"Be Not A-Frayed..."

So much in the Catholic blogosphere, (or outside of it, but provoking many pixels-worth of words within it,) going on that I missed while having naught but secular media available for a bit!

Archbishops pretending that they don't know that family planning and sexual health are code for practices that the Church teaches are sinful, and "reproductive rights" isn't even code, it flat out means, never anything other than, the right to abort unborn children; the way "states rights" in the US wasn't even code, it flat out meant, never anything other than, the right to hold other human beings as property.
(And I say this as someone who believes in climate change that can be attributed to human actions; who would never belong to, or likely vote for a candidate endorsed by the Tea Party; and who thinks that the commercial interests that "live off oil" are rapists of the earth.)

What else is going on, what did we learn on the show tonight, Craig?
Those suffering from gender dysphoria are superior creatures whom we should affim in their illness and to whom we should bow down.
In all honesty, I did hear about about that, though didn't see pictures, but it was all on, I kid you not, sports radio. Long car trips with a husband exposes you facets of the media you forget exist most of the time.
But I am perturbed that a beautiful male athlete aspires to look like.. what? a member of the cast of Real Housewives of Olympic Village?

And then, shudder, the Pope using a gerry-rigged ferule! (Or staff. Or crosier. Or cross. Or whatever.)
As someone who has McGyvered my share of props, I'm not going to criticize Msgr. Marini.
Sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. (I once whipped up an Oscar out of a Barbie doll, the cap from a can of hairspray stuffed with a wad of styrofoam to anchor her feet, a whole mess of masking tape, and a can of gold spray paint.)

And finally, the frayed cuff.
Really, people?
I put it to you that if the Bishop of Rome appears in public, at an event, (I suppose whenever the Bishop of Rome appears in public it is an "event,") with a kind of grungy looking sleeve, it is neither cause to applaud him for the virtue of humility, nor to excoriate him for the vice of being a slob who is disrespectful to his flock and his role.

I mean, either of those might be possible, if you think he does his own laundry. And mending. And packing.

But surely there is someone else who does those things?
Because again, from personal experience - quick, no time to change or get this to the dry cleaners? dab on a little carbona and snip those hanging threads. (And maybe some scotch tape to hold it in place until a repair can be done.)

So it looks as if someone else is falling down on the job.
Unless he stopped them from doing their job, which seems highly unlikely.
Is it possible the Holy Father, or rather, whoever is actually responsible for his laundry and mending, is just trendy? going for not a faux humility, but rather an edgy dégradé or deconstucted look?

When I was in high school, we were in one of the ripped/shredded/sanded cycles the styling of jeans goes through. I never wore such, but most of my classmates came to school with torn hems, artfully placed slits in the fabric, pockets peaking out below the bottoms of shorts, deliberately worn spots on the derriere...

I will never forget the history teacher who looked around one day and said, If you'd ever known what it is to be poor, if you'd ever HAD to wear clothes like that...... and just shook his head.