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Post by Moses on Apr 18, 2005 7:00:42 GMT -5
The Book on the Next Pope....First a piece of Irish wisdom: you should always listen to a bookie. For they have a saying, "Money tells a good story," and somewhere in their odds is a kind of science-fiction existentialism that decrees that we, the people, know everything. In other words, betting patterns often make for good, unconscious soothsaying. Therefore, if the smart money is telling it right, the next pope will be one of the following three men: Joseph Ratzinger, the 77-year-old German who is dean of the College of Cardinals; Carlo Martini, 78, the former archbishop of Milan, perhaps the world's most powerful Roman Catholic archdiocese; and, on their heels, Jean-Marie Lustiger, the 78-year-old former archbishop of Paris who, Mr. Power's helpful Web site says (with questionable historical accuracy), would be "the first converted Jew ever elevated to the papacy." These three eminences have been leading the field for days, with odds quoted along a range from 3-1 to 7-2. Another early favorite, Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria, has at last glance dropped back to 8-1; and the money moved to Cardinal Cláudio Hummes from Brazil - two weeks ago he was 12-1, but now one can get you only eight on the Latin American. So, how did the favorites race to the front? Usually a bookie takes his measure from a combination of recent performance, street smarts and insider information. So far, much of the $200,000 or so Mr. Power has received has gone on Cardinal Ratzinger. His strong showing comes, it seems, from an Internet rumor that the German's kingmakers had already, even in the last days of the ailing John Paul II, collared half of the votes of the 117-member college. Stay with that word "rumor"; that may be as solid as it gets because, for another favorite, Cardinal Lustiger, we need a jab of true faith.
This good man surged from long shot to front-runner in a matter of days. The impetus? Well, ahem, it started some time back, in 1139 to be exact, when an Irish saint called Malachy received (in a vision, naturally) the identities of all future popes. And here we have a deeper, more worrying problem. St. Malachy prophesied that only two popes would preside after the pontiff whom his adherents recognize as John Paul II, and that the second-to-last would be born a Jew. "Smart" money? Hmm.Growing up in Ireland, I lived among relics and racehorses, in farms where the limestone bedrock made for beautiful monastery walls and, deposited as calcium in the water, great equine bones. I profoundly understand this bizarre combination of sacred and profane. As a child I watched opportunistic men peddle cigarettes and ice cream where people flocked to see statues that bled, smiled or trembled in local miracles. And every parish priest worth his salt had a horse or a piece of a horse. Today, it seems, all those forces have fused in me to the point where I can scarcely resist a stake. Yet, once a Catholic always a Catholic, and before I step up and put my money down I have to recognize that I'm up against unseen forces. Meaning, how can I consider anything as a safe bet when divine intervention remains a factor in the conclave? Still, were the lure of gambling to overpower the fear of God in me (and, God knows, it might), I'd have a crack at a few of the outsiders. For instance, at 25-1, Angelo Scola is an interesting bet; he's the patriarch of Venice, speaks several languages (including English) and is only 63 years old. And have a look at the Argentine, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, also showing strongly at 12-1. And though he is not even given odds (in Irish racing parlance, a "rank outsider"), Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia is a very effective Vatican operator and truly worth a piece of my money; after all, in 1977 Karol Wojtyla was such a long shot he had scarcely left the paddock before the others were round the first bend. In the end, of course, those who want to play Paddy Power's game will have to be careful as to whom they openly fancy; as every Vatican watcher knows, "He who goes in a pope comes out a cardinal." Obviously, mutterings of "sacrilege" and "irreverence" have been heard in old Hibernia. (Even though there may be a fine point of canon law as to whether Mr. Power is actually making bets or merely taking them.) Have no truck with such killing of joy, I say - God may not be a gambler, but isn't that because he never felt the need? And, anyway, who invented forgiveness for human frailty? He hasn't yet struck down, so far as I can tell, any of these holy rollers. But if you still feel it's sacrilegious to bet on these contenders, you can have a theologically safer flutter on the name of the next pope: Benedict (3-1), John Paul (7-2), Pius (6-1), Peter (8-1) and John (10-1) are among the favorites. An 80-1 outsider of outsiders is the name Damian (which would give shudders, I guess, to moviegoers who remember "The Omen"). Or you can bet on the number of days this conclave will take - one day (14-1), three days (5-4) or six days or more at 7-1. THERE may be more to come. On Saturday, in Rome, Mr. Power set up his stall to shout the odds across St. Peter's Square. Soon enough, some men, whom he described to me in a phone conversation as "the undercover police," moved him on; he was, he said, "minutes away from the slammer." He's been taking hundreds of bets, though, from the Italians, and waiting to see how much he eventually will have to pay out on what he calls "holy smoke." Even my mother would, I think, smile at that coinage - but she might not let God see her. Frank Delaney is the author, most recently, of "Ireland: A Novel."
