Funny story... we were meeting with some colleagues from the local Catholic church - an interfaith program called "Walking God's Paths" - and one of the Catholic women commented, vis-à-vis Pope Benedict XIV, "What ever was the Holy Spirit thinking?"
I wondered that myself. Ratzinger used to be the cardinal who headed up the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, i.e., his office made sure that papal pronouncements and the teachings of various bishops and priests passed doctrinal muster and did not go against the Church's magisterium (teaching authority).
Ratzinger's job, as guardian of the faith, was inherently conservative, which put him at odds with his predecessor, JP2, who was a strong advocate of interreligious dialogue. Ratzinger's 2000 Dominus Iesus document, viewed by many non-Catholics as a major step backward in dialogue, caused a Jewish delegation to walk out in disgust before a session with JP2 was to commence. JP2 was very hurt by this; me, I blame Ratzinger.
Ratzinger/Benedict's tenure as pope has been marked by the same sort of "holding action" mentality he evinced as a cardinal; I haven't seen much evidence that he took his role of pontiff/pontifex (literally, "bridge-builder") seriously. It's high time he left office.
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Funny story... we were meeting with some colleagues from the local Catholic church - an interfaith program called "Walking God's Paths" - and one of the Catholic women commented, vis-à-vis Pope Benedict XIV, "What ever was the Holy Spirit thinking?"
ReplyDeleteI wondered that myself. Ratzinger used to be the cardinal who headed up the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, i.e., his office made sure that papal pronouncements and the teachings of various bishops and priests passed doctrinal muster and did not go against the Church's magisterium (teaching authority).
ReplyDeleteRatzinger's job, as guardian of the faith, was inherently conservative, which put him at odds with his predecessor, JP2, who was a strong advocate of interreligious dialogue. Ratzinger's 2000 Dominus Iesus document, viewed by many non-Catholics as a major step backward in dialogue, caused a Jewish delegation to walk out in disgust before a session with JP2 was to commence. JP2 was very hurt by this; me, I blame Ratzinger.
Ratzinger/Benedict's tenure as pope has been marked by the same sort of "holding action" mentality he evinced as a cardinal; I haven't seen much evidence that he took his role of pontiff/pontifex (literally, "bridge-builder") seriously. It's high time he left office.
i read a funny post on fb today:
ReplyDelete"i'm giving up for lent"
- Pope Benedict