Heh heh heh…
Hi Joe. Any journey begins with first step. I believe this pope is smart. Sure there’s always been a potential schism in this country yet I believe the Pope will inspire the people to get the ball rolling. Did Cardinal Josef Ratzinger make some errors in judgement before he became Pope? Perhaps. But he’s out to make some changes which might surprise you. All in all, the church will survive - even after the great chastisement. (Whatever that is).Ancient Adage:
When all is said and done: much more has been said than done.
I don’t think the Pope’s visit had anything to do with correcting liturgical abuses. It wasn’t the time and place to do it. He visit to the US was all about damage control because of the sex scandals. To that end, I think he made a lot of progress.
). Change comes in little steps.I believe that we all must “calmly and clearly” define our differences in “love and in hope.”
Pope Benedict, at age 81, was remarkable in the USA. Such energy and clarity of mind. Such a fluent speaker. And that mass in Yankee Stadium was unsurpassed in the way it was organized and orchestrated.
However, two problems.
(1) Pope Benedict made two major gaffes some months ago. One was to quote a medieval Catholic who declared that Islam was evil. Not smart to do, even if the Pope thought it. Even more detrimental in the USA were his comments last summer to the effect that Protestant churches were not really churches bu 'ecclesial entities' and that Protestant ministers did not properly conduct communion. Again, even if he thought this it casts doubt on his judgment to say this aloud. It certainly disgusted many of my Protestant friends.
(2) Pope Benedict's emphasis at Yankee Stadium was on the authority of the church and the need for Catholics to obey their church. Sounds okay but Catholics have been rebelling against church authority and do not want to be told like children that they have to believe and do what Mother Church says. This is why so many in, say, Catholic Quebec and Catholic Ireland have become alienated. They have come to resent any attempt of the church to make them conform. They have to be won over and will not respond to appeals to church authority. They can be attracted by a church that is open to new ideas and practices, a church that is not anchored in the ancient and medieval past and refuses to budge.Yes. And we see the opposite. Bernard Law, smelling like a rose.
What!!??? So the Pope shouldn’t act or talk as though he is Catholic? Just say what everyone wants to hear?
Welcome…so glad you have converted. It is so nice to hear these convert stories since I am a cradle catholic. I don’t know if I would have had the knowledge to convert if I wasn’t one already.
There is no either/or with these two. Ecumenism without a strong sense of doctrine leads to the error of indifferentism. Any ecumenical movement must be grounded in the reality of who we really are as Catholics. This may offend some, but that is part and parcel of following Christ.