Was Wilde a Christian writer?

Fr. Leonardo Sapienza, head of protocol of the Vatican, has published a book, Provocations: Aphorisms for an Anti-conformist Christianity, which consists largely of the maxims of none other than Oscar Wilde. It includes such Wildean aphorisms as “I can resist everything except temptation,” and “The only way to get rid of a temptation is yield to it.” Fr. Sapienza says that since Wilde moved toward Christianity at the sad end of his life and made a death-bed conversion to the Catholic Church, it is appropriate for the Vatican to publish him.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Wilde may have become a Christian in his final moments, but the witticisms of his prime, as delightful as many of them are, are not Christian. Indeed, Wilde’s brilliance in reversing conventional moral logic and expectations, which is the core of his wit, is probably inseparable from his deepening involvement in the sexual vice that corrupted his character, alienated him from his wife and children, and destroyed his life.

Fr. Sapienza, not showing much sapience, says in his own defense: “Our role is to be a thorn in the flesh, to move people’s consciences and to tackle what today is the No 1 enemy of religion—indifference.”

This is ridiculous, and is no different from the excuses made by any “artist” who smears cow dung on a painting of the Virgin Mary in an effort to be provocative. This is a further continuation of the ruinous pastoral philosophy of John Paul II, who believed that the Church had to “engage” with the contemporary culture and with contemporary secular man, accepting them on their own terms, in order to win followers to Christ. Has it worked? No.

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Also, in the same story linked above, the Times of London reports:

The way for Wilde’s rehabilitation was paved six years ago by a Jesuit theologian, Father Antonio Spadaro. On the centenary of Wilde’s death, he raised eyebrows by praising the “understanding of God’s love” that had followed Wilde’s imprisonment in Reading.

Father Spadaro said that at the end of his life Wilde had seen into the depths of his own soul and in his last works, such as De Profundis, had made “an implicit journey of faith”. He said that Wilde had come to see that God was capable of “breaking hearts of stone and entering into them with mercy and forgiveness.”

This sounds like, well, b.s. I perused a collection of Wilde’s letters a couple of years ago, and, to the best of my memory, it was depressingly clear that during his imprisonment and afterward he continued to affirm and defend his homosexual career and orientation. There was no sign of repentance. There was no acknowledgement of the mad folly that had led him to sue Lord Alfred Douglas’s father over the father’s true statements about him, which in turn led to his own undoing. I think the Vatican’s embrace of Wilde is just another manifestation of the takeover of the Church by liberalism.

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Vincent Chiarello writes:

The comments of Padre Sapienza are particularly inappropriate, since his surname denotes learning and wisdom. Further, one may also question whether “Wilde may have become a Christian (Catholic) in his last moments.”

Wilde is buried in Pere Lachaise, a Catholic cemetery in Paris, but the validity of his s conversion has raised questions, not only by Catholics of a traditional bent, but also by his respected biographer, Richard Ellmann, who quotes Wilde as saying that “Catholicism is the only religion to die in” (my emphasis), while he certainly had not lived it. Father Cuthbert Dunne was hastily brought to Wilde’s death bed by Robert Ross when Wilde’s condition worsened, and when the priest asked if he wished to “be received into the Church,” Wilde held up his hand. Ross, Wilde’s closest friend in Paris, later claimed, “He (Wilde) was never able to speak, and we don’t know if he was altogether conscious.” Catholicism accepts death-bed conversions, but there must be clarity of mind and repentance of previous sin. Was Wilde’s “conversion” valid, if neither of these conditions prevailed? As my parish priest likes to say, “We’ll let God straighten that one out.”

The role of Rev. Antonio Spadaro in this Wilde revival is of equal interest, because it tells you what contemporary Jesuits consider appropriate religious and literary models to emulate. From the late Robert Drinan, S.J., a supporter of abortion, to Rev. Jon Sobrino, S.J., a supporter of “Liberation Theology,” neither of whom was rebuked by his own Order, the Society of Jesus has been the organization within the post Vatican II Church that has been the most afflicted with sin of “modernism” (read: liberalism).

Rev. Spadaro’s claim that Wilde, in his later years, made an “implicit journey of faith” as seen in his later writings, especially De Profundis, is, frankly, incorrect. As Mr. Auster correctly observes, “Wilde continued to affirm his homosexual career and orientation. There is no sign of repentance.” Therefore Wilde could not have properly been given absolution during his death bed conversion.

I leave the last word to biographer Ellmann:

“He left behind him a sort of testament, De Profundis, in the form of a prison letter to his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas. It skirted penitence and while acknowledging faults … vindicated his individuality.”

Posted by Lawrence Auster at March 26, 2007 11:49 AM | Send