I am sure for Deblette and a person with the email name Locksley, the Pope has lost no relevance. They went ballistic at any criticism yesterday on HuffPo. They are so uptight that it is hard for them to accept that there might be even the tiniest thing to criticize. I suppose for 25 % of the US population and 16% of the wrold population there is relevance above and beyond the relevance of what we as taxpayers are paying to support the security he needs while he is here performing primarily religious functions. I cannot help but wonder if the public venues are being rented out or handed over for religious use free of charge and if free, is that customary for any religious gathering in the cities he goes to, and if any of the cities he is going to are being reimbursed for the extra police and trash removal, etc. that will be necessary as the throngs of Roman Catholics line the streets and byways to see him pass by. As for me, I was pleased to know that today he had to look three victims of abuse in the eyes and feel their pain and I can hope he returns back to Vatican city and defrocks Cardinal Bernard Lawand send, by doing so, a very strong message to follow up on what he said yesterday to the Cardinals and Bishops who were in the crypt with him.
My Spiritual Journey: The Pope, His Relevance, And Those Sexual Molestation Cases
The big news this week is that Pope Benedict XVI is here for a visit. (Whee! His spiritual journey coincides with my spiritual journey!) And as it turns out, he's finally decided to address that pesky altar-boy molestation thing. Touchy (zing!) subject, here we come.
"It is a great suffering for the church in the United States and for the church in general and for me personally that this could happen... I am deeply ashamed, and we will do what is possible so this cannot happen again in the future. I do not wish to talk at this moment about homosexuality, but about pedophilia, which is another thing," he said.
Well. That's a nice gesture, I suppose. He did nicely side-step the issue of homosexuality, but can you blame him? One Catholic controversy at a time, people.
OK. Seriously, no more funny. I do appreciate his apology, as do, I'm sure, many of the victims, but my question here, today, Inner Life Wednesday, is: What exactly is he here to do?
It seems like these days the Pope is becoming increasingly irrelevant. I know, I know - not to the millions (65 of 'em in the US!) of devout catholics out there, but come on, haven't they heard that Islam is now the world's most popular religion?
To me, the Pope's finally public apology is just a metaphor for his position in the world of faith and spirituality: It's a nice gesture, but what exactly does it accomplish?
And, I have to be honest, as a strictly raised Catholic (though, that possibly is the problem) and as someone who's father grew up in the Pope's hometown of Regensburg, I do feel a personal connection to the guy -- that nebulous (at best) less-than-six degrees of separation that makes one feel so much more connected than anyone else. And yet, I have no idea what he does. Seriously, as someone who has every reason to know about and follow the pope (though, I'd hardly consider myself a current Catholic), I'm barely aware of his existence.
Yes, he's the most important man in the Catholic Church, which is arguably the most powerful religion in the world, but what exactly does he do? (Besides decrying gay marriage, abortion, and stem cell research, that is.)
Is the Pope considered the physical representation of God on earth? (I should probably already know that or at least be googling it, but I'm lazy so I'm just going to let that question hang. And it has a point, I'm just getting there slowly.) And if he is, wasn't (isn't?) God all good? Wasn't / isn't the point of God just straight-up, undeniable, inarguable, all-around goodness?
So, in that regard, what exactly does the Pope do? I'm not talking bureaucratic nonsense, or structural things, and I'm most definitely not talking symbolic gestures, I'm talking straight-up, down-home good actions.
Feel free to fill me in here, this is not a rhetorical question. I'm not posing it to imply he's doing badly, or doing bad things, I'm asking because I don't know. And on that note, the fact that I don't know manages to simultaneously leave me both worried and utterly unconcerned. On the one hand, shouldn't people be able to easily list all the good deeds the Pope has done? And on the other, I'm a relatively yet embarrassingly unaware person (as many commenters have been oh-so-kind to point out) so maybe it means nothing at all, other than I should probably do some research now and then.
But anyway, back to my point, which you may or may not be able to tell is: What exactly does the Pope do? And not just him. (Here we go!) Now I can't stop thinking of the relevance of all spiritual leaders in today's world.
Organized religions obviously need leaders and heads and whatever their form of a president is, but I've already pointed out my thoughts on organized religion in past posts - it's not for me.
