Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon<\/p>\n
Benedict has bowed out. \u00a0Exit stage right, 2\/28\/2013. \u00a0A man who began his papacy less radically than I imagined gained conservative momentum as he stayed in office, facing down Vatican II, modernism (a bit late on that one, I think) and maintaining a wall of episcopal purple between the Church and its accusers. \u00a0Failure depends on perspective and intent, so calling him a failure seems premature to me.<\/p>\n
He may have realized that the world for which he hungered no longer exists, will not exist. \u00a0In that case he would not be a failure, but simply a warrior facing too strong a foe. \u00a0A hero of his convictions, if not his results. \u00a0It is, of course, to this outsider, a faux-war that he generaled. \u00a0Contraception, gays, criminal priests, the vernacular liturgy, the onswelling tide of secular sentiments, all these Benedict saw as problems, problems requiring a marshaling of the troops and tight theological armor. \u00a0Yet these are problems only from within a narrowed, puckered understanding of the richness of life. \u00a0Except for those criminal priests.<\/p>\n
They are a problem, but Benedict saw them as a problem of public relations rather than for what they were, commentary on the Church’s inane devotion to celibacy and its more than archaic understanding of human sexuality. \u00a0Not to mention the criminal acts themselves that in their mundane nature challenge the sacred order. \u00a0Literally.<\/p>\n
As a former church administrator (Presbyterian), I have a good feel for the difficulties the Vatican faces. \u00a0Most of their wounds have come self-inflicted, but the pressures from liberal constituents and conservative constituents make consensus only a dream, not even a far away hope. \u00a0Benedict chose to lay the power of his office, the levers over which he had direct control to cover up, dismiss and hide from world of our day. \u00a0I doubt that his successor will have much better to offer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Imbolc \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Valentine Moon Benedict has bowed out. \u00a0Exit stage right, 2\/28\/2013. \u00a0A man who began his papacy less radically than I … Continue reading German Shepherd Heels<\/span>