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Post by Moses on Apr 18, 2005 8:36:01 GMT -5
Choose a pope to hold the line: RatzingerLast Updated Mon, 18 Apr 2005 09:03:57 EDT CBC NewsVATICAN CITY - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued a blunt call Monday for the Roman Catholic Church's cardinals to choose a pope who will refuse to be swayed by calls for change to the church's guiding principles. As the secret conclave to elect a successor to John Paul II begins in Rome, Ratzinger, a German cleric seen as a front-runner, delivered the homily at the cardinals' mass Monday morning in his capacity as dean of the College of Cardinals. [The very repulsive Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger] (AP Photo) His words were greeted with an unusual round of applause from the 115 cardinals from 52 nations who are eligible to elect the next pope. (Two of the 117 cardinals under the age of 80 are ill and cannot attend the conclave.) "Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labelled today as a fundamentalism, whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and swept along by every wind of teaching, looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards," the 78-year-old Ratzinger said during the homily.
"We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."
Liberals looking to modernize the Catholic faith say it should relax its policies on birth control and consider giving women a more prominent role in church affairs in order to remain relevant to more of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
John Paul refused to consider such changes during his 26-year papacy.
Secret balloting to begin Monday or Tuesday
At about 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. EDT), the cardinals will proceed in full regalia to the Sistine Chapel.
...."The new pope has already been chosen by the Lord," Italian Cardinal Ennio Antonelli said Sunday. "We must only pray to know who it is."
Once in the chapel, the cardinals will hear a "meditation" from 85-year-old Czech prelate Tomas Spidlik "on the need for careful discernment" in choosing the new pope.
They will sit at 12 tables along the frescoed walls of the chapel, where each will write down one name on ballots printed in Latin.
The winner must receive a two-thirds majority, or at least 77 votes.
If no winner emerges, the ballots are burned in a stove, once in the morning and again in the afternoon.
Black smoke that billows from a chimney above the chapel signals that a decision has not been reached. When a new pope is chosen, white smoke is pumped through the chimney and the Vatican's bells will ring.
About an hour later, the new pope will appear on the balcony of St. Peter's to greet those who will assemble in St. Peter's Square for the historic occasion.
No one can say how long the deliberations will take, but Jesuit priest and journalist Thomas Reese expects this will be a brief conclave.
"If the conclave goes more than five days, the media is going to be outside saying, 'Crisis in the Church; cardinals divided.' And they don't want that message going out," he said in an interview with CBC.
"So I think there's a lot of psychological pressure on them to pick a pope within three or four days."
Three Canadian cardinals are taking part in the conclave: Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Quebec, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal and Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic of Toronto.