But as far as spiritual leaders go - gurus (yes, I know, I've asked for one), messiahs, etc., -- I ask, what is the point? We're humans and we crave human contact, connection, and probably most importantly the ability to relate, but I'm becoming more and more inclined to believe that spirituality is something that is inside all of us.
Here's the thing. People like me could definitely use a spiritual guide of some sort because I clearly don't know what on earth I'm doing (cue commenter chorus of agreement!) and sometimes I need someone to say, "Hey, try this out!" or "Hey, did you ever think about this?", but would I ever allow one person to dictate my actions or determine what is and isn't right in my life? Absolutely not.
I understand that some people are unable to do that on their own, but isn't that yet another point? We treat spiritual leaders like they're gods, but they're not - they're humans and they are no less fallible than we are. Case in point, Catholic priests. (Sorry, it needed to be said.) The way I look at it, the molestation of altar boys has less to do with the Catholic church and more to do with the human fallibility of the priests. But then again, it also speaks to my point that no person should allow one entity to entirely dictate their actions, so, well, it looks like it's just bad news bears all around.
Look, it's time to wrap it up, and I've obviously shared (Over-shared? Rambled?) my thoughts and/or inner meanderings, so let's get to the point of all this, what are yours? And let me be specific: not your thoughts on me - I'm clearly narcissistic enough as it is - but your thoughts on my questions.
Is the pope relevant? How do you feel about him? What exactly does he do? Are spiritual leaders relevant? Why are they needed? What do they do? How do they relate to and/or define spirituality in your world? Clearly, I'm looking for answers. So, help a girl out and give me yours!
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
I don't think you could call anything I posted as me going "ballistic." Read the anti-Pope posts for that description. Yada Yada. Security needs, taxpayer costs. Would you like to know what it is going to cost MY city when the Republican Party descends upon us for their convention? Do you know how much inconvenience and money it has cost us every time Bush waddles over here. We aren't even a Republican State and we have had to endure his presence way too much. Talk about irrelevance.
Can you come up with anything new to bash the Pope or the Church for? It is so lame.
Nope.
Is the pope relevant? in a word, no.
If he would have made a strong stand against perverted priests and illogical stands on birth control, he would be a world leader. Now he's just one more "religious leader" who espouses mumbo jumbo to try to control "his flock". Love those funky hats and robes though...
The pope avoids the issue, often by addressing other issues such as those at the top of your blog. The issue is the celebacy requirement. It would be foolish for the pope to try to talk about those other issues and leave the big one untouched. He will never get anywhere that way.
His demeaning views of women and their sexuality is just one more form of abuse. His insensitive views on birth control and his black and white dictums about abortion show him to be just one more power hungry man who is happy to make sure that women are nothing more than baby-makers for his empire.
YES, HE IS RELEVANT. BECAUSE MILLIONS OF CATHOLICS ARE LISTENING TO HIM. WHY DO YOU THINK HE CAME IN AN ELECTION YEAR. BECAUSE HE WANTS THEM TO VOTE REPUBLICAN. PRO LIVE PRO IMMIGRATION TO FILL THE CATHOLIC CHURCHE'S PEWS.
Propagation of the faith is what its all about, dude...
Not entirely true.
The Pope was brought out for three reasons:
1. For Americans to pretend that they know and believe in a Christian God.
2. To boost (or at least keep from sliding) Bush's popularity
3. To show the world that America has standards and Christian moral values (as opposed to China and the Muslim world).
Can someone explain how in this Olympic year the Dalai Lama was given the MOH in Washington, and Bush took his own personal time to twelcome the Pope. Simple, to prove America's superiority by exploiting religion for all its worth.
"Is the Pope considered the physical representation of God on earth? "Holy Shite Muslims . We already have the Dalai Lama. Maybe we should ask the one billion HIndus.
Or wait a minute, why not ask the Jews.
There is one thing I have learnt as a Christian leader, and that is, you have to be willing to be exploited to spread the good news.
Did anyone notice how Colbert compared the Pope and the President?
As, the Hitler Youth and the College Cheerleader.
