Pope Benedict XVI took time out from his efforts to beatify Pius XII – the pope who stood by while six million were murdered in WWII – to warn against putting too much stock in interfaith dialogue:
erscheinenden Buches, dass ein interreligiöser Dialog „im engen Sinn
des Wortes“ nicht möglich sei, „ohne den eigenen Glauben in Klammern zu
setzen“. Weiter schreibt der Heilige Vater, dass auch der Begriff der
„Multikulturalität“ eine „innere Widersprüchlichkeit“ besitze. Zugleich
betrachtet der Pontifex die „Multikulturalität“ als politisch und
kulturell nicht umsetzbar. Die Aussagen des
Papstes sind Teil des Vorwortes eines Buches, das der ehemalige
italienische Senatspräsident und Philosophieprofessor Marcello Pera
geschrieben hat. (In a forward to a book that will appear on Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI writes that an interfaith dialogue "in the strictest sense of the word" is not possible "without putting ones own faith in parentheses". The Holy Father furthermore writes that the concept of "Multiculturalism" contains in "internal contradiciton". At the same time, the pontif believes that "Multiculturalism" cannot be realized, politically and culturally. The staements of the pope are part of a forward to a book written by the former Italian senate president and professor of philosophy Marcello Pera."
Nobody believes that interfaith dialogue would lead to a ecumenical utopia and melting pot of the world's religions. Still, the pope's statements seem to imply that faith rests on a set of static doctrines, immutable and set by the Vatican. I also find the relentless attack on multiculturalism tiresome. We live in a globalized, multicultural world. What is the realistic alternative to multiculturalism?
The static thinking of the Roman Catholic Church was very evident in the recent presidential election in the US. Once again the bishops rallied around a single issue: abortion. They warned sternly against the "sin" of voting for Barack Obama because of his support of a woman's right to choose. This time American Catholics simply ignored the message of bishops: Fifty-four percent of Catholics voted for Obama, to 45 percent for GOP
nominee John McCain, according to surveys of voters as they left their
polling places. Catholics made up 27 percent of the U.S. electorate. Exit polls seem to indicate that Catholic voters have a more expansive view of the Gospels than the bishops, putting more emphasis on issues such as poverty, war, the environment and human rights.
Still, there is cause for hope that change – albeit very slow change - is possible even for the Vatican: this week the Vatican announced that it had forgiven John Lennon for his 1966 comment that the "Beatles are more famous than Jesus".
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Good commentary.
He learned the ropes in the Hitler Youth.
I love POPE . He is loveable.