The Chris Moeller Archives

The Gospel according to Karl Rove

I've been trying to go lightly on the Roman Catholic church this month. Pope John Paul II didn't do the world any favors by denying women a place in his church's leadership hierarchy, and opposing gay rights and family planning programs across the globe, even as millions died of AIDS in the developing world. And while the mainstream media could have at least acknowledged Paul's shortcomings, his passing hardly seemed like the time to dwell on these shortcomings.
The selection of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as the new pope, however, must be considered a slap in the face to the enlightened world, and it stands to be an obstacle to peace and social justice in the world. It's hard to imagine a more "in-your-face" conservative than Ratzinger. A Vatican reporter for the National Catholic Register recently wrote, "Indeed, it would be hard to find a Catholic controversy in the past 20 years that did not somehow involve Joseph Ratzinger."

As a Cardinal, the German Ratzinger has shown absolutely no flexibility on the issues of contraception, celibacy for priests, or the role of women in the church. Since 1981, he's headed the Vatican office that oversees doctrine. In 1987, he intervened in the case of Rev. Charles Curran, stripping the man of his right to teach because he encouraged dissent. The new pontiff has strongly opposed efforts to re-write Scriptures in gender-inclusive language. Last year, he was the man who told American bishops it was OK to deny Communion to those who support such "manifest grave sin" as abortion and euthanasia. But like many conservative bishops, he allowed exemptions for church members at odds with the church's stance on the death penalty or its anti-war position in Iraq.

The College of Cardinals could have sent a powerful message of inclusion to the developing world by selecting a pope from Africa or South America. They could have demonstrated a commitment towards reform to an increasingly-secularized Europe and a scandal-shaken America. [Of course, they could have also shown this commitment by refusing to allow former archbishop, Cardinal Bernard Law, to lead a funeral Mass for Pope John Paul in Rome last week. (Court documents show that Law shuttled known pedophile priests from parish to parish without informing worshippers during his tenure in Boston.) Law was even allowed to participate in the selection of the new pope, even as the Catholic church in America copes with the spiritual and legal fallout of the estimated 450 alleged sexual abuse claims on Law's watch.]

Cardinal Ratzinger, today, adopted the name "Benedict XVI," a move which has been interpreted by some as a gesture of reconciliation to those who have become alienated from the church in recent years. Benedict XV saw the church through the conflict of World War I, and also reached out to Muslims and Orthodox Christians during his period of leadership from 1914 to 1922.
I'm not holding my breath. Ratzinger's record as a Cardinal indicates the opposite of reconciliation will take place. Conservative Catholics will surely be pleased with today's selection, but the church, as a whole, is destined to become even more polarized. And the rest of the world will simply feel increased alienation from the Roman Catholic church. Residing outside the walled fortress of the Vatican, we'll deal with the repercussions of the new pope's medieval ideas.

posted by CM @ 9:14 PM