Other than being elected to the position of supreme Catholic leader, aka Pope, what has he done to earn the admiration of a theoretically spiritual religious movement?
You could try reading the many many books he has written and then you might know. You could read some of the over 200 papal documents or the encyclicals, "Faith" and "Hope" for a start. YOu could actually know something about the Catholic faith and then you would have the answer to your questions.
He has devoted his life to God. Strange concept for many but, Catholics actually find that admirable.
"theoretically spiritual religious movement"? I always thought that it was a tax exempt business empire.
How can the pope be relevant? He tells you how to live Your life, while whitewashing a pedophilia scandal that has been going on since the inception of the church--not just a few decades. Do you think this started within the last century? No, only the communication factor of the present age as well as the lessening of the church's political power brought these skeletons out of the closet. Try claiming you were sexually abused in 1533, I bet you'd be burned at the stake. Whatever relevance the Catholic church may have had is clearly null and void.
Spiritual leaders are only relevant when they point you towards the spirituality already inside you.
NO, wait let me think. Yep thats a NO.
That wasn't an "altar boy molestation thing" (how dare you for trivializing it). That was pedophilia on a massive scale covered up for decades by the Catholic Church. Then one of the major perpetrators (Law, from the Boston diocese) gets promoted to the Vatican, and gives a eulogy for the previous Pope. The Church has shown itself to be a moral outrage.
And for decades they have contributed massively to the Earth's overpopulation, by their tight-fisted opposition to birth control and sex education for women.
The Church should be closed down and the key thrown away. They are an indecent blight on humanity and do a massive disservice to the Christian religion.
Right on Gary47!
I also question the Popes promotion of the war in Iraq. Sure he called it an unjust war when it started, but here he is meeting with the Bush, the one person who is keeping this war going, keeping the innocent death count growing, how about a little moral outrage for the Pope on this war? WHy is taking the God given right of choice more important to the catholic Church than anything else? Because it gives them power to fight that war, Iraq and decencey do not get the crowds passion so they simple do not care.
If the churches took all the money they collected to help the poor and the needy and used it all for that we could end poverty. Instead they spend it on lavish churches, property and power. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was starting religion.
The Pope's a corporate kind of guy -- you know, kiss-up-kick-down. Need proof? Check here: [http://dailyrevolution.net/?p=1158]
I spent 12 years in catholic schools. Long enough to know everything i need to know about the biggest business in the world.
The pope, relevant? To me, not at all. I lost all respect for the catholic church and its leaders when the scandal broke...you know, the one about countless priests fucking kids for decades while hypocritical leaders sat on their asses while shuffling them to different parishes for unknowing flocks to become victims time and again. I don't have children, but this is the single most unforgivable act of the catholic church in my lifetime! With leaders like this, who needs enemies?? I'm now a proud atheist. I don't subscribe to magical thinking. And to believe that "god" had anything to do with the abominable conduct of the catholic church's leaders is enough to realize there isn't a god.
I'll be happy to see the pope fly back to the vatican. I've seen and heard enough. No apology will ever do.
That would be a big NO.
I am thankful that this article was written without the word "bitter" and religion together.
The pope is not relevant to me.
He is probably a nice old man who puts his pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us
One of the great minds of the 16th Century.
Oh by the way.........wish you were as critical about Rev Wright!!!!!!! the hate monger
Hmm. You bring up a good point. Where was the church when Hiroshima was bombed?
wish you were as critical or judgmental of your own candidate and her lies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsmFDYyK4U
Funny how people like you turn to GOD the moment something goes wrong with your lives!
Hypocrites
He's not relevant because he's not God. So many religions and denominations overshadow his prominence.
I find it interesting that the Pope talks about what the Church is going to do in the future without admitting that it did something terribly wrong in the past. This is par for the course. The Catholic Church believes that as an institution it can never commit error. Individuals may commit errors from time to time which reflect badly on the church but these are individual human errors and not institutional errors. Celibacy is an institutional error. There is nothing biblical requiring celibacy. Justifications for clerical celibacy have ranged from the impurity of women, read menstruation, carried over from the Jewish tradition to the fact that Jesus Christ was a man. When scholarship debunks one justification the church segues to the next claiming it has always been the reason without addressing why its former reasoning was wrong. Once the church claims this or that is a tradition, the ignorant masses come to believe that since it is tradition going all the way back to Christ for 2000 years it has to be the truth. Nothing in the Catholic Church traditions goes back 2000 years to Christ. As people become more and more educated they are less willing to believe fairy tales. The Catholic Church 's problems with pedophilia are rooted in celibacy not homosexuality.
