Benedict XVI: The Panzer Pope
Ouch...Not what I was hoping for at all.
I was sitting in Jurisprudence this morning when an AIM window pops up from Abra Belke announcing white smoke and bells. This being a Catholic law school obsessed with its mission and also seeing as how there had been close to a dozen JP2 references in class thus far, I figured this might be worthy of mention. So I raised my hand. Dr. Reid called on me and I announced that the conclave had chosen a new Pope. "That must mean you're not paying attention, Mr. Clark." For the next two minutes he gave me grief about interrupting class. I defended the intrusion, though. This is a big deal to young Catholics. No one under the age of 28 has ever seen the election of a Pope. Besides that, I had been innocently following class when a friend briefly informed me of what was going on in the world. Reid doesn't have the perspective that most of us do. He's probably seen a good dozen or so conclaves. I haven't. It's a big deal to us. About fifteen minutes later in class, he gets that big Monopoly man grin on his face and asks me if there is any further news. Said that I wouldn't even tell him if there was after his previous rebuke. We chatted in the elevator later and I explained to him that I wasn't surfing the net and just happened to be told by a friend. He was fine with it, though I still didn't appreciate him giving me crap in class about it.
Alas, I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with the result. A genuine opportunity has been squandered here. If Cardinal Francis Arinze had walked through those balcony curtains, the conclave would have sent a message to the Third World that the Catholic Church is not a Europeans-only club. I might have understood if it was a progressive Italian even who could take the Church into new territory. But Ratzinger has all of the conservatism with none of the charm.
For all of John Paul's faults, it was impossible not to like him. He was warm, inviting and inspirational. I disagreed with him on issues like birth control and marriage, but on the whole I felt that he was a leader very worthy to hold the post as St. Peter's successor.
Benedict has the potential to become a very dividing figure. He was a member of the Hitler Youth and was drafted into Munich's air defense. This I don't hold against him personally because avoiding the Nazi taint was practically impossible. Besides that, his experiences under Nazi Germany only shaped him for the better. Still, his personality is very cold and calculating. He's the quintessential grizzled old man who never appears to be happy about anything.
All in all, this is his honeymoon and I'm more than willing to give Pope Benedict the benefit of the doubt. He's 78 years old and likely to be a "transitional" Pope. His impact will not be long lasting. Still, it might be a long few years before the Church takes up progression again.
I was sitting in Jurisprudence this morning when an AIM window pops up from Abra Belke announcing white smoke and bells. This being a Catholic law school obsessed with its mission and also seeing as how there had been close to a dozen JP2 references in class thus far, I figured this might be worthy of mention. So I raised my hand. Dr. Reid called on me and I announced that the conclave had chosen a new Pope. "That must mean you're not paying attention, Mr. Clark." For the next two minutes he gave me grief about interrupting class. I defended the intrusion, though. This is a big deal to young Catholics. No one under the age of 28 has ever seen the election of a Pope. Besides that, I had been innocently following class when a friend briefly informed me of what was going on in the world. Reid doesn't have the perspective that most of us do. He's probably seen a good dozen or so conclaves. I haven't. It's a big deal to us. About fifteen minutes later in class, he gets that big Monopoly man grin on his face and asks me if there is any further news. Said that I wouldn't even tell him if there was after his previous rebuke. We chatted in the elevator later and I explained to him that I wasn't surfing the net and just happened to be told by a friend. He was fine with it, though I still didn't appreciate him giving me crap in class about it.
Alas, I have to admit that I'm a little disappointed with the result. A genuine opportunity has been squandered here. If Cardinal Francis Arinze had walked through those balcony curtains, the conclave would have sent a message to the Third World that the Catholic Church is not a Europeans-only club. I might have understood if it was a progressive Italian even who could take the Church into new territory. But Ratzinger has all of the conservatism with none of the charm.
For all of John Paul's faults, it was impossible not to like him. He was warm, inviting and inspirational. I disagreed with him on issues like birth control and marriage, but on the whole I felt that he was a leader very worthy to hold the post as St. Peter's successor.
Benedict has the potential to become a very dividing figure. He was a member of the Hitler Youth and was drafted into Munich's air defense. This I don't hold against him personally because avoiding the Nazi taint was practically impossible. Besides that, his experiences under Nazi Germany only shaped him for the better. Still, his personality is very cold and calculating. He's the quintessential grizzled old man who never appears to be happy about anything.
All in all, this is his honeymoon and I'm more than willing to give Pope Benedict the benefit of the doubt. He's 78 years old and likely to be a "transitional" Pope. His impact will not be long lasting. Still, it might be a long few years before the Church takes up progression again.
posted by Your Friendly Neighborhood Clark Bar at 4/19/2005 02:46:00 PM
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4 Comments:
CLARK DON'T GIVE ME THIS ABIVALENCE. I don't wander into the blogosphere to get measured responses to the news of the day. I want rants and wackos. You think this wishy-washy bullshit will turn the hit counter??? NOT in the blogosphere that I know.
Warhank, you KNOW what happens to your blood pressure when you write in all caps. And come on. You know me. I'll rant like an idiot about many things, but the Pope is in different territory. Deal baby. I blog for love of the game. Not for the big hits. You want that, go try Powerline.
By the way, shouldn't you be off studying for Contracts, 1L?
BULLSHIT CLARK! pulling the 1L card on me? As long as we are on the topic of the numbers and law schools, need i mention the first tier?
Don't get snobby with me, boy. I will pull the 1L card on you any damn time I want. You could be a 1L at Yale or at Zaga, either way it doesn't matter to me. You're still a friggin 1L.
Go write a memo or something.
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