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Post by Moses on Apr 19, 2005 13:59:41 GMT -5
Repulsive German Fascist elected Pope by Cardinals UK Priest's 'shock' at new Pope A priest of the Portsmouth Diocese, Father Ray Lyons, has said that he is "shocked" and "concerned" that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has been elected Pope. The 78 year-old German, who is thought to have a conservative outlook, took the name Benedict XVI. Father Lyons had hoped someone with a "reform agenda" would be elected to act as a "healer and reconciler". "I felt we needed a healer and reconciler and I don't think he is the man to do that job," he told the BBC. .... He also expressed surprise at the new Pope's choice of name, saying that the name Benedict suggested he would break with tradition - although this would not be consistent with his conservative reputation. Ratzinger in charge of Doctrine crack-downs....opinion about him remains deeply divided in Germany, a sharp contrast to John Paul, who was revered in his native Poland. A recent poll for Der Spiegel news weekly said Germans opposed to Ratzinger becoming pope outnumbered supporters 36 percent to 29 percent, with 17 percent having no preference. The poll of 1,000 people, taken April 5-7, gave no margin of error. Many blame Ratzinger for decrees from Rome barring Catholic priests from counseling pregnant teens on their options and blocking German Catholics from sharing communion with their Lutheran brethren at a joint gathering in 2003.
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Post by Moses on Apr 19, 2005 15:35:44 GMT -5
news.ft.com/cms/s/477bab6e-b0e7-11d9-9bfc-00000e2511c8.html....The choice of the silver-haired, mild-mannered German is certainly controversial. Ahead of the conclave supporters of the cardinal argued that he represented continuity with the late Pope's conservative agenda and with his concentration of power in the Vatican. They pointed to his intellectual and theological brilliance (he has written over 40 books), his linguistic skills (he speaks ten languages) and stressed that - despite charges of being the Pope's 'Grand Inquisitor', or even 'God's Rottweiler'- he is in fact a warm-hearted, spiritual man. Critics argued that the cardinal would do little to heal wounds within the international church movement, and that he was far from the modernising force needed by Catholics in the twenty-first century. They also argued that he is uncharismatic, lacks leadership skills, and - despite being the ultimate Vatican insider - has never shown great interest in Rome's inner administrative workings. Unlike Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger is unloved in his native country, where many ordinary German Catholics resent his hard-line stance against women priests and the involvement of lay congregations in church affairs, and his unwillingness to tackle the priest shortage that plagues many parishes. The cardinal has not always held such conservative views, but, according to his older brother Georg, 81, even as a small child Joseph knew his goal in life. Following the visit of a German cardinal to their kindergarten, Joseph exclaimed: "I'll also become a cardinal", according to Georg. [He probably liked the robes] As if inspired by this early encounter, Cardinal Ratzinger moved quickly to become Germany's most prominent twentieth century Catholic figure. Born on April 16 1927 in Marktl am Inn, a village of 2700 people on the Austrian border east of Munich, he was made a priest in 1951 - in a joint ceremony with his brother Georg - and a theology professor in Freising, near Munich, at the tender age of 31. Before that, the 14-year old Joseph was briefly a member of Hitler's youth organisation when membership became compulsory in 1941. He received dispensation to leave shortly afterwards because he was training in a seminary. He later enrolled in an anti-aircraft unit protecting a factory, but deserted in 1944, spending a few weeks in a prisoner of war camp.
He has said in subsequent interviews that although he opposed the Nazis it was not possible to resist openly - a point contended by some historians. Once appointed a professor his academic career blossomed, taking in positions in Bonn, Tübingen and Regensburg. In his early years of teaching he promoted an opening of the Catholic church, arguing the church was too centralised and controlled by the Vatican (in later life he removed passages containing such views from books he wrote at the time). The trigger for the shift in Cardinal Ratzinger's thinking towards a more conservative theological approach was largely the 1968 student uprisings in Europe, when - despite his relatively progressive views - he was attacked by left-wing students in lecture halls for being too conservative. After this he became an opponent of, as he put it, the "uncritical opening of the church to the world and to the spirit of the times". [i.e. : a neocon] In 1977 he was made archbishop of Munich and Freising, and in the same year was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. Despite his substantial achievements until then, his transfer to Rome in 1981 marked the turning point in his career, enabling him to work closely with the Pope, with whom he usually spoke in private conversations in German. In 2002 he was chosen to head of the cardinals' organisation in the Vatican. Cardinal Ratzinger, who suffers from ill-health, [my diagnosis: a bile problem] has said in recent interviews that he was looking forward to retiring in order to write more books.
