Posted on 04/19/2005 11:11:50 AM PDT by Mark Felton
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.
I believe this is why he was elected. The Cardinals, and the Catholic church, are ready for firm direction and to begin the spiritual re-conquest of Europe and the world.
Leaders of Islam would do well to fear and re-assess their own faith in a militant false prohpet.
Yes, the leftist media is already trying to demonize the new Pope -- they are scared to death of his conservative, anti-aethist, anti-Communist views. Like they are of ALL PEOPLE that represent systems of values and personal standards and measurments....
The left is an abomination and a disease.
The anger was palpable.
Please pardon me for this but I believe by the end of this week we will hear "Ratzinger is Hitler". The left is just that sick.
There is nothing better than a reformed leftest. That is what Pope Benedict was. Before 1968 he had strong left leanings, the student protests of that era opened his eyes to the evils of their movement.
Hey, that must mean he's the right man!
Most likely from a Moveon.org commercial...
Bye, bye Turkish EU membership. Hopefully.
I believe the pope is strongly opposed to it.
I fail to understand why many of my fellow protestant Freepers are so high on this guy. Apparently, he views us as heretics.
"In a document in 2000, he branded other Christian churches as deficient -- shocking Anglicans, Lutherans and other Protestants in ecumenical dialogue with Rome for years."
http://reuters.myway.com/article/20050419/2005-04-19T171753Z_01_N19579625_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-POPE-RATZINGER-DC.html
"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." I wouldn't assume that this Pope is of a mind to compromise for popular identity ... secularism is a pernicious tool of all that is opposed to the individual submitting in faith to the Leadership Of The Holy Spirit in the individual's life. THIS Pope is more likely to empahsize that than to compromise for popularity. Compromise is not an enticing prospect, if the goal is to submit to the Lord.
"Please pardon me for this but I believe by the end of this week we will hear "Ratzinger is Hitler". The left is just that sick."
You're probably being conservative on that one. And, from those of a more apocalyptic, fundamentalist outlook, expect this pope to be called the antichrist before a month is out.
Don't expect any understanding from those who would destroy the church; Ratzinger's past as a member of the Hitler Youth will be used mercilessly. It does pose a PR problem that will be quite a challenge.
"The left is an abomination and a disease."
10-4
Conservative Pope ping!
There is wailing and gnashing of teeth over at DU so he was obviously a good choice (and I'm not Catholic).
Benedict has made strong linkages between the intolerance of Nazi and Communist ideology and the intolerance of post-modern moral relativism. His enemies hate him because he believes in Absolute Truth. He is, indeed, the right man at the right time. May the Holy Spirit guide him!
If Pope Benedict passes the "litmus test" of PO'ing CNN, he's OK by me! I read the AP blurb on the Pope, and he is very much opposed to the liberal doctrine of "relativism." Any reading of the New Testament will show that this doctrine cannot be reconciled with Christianity. I think he will set the tone for the Church in its relations with its secular enemies.
I'm not Catholic but I am very Christian. I welcomed a Pope who brought down Communism. I'll welcome a Pope who brings down the rest of the left and their rotten, soulless edifice. It's time to reconvert our lost brethren in the Old World.
My fear is that at 78, the Lord will not grant him the time or productive capacity to get the job done. Perhaps, like John the Baptist, he is here only to prepare the way.
Go get 'em, Benny!
Let him knot together a whip from cords and cleanse the temple.
There is nothing better than a reformed leftest. That is what Pope Benedict was. Before 1968 he had strong left leanings, the student protests of that era opened his eyes to the evils of their movement.
=======
This makes him even STRONGER!!!
The other churches ARE deficient. So is the RC church.
With good health and good medicine and good spiritual living he could go twenty years. At any rate, like the Great John Paul II, he will serve just as long as our Lord Jesus Christ requires his service.
Protestant heretic here. I'm big on Ratzinger for this reason: the bridge between the Reformed faith and the Roman Catholic faith is not going to be built anytime soon. They are very different systems. That doesn't mean that we can't cooperate on the social front, however.
The Catholic Church we in the Reformed Community is one that isn't going to go squishy on life, homosexuality, the culture generally, freedom of education, etc. If the RCC goes squisy on its own doctrine, it will certainly go squisy on these fronts, as well, and that does not help our cultural crusade one bit.
So, ironically, the best RCC from my perspective is one that is doctrinally pure from their perspective. I would also suggest that the best foundation for true ecumenical dialogue (if some insist that there must be that) is when we link arms in confronting the culture of death.
In that regard, I think I have a friend in Cardinal Ratzinger, er, the Pope.
(Plus it's delightful to see the media wet its pants)
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