Tra la la

So, there's a new Pope. I anticipate that very little will happen. He's old and unlikely to last ever so long. Maybe longer than JPI, but still...

The Catholic Church is, above all things, the master of continuity. It is an unchanging beast that resists modernity, progress and change with its entirety. Is this a bad thing? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Do I think Ratzinger has some deeply troublesome opinions, ideas and beliefs? I certainly do. Thing with him, he also concerns other Catholics. Not just bad Catholics like me, but moderate ones like my mother.

But I'm not surprised that he's been elected. Not surprised at all. If you expected them to elect someone who would drag them into the 19th Century, you have no idea what the Catholic Church is like. They might wear fancy robes and mitres, they might have incense and little boys bringing them bread and wine, but they're still politicians.

Clare's Last Word: Lord, grant Benedict XVI the strength, wisdom and understanding to look forwards as well as back, to be open to new ideas and to embrace those of us who are 'different' instead of pushing us apart.

Tra la la

So, there's a new Pope. I anticipate that very little will happen. He's old and unlikely to last ever so long. Maybe longer than JPI, but still...

The Catholic Church is, above all things, the master of continuity. It is an unchanging beast that resists modernity, progress and change with its entirety. Is this a bad thing? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Do I think Ratzinger has some deeply troublesome opinions, ideas and beliefs? I certainly do. Thing with him, he also concerns other Catholics. Not just bad Catholics like me, but moderate ones like my mother.

But I'm not surprised that he's been elected. Not surprised at all. If you expected them to elect someone who would drag them into the 19th Century, you have no idea what the Catholic Church is like. They might wear fancy robes and mitres, they might have incense and little boys bringing them bread and wine, but they're still politicians.

Clare's Last Word: Lord, grant Benedict XVI the strength, wisdom and understanding to look forwards as well as back, to be open to new ideas and to embrace those of us who are 'different' instead of pushing us apart.