Thoughts on a Papal Visit


Benedict XVI has been here now for several days. He's celebrated Mass in the Washington Nationals' new stadium, visited with President Bush at the White House -- on the day he celebrated his 81st birthday. He addressed the United Nations and called on the world's nations to focus more on diplomacy -- was he talking to us? Most likely he was talking to us, and to the world as a whole.


One of the issues most on the mind of American Catholics -- and Americans in general -- was the aftermath of the sex abuse scandal. While he had made comments about it before, he had tended to avoid dealing with victims face to face, but in an unannounced meeting he met with three victims. That is helpful, because it puts a real human face on the issue. Granted that the vast majority of priests weren't implicated nor did they commit such acts, but it still has been a stain on the church.


Benedict is a complex person, more academic theologian than church administrator or even pastor. His papacy will likely be a short one. Three years into it, he's aged 81. He seems to be vital in health and spiritual life. He's certainly a conservative and a traditionalist, but on some social issues he's proven himself to be progressive.


Of course the question at this point is not what the church is now, but what it will be in the near future. Benedict's time will be short, but as with all our religious communities, change is in the air. He can resist and challenge the relativism he sees, but this is a post modern age.

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