EvansAmerica

Soooo….new pope, eh? Be afraid. Be VERY afraid. Granted, this guy is only going to live another five or ten years, but just read the biography of him (from BBC Profiles): To some, he is the Catholic Church's intellectual salvation during a time of confusion and compromise. To others, he is an intimidating "Enforcer", punishing liberal thinkers, and keeping the Church in the Middle Ages. Certainly, in the world's largest Christian community the Pope's prefect of doctrine, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, cannot be overlooked. While many theologians strive for a Catholic Church that is more open and in touch with the world around it, Ratzinger's mission is to stamp out dissent, and curb the "wild excesses" of this more tolerant era. He wields the tools of his office with steely efficiency. By influencing diocese budgets, bishops' transfers and even excommunications, what an opponent calls "symbolic violence", Ratzinger has clamped down on the more radical contingent of the Church. Personally charming, quick-witted and fluent in four languages, the Cardinal is a convincing orator. Jesuit Father Thomas Reese calls him "a delightful dialogue partner", but adds that most of the Cardinal's fellow clergy would be too worried about the prospect of excommunication to enjoy talking to him. That's EXACTLY what we need for the Catholic Church in the 21st Century. A POPE WHO WANTS TO GO BACK TO THE MIDDLE AGES. Let's not look to the future or things that might be GOOD for the Church. Ooooh, no. Let's, instead, continue to keep whittling down the number of priests by not moving forward at all, keeping them single and sexless and forcing them to turn to alter boys for relief. Let's not let women take a larger role in the church. Let's not review our policy on contraceptives or gays. Hey! I have an idea! Let's just erase Vatican II completely! Let's pretend like it never happened. That will put us one step closer to how the church was in the Middle Ages and seems like a good start. I love that MOST OF HIS FELLOW CLERGY won't talk to him for fear of EXCOMMUNICATION. This is FANTASTIC! Hmmm…a "convincing orator" whose "mission is to stamp out dissent…" I know another guy like that. HITLER. ***UPDATE*** This is always great to see in a headline about the new leader of millions of people: "New Pope a Conservative Who Divided Germans." (Hmmm...Hitler did that too....) And in the article: But opinion about him remains deeply divided in Germany, a sharp contrast to John Paul, who was revered in his native Poland. A recent poll for Der Spiegel news weekly said Germans [who] opposed Ratzinger becoming pope outnumbered supporters 36 percent to 29 percent, with 17 percent having no preference. The poll of 1,000 people, taken April 5-7, gave no margin of error. Many blame Ratzinger for decrees from Rome barring Catholic priests from counseling pregnant teens on their options and blocking German Catholics from sharing communion with their Lutheran brethren at a joint gathering in 2003. YES! Again, score! I don't even have a comment on the pregnant teen thing I'm so TO'd about it. Because I'M SURE that those priests were probably forcing the girls to have abortions and not discussing, maybe, adoption. And let's also keep the Catholic Church COMPLETELY seperate from all other Christian groups. PERFECT.

-originally posted by "Lara"