[newgeezer]

Well, I guess we have pretty clear evidence that being Pope isn't protective against senile dementia.

Far be it from me to be a defender of the pope and all he stands for. But, what about the statement that you quoted do you find so senile or demented?

If the pope's point is that God is sovereign and nothing happens apart from His will -- whether it be communism or Nazism or whatever other terrible historical event you care to recall -- I'll have to agree with him.

On a related note, I wonder if he considers The Reformation and Protestantism "necessary evils," too...

[wideawake]

I wonder if he considers The Reformation and Protestantism "necessary evils," too...

The fact that Christians are divided from one another is an undeniable evil, whomever one blames for the split.

[aruanan]

If the pope's point is that God is sovereign and nothing happens apart from His will -- whether it be communism or Nazism or whatever other terrible historical event you care to recall -- I'll have to agree with him.

The view that God's will is causative so that any and everything that exists, including moral predispositions and outright sins, must necessarily be a result of that cause, God being the agent, is widespread. It is, however, heterodox.