Butterfly Effects

[Occhidiangela]

Hail,

I wouldn't bet the house on the next Pope being a leader in the sense that John Paul II. was.

Here in Germany, as well as around the rest of the world, I guess, press coverage centered on the geopolitical work done by the late Pope. In that, he has done great, no doubt.

But these successes tend to mask his interior politics. He strongly supported Opus Dei, an order that is seen as rather extremist, his views about abortion or homosexuality weren't excatly liberal, and one of the last "big things" was announcing Roman Catolicism as "the one true church" - greatly annoying Protestant and other churches, and not exactly a giant stride towards the 21st century.

The innner politics do not strike me as being the Pope's most critical tasks. He has an entire college of Cardinals to struggle through the details before he makes a decision. He can indeed focus his attention on global issues, if he has a mind to.

The Vatican meetings (Lateran Council?) of the early 1960's were a significant step forward in the liberalization of the Catholic Church, however, the internal counter reaction to that is still being seen, as you point out. Me, I'd like to see a Pope take a position of excommunication toward clergy who abuse the trust of the laity, as the pedophiles have done. It would give me a better reason to consider entering The Faith. (My wife is Catholic.)

In the US, particularly in the Northeast as I saw it, there was a significant congregational revolt, or at least objection, to the donations to their local churches having been skimmed (at least that was the perception) to pay the millions of dollars of damages awarded in the cases of clerical child abuse. Those millions of dollars were funds not spent on upgrading the Catholic schools, church repair or construction, charitable works, etc. That breach of trust may be repairable, and it may not. It is certainly one of two areas where The Church could take a few risks and grow into a better organization.

A good friend provided a quote elsewhere.

The important thing is this: to be able to sacrifice at any moment what we are for what we would become. ~Charles DuBois~

The other is in allowing the Cleregy to marry, an opportunity for the clergy to lead by example, rather from a position of aloof presumption of moral superiority.

My in-laws attend a Catholic church. One of the priests used to be a Lutheran. He converted to Mother Church, as it were, but he already had a wife and three children. He is a good man, and the Church sees fit to leave his marital status alone. (I am sure he had to apply for a waiver.) It is not that long of a leap to the clergy marrying. Why the obstinate reluctance to adapt a successful reform that the Protestant Churches have? I call it institutional ego. :P

The Pope, as the "spiritual leader" of millions of Catholics around the world, must engage in international affairs. Stalin was once asked what he intended to do about the Pope, and his caustic (possibly apocryphal) reply was "How many divisions does he have?" Applying the answer to "The Riddle of Steel" from the movie Conan, :blink: the reply to Stalin should have been "He has no divisions, but rather multitudes" although not in the same sense that a national leader has an army. His is a different sort of influence, but it is influence.

Add to that the fact that almost all Cardinals responsible for electing the now Pope have been picked by John Paul II. - not likely that they will elect someone who will take a 180 degree turn from conservative to liberal, is it?

A 180 is not necessary, but a 60 degree course adjustment might be nice. :)

  Also, the late Pope was often chided for travelling too much and not paying enough attention to Vatican politics...

Good for him. :D Get out from behind the walls and do a little "deckplate leadership" if you lead such a big organization. Carry your team's flag to the four corners of the Earth. Not a bad policy, particularly in this media crazy age. The "hide behind the walls" approach can be easily spun by critics as hiding one's head in the sand, like an Ostrich, while the world goes by. That critique would hold more than a grain of truth.

  All that added together, I don't have very high hopes for the next Pope - it smells like he's going to be a very conservative sort, someone geared towards "preserving" the state of the Roman Catholic church. Which is to say someone who will probably drive even more people from "his" church because of views that are, to my thinking, outdated and not really humanitarian (Policy regarding contraceptives, especially condoms in view of AIDS etc.). Seems to me that his focus will be there, not in international relations... but I guess we'll have to wait 'till white smoke rises.
Take care,
Lord_Olf

There is a joke I heard as a boy. The Pope is addressing a crowd in St Peter's Square, reconfirming his policy against use of contraceptives. About half way through his speech, an Italian matron shakes her head and calls out "Papa, if you no playa the game, you no makea the rules!""

All in all, you are right, we shall see if the Church wants to grow, or play Ostrich, once the white smoke clears.

Occhi