled world. Blessed mother Teresa is
a perfect example of showing us the love and mercy of
Christ in the millions she cared for. The gospel calls us to
imitate Christ and it is in the way we live that the gospel of
Jesus gets proclaimed, that is how we speak Christ to a
world that does not know him.
I am very scared for this Pope, he is a little too Christ like
for his own good. There are still some die hard winches,
vampires in the Vatican. I fear assassination, probably by
the very people who call themselves “devout”. If any Pope
can show us what Jesus was saying, I think this one is the
one. At least I hope so. I am impressed with this Pope not
for his Catholicism but for his Christianity. As I lay in the
comfort of my room watching the Pope’s visit to Brazil, it
was clear to me that Pope Francis will go down in history
as the greatest Pope ever, I just pray that he lives out his
Pope ship for many years to come as to spread his light and
make our lord Jesus more visible in the world. More than
3million people where at Copacabana beach for the re-
enactment of the Stations of the Cross and farewell mass.
This world Youths Day smashed previous attendance
records and goes down in the record books as one of the
best attended papal events ever. In short, this Pope is a
rock star. Here is a Pope who speaks the language of the
people; In fact in Rio he kicked his penchant for simplicity,
humility and accessibility into high gear. The security
operatives were all overwhelmed by zealous pilgrims, he
insisted on leaving the windows of his car down so he
could extend his arm to those seeking his blessings.
Countless babies kissed, photo ups with adoring faithfuls
only added to the pontiff reputation for being a man of the
people, and all of this took place in the roughest side of
town, a crime ridden zone in Rio.
Pope Francis is now standing up to the Mafia. First the
Vatican honoured Rev Giuseppe Puglisi, killed 20yrs ago
by mobsters for preaching against the Mafia, as a martyr.
Pope Francis himself demanded that Mafia members
abandon their “evil ways” especially those who exploit their
fellow humans via human trafficking, drug dealing and
prostitution. “They cannot make our brothers slaves; let us
pray that these Mafiosi convert to God”. Hummmmm na
wa, if the Mafia decides to take Pope Francis out in
retaliation for his words against them, I pray that there’s a
Pope Francis army out there ready to throw down. If the
Pope manages to mobilize all of Italian society against the
Mafia, his days maybe numbered, but he will be unable to
do so, and as a result I pray that the Mafia won’t remember
him. They say the only thing needed for Evil to exist is for
good men to do nothing. I am glad that he is doing
something. He looks and sounds to me like he has a
beautiful spiritual light burning inside of him and is
preaching goodwill for all and trying to turn around the
corrupt so they too can walk in the sunlight of the spirit. I
really admire him for standing up to the Mafias. I recognize
the Popes effort in trying to bring a better image and name
to Christianity. Anyway you flip it, the Holy Father is full
of surprises, born of true and faithful humility, at another
occasion, he declared that all people, not just Catholics, are
redeemed through Jesus, even atheists. “Those people must
still do good. Infact, it is in doing good that they are led to
the one who is the source of all that is good” In essence he
simply restated the hope of the church that all come to
know God, through his son Jesus Christ. Pope Francis is
saying more than ever before, that Christ offered himself as
a sacrifice for everyone. That has always been a Christian
belief, but rarely do you hear it said by Catholics so
forcefully, and with such evident joy. And in this era of
religious controversies, it is a timely reminder that God
cannot be confined to our narrow categories. Thumbs up for
my man Pope Francis, nothing do you.
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