I feel similarly to you, Mael. An uber-conservative isn't going to be a good mediator in inter-faith dialogue, or dialogue amongst Christians. He's not going to help the church change with the world, more likely he'll put the church *against* the world. Not what we need.
I know Pope Benedict left "Hitler's Youth" in 1945, but the fact that he belonged to such a group says something about Pope Benedict's person.
He dismisses same-sex couples as "deviant and evil", which won't help with the dialogue between gays and straights... as if this is much of a change, but seriously- we could have hoped for a little bit more than an ex-Nazi.
Another interesting tidbit about the new Pope- he was nick-named "God's Rottweiler".
Quote:
According to Conservative Newspaper, Radical Backward-Thinking Theologian Once Called The Enlightenment "A Thorn in Our [The Church's] Side"; Also, Called Protestant Churches "Deficient," Homosexuality a "Disorder," and Said That Humans Have "No Conceivable Right" to Gay Sex Between Consenting Adults; Of Hate Crimes Legislation, Said That "Neither the Church Nor Society at Large Should Be Surprised" When Such Legislation Causes "Violent Reactions [Against Gays to] Increase"
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(from
here)
Someone who's already stating such strong, aggressive possitions on the main issues that the Catholic Church needs to have discussion on... it's not a good start. It's one thing to have an opinion, it's quite another to condemn those who you should have dialogue with. Right now, we need a pope who will listen, who will understand...
I'm not asking for a liberal pope, because I know that's impossible, but maybe just a guy who doesn't walk in, first day on the job, and say "You are all DEMONS....but I'm open to dialogue." He's Catholic, it's pretty much given he's not pro-Protestants/Gays, etc. He doesn't need to condemn them immediately, especially when most newspapers are reporting that his major goals are "the promotion of the unity of Christians and a commitment to ecumenism, the continued dialogue with other religions and the fulfillment of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council." (from the
New York Times).
Disclaimer: Before any of you dismiss me as the anti-Christ, I'll have you know I was a Sunday School teacher at a Presbyterian Church, and after work I went directly to Catholic Mass, which was held in the same church. I know my theology, and I know where I stand on religion. I'm not baptized, I never took the eucharist, but I have a deep respect for religion and its implications to my life, to everybody's life, to the world.