Pope Benedict XVI

So, Joseph Ratzinger has become Pope Benedict XVI.

I didn't comment on Pope Jean Paul's death because hey, a non-Catholic in a Catholic country is asking for trouble by being vocal at such times... but I am slightly surprised at this turn of events. I wasn't really expecting an older, more conservative Pope. It would be interesting to be able to trace the development of events inside the conclave and see what led to this result - I wonder if the large number of relatively new faces among the cardinals led to more of them deciding to go for a more familiar face who doctrinal positions are well-known?

Due to his somewhat advanced age, the new Pope Benedict is considered to be a "transitional pope" - he just turned 78, and the cut-off age for cardinals being considered for the Papacy is 80. Since they can realistically only expect say 10 or 15 years of tenure from a man of this age, the "transitional" refers to the fact that another pope will be elected fairly soon, possibly a younger man, and therefore this is really a transition between Pope John Paul's reign and that of the next Pope.

But, transitional as it may be, Pope Benedict still has enormous power during this time.

It will be interesting to see what steps the new Pope will take (if any) as regards doctrine - a known conservative (I get the impression that he is more conservative than John Paul was), will he add stricter rules, or leave things as they currently are? Will he crack down on relatively new practices that he may disagree with, thus risking alienating people who already look back with great fondness on "John Paul the Great" and who will bridle at any implied criticism of the way he handled things?

And, if new proclamations are made, it will also be interesting to see how long it takes for them to filter down to the grass-roots level in Malta. Will there be resistance to changes due to a reluctance to accept a replacement for Pope John Paul? Or will they be quickly adopted out of renewed fervour? I remember an incident as a child, when an old priest refused to give me communion in my hands, although this practice was now permitted by Vatican II and had already been widely adopted in Malta.

Interesting times...

Comments

[Jacques]

"May you live in interesting times."... Just because its not nice it does not mean it's not miraculous. (T. Pratchett. Interesting Times)

Don't know why but although I have my own misgivings I still say we should all give the man a chance. We might be in for a big surprise.

[MaltaGirl]

I didn't expect anyone to pick up on the 'interesting times' reference, so 2 points to you - may this be more enjoyable for us than it was for Rincewind.

Sure I will give the man a chance - like everyone else I am just second-guessing while waiting to see what his first moves will be.

[Lena]

I liked a thing in particular about his speech as I was watching on CNN a few minutes ago - he mentioned the fact that although the Western world is not suffering from major poverty or diseases, the slide to relativism will become one of the major issues of the church during his rule. However, I don't actually know if Pope John Paul II ever spoke about this issue so it may just be something he picked up from his predecessor.

[the Pirate]

Actually any man can Pope, regardless of age. Only Cardnials under the age of 80 are allowed to vote for Pope. Pope Benedict XVI was on of Pope John Paul II's closest advisors, so don't expect too many changes, even then if you go and read Benedict's Homily from this past Monday you get a good idea of his view of the Church:
"How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking... The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves - thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error (cf Eph 4, 14). Having a clear faith, based on the Creed of the Church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism. Whereas, relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and "swept along by every wind of teaching," looks like the only attitude (acceptable) to today's standards. We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.

However, we have a different goal: the Son of God, true man. He is the measure of true humanism. Being an "Adult" means having a faith which does not follow the waves of today's fashions or the latest novelties. A faith which is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ is adult and mature. It is this friendship which opens us up to all that is good and gives us the knowledge to judge true from false, and deceit from truth. We must become mature in this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - which creates unity and takes form in love."

I do like the idea of faith being a stable point for people, personally I view the purpose of religion is to give people a set of standards to live a good life, not to make you feel better about yourself.

[MaltaGirl]

Yes, I forgot that any man could be Pope :-)

[the Pirate]

Yeah they asked me, but I had to turn it down because they wouldn't pay for me to get out of market baseball games.

[MaltaGirl]

What a shame - maybe next time then...