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Post by Moses on Apr 20, 2005 6:55:16 GMT -5
Ratzinger role from Rome felt in U.S. church disputes David Von Drehle Washington Post Apr. 20, 2005 12:00 AM WASHINGTON - Benedict XVI may be a new pope, but American Catholics have been fighting over him for decades. Championed by traditionalists, decried by modernizers, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has played an intimate role, even from far-off Rome, in some of the fiercest disputes inside U.S. parishes, seminaries, Catholic universities, even barrooms. As chief of the Vatican office that monitors orthodoxy, he stood up for the old ways from the old days. People who were reluctant to criticize the grandfatherly Pope John Paul II have long found it easier to make a menacing figure of a German cardinal with a name full of bristling consonants. So the question Tuesday among many American Catholics was: Can a divider become a uniter? "He's the hero of one faction but not of the other one," said Dean Hoge, a sociologist at the Catholic University of America who specializes in tracking attitudes of American Catholics. As "the most-known entity on the whole list" of possible popes, Benedict XVI is likely to be "a polarizing figure, and the American church already has a problem with polarization," Hoge said. Documenting divisionsHoge has documented some of those divisions. While American Catholics widely agree on such issues as the severity of the priestly child-abuse scandal and the need for more lay participation in church decision-making, they disagree on whether the church needs more innovation or more orthodoxy. For example, the number of Catholics who told Hoge's researchers that the church needs more progressive sexual attitudes was statistically equal to the number who said that there are too many gay men in the priesthood. Just days ago, some commentators were speculating that the next pope might be so focused on the developing world he would find such controversies among the relatively rich, educated and free-thinking American Catholics mystifying. But no.Ratzinger in fraySince the early 1980s, few controversies have cropped up in the U.S. church without Ratzinger in the fray. Usually he spoke in his official role as top man in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He admonished Seattle's then-Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen for excessive liberalism in 1985, cracked down on the teachings of the Rev. Charles Curran on birth control in 1986, and repeatedly condemned homosexual behavior as "an intrinsic evil" not to be tolerated in Catholic ministries to gays and lesbians. Last summer, Ratzinger entered an argument among U.S. bishops about whether Catholic politicians such as Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., then running for president, should be denied Holy Communion because of their support for abortion rights. "Consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws" was a "grave sin" that must disqualify a Catholic from receiving the sacrament, Ratzinger wrote, and so is voting for such a politician.(more at link)
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Post by Moses on Apr 20, 2005 10:26:26 GMT -5
New pope intervened against Kerry in US 2004 election campaign
Tue Apr 19, 6:20 PM ET Politics - AFP
WASHINGTON (AFP) - German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican theologian who was elected Pope Benedict XVI, intervened in the 2004 US election campaign ordering bishops to deny communion to abortion rights supporters including presidential candidate John Kerry.
In a June 2004 letter to US bishops enunciating principles of worthiness for communion recipients, Ratzinger specified that strong and open supporters of abortion should be denied the Catholic sacrament, for being guilty of a "grave sin."
He specifically mentioned "the case of a Catholic politician consistently campaigning and voting for permissive abortion and euthanasia laws," a reference widely understood to mean Democratic candidate Kerry, a Catholic who has defended abortion rights.
The letter said a priest confronted with such a person seeking communion "must refuse to distribute it."
A footnote to the letter also condemned any Catholic who votes specifically for a candidate because the candidate holds a pro-abortion position. Such a voter "would be guilty of formal cooperation in evil, and so unworthy to present himself for holy communion," the letter read.
The letter, which was revealed in the Italian magazine L'Espresso last year, was reportedly only sent to US Catholic bishops, who discussed it in their convocation in Denver, Colorado, in mid-June.
Sharply divided on the issue, the bishops decided to leave the decision on granting or denying communion to the individual priest. Kerry later received communion several times from sympathetic priests.
