by Frank Paynter on April 23, 2005
Like a tooth extraction, I can’t seem to keep my tongue out of the gap. Anyway, while the preceding post pointed to the best way through the whole pope muddle in the long run, I must refer you now to a friend who writes shyly under a pseudonym and who has some serious observations to share. A taste…
Benedict’s election seems to be close to the worst possible
result. There’s no chance that the moral issues that divide the church
– abortion, gays, divorce, contraception, the role of women — will be
downplayed. Nor will the needed decentralization occur. The
church window once opened by John XXIII will remain shut for another
pontificate. And, as a consummate Vatican insider, Benedict enjoys the
support of the curia, so there is little hope of him soon dying in his
bed like Pope JP1.
by Frank Paynter on April 23, 2005
Okay, I’ve read over what I wrote here and commented elsewhere about the whole pope thing and I can see that I’ve been a tedious bore. Who cares about the Nazi part really? And condoms? Well, I’m always ready for a great water-balloon fight but condoms are over-rated in the long run. Concerns about liberation theology are so twencen as to be redundant and stupid, so we’re pretty much left with circumstances as depressing as the third quarter of I am Charlotte Simmons with a skosh of the church-state thing thrown in.
Just when I thought there was really nothing left of importance to say about the whole pope thing, I ran across a blog with what I have to guess is really the best thought-out analysis, better by far than any power assessment, spiritual reflection, or any of that stuff… a creative and thoughtful treatment. Here’s just a little sample. You’ll want to read the entire post.
Lastly, I think that the pope should be allowed to choose a themesong. All rights to that song should be
immediately transfered to the pope, and the new duty of cardinals should be to walk behind the pope and
play his popesong on huge pope-speakers. If the pope ever needs to go into stealth mode, for example to
go on a secret ninja pope mission, the volume of the popesong could be turned down to a quiet whisper.
But the popesong should always be playing.
Just FYI, I’m voting for Unchained Melody as the best popesong, and the pope could kind of do a stroll/linedance thing with all the
cardinals behind him or her just bopping to the beat of what I think is one of the sweetest and most powerful pop (indeed, pope) songs of all time. Of course it would be his or her choice.
