Benedict takes the right stand

[Ian McColgin]

“I have to say that we Christians, even in recent times, have often avoided the word ‘penance,’ which seems too harsh . . . Now under the attacks of the world that talks to us of our sins, we see that the ability to perform penance is a grace and we see how it is necessary to perform penance, that is, to recognize what is wrong in our life . . . ”

- Pope Benedict XVI, today

[elf]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

Wanna take bets he has no clue?

[pefjr]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

"we Christians" must repent for sins and recognize mistakes."

Standard Sunday morning stuff isn't it. Rubber stamp it, until it goes away.

[Tristan]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

There once was a prelate at Kings
Whose mind was on heavenly things
But his heart was on fire with desire
for a boy in the choir
Whose ass was like jelly on springs

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

I did not intend this thread to denigrate the Pope. If it proves a fake-out, terrible but that will be revealed in time. In the meanwhile, I am happy to accept him as sincerely starting a long hard journey which he and his manderins must lead.

[riptide]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

As of yet, he hasn't sincerely "started" anything. When he publicly acknowledges that church officials -- himself included -- failed to take reasonable steps to protect children from pedophile priests, then, and only then, we will have something to talk about. Until then, comments like this are just empty posturing.

And you should note that I'm cutting him some slack: I'm not asking him to acknowledge that the church actively "protected" known pedophile priests (which I believe it did). I'm only suggesting he acknowledge that he and other church officials failed to even come close to doing the things they should have done.

[Lew Barrett]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

It's a start, and that's positive. Where it ends is all that really matters.

[Paul Pless]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

‘penance,’

are you sure you heard correctly and he didn't say some other word that sounds kinda like penance

[Larks]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

VATICAN CITY — "Pope Benedict XVI broke his recent silence on the clerical abuse scandal Thursday, complaining that the church was under attack but saying that "we Christians" must repent for sins and recognize mistakes."


I have a bit of trouble with this approach.
Benedict is under attack for sheltering child molesters. And to address this issue he asks the rest of us to repent.

Yes, yes, mistakes have been made. But he made them, his cardianals made them, his bishops made them. I am sure they are all very sorry they are involved in this mess, but it is a mess of their own making.

Does he really think that my repentance for his crimes will heal the victims of child rape? Does he even consider the victims when he makes these ridiculous proclamations? I think not.

Get off the grass mate, how do you justify turning his use of the word "we" to "you" ?

[Tristan]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

When the pope says, "It's time we gave women equal standing and rights in the Catholic Church and accepted marriage and sexual activity (and not with children) as a normal part of the priesthood" then I'll believe the church is on lthe right track.

[Saltiguy]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

Pardon my skepticism - just can't be helped.

What would help the RCC in this instance is if they built little wooden cubicles in the churches. They would be small - just large enough for one person to sit, but they would be built it pairs with a sort of window/grill shared on the interior wall. Here's the deal: One person sits in each cubicle in darkness and whispers through the grill to the person on the other side of the wall. Very quietly, and privately, they could confess their sins to eachother and it would be all done anonymously so neither person would know the full details of what was really going on. The real BENEFIT however, is that each person could PRETEND that the cubicle/grill ritual had some REAL meaning. They could even give it a name - like "sharing booth", or something like that. They could even make believe that the shared booth activity represented a sort of atonement, so that each person would feel better. The first person could say, for example " I want to confess - yesterday, and the day before that too, I pulled down the pants of an 11 year old boy and raped him. Had him give me oral sex too. It was fun; I enjoyed it a lot, in fact I think I'll do it again tomorrow, but I just thought it would be nice to talk about it " with an associate.
The second person, hiding behing the grill could reply - "Don't worry about it, I do it all the time - who knows, you're probably doing the boy a favor".
After the exchange, behind the darkened grill, each man could slither away, content and at peace with himself for the "good work" he was doing with the little boys.
Ideas, anyone?

[mariner2k]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

Business as usual.

[pefjr]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

Tradition is deeply rooted in the Vatican. 16th century and older ideas of marriage, celibacy,abortion,homosexuality, robes and dress, nuns, you name it needs to be thrown out. In effect the RCC needs to move into and embrace the 21 century. Is that gonna be allowed to happen by the currently entrenched leadership? That is why the pope has only the standard Sunday morning message to offer, because they are not willing to offer any more unless forced to. Tradition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj0KwNfLUds

[Larks]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

Did I misrepresent? I don't think so. But here's the link for you to read for yourself.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/15/pope-urges-catholic-repen_n_539351.html

When the Pope said "we Christians" I just assumed he meant us all. Perhaps he just means those who stand with him, right or wrong.

"I must say, we Christians, even in recent times, have often avoided the word 'repent', which seemed too tough. But now under attack from the world, which has been telling us about our sins ... we realize that it's necessary to repent, in other words, recognize what is wrong in our lives," Benedict said

You mean this bit? I'd say that yes you are misrepresenting, though there is no doubt he's using far to soft and deflective phrasing than what is needed.

It seems to me that he's saying - "woe is us, the world is attacking the church, but hey, fair enough I guess, we need to show the world that we're really really sorry".

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Benedict takes the right stand

While in theology school I helped develop the theological justifications for women and homosexual priests - the latter still cleaves Episcopalians - so it should be so surprise that I have severe theological as well as institutional critiques of the Roman Catholic Church.

[I like the dialectic of respect for diverse faiths coupled with no fear about saying where I believe an incarnate institution has gone wrong. But that's another essay.]

So imagine my surprise that my thoughts about the Pope's remarks, which I still view with some modest hope, are the most critically temperate on these pages. To clarify my own impression, it's as if the Pope stood up. He's yet to take a step, but he has stood up.