YOUR TURN

Some of your emails on the astonishing selection of the new Pope:

As a fellow Catholic with a questioning brain and a personal conscience, your blog was my only comfort this morning as I absorbed the impact of Ratzinger’s election. This was a “circle the wagons” decision. The sex abuse crisis was a wake-up call that the church urgently needs to grow and change- the selection of Ratzinger is a signal that the Vatican still believes they can solve all problems with raw power (theirs) and blind obedience (ours). I never, never thought I would say this, but I really wonder if I can be a Catholic three years from now.

I certainly sympathize with the deep disappointment you and all Catholics with a remotely modern or progressive outlook on life must have felt to see the Vatican’s enforcer of arch-conservative dogma elected Pope. There are some reasons not to lose all hope, however, if we see this election in its broader context.
1. The guy’s 78 years old. I give this papacy 3-5 years tops, given that guys like him don’t exactly jog 3 miles a day and stick to a low cholesterol diet. His election was for a classic “stay the course” place-holder to give the church a few years to take stock of where it wants to go in the long term.
2. He did take the name Benedict rather than Pius, suggesting he wants to see himself as a force of moderation and reconciliation in the church. Benedict XV, who was Pope during World War I, succeeded the infamously conservative papacy of Pius X and attempted to smooth over a lot of the contentiousness sown by his predecessor. It was an interesting choice of name. This may be wishful thinking, but cardinals generally give great consideration to what name they take and the message it sends about their agenda as pope.
3. Ratzinger/Benedict represents the apogee of anti-modern conservative dogma in the Vatican. If you look at the next generation of cardinals who will be in line for the next papacy, guys like Schonborn of Austria, or Maradiaga of Honduras, they’re orthodox to be sure, but also much more liberal and forward-looking than someone like Ratzinger or John Paul II. It’s the /next/ Pope who will matter.
My guess is that Ratzinger will have a brief and rather unremarkable papacy that, at the most, will maintain the status quo in terms of doctrine and social teachings. That, of course, means several more years of heartache and disillusionment for people like you, Andrew. On the other hand, I don’t think he can seriously do more damage in these areas than John Paul did and, indeed, will reinforce the notion over the next couple of years that, ok, the old boys have had their heyday and now it’s time for a new generation to take the reins of the church leadership.

Ratzinger as pope scares me, too–the worst aspects of John Paul II, without the warmth. Maybe we need this to bring about intense demand for change. But oh how this will help perpetuate the crisis of AIDS in Africa, the shortage of priests, the waste of resources talented laypersons could bring to managing church affairs, conflicts with other faiths. The love of Jesus feels so far away.

I should shut up now. And pray.