Bruce Feiler - Where God Was Born, Abraham, Walking The Bible

"Dog-Bites-Man" Pope
Friday, April 27, 2007

David Gibson, author of a book about Pope Benedict, offers a modest, even downcast review of the pope's first two year's in office:

Benedict restricted the role of lay people at Mass in order to reinforce the separate, Christ-like action of the priest, and he is expected to announce soon that he will allow widespread use of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, in which the priest faces away from the congregation. That would come despite the strong opposition of many bishops in Europe, the United States, even inside the Roman curia — and even though there are hardly any priests who can celebrate the old rite or worshipers who would understand what is happening.

Predictably, Benedict has also renewed church stands against married clergy and the ban on divorced and remarried Catholics receiving communion. Changes in the role of women in the church or teachings on sexual behavior are of course out of the question. And Benedict has reinforced the primacy of the pope — an issue his predecessor had opened for debate.

He ends with this downbeat note:

Benedict is a “dog-bites-man” pope, notable largely for what he was not expected to do, or for actions that produce unnerving reactions, like his speech critiquing Islam last September that enraged many Muslims. The pope actually devoted the bulk of that lecture to questioning non-Catholic Christians and secular Westerners who he said were in thrall to modern rationalism.

Certainly, Benedict has in two years preached many striking and even lyrical meditations on the beauty of the faith that is at the heart of Christianity. But in the United States, as elsewhere, the challenge is not so much a crisis of faith as a “crisis of church.” It is not a question of why believe as much as why be Catholic. People are convinced by deeds that match rhetoric, and a closer look at the actions behind Benedict’s words shows that the two are still far apart.

Labels: Christianity

Posted by B Feiler at 8:00 AM
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