Nevertheless, in the November election, a majority of Catholic voters, who traditionally supported Democratic Party candidates, shifted their votes to Republican and eventual winner George W. Bush.
Their tax-exempt status should be rescinded on this basis. In addition, this makes any Catholic an undesirable candidate, since the "church", which in fact is nothing more than a political sub-org of the far-right, will make statements regarding their status vis a vis that org.
And Kerry shouldn't have stood by the "Church" when he knew they molested his constituents-- children!!
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Post by Moses on Apr 20, 2005 19:15:56 GMT -5
this guy is ex-Wehrmacht.indulge me while i type that again, just so i can feel the virtual blood-ink soak into the virtual white paper of my computer screen, scream: " this guy is ex-Wehrmacht. " "but he deserted in 1945," said the handsome American man, sitting across from me at the cafe Vieux Colombier, a stone's throw from the old church St. Sulpice.at which point the Frenchman sitting to my left leaned over (you know how small these tables are) and said, "so, too did Monsieur Hitler "desert" in 1945." in doesn't matter what they name this guy, Benedictine & Brandy or, what ever: everyone calls him il Papa RATZINGER. just seems to fit. God only knows what The Church was thinking. North / South America, Northern / Western Europe : you can write all that off, sweetie. camera angle? composition? context? FRAME / fugeddaboutit. (how would YOU like this P.R. campaign contract every time we'll see this RATZINGER around children, we'll cringe.this guy is ex- Wehrmacht Posted by: MonsieurGonzo | April 20, 2005 03:27 PM
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Post by Moses on Apr 22, 2005 21:03:59 GMT -5
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Post by Moses on Apr 26, 2005 1:20:49 GMT -5
The Pope's Gag OrderBy David Wallace-Wells Posted Monday, April 25, 2005, at 3:06 PM PT Bloggers criticize Pope Benedict XVI regarding his stance on investigations of sexual abuse by clergy. They also consider a compromise over the judicial filibuster and debate whether contemporary culture is good or bad for you. The pope's gag order: In 2001, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret," the Observer of London reported Sunday. The letter by the future pope, composed jointly with Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone and sent to every Catholic bishop, "asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood." At Salon, religion blogger Richard Bartholomew predicts "the letter's defenders will say that the procedure it lays out is merely for the purposes of church discipline" and "is not meant to be a substitute for a secular criminal investigation and prosecution." But, Bartholomew pre-emptively responds, nothing in the letter requires the church to collaborate with law enforcement—and, as to how the clergy might have interpreted the ambiguity, "the facts of the church scandals speak for themselves." Private Intellectual Benjamin Dueholm agrees. "I'm trying to give Benedict a chance, but let's face it—what those of us who are concerned about this pontificate are doing is giving him a chance to not be the person he's been for his whole Vatican career," he writes. "This makes your ordinary, document-shredding obstruction of justice look, well, venial…. So what, again, are these moral absolutes we're so bad about acknowledging?"
