Pope Pat Buchanan
This Pat Buchanan article was difficult to take.
"But if [the people who oppose Ratzinger] do not believe in hell, what are they worried about? What are they whining about? Why do they not simply say: "The church is wrong, the church is out of touch, the church is yesterday. I'm gone." Answer: Deep in their hearts, they fear the church is right. They are unsettled because they fear that when the church says it has been given by Christ custody of the truths about how men must live to reach eternal life, it is right. When liberal Catholics say people have been "hurt" by Catholic teachings, what they are saying is that their consciences are hurting."
No, what some of them are saying is that thousands of people have suffered at the hands of priests who were simply sheltered and moved around by the rich and powerful leaders of the church, like, for example, the new pope.
Buchanan can't handle the truth.
posted by CharlesPeirce @ 5:08 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I grant freely that Pat Buchanan is a complete ass clown. At the same time, I didn't understand your critique, including the reference to Ratzinger's biography. A little help here?
I was attempting to make the point that some of the criticism of Cardinal Ratzinger stems not from the fact that people are afraid that he is right doctrinally, but that people are afraid of his power, which he has used in the past to avoid dealing with the crises facing the church. A subtler point that I don't have the time to make would be that people cloak their criticisms of his handling of the sex scandals and other issues in terms of conservative vs. liberal, which is not helpful.
My reference to his biography illustrates his mishandling of the priest scandals. For example, "In May 2001, Cardinal Ratzinger sent a (Latin language) letter to every bishop in the Catholic church reminding them of the strict penalties facing those who referred confidential details concerning enquiries into allegations of sexual abuse against priests to outside authorities."
And I thank you for your free granting of ass clownage.
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