The Holy Roman Pontiff's position is filled. The seclusion of the Papal conclave of Cardinals has ended, and the world, at least the Catholic one, has welcomed Benedict XVI with mostly open arms. But there are things being said, and agenda's being put forth, that not only anger me, they worry me. Within one hour of being announced as the new Vicar of Christ and Shepard of the flock of 1.2
billion Catholics, two cable news stations were running programs titled, "U.S. Church in Crisis" or "Benedict XVI: A Dark Past". Maybe sometimes I am too naive to believe that our society could merely let a bold, joyful, tearful day for the world alone.
The facts are that while then 14 year old Joseph Ratzinger was enrolled in the "Hitler Youth", it was a compulsory event. Every child attending German schools was enrolled. If you weren't enrolled it meant you were a Jew or a Nazi officer's child. One station imparticular ranted on and on about how this will affect the new apparent happiness between Jews and Catholics. Israeli papers, minus the Jerusalem Post, were outright calling Benedict a Nazi and Jew-hater. Apparently, I missed a memo. I didn't realize there was a very good relationship between Catholics and Jews anyway. Last time I checked, there was a 2000 year checkered past between the two. The whole killing Christ thing started it I believe, and I don't think the wishy washy silence of the Vatican during WW II helped much. But I am overwhelmed by the tragic lies spewed forth by the 'progressive' world.
Later on in the evening, another cable news show (this one I'll name), Scarborough Country, had a nice group of speakers. Some idiot author who was not 'Christian or agnostic', but apparently had written a book on the Papacy. They had a super liberal Catholic priest, Pat Buchanan (I believe he's been called a Nazi as well), and some lady from a pro-family group. When discussing the apparent newly discovered 'crisis' in the American Church, Buchanan made a simple observation which I will paraphrase for lack of a transcript from the show, "this is a faith of truths that span 5 or 6 millenia. This is not a popularity contest or a relative excercise. The Pope's job is to keep the faith of the Church constant and to adhere to Church dogma. If so-called believers don't like it, there are plenty of open pews over at the Anglican Church." I cannot tell you in how many ways that is well stated. But, of course, Mr. Scarborough simply laughed heartily at Mr. Buchanan and mocked him throughout the rest of the program. The barely Catholic priest stated that the Church needs to be 'inclusive rather than exclusive' and he sited a nice little story from the Gospels as an example. The problem is, that he completely missed the point of the story (which raised more than a few red flags to me), and is spewing his decadent message to very ignorant, very secular Catholics.
Reality is this: Catholicism is not a fluid faith. It is not like the 'living Constituition'. It isn't open for new interpretations or changing ideals. The faith of
Christ is the faith of the Church. Nowhere did the Gospels' say it is the 'faith of Christ and whomever might wanna fiddle around with things they don't like later.' The reality is that America wants a little too much America in everything. Their TV, their music, their politics, and even their faith. It has gone so far in parts of the US that elected BISHOPS of churches are in openly homosexual relationships even though the Scriptures specifically mention the sin involved there. The democratic values most of us hold dear are great for America, but some people have problems drawing the line at where democracy ends. It certainly ends when you park your car, walk the 50 yards up some steps, and open the doors to worship Christ.
So maybe Benedict is right. The greatest threat to our society, as a whole, is the relativity of it all. Nothing matters, 'cause we just dont know for sure'. There can't be any accountability cause we just dont know. There can't be any personal fault or responsibility cause we just dont know. The Faith of the Catholic Church is not a scientific convention, or a trivialization of reality, or a bought and sold American political election. It is merely a simple and humble faith. A faith that has survived 2000 years through persecution, illegality, impotent leadership, schism, mockery, and now relativism. A faith that will survive still longer (I pray) thanks in no small part to individuals like Pope Benedict XVI.
'DIURNITAS DEGERO FIDES!!!'
Connemara's Rising is solely a division of David Brunner's Intellectual gifts.
© 2004 David Brunner
