Thank you, Lol, I'll bump that any day!
Posted on 04/21/2005 5:41:08 AM PDT by JesseHousman
VATICAN CITY - Charting a papacy in the tradition of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI pledged Wednesday to work for unity among Christians and to seek "an open and sincere dialogue" with other faiths.
In his first Mass as pontiff, Benedict invoked the words of John Paul II - "Be not afraid" - a message designed to show he is intent on following the groundbreaking path of the late pope.
The German-born pontiff also stressed he would draw on the work of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 meeting that modernized the church, an issue important to liberals who are wary of Benedict from his time as Roman Catholicism's doctrinal enforcer.
As the world's 1.1 billion Catholics got the first hints of where the papacy is headed, followers of other religions weighed its meaning for interfaith relations. By and large, reactions were hopeful and expectant.
"I think he has been very open, so I have no worries about the ecumenical route," said British Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. "It will continue. No doubt at all."
Benedict, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said his primary task would be to try to reunify all Christians and stressed that sentiment alone was not enough. "Concrete acts that enter souls and move consciences are needed," he said.
The 78-year-old pontiff said he wanted to continue "an open and sincere dialogue" with other religions and would do everything in his power to improve the ecumenical cause.
But Benedict has been one of the most forceful Vatican voices for Catholic missionary work and other forms of evangelization. He was the intellectual drive behind the 2000 document "Dominus Iesus," which outlined the Catholic Church as an exclusive road to salvation and angered Protestants, Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians.
In Israel, admiration for John Paul's tireless efforts to promote Jewish-Catholic reconciliation mixed with unease about Benedict's time in the Hitler Youth as a teenager.
Benedict has written about his service, which was compulsory under the Nazi regime. He also was drafted into a German anti-aircraft unit at the end of World War II, though he says he never fired a shot.
John Paul won many Israeli hearts during a trip to the Holy Land in 2000 by apologizing for Roman Catholic wrongdoing over the centuries. He also was praised for promoting interfaith dialogue, establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and aiding Polish Jews during the Nazi era.
"Israel can certainly coexist with him," Oded Ben-Hor, Israel's ambassador to the Vatican, said of the new pope. "But the real test will come over the course of time."
Benedict inherits sometimes testy relations with the Russian Orthodox Church, which has accused Catholics of poaching Orthodox believers. John Paul, the first Slavic pope, saw a visit to Russia as a way to promote greater Christian unity a millennium after the east-west schism, but he was not able to arrange the trip.
"We very much hope that under the new pope those problems will be solved," said Igor Vyzhanov, an Orthodox church spokesman.
But Russian religion expert Alexander Ogorodnikov questioned whether Benedict will match John Paul's zeal for closer ties. As a cardinal, Ratzinger soured relations with the Russian Patriarchate by backing a move to stop referring to the Orthodox branch of Christianity as a "sister church" - since Roman Catholics see Rome as the "mother" church.
"There may even be a certain cooling of relations," Ogorodnikov said.
Benedict's election Tuesday was welcomed across the Islamic world, where many people hope he will promote harmony between the two religions and possibly Middle East peace. The new pope has supported the Vatican's cautious overtures to mainstream Islamic leaders, but has been critical of perceived discrimination of Christians and Christian institutions in Muslim regions, including parts of the Holy Land.
In an interview in 2003 with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale, he urged Islamic leaders and politicians to seek policies that "create a space for freedom" for all faiths.
And he won praise from Muslims by criticizing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for comments in 2001 that Western civilization is superior to Islam. "One cannot speak of the superiority of one culture over another, because history has shown that a society can change from one age to another," he said at the time.
However, Benedict has objected to the bid by mostly Muslim Turkey to join the European Union, which he feels would be incompatible to the continent's Christian history and traditions.
Benedict's predecessor was warmly regarded by Muslims. John Paul was the first pope to visit a mosque, urged religious tolerance, spoke out against the U.S.-led war in Iraq and called for a peaceful end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"The late pope took brilliant and daring stands, and we hope the new pope would follow his example," said Sheik Salah Keftaro, a prominent Syrian cleric who accompanied John Paul on his historic visit to Damascus' Omayyad Mosque in 2001.
But in India, a leading Hindu organization accused Benedict of religious intolerance because he helped draft "Dominus Iesus."
"Such a mind-set that `we are superior to others' leads to conflict," said K.S. Sudarshan, head of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent body of most Hindu nationalist groups in India.
Given John Paul's tireless traveling to promote both Catholicism and interfaith dialogue, Benedict's impact will depend on his health, vigor and the ability of a relatively shy man to captivate crowds.
The new pope himself predicted a "short reign" in comments to cardinals just after his election, and his brother said Wednesday he worried about the stresses of the job on a man who just turned 78.
While there are no indications that Benedict suffers from any serious or chronic medical problems, there have been ailments in the past - including a 1991 hemorrhagic stroke - that raise questions about how long his papacy will last.
The Vatican refused to comment Wednesday on Benedict's health.
Several cardinals, however, agreed Wednesday that Benedict's term will be marked in years, not decades, and that it was unlikely the pope will match the globe-trotting pursued by John Paul II.
"We'll see what he feels like. I mean he's not a 56-year-old, you know," said Murphy-O'Connor. "He's a little bit older than that. So he may not do too much traveling. But you never know."
Benedict has promised to attend World Youth Day in August in Cologne, which should be a crucial homecoming. It will also be a test of whether he can overcome his reserved, intellectual persona.
"He'll need to learn a new style," American Cardinal Avery Dulles told The Associated Press. "He's the type of person who thinks three times before he says something."
But the idea that the 115-man College of Cardinals chose Benedict because they wanted a "transitional pope" is wrong, Polish Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski said in an AP interview.