What a silly question!
The Pope is clearly relevant to many many millions of people
Having "followers" and being relevant are not the same thing. Bin Laden has followers, growing in numbers every day the GOP is in control, that does not make him relevant to the the world either.
The Pope is a modern-day version of a Neanderthal screaming at and throwing ground up bat intestines at an eclipse of the sun. If the pope is the earthly representative of God then God's sole agenda is to supress the true freedom of humanity.
That's really good - "throwing ground up bat intestines at an eclipse of the sun."
Are spiritual leaders relevant? Yes indeed. Why--I think they are examples of their tradition, and that in itself is worthwhile--whether you agree with them or the tradition is another question. Also they speak in the voice of that tradition, the Pope on the Catholic tradition and beliefs, the Dalai Lama on Tibetan tradition and Buddist beliefs etc. Its good to have someone speak on these things that doesn't have a political agenda, I'd rather listen to the Pope say what God thinks than George W Bush, as Bush clearly has an agenda. I'd included Desmond Tutu as a spiritual leader also. Are they divine beings-No, not even if their tradition says they are. What do they do--hopefully they are spreading light in the world, or at least more light than darkness.
The Pope is extremely relevant, and what he does is lay down principles that tens of millions of Catholics around the world are expected to follow. These principles dictate the way all those millions act, vote, what jobs they will/won't take, how many children they have etc, etc, etc. The pope can also make a huge direct impact on international politics (see how influential John Paul II was in the collapse of East European Communism, and how he and the Catholic church provided a rallying point for anti-government resistance in Communist Poland ... whether or not he was supported in those actions by the CIA).
FYI, Verena, as far as I remember (I am a lapsed Catholic) if the Pope chooses to make what they call an "Ex Cathedra" declaration, then the world's Catholics are expected to treat his words as coming directly from God. That makes him particularly influential. You personally might not feel his influence, but trust me, many, many people do. And you and everyone else have to live with the consequences.
As a Catholic, I have a contact and a spiritual leader and his name is Christ Jesus, My Lord. As a former Catholic, you find it easier to poke fun at and try to tear down the church so that you can justify your own lifestyle. I know, I did that for 35 years.
Is the Pope relevant? To Catholics he is. If you aren't Catholic, why do you care?
What does the Pope do? Aren't you kind of supposed to be a journalist? Look it up.
You used a whole lot of words to really say nothing. Here is one point I will make for you. The Priests who sexually abused adolescent males need to be removed from the Priesthood. Removing all homosexual Priest will resolve this problem. It was never a pedophile problem, it was a homosexual problem.
Pedophilia and homosexuality are two completely different things. Personally, I'm a bisexual. I like men and women, but just cos I like men (my sex) doesn't mean I'm AT ALL sexually attracted to a child.
So you say you talk to Jesus? That might explain the rest of your homophobic drivel. New flash for you there are homosexuals in ALL walks of life and that includes the many various religions.
Are you suggesting a witch hunt by the Church hierarchy to determine which priests are homosexual? How would they make the determination? Do they just remove all priests who speak with a lisp or display a talent for interior decorating or love to sing show tunes in the shower? Most of the removed priests would ironically be straight. A don't ask don't tell approach certainly wouldn't work. Any priest who openly admitted his homosexuality is unlikely to be interested in abusing children. Any real abusers surely wouldn't tell unless they were caught red handed.
Anyway, many if most psychologists consider pedophilia to be a independent sexual orientation from homosexuality (Many abusers are married and have their own children), so it's clearly not a "homosexual" problem.
The Pope himself just contradicted you. Pedophila is a crime, a disorder, Homosexuality is a way of being that while not universally accepted, is as natural to some and healthy as being heterosexual.
Posted April 16, 2008 | 07:50 AM (EST)