April 19, 2005
Holy Smoke
White smoke in sight, Catholics delight...
A new pope has been selected in a very short time in Rome - doctrinal guide and John Paul favorite Cardinal Josepth Ratzinger will now head the Holy See as Pope Benedict XVI. That's the 16th to those attending public schools...
While we are on vocal record predicting Ratzinger, we didn't publish it, so taking credit for insight at this point is a little unseemly - but not so unseemly we won't do it. Ratzinger seemed fast tracked to us - he was the enforcer for John Paul on doctrinal issues, and very visible at John Paul's passing. Some thought that perhaps a Latin American may win, considering the church's regional strength. But, the cards are still marked Made in Europe, and will stay that way for a while longer.
The new Pope has two pressing issues. First, the secularization of Europe. The great engine of Christianity has outgrown God. Most prosperous cultures do - excess and plenty remove us from the need of divine assistance, and our desires and whims make a God who expects moral restraint too much of a killjoy. So, with full bellies and a hedonistic appetite, Europe slides away from the church, and this at a time of notable Islamic immigration into many nations. In the long run, Europe will likely pull itself out of it's languid stupor, but in the interim, the Pope will have to navigate the best way to bring the flock around without stampeding it.
The second task ahead is the reclamation of the Catholic Church's moral authority. The shameful manner in which sexual abuse was shuffled about, muffled, and ignored cost the Church dearly in adherents and goodwill. Only an utter dedication to making sure that wrongdoing of any sort by the clergy is dealt with forthrightly can repair the authority of the church and regain it's voice to speak on moral issues. It's hard to hear a church preach about responsibility to God's word when it doesn't appear to take it seroiusly when dealing with it's very own.
Surely there are other sites with the full litany of things Pope Benedict will tackle. Of the more dogmatic variety, we'd argue strenuously for marriage for the clergy. If it was good enough for Mary...
A final word on what many have noted about Ratzinger's early youth in Germany, both as a young boy in the Hitler Youth and in the German army. Before we start judging what someone was before they came to their faith, it would do us well to examine the story of Paul for a little clarity...
Posted by MEC2 at April 19, 2005 11:03 PM