Thinking back on last week with the Pope it struck me that he was, like the words in the old Kris Kristofferson song, “a walking contraction,” beginning with his demeanor.We had been expecting “the enforcer” and the "Rotweiller, “ not the good Shepherd but a
German Shepherd. Instead, we saw a man who was quiet, soft-spoken, gentle, self-effacing, a bit solemn and non-confrontational.
His body language at the beginning of the week spoke of a man who was slightly uncomfortable with all of the attention and fanfare, someone who would much rather be in the background, reading theology.
By the end of the week he had loosened up considerably, he was clearly more at ease, smiling much more and seemed to be actually enjoying himself. Naturally, getting the unprecedented welcome from the president and a great press didn’t hurt.
By the time he left New York, he was -- for this man -- practically euphoric, raising his arms in blessing with a confidence that belied the tentativeness of his first day.
Here are a few areas of contradiction that struck me.
On the issue of child sexual abuse: He was admirable in the way he addressed it headlong instead of trying to shove it under the rug. He brought it up on the plane coming over, in which he used the word “shame”, again in his homily at National Park in Washington, where he said “no words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,” and he met with five victims of abuse here in Washington.
And yet, there are still cases of abuse, there are still abusive priests who are on pensions, there are still bishops who looked the other way and repeatedly refused to recognize what was happening or take action. The most egregious of all, the major perpetrator of this, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston, who was forced to step down as a result of the scandal, is now an honored member of the Vatican in Rome. Cardinal Law, who knew about the abuse cases and quietly transferred the guilty priests to other parishes where they could continue their abuse rather than discipline or fire them, has his own Basilica. There are those victims who say that until Law is forced to pay the consequences, the Vatican is sending a message to all Catholics that the Pope’s words can not be taken seriously.
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On the U.S. Church: Benedict is looking to enlarge the dwindling numbers of Catholics in this country, part of the reason he made this trip to America. Yet culturally, the Church has lost touch with so many of its young Catholics.
The majority of Catholics practice birth control, which is against the teaching of the church. Many Catholics are pro-choice, though the pope spoke dramatically at Yankee stadium about protecting the “most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother’s womb.”
He opposes marriage for priests, which has driven many young men away from the priesthood, he is against women priests, and he opposes homosexuality and gay marriage though reports show that a number of gay men do enter the priesthood. The church has also excluded potential women leaders from making their way to the top of their profession.
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On women: In Washington, Benedict talked about the importance of each individual and group and he talks movingly about equal rights. Women, however, are not allowed to become priests. Despite an encyclical “muliarsis dignitatum” or the dignity of women, a group of women just back from the Vatican to plead equal rights for women in the church were convinced that the Vatican does not trust the movement toward feminism and that the notion of women priests was non-negotiable.
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On other faiths: He spoke at the UN about human rights and about the urgent need to prevent and manage conflicts and to have dialogues and reconciliation. Yet there are many Muslims who feel that this Pope has set back Muslim-Catholic dialogue since the death of John Paul II.
In a controversial speech in Regensburg, Germany, last year Benedict quoted a Byzantine Emperor saying, “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
This Easter, Benedict chose to baptize an Egyptian born Italian Muslim who had been critical of Islam.
Because of his views about Islam a group of 138 Islamic leaders have formed a group, “A Common Word,” to meet with the Pope and to try to institute a more open dialogue. The Pope, on the other hand, who speaks often about religious freedom, has made it clear that he would like to see a mosque in Saudi Arabia, a country which does not allow religious freedom.
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On the Jews: On this latest trip the Pope stopped at a synagogue in New York or the eve of Passover as a special gesture of reaching out to the Jewish people.
This did not mollify those who were still concerned about the fact that as he has recently called for reintroduction of an old Good Friday Mass in Latin that includes a prayer calling for the conversion of the Jews on Good Friday.
Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate also called on this Pope in an “On Faith” post to stop the effort to confer Sainthood on Pope Pius XII who was indifferent, at best, to the plight of the Jews during the Holocaust.
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On academic freedom: The Pope talked about religious freedom and he has been concerned about the closing of a number of Catholic Universities and the number of secular teachers at these Universities. The Vatican has become concerned, too, that the basic tenets of the Catholic church are not being taught by theology professors at Catholic universities. They disapprove of schools who invite pro-choice guests to speak or who allow gay and lesbian clubs on campus.
Still, there are fewer and fewer priests and nuns to teach at these schools so the quality of religious instruction has gone down and many young catholics are choosing colleges where they have total academic and social freedom and where the standard of excellence remains high.
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On secularism: Pope Benedict has deplored the secularism of Europe, declining attendance at churches and the moral relativism he sees gaining a foothold there. He embraces the United States as a very religious country. So it was clear that his major message here in the United States was a message against moral relativism or what he calls “dictatorship of relativism”. He believes that one requires a religious base for morality. That one does not follow moral fashions or trends but remains consistent in one’s love for all of human kind, one's duty to help those less fortunate, the way one lives one’s life, and the values that outlast generations.
In his speech at Yankee stadium, he talked about “rejecting a false dichotomy between faith and political life," since, as the Second Vatican Council put it, "There is no human activity – even in secular affairs – which can be withdrawn from God’s dominion.”
The irony here is that by using those words he disenfranchises all of those Americans, or people in the world who are not believers and gives the impression that, although everyone is equally important in the eyes of his God, those who are secular are lacking. He refers to Americans as “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation” and asks us to “follow faithfully in the footsteps of those who have gone before you! Hasten the coming of God’s Kingdom in this land!”
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On human rights: At the United Nations, Pope Benedict gave an inspiring speech on the subject of human rights. It was the invitation of the Secretary General of the UN that originally brought him to the United States. Despite knowing how hostile George Bush and his administration have been to the UN, even appointing an ambassador who was so unpopular he had to step down, the Pope took this opportunity to implore members to embrace human rights. It was not lost on many that there was a veiled reference to Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and our insistence on the legality of torture. I would imagine that there were a lot of members squirming in their seats during his address.
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On the whole I think from his point of view Pope Benedict’s trip was a success and it accomplished a good deal of what he had set out to do. It gave people a sense of who he really is, as he had been in the shadow of his popular predecessor for the last three years. It softened his image. It raised the profile of the Catholic Church. It energized many Catholics and it gave the impression that he is willing to reach out and engage in dialogues with those of other faiths. He was diplomatic, and gracious in his approach to all subjects, never seeming to admonish but instead to call people to their better natures..
In his short three years as Pope, Benedict has written two encyclicals -- one on the subject of love, the other on the subject of hope. One can only assume his next will be on the subject of faith. Those are not the topics usually identified with Rotweillers. Let us hope, then, and have faith that he will follow through on his word that we are all equally deserving of love no matter who we are or what we believe.
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