John Paul II kicks the bucket
• Catholic
One Vicar of Christ dies, another takse his place. Amid all the pious bombast about John Paul II we can also recall his protection of Cardinal Bernard Law:
A church that has allowed no latitude in its teachings on masturbation, premarital sex, birth control, and divorce suddenly asks for understanding and “wiggle room” for the most revolting crime on the books.
Christopher Hitchens: What no one else will say about John Paul II
Also on Slate: How Do You Pick a Pope?
To many victims and their families, however, the pope’s actions fell short. Under John Paul, they contend, the Vatican was more aggressive about stamping out dissent within the priesthood over birth control than it was about protecting children.
For Victims, Strong Words Were Not Enough
Curious Vatican custom:
After a doctor certifies his death, tradition calls for the Vatican camerlengo, Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, who will run the Vatican until a new pope is chosen, to call out his baptismal name three times. He then strikes the pope’s forehead with a silver hammer to ensure he is dead. The hammer is then used to destroy the papal ring, the symbol of his authority.
Pope Succumbs to Illness Suffered at Length and in Public
John Paul II’s manipulation of the College of Cardinals probably insures the next Pope will share most of his views.
John Paul’s influence was so strong in every corner of the church that almost everyone in the emerging set of papabili — men who could be pope — shares his basic views. Joseph Ratzinger, John Paul’s chief guardian of doctrine, was in full accord with the last pope’s stances on sex and church discipline.
Pontiff’s Road Map Will Guide Selection
Many Catholic clergy weren’t whole-hearted fans of John Paul II. But they learned to keep their mouths shut.
“I’m of the generation of priests who were euphoric about the idea that the church could change,” said the Rev. Andrew Greeley, an author and columnist. “And while I recognize all his great talents, I think he pulled the plug on it, and that greatly dismays me.”
A Papacy and Church Transformed
John Paul II took the church’s teaching on sexuality in the direction of madness at times.
The Catholic Church opposes condoms in all except the rarest of circumstances because they are a form of contraception, which it believes prevents the God-given gift of life. The pope held the church’s hard line that promoting the use of condoms to fight the spread of AIDS fostered what he saw as immoral and hedonistic lifestyles and behavior that will only contribute to its spread. There were even reports that the church was sending out messages in Africa that condoms actually caused HIV/AIDS.
A Pope of Unity but Also Division
For many of us John Paul II’s legacy will be his condemnation of gay marriage and insistence on clerical celibacy.
He opposed divorce, birth control and abortion, the ordination of women and the lifting of the celibacy requirement for priests. …
During his 26-year papacy, dissenting theologians were disciplined and bishops who bucked directives from the Vatican were replaced by prelates more in line with John Paul’s thinking.
He pushed his bishops to hold the line against gay marriage and tried to shut off debate on whether women could be ordained.
John Paul’s conservatism often criticized
“He will go down in history as a pope who didn’t understand and who wasn’t friendly to women,” Frances Kissling, president of the liberal Washington DC-based activist group Catholics for a Free Choice, said of John Paul.
“He couldn’t have slammed the door shut more loudly on the question of the ordination of women. He will go down as a fifth-century Pope in terms of who women are”.
Women critics say Pope never understood them
Be entertaining to see what the next Pope is like. I’m not Catholic so amusement is the only thing he’ll have to offer me.
Comments
Posted by: rev | April 6, 2005 3:02 AM