Full Dueholm quote:
Excerpt from Salon analysis: <br>Bertone argued that putting such an obligation on bishops would undermine the “professional secrecy” of the priesthood, and would prevent priests from “confiding” in their bishops. Why these concerns trump the need for justice to be done and to be seen to be done is not explained; but I’ll bear them in mind the next time I hear (literal!) pontifications on the evils of relativism. .... (see link, above-- text of Ratzinger letter linked and quoted and analysed. Also speculates as to possible reasons for the very recent opening of the case of Pope's Mexico buddy, Marcial Maciel Degollado, who founded Legionaries of Christ in Mexico, an investigation that Ratzinger had quashed, previously. )
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Post by Moses on Apr 26, 2005 1:29:41 GMT -5
Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry Confidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret Jamie Doward, religious affairs correspondent Sunday April 24, 2005 The Observer Pope Benedict XVI faced claims last night he had 'obstructed justice' after it emerged he issued an order ensuring the church's investigations into child sex abuse claims be carried out in secret. The order was made in a confidential letter, obtained by The Observer, which was sent to every Catholic bishop in May 2001. It asserted the church's right to hold its inquiries behind closed doors and keep the evidence confidential for up to 10 years after the victims reached adulthood. The letter was signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was elected as John Paul II's successor last week. Lawyers acting for abuse victims claim it was designed to prevent the allegations from becoming public knowledge or being investigated by the police. They accuse Ratzinger of committing a 'clear obstruction of justice'. The letter, 'concerning very grave sins', was sent from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that once presided over the Inquisition and was overseen by Ratzinger. It spells out to bishops the church's position on a number of matters ranging from celebrating the eucharist with a non-Catholic to sexual abuse by a cleric 'with a minor below the age of 18 years'. Ratzinger's letter states that the church can claim jurisdiction in cases where abuse has been 'perpetrated with a minor by a cleric'. The letter states that the church's jurisdiction 'begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age' and lasts for 10 years. It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'. 'Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,' Ratzinger's letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication. The letter is referred to in documents relating to a lawsuit filed earlier this year against a church in Texas and Ratzinger on behalf of two alleged abuse victims. By sending the letter, lawyers acting for the alleged victims claim the cardinal conspired to obstruct justice. Daniel Shea, the lawyer for the two alleged victims who discovered the letter, said: 'It speaks for itself. You have to ask: why do you not start the clock ticking until the kid turns 18? It's an obstruction of justice.' Father John Beal, professor of canon law at the Catholic University of America, gave an oral deposition under oath on 8 April last year in which he admitted to Shea that the letter extended the church's jurisdiction and control over sexual assault crimes. The Ratzinger letter was co-signed by Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone who gave an interview two years ago in which he hinted at the church's opposition to allowing outside agencies to investigate abuse claims.
'In my opinion, the demand that a bishop be obligated to contact the police in order to denounce a priest who has admitted the offence of paedophilia is unfounded,' Bertone said. Shea criticised the order that abuse allegations should be investigated only in secret tribunals. 'They are imposing procedures and secrecy on these cases. If law enforcement agencies find out about the case, they can deal with it. But you can't investigate a case if you never find out about it. If you can manage to keep it secret for 18 years plus 10 the priest will get away with it,' Shea added. A spokeswoman in the Vatican press office declined to comment when told about the contents of the letter. 'This is not a public document, so we would not talk about it,' she said.
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Post by Moses on Apr 28, 2005 6:21:21 GMT -5
April 28, 2005
Pope, Reviving Weekly Audience, Stresses Europe's Christian Roots By IAN FISHER
VATICAN CITY, April 27 - The normal rhythms of the Vatican began returning Wednesday as Pope Benedict XVI held the traditional weekly papal audience, using the moment to express what may become a central theme of his papacy: the Christian roots of Europe. Addressing thousands of pilgrims on a brilliant morning in St. Peter's Square, he explained that he had chosen the name Benedict for several reasons, among them the role that St. Benedict of Norcia in Italy, the sixth-century author of the monastic "Rule" that led to the founding of the Benedictine order, had on spreading Christianity in Europe. Benedict is one of the patron saints of Europe. "He represents a fundamental point of reference for the unity of Europe and a strong reminder of the unrenounceable Christian roots of its culture and civilization," the pope said in Italian, one of at least six languages he used on Wednesday. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he was chosen pope last week, he wrote often of his worries that Europe had forgotten its Christian roots and therefore was in danger of losing its identity and spiritual grounding.....
