I watched Pope Benedict XVI as he visited Yad Vashem (the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem) today.
I am no fan of the pope, although I am Catholic. [For me Catholicism is about grace permeating the natural world though sacramental action rather than church organization.]
The pope argues that the names of those killed are remembered by Almighty God. He was genuinely moving as he recalled how for each of those killed, parents had once prayed for each of them at their birth.
I do not believe that this pope is Anti-Semitic.
I just wish he could find sympathy in his heart for the pain and, yes, persecution so many lesbian, gay, and transgender people live through.
PS: For any event taking place in Israel it is imperative to read Ha'aretz. The paper is Zionist, but prints far more variety of opinion that any western paper, and has in Amira Hass one of the world's great journalists.
PPS: As to the issue of Pope Pius XII, I tend to think he has been unfairly defamed by his detractors. The weird thing is that he is now a hero to Catholic conservatives. In biblical studies, especially, on the issue of evolution, on the legitimacy of using "periodic abstinence" for contraception, he was a flaming liberal.
4 comments:
"I am no fan of the pope, although I am Catholic. [For me Catholicism is about grace permeating the natural world though sacramental action rather than church organization.]"
A curious comment - does this indicate you are not a fan of ANY Pope, or is there something about this one in particular? What you say about grace permeating through the world is of course true, but as a Catholic we MUST believe that the Church is the vehicle through which that happens. To dismiss the papacy as a matter of 'church organisation' shows a lack of understanding of the nature of the Church as transcendental, the Body of Christ, the intercessionary means by which we can receive God's grace, the Word. If you don't believe this, then perhaps you are not really a Catholic?!
"I just wish he could find sympathy in his heart for the pain and, yes, persecution so many lesbian, gay, and transgender people live through."
Do you know that he doesn't? Indeed, judging from his writings (which include the important statement of such a life as a 'trial' in the Catechism) I would think it most unlikely that he does not have such sympathy,although I do not know his heart any more than you do. However, I usually find people who say such things are really pressing for doctrinal change, which cannot of course be brought about in reality. I remind you that true love, as preached by the Christ, is not a matter of allowing people to do what they want, but of guiding to the fullness of redemption.
@Athanasius,
I certainly do believe that the Church Militant is a means of grace, and specifically Roman Catholicism.
But I do not believe in papalism, or the doctrine of creeping infallibility.
In morals, I adhere to probablism and reject Jansenism.
"I do not believe in papalism, or the doctrine of creeping infallibility"
On what grounds either non-belief? Both are firmly routed in both Scripture and the tradition of the Catholic Church. You can't really have the Catholic Church without the Pope, or - more pertinently - without the assurances of Christ for His Church.
Indefectability not infallibility is the issue.
See my Syllabus of Papal and Magisterial Errors - http://www.otkenyer.hu/halsall/syl.txt
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