Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Posted on 11/20/2004 7:52:12 PM PST by Destro
Persecuted Christians
(Filed: 20/11/2004)
Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, is perhaps the only man alive of whom it might be said that he is more Catholic than the Pope. Even though his enemies caricature him as the most bigoted of grand inquisitors, he knows John Paul II like nobody else. Among the college of cardinals, he is one of the few likely successors who is the ailing pontiff's intellectual equal. His long interview in yesterday's La Repubblica is thus an authentic reflection of the consensus inside the Vatican. It makes for disturbing reading.
The cardinal sees Europe as a continent in the grip of a demographic and spiritual crisis. A falling birthrate is "altering the ethnic composition of Europe", as Muslim immigration transforms the ancient heartlands of Christendom. Churches are emptying as Christian culture is threatened by an "aggressive secularism, even an intolerant one". This new secularism is no longer neutral, but hostile to public manifestations of Christianity, which is being marginalised and privatised. "We must defend religious freedom against the imposition of an ideology that is being presented as if it were the only voice of rationality, whereas it is only the expression of a narrow rationalism."
The incident that occasioned such anguish is the case of Rocco Buttiglione, who was dropped from the European Commission merely for refusing to deny his Catholicism, in the private rather than the public sphere. For Cardinal Ratzinger, the implication is that anybody who defends Christian orthodoxy is now excluded from public life. He cites the example of a Protestant pastor in Sweden who was imprisoned for a month for preaching against homosexuality. Christianity has come full circle since the days of its persecution under the Roman Empire: an established Church no longer, it is now once again a persecuted band of the faithful.
If the Cardinal's grim diagnosis is accurate, then the logic of the Christian predicament points towards ecumenical unity. The Vatican has sometimes spoken as if non-Catholic churches were mere sects. Yet the fastest-growing forms of Christianity are the evangelical movements emanating from America. The Catholic Church cannot lead the "struggle" against secularism unless its leaders can acknowledge the sufferings and merits of their fellow Christians. If Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, it is safe to assume that the reconversion of Europe would be his aim. But is this guardian of Vatican orthodoxy ready to consider compromise on matters of doctrine for the sake of a united Christian front against secularism and jihad? It is an enticing prospect.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Cardinal Ratzinger is an extraordinary man, and on top of everything else he is a genuinely creative theologian. His early work, "Christian Brotherhood," is worth reading whether or not you are a Catholic, and he has also done some ground-breaking work on ecclesiology.
But there's not a chance in the world that he will be the next pope. Let's just hope they find someone with similar potential. Many pressing issues remain to be dealt with, and non-Catholics as well as Catholics will be effected by the choice that is made.
Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer..... Advice the Vatican seems not to have heeded. The enemy is barking at the door of all of Christianity.
Christianity is thriving in Asia and Africa, not to mention North America.
It is also having a resurgence in Russia.
Was it a crisis when the light of the Church went out in Asia, the last 1500 years, when it had reached China and India within a generation after Christ ?
No.
Europeans need to get over themselves.
I hope the next Pope is African.
Cardinal Ratzinger sounds like my type of guy.
Calling Father Martin...calling Father Martin...Malachi Martin...Please pick up the phone.
It isn't just the Church that is under attack...humanity is under attack.
But we have a Defender...
Windswept House?
it will curl your hair.
God bless Cardinal Ratzinger.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385492316/qid=1101010776/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-8075449-1003862
Here is the Amazon link..http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0385492316/qid=1101010776/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-8075449-1003862
Yet, like many, I believe that God transends denomination.
It is a work of fiction, though?
[...the implication is that anybody who defends Christian orthodoxy is now excluded from public life...]
Not much has changed in the last 2004 years.
The truth is a dangerous thing.
It got Jesus crucified...
It got Father Martin killed.
do so when your faith is strong...this is not for the weak of faith...
If you are not strong now...wait.
If you are strong now...I think you will find that the cause of Him needs you like never before...
Be careful...In Jesus name...
You are still talking about that work of fiction? Right?
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