Home > Blog > Today in Ireland > Reaction in Ireland to a New Pope
DoChara's Ireland Blog
Random Writings about Ireland and the Irish
Wednesday
April 20 2005
One door closes, another door closes
The reaction here to the elevation of "God's rottweiller", Joseph Ratzinger, to Pope has been less than tumultuous to say the least. While his teachings and writings might have had resonance in 1950's Ireland, they sit uncomfortably with life as it is lived in the 21st century.
This after all is a man who opposes the use of contraception, indeed describes as sinful the use of condoms, even in the prevention of Aids. A man who has said that homosexuality is an "objective disorder" and the practice of it "intrinsically evil", even as he sought to play down the issue of clerical sex abuse, which he thought received far too much attention. Who when speaking of other religions said that "objectively speaking they are in a gravely deficient state".
So what happened to love and tolerance and indeed ecumenism?
I watched the announcement on TV and I swear I heard the sound of groans from the crowd as the name was announced, though quickly the cheers overcame them. This morning I have spoken to a few people who are practicing Catholics and all of them are dismayed at the choice. One went as far as saying that the sound of those bells over St Peter's Square was the start of the death knell for Catholicism in Ireland. I spoke to a priest who said he felt cut adrift.
I am sure there are people, and many of them, who are delighted but I don't believe that more than a very tiny number of them would be able to, or want to, live by his view of how a Catholic should. The word catholic (small 'c') means "universal, open, concerned with the whole". The Roman Catholic Church under Pope Benedict seems unlikely to be all of these things.
Comments on "One door closes, another door closes"
Comments are Closed
TrackBacks
Powered By: TrackBackr
