In which the pond meditates on the breathtaking hypocrisy and double think of the Pellists ...

The Pellista in the Financial Times quite recently - anyone interested in fatuous hypocrisy can google if if they like.

The bit the pond enjoyed most?

... the church has no particular expertise in science ... the church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters. We believe in the autonomy of science ...

Cue ripple effect to set scene for flashback to the 2011and the Global Warming Policy Foundation Annual Lecture, Westminster Cathedral Hall, London, delivered by the Pellist himself ...

Wherein the Pellist explained why he had a mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters, though with absolutely no particular expertise in science of any kind, contrary to the Pope who can at least boast of a master's degree in chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires ...

The full text is still up at the Archdiocese of Sydney here, and remember should it suddenly disappear into the night, you can always use that address and head off to the Wayback Machine for your scientific feast.

So what gave the Pellist the mandate to pronounce on scientific matters and in particular on climate science?

As a bishop who regularly preaches to congregations of every age and at widely different levels of prosperity and education, I have some grasp of the challenges in presenting a point of view to the general public. This helps me to understand the propaganda achievements of the climate extremists, at least until their attempted elimination of the Medieval Warming and then Climategate. I was not surprised to learn that the IPCC used some of the world's best advertising agencies to generate maximum effect among the public ...

Uh huh ... but the question arising is whether he remembers making the speech at all, given his new position on such mandates - perhaps a bit like his inability to remember his conversations on other matters.

Never mind, the pond is content to provide this example of the Pellist as scientist countering propaganda - which is to say a quoter of the opinions of others:

Yep, fatuous stupidities in abundance, and so to the conclusion:

And Pell wonders why a significant percentage within the church are made uncomfortable by his presence and his thoughts, and why outside the church, he's a fine exemplar of all that's wrong with it and generally produces fits of laughter ... and not just because of his love of fine and expensive frocks ...

Now there's a fine climate scientist in motion, like poetry ...

(Below: you can find the cartoon amongst the Jesuits at Eureka Street and Bad week for Pell and climate change deniers).