Pope Benedict: A great Christian and antiwar leader

[Space Tycoon]

I am like this close to becoming a Catholic. If John Paul II could help deflate the Soviet Empire, perhaps Benedict will be instrumental in bringing down the neocons...

Text of Pope Benedict's Easter Speech

How many wounds, how much suffering there is in the world! Natural calamities and human tragedies that cause innumerable victims and enormous material destruction are not lacking. My thoughts go to recent events in Madagascar, in the Solomon Islands, in Latin America and in other regions of the world. I am thinking of the scourge of hunger, of incurable diseases, of terrorism and kidnapping of people, of the thousand faces of violence, which some people attempt to justify in the name of religion, of contempt for life, of the violation of human rights and the exploitation of persons. I look with apprehension at the conditions prevailing in several regions of Africa. In Darfur and in the neighboring countries there is a catastrophic, and sadly to say underestimated, humanitarian situation. In Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo the violence and looting of the past weeks raises fears for the future of the Congolese democratic process and the reconstruction of the country. In Somalia the renewed fighting has driven away the prospect of peace and worsened a regional crisis, especially with regard to the displacement of populations and the traffic of arms. Zimbabwe is in the grip of a grievous crisis and for this reason the Bishops of that country in a recent document indicated prayer and a shared commitment for the common good as the only way forward.

Likewise the population of East Timor stands in need of reconciliation and peace as it prepares to hold important elections. Elsewhere, too, peace is sorely needed: in Sri Lanka only a negotiated solution can put an end to the conflict that causes so much bloodshed; Afghanistan is marked by growing unrest and instability; in the Middle East, besides some signs of hope in the dialogue between Israel and the Palestinian authority, nothing positive comes from Iraq, torn apart by continual slaughter as the civil population flees. In Lebanon the paralysis of the country's political institutions threatens the role that the country is called to play in the Middle East and puts its future seriously in jeopardy. Finally, I cannot forget the difficulties faced daily by the Christian communities and the exodus of Christians from that blessed Land which is the cradle of our faith.... (continued)

Plus a little commentary from Justin Raimondo:

There is more than a little irony in the evolution of Benedict XVI, widely reviled in the liberal media for all the usual "tolerant" reasons, into the de facto spiritual leader of a global antiwar movement. Surely this baffles the type of trendy, airheaded Left Coast liberal who pores over the Huffington Post and sees the Catholic Church and all its works as somewhere between Halliburton and the Carlyle Group in the hierarchy of bad guys. After all, how could someone who opposes abortion, not to mention the ordination of woman priests, possibly be anything other than malevolent? It's odd that this crowd, which has pretensions to "spirituality," would be so disdainful of religion per se, yet their dogmatic anticlericalism displays an ignorance of history as well as a woeful inattention to recent events. The Catholic Church hierarchy has stood like a rock against the war hysteria that has been sweeping over the West since 9/11. Pope John Paul II opposed the invasion of Iraq and explicitly denounced the Novakian schismatic heresy that revises or denies Catholic just-war theory and would turn the Church into an instrument of Washington's "benevolent global hegemony."

In the heartless, pagan world of the would-be empire-builders who have seized control of the American government and made it the center of evil in the world, power is measured in purely politico-military terms. By these standards, the Pope is utterly powerless, and his pronouncements have no more effect than a nonbinding congressional resolution, perhaps less. (continued)

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[DarkJedi]

My older sister was just baptized and confirmed on Easter Sunday after a year of classes and studies.

A year ago, my mother went through the same thing and I guess she was the one who convinced my sister to do it.

My mothers side has been Baptist for two generations but my mother never caught onto it and my father was the same. We never went to church but of recent years, mom turned into a catholic. She doesn't judge me for not doing the church thing, she's still cool old mom though.

[Space Tycoon]

Really. Well when I say this close, I mean that deep down I am too much of a skeptic to ever fully commit to a religion. For awhile I briefly flirted with the idea of converting to Islam.

But again, the skepticism. Which is why, for the moment at least, I go by the term "agnostic."

However, I do like the moral teaching of the Catholic Church, as well as their ethical slant on political issues.







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[kah]

Yeah, the moral teachings are nice, but the hypocrisy of the teachers tends to get to you after a while.

[Bark]

I can't wake up early on Sunday. It never takes.

[Space Tycoon]

Originally Posted by kah

Yeah, the moral teachings are nice, but the hypocrisy of the teachers tends to get to you after a while.

Hypocrisy is always rotten, but I'm yet to see it from this Pope.






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[kah]

This pope may not be a hypocrite, but his moral teachings are pretty archaic, even for Catholics.

[Space Tycoon]

There's no reason an organized religion has to follow the trends and popular causes of the day. If one does not agree, one should stay out of it, as I have chosen to.

For my part I consider Pope Benedict to be a great ally in the opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a great intellectual, commands hundreds of millions of followers and has used his position to speak truth to power.

I see him as Christianity's version of the Dalai Lama.






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[kah]

I think that's a stretch.

[rappites]

When I heard that he was going back to the old day rules and told the "people" no more condoms.

My first thought was . . .rise in AIDS and population.


I do not get it.