Ha, ha.
Posted on 04/19/2005 5:13:20 PM PDT by Alex Marko
BOSTON (Reuters) - Liberal U.S. Catholics on Tuesday expressed dismay at the choice of a conservative new pope and doubted he will heal an institution racked by disillusionment and tarnished by a sex abuse scandal among the clergy.
The election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI rankled those who advocate married priests, a bigger role for women within the church and softening its policy on homosexuality, birth control, euthanasia and abortion.
Since taking over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith as the Roman Catholic Church's chief ideologue, Ratzinger has denounced homosexuality and even branded other Christian churches as deficient.
"Gay and lesbian Catholics are going to be very hurt by this election because Cardinal Ratzinger was the lightning rod for so much of the anger they felt under the previous pope," said Francis DeBernardo, executive director of the New Ways Ministry, a national ministry for lesbian and gay Catholics.
Under the Pope John Paul II, American Catholics' attendance at weekly Mass declined as many were put off by what they saw as increasingly conservative Vatican doctrine.
The sense of alienation deepened with a well-publicized scandal over pedophile priests, which erupted in 2002 in the Archdiocese of Boston as court documents showed bishops shuttled pedophile priests from parish to parish.
Victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy reacted skeptically to word that Ratzinger was the new pope.
"Ratzinger is a polarizing figure to many, who seems to prefer combativeness to compromise and compassion," Mary Grant of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement. "It's ... crucial that the new pope follow the words and views of John Paul II who said 'there is no place in the priesthood for anyone who would harm the young."'
MORE OF THE SAME
Catholics for a Free Choice, a progressive group based in Washington, laid out an action plan for the new pontiff to pursue in his first 100 days with the goal of healing fractures within the church.
It urged the new pope to appoint a commission to review church policy on condoms, to establish a pontifical academy on women's rights in the church, and to welcome back those marginalized over the last quarter-century -- including gays and lesbians.
But those familiar with Ratzinger said to expect more of the same, and they doubted he would tailor his views to adapt to the liberal forces evident in the U.S. church.
"This is the guy who's been in charge of stifling dissent in the church," said lawyer Carmen Durso, who represented dozens of plaintiffs in clergy abuse lawsuits against the Boston archdiocese.
"This says to me that the Vatican ... is not prepared to move into the 21st Century, which it desperately needs to do," said Durso, who was raised Catholic but no longer practices.
Christine Schenk, a nun from Cleveland, Ohio, who favors opening the priesthood to married men, said she was disappointed and puzzled by Ratzinger's selection, but she saw glimmers of hope.
Schenk explained that Ratzinger had never ruled out the idea of married priests, and that the church is facing a deepening shortage of priests -- so he may be forced to act.
In a 2004 document, Ratzinger denounced "radical feminism" as undermining the family and natural differences between men and women.
Asked if there was anything in his background that gave her hope that Ratzinger would build a stronger partnership with women in the church, Quinn said: "We always hope for miracles".
Amchurch lost.
Good point. It appears that Latin America will see an attempt to replace Christianity with a resurgence of "liberation theology". Given the fecklessness of the American liberal churches, they will aid and abet this movement and it will take clarity from the Vatican to help keep it in check.
We have a Benedictine Convent here in St. Marys (duh?), a few of the dear ladies can be seen driving about town in their pickup trucks.
The 'disappearance' of nuns as we know them can be traced directly, IMHO, to the birth control pill and the feminism that drove it. Not only did it teach selfishness and self-absorption, it also drastically reduced the size of Catholic families (the big Catholic families always had an 'extra' child for the vocations).
We don't want 'em, either. They've destroyed the Episcopal Church and will, no doubt, be getting on to the others.
Your liberal "Catholics" reject Christianity, not just Roman Catholicism.
You can keep 'em.
Imagine how dismayed they will be when Kennedy, Kerry, Biden, Lahey, Mikulski and Durbin are all excommunicated.
No, it was Catholics. But boofing altar boys wasn't policy.
Someone tell Gene Robinson he's not a christian but a homosexual libertine yet?
The AmChurchians are sucking lemons (dusted with alum) today. The evidence of this is very close at hand. **wink**
There are plenty on EWTN. After the Pope's death, I was watching a wonderful show with interviews with faithful YOUNG nuns and hip YOUNG Franciscan priests. It made my heart glad to see the future of the Catholic church!
Yeah, but there's another story posted that says lots of Third World Catholics are disappointed too, so that means just about everyone doesn't like the new Pope. After all, the MSM said so.
Then he shouldn't have guessed.
Su-weeet
I hope you're not holding your breath while you wait! ;-)
The media wants to paint the entire Catholic Church in America as a bunch of liberal CINOs. If you polled only regular churchgoers instead of those who call themselves Catholic and show up only on Christmas and Easter, I'd suspect that the percentages would be quite different!
60 million out of 1.1 billion, sounds close to 6% to me.
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