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Posted on 07/14/2003 11:56:28 AM PDT by presidio9
It is almost impossible to know what really goes on behind the scenes at a place as secretive as the Vatican. Running the worldwide Catholic Church, with its more than 1 billion members, is obviously an enormous undertaking, and the important decisions are made by a few powerful clerics, headed, of course, by Pope John Paul. But the pontiff is 83 years old and not in good health. For Americans concerned about the declining image of the church in this country, the question of the Pope's competency is crucial. With that in mind, I recently traveled to Vatican City and sat in the third row at John Paul's weekly audience. I watched him closely for 90 minutes and can tell you that although he can no longer walk, he was mentally alert. His eyes were clear, and his voice retained some power. But it was apparent that the Pope's endurance is limited.
Few get to question the Pope, and I have just one query for him: Why have you not acted more aggressively in combating the priest-sexual abuse scandal in America, a country that provides about half your financing? Although the Pope is beyond my reach, I was able to put that question to a number of Vatican insiders and have come up with what I believe is a cogent answer.
Pope John Paul was furious when told that the scandals in the Boston Archdiocese had reached a flash point. According to someone in the room with him when he received the news that Bernard Cardinal Law was to be deposed, he slammed his hand on his desk and yelled at his assistants: "You told me this situation would be taken care of the right way!" The Pope was visibly angry and shortly afterward retreated into prayer.
And that is what the Pope mostly does these days: pray. He delegates almost all other duties to a variety of underlings, none of whom has the power or insight to deal with a scandal as withering as this priest-sex abuse thing.
According to four sources who often deal with the Vatican, the bureaucracy at St. Peter's is so thick and entrenched that quick action on anything is impossible. With the person in charge, John Paul, spending most of his time on spiritual reflection, there is simply no one in the Vatican hierarchy in place to help the tottering American church.
This is tragic, because for two centuries the Catholic Church in the U.S. has been a powerful moral voice. It champions the poor, promotes respect for life and generally acts as counterweight to the secular philosophy that challenges judgments about personal behavior.
In America today, there is an increasing tolerance for all kinds of actions that the country once deemed immoral. For example, some people now consider heroin dealing to be a nonviolent crime. Partial-birth abortion is embraced by a variety of groups. Drug legalizers have hired lobbyists in Washington, as have homosexuals who want gay marriage sanctioned.
Nearly anything goes in a secular society, and a quick trip to Europe will prove that. In Amsterdam, you can see neighborhoods devoted to legalized prostitution and drug buying. You can watch drug addicts shoot up in the train station. Great for the kids, right?
The Catholic Church at one time could authoritatively speak out against that kind of degeneracy. The church believes that your body is to be respected, along with the bodies and souls of your neighbors. Anything that diminishes the human (or fetal) condition is questioned and sometimes condemned.
But that moral authority is now diminished. Thanks to a few corrupt Catholic clergy and a paralyzed leadership in Rome, a reasonable, collective voice that promotes humanistic conduct has been put on the defensive and, in certain quarters, is even dismissed as irrelevant.
I believe Pope John Paul is a good man - a person of dignity and compassion. But he has lost control of a situation that is causing societal damage far beyond the confines of the Catholic Church. We should all dearly hope that the Pope's prayers are answered. For the American Catholic Church right now, the only solution on the horizon is divine intervention.
Maybe the next update to FR will include a real preview of the entire article prior to posting, eh? ;O)
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FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
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It is in the breaking news sidebar! |
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It sure sounds like O'Reilly thinks praying is a waste of time. That figures.
("Yeah-like-that's-going-to-help" ping.)
You need to learn a little about the history of the 20th century before making any more idiotic pronouncements.
Although I suspect that sentences more complex than "See Spot run" may be beyond you I'll make a few points anyway.
(1) The Pope never took Hussein's side, ever.
(2) The Pope questioned whether or not intervention was the best solution. Although I think the idea that the program of UN weapons inspection was naive and ineffective, not everyone thought it was. They were wrong - but not necessarily maliciously wrong.
(3) The Pope is a pastor. He has tens of thousands of his flock living in Iraq. When the Pope criticized the Chinese regime, the Chinese response was to round up thousands of Catholics and imprison them, as well as torture and kill priests and nuns. The Pope realized that his words of criticism, while easy for him to say, exacted an enormous toll of suffering and deprivation on his flock.
Therefore if the Pope were on the front lines calling for war, who knows what Hussein would have done to punish him - how many innocent Catholic Christians in Iraq would have paid the price?
(4) Not everyone who opposed the war supported Hussein - this is a caricature. Although I wholeheartedly support the war and my little brother who is still over there fighting it (and you're lucky he's there or he'd kick your a$$ for saying what you said about the Pope) my peacenik cousins don't, because they are wishful thinkers who believe that all wars can be avoided.
My cousins aren't supporters of Hussein either - they just have too much faith in people's good side.
I'm sorry your historical education has been so woefully deficient.
A future Pope may rethink JPII's policy in light of developing events.
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