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Post by Moses on May 15, 2005 6:14:30 GMT -5
May 15, 2005Following Editor's Ouster, Some Catholic Theologians in U.S. Expect More Papal ScrutinyBy ANDY NEWMAN After a busy week in which the Vatican forced out the prominent American editor of a Roman Catholic magazine, then put an American in charge of enforcing church doctrine for the first time, many Catholic intellectuals in the United States are feeling the spotlight of papal scrutiny swinging this way. It is safe to say some of them welcome the attention more than others. "Oh, boy," the Rev. Robert F. Drinan, a Georgetown professor and former congressman from Massachusetts, said with a sigh upon learning that the archbishop of San Francisco, William J. Levada, was going to Rome as chief doctrinal officer.Father Drinan, a Jesuit, was already ruing the departure of the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, the editor of America, a small but influential Jesuit weekly, and one of the sought-after commentators during the recent papal changeover. Father Reese resigned May 6. Several Catholic officials in the United States said that his dismissal was ordered in March by Archbishop Levada's predecessor at the doctrinal office, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is now Pope Benedict XVI. Cardinal Ratzinger was said to have received complaints from American bishops about articles in the magazine that questioned official church positions on gay marriage, stem cell research and salvation for non-Christians.Bernard Prusak, chairman of the theology department at Villanova University, said Father Reese's ouster raised "concerns about the kind of theological dialogue that we should have in the church.""Catholic theology has to explain what the official teaching is," Dr. Prusak added, "but it also has the responsibility to probe new data and raise new questions." Archbishop Levada, as head of the American bishops' committee on doctrine, had a role in affirming the Vatican's official condemnation of the Rev. Roger Haight in February. Father Haight's 1999 book "Jesus, Symbol of God," considers, among other things, the possibility of non-Christians being saved without Jesus' help. He has been banned from teaching at Catholic universities.Some conservative Catholic thinkers said they were seeing signs of a long-overdue housecleaning. "Pope Benedict XVI is clearly attending to lots of administrative and housekeeping concerns in the church," the Rev. Joseph Koterski, the chairman of the philosophy department at Fordham University in New York City, said Friday. As for Father Reese's removal, Father Koterski said: "There's a great desire for clarity about church teaching. A religious magazine that offers itself as a Catholic magazine does have to have clarity about what the church holds and why it holds it, and not simply be a lobbying force for changing position." What else is on the pope's agenda for the United States, a bastion of what he has called the "dictatorship of relativism," remains to be seen. Some liberal theologians said they feared the enforcement of a requirement, urged by Pope John Paul II and approved in 1999 by the American bishops but never fully put into practice, that professors of Catholic theology at Catholic universities obtain a certificate of doctrinal purity from the local bishop.But the Rev. Joseph Fessio, a conservative Jesuit and provost of Ave Maria University in Florida, said the nation's bishops lacked the unity to make the policy stick. "John Paul II was pretty clear about what he wanted and hoped and desired," he said, "and I haven't seen many changes in the theology departments of Catholic universities." Father Fessio added, "A pope can't do everything." Others said that although Archbishop Levada's decades of experience in the American church would incline him to focus attention on it, fears that he would be an unforgiving hardliner were unfounded. James T. Bretzke, chairman of the theology department at the University of San Francisco and a self-described moderate who declared Father Reese's removal "dreadfully unfortunate," said Archbishop Levada was "balanced, careful and nuanced" in his dealings with the university. "He believes in academic freedom," Professor Bretzke said. "He recognizes that this is the role of the university." John Jones, editorial director of Crossroad Publishing, an independent house that publishes books on Catholicism by authors across the political spectrum, including Cardinal Ratzinger himself, said the Vatican's doctrinal office, known formally as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, had actually been relatively quiet under John Paul. "By historical standards, it would be not be surprising if any papacy, Ratzinger or any other, would take a more active interest in reviewing Catholic titles," Mr. Jones said. The Rev. Raymond Schroth, a professor at St. Peter's College in Jersey City, said he and his fellow Jesuits, the church's largest religious order and traditionally among the most independent-minded, had grown accustomed to periodic crackdowns. "This is sort of a cyclic thing," he said. He noted that America had had its editor removed at the Vatican's behest once before, in 1955. The editor, the Rev. Robert C. Hartnett, had annoyed the church hierarchy for years with his sharp criticisms of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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Post by grdrt on Mar 10, 2007 5:06:46 GMT -5
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Post by REW on Mar 14, 2007 2:07:31 GMT -5
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Post by REW on Mar 14, 2007 2:51:20 GMT -5
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