The Last European Pope?

[mattkennel]

I just found an excellent editorial online about the tasks facing our new Holy Father. The article, by Joseph Bottum, the editor of First Things, puts down clearly all the things I wish that I was articulate enough to say.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Conten...hvplz.asp?pg=1

Perhaps this thread can take time to comment on the things found in this editorial. At the least, I hope you all will take time to read it.

[Digitonomy]

Maybe if you could hit the high points as to what's in it?

[mtr01]

Very interesting article, and I think it is pretty accurate in describing Pope Benedict, and the challenges he faces in Europe. A couple of paragraphs caught my eye:

After the four years of pontifical discourses in which John Paul II laid out his theology of the body, it's hard to see how anyone can imagine change in the Church's teaching on sexual morality. But the fact that these are the only issues about which the new pope's opponents can bring themselves to care--surely that's a sign that Benedict may be right about a culture "which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires."

Why is it so hard for the dissenters to understand this? Or is it that they do understand, but do not care...they want a Burger King Catholicism (have it your way) instead of Christ the King Catholicism.

Besides, to abandon Europe may be merely to put off the problem of evangelizing democracies. When Latin American and African democracies become stable and more prosperous, perhaps they will undergo the same slide that Europe has experienced. The Catholic Church spent most of the Middle Ages learning how to rein in the characteristic abuses of monarchies, and when the European monarchies suddenly collapsed between the 1840s and the 1940s, Catholic thinkers were caught flat-footed. But in the years since, the Vatican has used much of its time trying to figure out how to rein in the characteristic abuses of the democracies--beginning with the drift down into a boring and deadening relativism.

This was an interesting point I had not considered regarding Africa and Latin America. I think it also leads to the question, are democracies/republics by nature hostile to Christianity, or is the post-modernist "plague" the culprit?

[Digitonomy]

Originally Posted by mtr01

This was an interesting point I had not considered regarding Africa and Latin America. I think it also leads to the question, are democracies/republics by nature hostile to Christianity, or is the post-modernist "plague" the culprit?

That is an interesting point. I don't think it's fair to characterize democracies as intrinsically "hostile" to Christianity. I think it's more the case that people in non-democratic environments are more likely to turn to the Church for fairness, social reasons, and truth. Once they are out from the yoke of an overbearing state, especially in places where the rule of law is respected, some people will naturally seek out these things from a diversity of places other than the Church.

The more I think about it, the problem isn't so much with democracy - many of these countries, especially in Latin America, are nominally democratic. But the places where Christianity is in decline are more than just democratic, they also have well-developed market economies. Modern market economies can undermine the traditional family and village/neighborhood values by increasing social and geographic mobility. It is in the poorest, most back-woods areas, where the opportunities of a market economy have not yet filtered down, that Christianity is strongest.

So I think Benedict was right - it may be inevitable that the Church will get smaller, especially in more developed countries.

[Ani Ibi]

Originally Posted by mtr01

is the post-modernist "plague" the culprit?