Post by Ymbert Montgomery on Jan 19, 2020 18:04:05 GMT
Monsignor Porthos De la Croix, Canon of Reims, to
The Members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal to sit in Judgement upon Abbé Francois Robin regarding his alleged propensity to drunkeness,
Greetings!
My Lords Bishop,
As your Lordships will be aware, it is not the drinking of wine per se which the Church regards as sinful - does not the Blessed St Paul himself exhort Timothy to drink wine for his stomach's sake? - but the tendency to sin which wine might encourage in the case of the imbiber. The well-known tag 'in vino veritas' attests to the fact that wine merely reveals the true character of drinker, encouraging the vicious and corrupt to indulge their basest desires with apparent impunity whilst giving freer rein to the better inclinations of the good and Godly.
For example, in July Dieudonné Lachepelle was reported (in the Voix de Paris) as becoming morose and unfriendly after imbibing at Blue Gables. Indeed, Blue Gables staff reported him as having summoned 'a dark, satanic cloud of belligerent disapproval to surround himself with.' Given the propensity for casual malice which the laconic Curate has recently demonstrated in his literary endeavours we can, perhaps, be thankful that he has been purposely absemptious of late (though his mood appears not have improved at all).
By way of contrast, Abbé Robin has a sunny and tolerant disposition which is only augmented by the imbuing of wine. In the incident for which he is to be brought before you, wine merely exagerated his natural propensity for generosity and Christian kindness, resulting in his buying drinks for others. Where is the sin in that ?
In short, Abbé Robin takes his duties of Pastoral Care for his flock so seriously that he takes it way beyond the confines of his church to better understand the needs of his parishioners. His wine-drinking is merely a part of that process and something for which he should not be unjustly penalised. I hope that Your Lordships will determine that he is innocent of the charge of drunkeness for which he is to appear before you.
Porthos De la Croix,
Canon of Reims
The Members of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal to sit in Judgement upon Abbé Francois Robin regarding his alleged propensity to drunkeness,
Greetings!
My Lords Bishop,
As your Lordships will be aware, it is not the drinking of wine per se which the Church regards as sinful - does not the Blessed St Paul himself exhort Timothy to drink wine for his stomach's sake? - but the tendency to sin which wine might encourage in the case of the imbiber. The well-known tag 'in vino veritas' attests to the fact that wine merely reveals the true character of drinker, encouraging the vicious and corrupt to indulge their basest desires with apparent impunity whilst giving freer rein to the better inclinations of the good and Godly.
For example, in July Dieudonné Lachepelle was reported (in the Voix de Paris) as becoming morose and unfriendly after imbibing at Blue Gables. Indeed, Blue Gables staff reported him as having summoned 'a dark, satanic cloud of belligerent disapproval to surround himself with.' Given the propensity for casual malice which the laconic Curate has recently demonstrated in his literary endeavours we can, perhaps, be thankful that he has been purposely absemptious of late (though his mood appears not have improved at all).
By way of contrast, Abbé Robin has a sunny and tolerant disposition which is only augmented by the imbuing of wine. In the incident for which he is to be brought before you, wine merely exagerated his natural propensity for generosity and Christian kindness, resulting in his buying drinks for others. Where is the sin in that ?
In short, Abbé Robin takes his duties of Pastoral Care for his flock so seriously that he takes it way beyond the confines of his church to better understand the needs of his parishioners. His wine-drinking is merely a part of that process and something for which he should not be unjustly penalised. I hope that Your Lordships will determine that he is innocent of the charge of drunkeness for which he is to appear before you.
Porthos De la Croix,
Canon of Reims