2022 may not have been a Leap Year, a St Oswald’s Year * as Olympian Years usually are, but it sure was one of the strangest post-pandemic years thus far…..

Let’s take a look at how the year unfolded in a most unconventional patterning of events:

• The awful rumours of a jekel & hyde change-up in Pope Francis’ outlook**, particularly with regards to his marvelous encyclical from 2015 Laudato Si. His 2022 Epiphany homily apparently contained contradictions which are completely out of step with what we previously knew of Pope Francis’ character. These contradictions essentially related to some very negative and un-Franciscan like comments made about animals, which btw, would also infringe upon the dignity of the common-home values he originally espoused in Laudato Si.

• Although 2022 was not a leap year, an Olympic Games was held – the Winter Olympics – hosted in Beijing and they were a milestone because the theme of universal love between all nations was made strikingly obvious during both the Opening and Closing ceremonies. It was a brilliant display of what I would call a rather strident evangelism which had a universal appeal. This was reassuring for those of us who are sick and tired of hearing so much negative propaganda about China, especially considering most of that negative hype about China is in reality “fake news”.
        
• Then tennis legend, Novak Djokovic, thinks he can enter Australia at will without being vaccinated against COVID19! Although this was a BIG JOKE, this incident, along with the strange change-up in Pope Francis’ outlook, (and even though both events be completely unrelated on the surface) they nonetheless suggested something was spiritually out of whack more than usual behind the scenes in the world at large……
        
• In late February, early March Russia’s current president Vladimir Putin, under the influence and advice of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, decides to officially declare war on the Ukraine. Putin then makes it clear that he, with the backing of Kirill, deems a full-scale invasion of the Ukraine ‘justified’.
        
• You don’t normally get a World Cup soccer tournament in November – they are normally in July and coinciding with Wimbledon….And you don’t normally see extremes of good and evil front up on the doorstep of this world-renowned event either!

Since when has the Fifa World Cup ever seen the playing field at practice time graced with the adorable presence of a stray cat?

On the other hand, since when has World Cup fever ever set off full-scale riots over who lost or won this match or that in different locations across the globe.??

The blessing of “choosing life” was in the response of the British soccer team by adopting a stray cat who graced the green field with such a gentle, loving spirit.

The curse of “choosing death” was seen in the grotesque and unnecessary instances of Moroccan fans rioting over who won or lost, a seriously untoward manner of behaving, contrary to the values of upholding life and establishing a spirit of peace and good-will through sport.

2022’s Fifa World Cup saw extremes competing for space and limelight quite unlike anything ever seen before in World Cup history.
        

• And take a look at this! This is just AMAZING… What a beautiful symbol of love this is! God works in truly mysterious ways to send His message far and wide. On the 21st November this was reported to have happened***…..bear in mind now that the day before, Sunday 20th November was the Feast of Christ the King:

• The Passing Away of Three Heads of State…..

Mikail Gorbachev – a sensitive man of diligent reform and conscientiously positive dialogue with the West. The former and last truly Soviet president who really did well to end the divisions brought about by the Cold War. His historic meeting with St Pope John Paul II will be forever remembered as a dedicated gesture towards advancing the peace & cooperative good-will between nations, particularly between Russia and the West. It signalled the overturning of many Eastern bloc divisions with Western Europe and sparked transformations in the governance of former Eastern bloc countries.

The Late Commonwealth Prime Minister (CPM) and Supreme Head of the Anglican Church, Queen Elizabeth of Windsor – most well known as “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (QEII)”, passed away after 75 years in office. That is an incredibly lengthy term for someone in political office, and quite possibly the longest in history. We are sure though that she was the longest serving Commonwealth stateswoman in the 20th century spanning into the 21st. She was well known and loved for her innumerable contributions towards Commonwealth peace and development initiatives and most particularly in regards to helping to secure a welcome end to the notorious Apartheid regime in South Africa through the support and aid of local South African Anglican activists such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI – affectionately known as Papa Beneditto, passed away on New Year’s Eve 2022. The cry of Santo Subito – should this become prolific in the coming weeks – will mean the phenomenality of making New Year’s Eve officially sacrosanct as the late Pope Emeritus’ feast day. And that would certainly be an occasion to celebrate! I can just hear it now, the echoing joyous strains of…

“HAPPPY NEWW YEAAR!!” 🥳

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End Notes
* St Oswald has a feast day once every four years, on the last day of February during each leap year, which is the 29th February. A “St Oswald Year” or “Leap Year” is sometimes referred to as an “Olympian Year” because the Summer Olympic Games are traditionally held during a Leap Year.
**See my related posts on this topic from 8th & 11th January 2022:
(1.) http://mycatholicblog.life/2022/01/08/pets-instead-of-children-diminishes-us-pope-francis-or-fake-news/
(2.) http://mycatholicblog.life/2022/01/11/pope-leo-xiiis-vision/
***https://www.9news.com.au/world/hundreds-of-sheep-walking-in-a-circle-for-12-days-straight-in-china/0815bc33-3a00-452c-9fd2-13a91f865496