"Absolutely not," he said. "I think the thought was to find a strong figure, clear - clear identity for the Catholic Church as it faces the world."
Hundreds of people clapped and cheered Wednesday evening as the new pope rode by in a black Mercedes on the short trip to the Vatican from his longtime apartment just outside the city-state's wall.
Earlier, Benedict broke the seals of the papal apartment - shuttered after John Paul died April 2 - and greeted colleagues and signed papers at his desk. However, he decided to stay for now at the Vatican hotel where he has been sequestered since the conclave began, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
During lunch Wednesday with colleagues, Benedict also outlined his activities over the next few days: a meeting with cardinals Friday, a news conference Saturday, his inauguration service Sunday and an audience with official delegations Monday, Navarro-Valls said.
After Benedict's election, German Cardinal Joachim Meisner said the new pontiff looked "a little forlorn" when he went to change into his papal vestments.
But later, the reputedly frugal pope asked cardinals to dine together on bean soup, cold cuts, a salad and fruit, Meisner said. There were two special treats - ice cream and champagne.
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Associated Press writers Brian Murphy, Nicole Winfield, Frances D'Emilio and Vanessa Gera contributed to this report.
I'm afraid there is going to be more of the same. Following the "groundbreaking path" is what got the Roman Catholic Church deeper into the mire of ecumenism gone wild.
I predict that the entire world would be mesmerized by a regular TV show that discussed and debated the merits of all of the World's Religions. Everyone from Al Jazeera to the Onion would cover that type of TV show regularly and the Nielsen Ratings would be sky-high.
"Now that [Cardinal Joseph] Ratzinger is the pontiff, it could potentially go in the wrong direction," he said on the religion Web site Beliefnet. "We don't have the confidence this pope understands the global nature of the church."
Stating "it could potentially go in the wrong direction" means that it could possibly go in the right direction.
(The italicized comment is taken from another article published today.)
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Pope Benedict's idea that Europe is the root of Christianity is, of course, right on the money. The roots have to be cultivated again. Keeping Turkey out of the EU is a very step in doing that.
This pope has thought this through to logical conclusions. He is, of course, correct.
He will reach out to other religions, but he won't give in an inch regarding the Catholic doctrine. He hasn't for 20 years. I don't see him doing it now.
He has a backbone of tempered steel, backed up by a towering intellect. These belie his fragile looks and voice. Just look at his eyes. The strength is there.
"Reaching out" is one thing (albeit a tired, overworked, trite phrase), but kissing the koran and meeting with voodooists is quite another.
I wholeheartedly agree.
represents his thinking on authentic ecumenism quite explicitly and clearly.
Thank you, Lol, I'll bump that any day!
He can meet with the voodooists....somebody needs to meet with them and tell them the truth. But I agree with you that kissing the Koran is embracing a lie and not just any lie, but the very rejection of all we as Christians hold dear.
The debate wouldn't take more than an hour, since boiled down to the essence of each, There are only TWO religions in the whole world.
That would be the least of his problems.
If he cannot affirm the authority of Scripture apart from the caveat that Roman CC tradition is necessary to explain the Bible's true meaning, he will have to provide a legitimate explanation - to those who care about it - showing how that does NOT make tradition a superior authority to Scripture. He claims infallibility and will have to explain how that does NOT make the Scriptures ultimately irrelevant.
It's a difference in opinion about how the Holy Spirit works to reveal God's Revelation to the world. Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium support each other. There is no conflict and there is certainly no "irrelevance" of either.
SD
Exactly. The Word of God (Scripture) is what the ekklesia holds most dear.
In other words, "The Church will be found in the churches, but the churches are not THE Church."
SoothingDave: "It's a difference in opinion about how the Holy Spirit works to reveal God's Revelation to the world. Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium support each other. There is no conflict and there is certainly no "irrelevance" of either."
I know what the "differences of opinion" are, that's why I wrote what I did. DUH. LOL
You suffer from cognitive dissonance (the mental confusion that results from holding polar opposite ideas and beliefs simultaneously).
You can't believe that there is no "conflict" and at the same time believe that there is a "difference of opinion".
"Differences of opinion" on its very face means "conflicting opinions".
And since some opinions carry more weight than others, I side with those who I believe have the weightier opinion - ie: that Scripture is a superior authority to the traditions of the Roman CC. That is the only positition one may hold that makes Scripture more relevant than tradition.
Want to try again? As you can see, I was asking for a legitimate explanation. bttt
I meant there was no conflict among Scripture, Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. The three work together and neither is superior to the others. Obviously there is conflict between those who adhere to this idea and those who proclaim "Scripture only."
I'm really not that big of an idiot.
I side with those who I believe have the weightier opinion - ie: that Scripture is a superior authority to the traditions of the Roman CC. That is the only positition one may hold that makes Scripture more relevant than tradition.
I agree. If you want to make Scripture more relevant than Sacred Tradition or the Magiesterium, then you must reject the latter two. What you are asking, basically, is how the Pope can elevate Scripture to a superior position, when that is against the Catholic understanding of the nature of Divine Revelation.
We can't. The two are irreconcilable.
SD
Exactly. Which is why any effort of the RCC to "unite" Christians will run into that snag with the ekklesia who hold Scripture as superior, and why I wrote this in the first place:
If he cannot affirm the authority of Scripture apart from the caveat that Roman CC tradition is necessary to explain the Bible's true meaning, he will have to provide a legitimate explanation - to those who care about it - showing how that does NOT make tradition a superior authority to Scripture. He claims infallibility and will have to explain how that does NOT make the Scriptures ultimately irrelevant.
bttt
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