Some Reflections on the Recent Papacy of JPII
by Matthew Fox, Ph.D.
www.OpEdNews.com
While the media responds profusely to the telegenic pope who has
just passed, and while he accomplished some good things such as
taking a stand against the Iraq war and against capital
punishment and against the idolatry of consumerism, I really do
believe that history will not be kind to this papacy. This
pope and his self-appointed German mafia headed by Cardinal
Ratzinger will have to face the judgment of history (and very
likely God also) over issues that include but are not limited to
the following:
A pre-occupation with morality as sexual issues even when this
morality is deeply flawed. I include the following examples:
--The forbidding of one billion Catholics world wide to
practice birth control even while the human population explodes
at the seams.
--The forbidding of the use of condoms even in a time when
AIDS is killing individuals and whole populations the world
over.
--The head-long pursuit of Augustine's theology of
sexuality (all sex must be legitimized by having children)
--Ugly attacks in the pope's name against homosexuals and
the complete ignoring of what science and professional
psychological associations have learned about homosexuality (for
example, that it is a natural phenomenon for 8-10% of any given
human population as well as over 460 non-human species).
Other attacks include documents against yoga (yes!); against
Buddhism (calling it "atheism"); against Thich Naht Hahn
(calling him the "anti-Christ"); against feminist philosophers;
against women (girls cannot serve at the altar; nor can women be
priests); against theologians in general. Priests are forbidden
to use the pronoun "she" for God at the altar.
A prolonged effort to render fascism fashionable. This includes
the rushing into canonization of the card-carrying fascist
priest who founded the Opus Dei movement even though this man
actually praised Adolf Hitler and also denounced women and has
been accused of sexual abuse of six young men who are alive
today.
The taking of Opus Dei under the hand of the papacy granting it
legitimacy and power within and without the Catholic structure.
The conscious destruction and systemic dismantling of the
Liberation Theology movement and the very vital base communities
it spawned in Latin America in particular--a move which has
opened up Latin America to an onslaught of Pentecostal and right
wing religious huckstering. The demise of the Catholic Church
in Latin America is now well underway--pentecostals
are sweeping away the population--now that this papacy (with the
encouragment and support of the CIA) has destroyed liberation
theology and replaced it with opus dei bishops and cardinals.
The effort to eliminate theology and replace it with ideology by
spreading fear among theologians. The expulsion from the
priesthood of three prominent theologians on three continents in
the 1990's sent fear into the ranks of theological thinkers
since. Those 3 theologians are Leonardo Boff from Latin America;
Father Eugene Dreuermann from Germany; and myself in North
America.
The sorry appointment of ideological Yes Men as bishops and
cardinals and with it the scandalous pedophile priest situation
where the scandal is less about individual priest's crimes than
about the cover-up of these crimes by churchmen who, lacking
either moral integrity or intellectual smarts, moved these
criminals from parish to parish and from diocese to
diocese. (One legal commentator points to a Vatican document on
dealing with pedophile priests as "an international conspiracy
to obstruct justice.") Three close bishop friends of this pope
in Europe were themselves forced to resign for sexual
misconduct.
Even more curious, is the elevation of one key American
churchman, Cardinal Law, head of the Boston archdiocese where
the U.S. pedophile scandal first went public, to a plum parish
assignment in Rome this past year.
The rigid sticking to celibacy as a requisite for being a priest
(as well as the requisite of having exclusively male genitals)
means fewer and fewer Catholics have access to the sacraments
and fewer and fewer persons are drawn to study for the
priesthood. The attendance at Mass on Sundays in San Francisco
alone has plummeted 70% during this pope's reign.
As a result of his policies the demise of the number of practicing Catholics in the Northern countries including Ireland and United States continues unabated. In a few years 2/3 of parishes in Germany will have no pastors and no Eucharistic celebration. Already, 1400 priests in Germany are from outside the country and the number of new priests ordained there has dropped from 366 in 1990 to 161 today. The average priest world wide is over 60 years of age.
The
obstruction of Ecumenism and Interfaith to the point that most
Protestant bodies have, in the words of a key player in Canada,
"given up a long time ago" on the Catholic Church supporting
ecumenism.
The raising of the papacy to a 'cult of personality' aided and
abetted by the fawning media.
Speaking of the fawning media, this papacy granted a "man of
conscience" award to Rupert Murdoch (who, the year after he got
the award, divorced his wife of many years to marry a young
woman).
The Holy Spirit is far smarter and forward looking than any
papacy and thus this destruction of Catholicism's past may well
be the Spirit's way of creating a flatter playing field for Deep
Ecumenism and Interfaith in the future. Meanwhile, though, many
good Catholics are deeply hurt and alienated from their
church--there are a lot more recovering than practicing
catholics out there--and little leadership appears on the
horizon since this pope's appointments and policies have stifled
so much talent and blockaded so much potential for intelligent
faith.
When I think of this pope I think
of a hard-working priest who came to see me a year ago from
southern California. He cried as he told me how
ALL of the budget for the ministry to the poor was being cut to
pay for a big new cathedral and for priestly misconduct. He
himself was close to leaving the priesthood. I think of another
priest who came to me three years ago and who was the person who
actually ran his entire diocese on behalf of his bishop. He was
at his wit's end with the hypocrisy and lies emanating from
Rome--he knew many secrets. Rather than leave and rather than
play the game, he quit his position and diocese and found a
ministerial position in another diocese thousands of miles away.
Now that this pope has passed, let readers reflect on the
seriousness of these matters. And pray for this pope. I for
one would hate to have to face my Creator with a track record
like this one.
Matthew Fox, PhD
www.matthewfox.org
theologian and president emeritus of the University of
Creation Spirituality, Oakland, California
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