You wouldn't think that to look at the way the church has behaved of recent. With a Pope who bore a striking similarity to the Emperor from STAR WARS and made such asinine claims as AVATAR is evil because it encourages worship of nature while fighting tooth and nail to attempt any sort of reform of a church that is rapidly dying, the Catholic church looked to be little more than a relic of the past, like chastity belts and swords.There was talk when Benedict, named no doubt after the rich egg meal, was promoted to pontiff following the beloved John Paul II that it was based on the idea that he would die soon while the Holy See could begin grooming a new ruler. Thing, the man didn't die. In fact, he continued on. A Hitler youth who saw the church's dropping numbers as an opportunity to thin the herd of the liberal, less orthodox Catholics, he was also adept at ignoring the rampant child molestation scandals eating away at the church in America.
I grew up Catholic. There have been phases in my life when I considered church service. Long stretches of months when I attended church weekly and often during the week. I prayed every night. When my family went to Rome we stayed with a dear friend in her convent with a breathtaking view of St. Peter's. We made sure to catch mass in Italian.
And yet over the last few years the church has seemed to do everything possible to alienate people like me from it - young, well-educated, liberal and yet firm in his beliefs in God. A church, like a nation, is meant to be a living organism, representative of its people with the added caveat that that representation is meant to paint a picture for a higher power.
As such, a church must evolve. The way I've always seen it, God is an artist - why else would artists be the most vaunted and celebrated citizens in our world? That is, you never see gossip magazines about bankers or paparazzi chasing oil men because such people are not as celebrated in spite of greater power and wealth. As such, if the bible is truly the word of God, it's to be interpreted as a work of art, not as a text book. And as art is constantly interpreted and reinterpreted to apply in different ways to different ages - anybody ever heard of a remake? - so must the bible be reinterpreted and, in some cases, be remade. That is, all the steadfast rules about what is right and wrong socially are out of date memories of an ignorant time past when women were just one step above chattel and men wiped their asses with their hands.
Years back, when they changed the mass from Latin to the languages prevalent in the place where the church was said, many thought it would destroy the church. It didn't. Over my lifetime they allowed girls to become altar servers. St. Peter's didn't crumble to the ground. But now it's time for a real overhaul and Pope Francis might just be the one to do it.
The first pope from the Americas, he's no doubt representative of the fact that more and more European gentry (translation: "Caucasians") have been leaving the church for its closed-mindedness. In Los Angeles my church gave as many masses in Spanish as in English - the Spanish masses were always full but during the English one I was often struck by the emptiness of the place, like a depressing high school play where the only people who turn out are a few parents, sheepishly checking their watches for when they can leave.
Pope Francis, while in Argentina as Cardinal Bergoglio, recommended the church possibly accept civil union for homosexuals, a HUGE step for a Christianity that still views homos as works of the devil. While a political move more than a moral one, it's still the first such step in the history of the religion.
In a church marked by excess and wealth, Pope Francis just took the chair of St. Peter's preaching more tenderness shown to the poor and more care given to the environment. And in general he has a track record of practicing what he preaches, prone to living humbly, riding the bus, spending his time far outside the European religious hegemony. Just look at his name - Francis the first. As in, over the 900 years since his death, no other pope has chosen to adopt the name of one of the most beloved saints because he's known for love of animals (just guessing here).
Of course the question is whether he can be the man who civilizes a church that for the past few years had been moving backwards. Whether he can at least bring it up to the 20th century (for the 21st is no doubt out of his reach.) Whether he will adapt to the times and allow priests to marry (in this modern era the sacrifice of family life is no longer tolerable among the clergy and no doubt is directly related to these sick men molesting little boys who they know won't tell that they have - urges.) Will he give women greater rights in the church as many groups of nuns have been fighting for? Will he encourage tolerance and acceptance in counter to the previous pontiff who preached closed-minded hatred disguised as religious integrity? In general, will he return to its original mission, being universally inclusive or will he preach more obstinate closed-mindedness and lead the church into ruin?
It's hard to say. And just like any political role, no doubt the power will have strong affects on the man from Argentina. But I do believe he will bring about some changes.
The last change that came down from the church caused me to leave the church. I have been trying to bring myself back into the fold but every time I think of the change I can't. The change wasn't a granting of rights; it wasn't as radical as the church accepting evolution. It was a few arbitrary lines being changed in the creed and some of the other responsorials. Not a change of meaning really; just a change of verbage. Like a company that's told it needs to change the way it does business so it tweaks the colors of its logo and updates the font from Script to Comic. It was a simple paintjob. And in this hideous act they took what I'd believed to be sacred and made it just another commodity, just another bullshit product packaged and shoved down our throats. I haven't been to church under my own volition since.
Somebody once told me you can't blame the church for the faults of its people. But if the people who run it claim to define it, then yes, I do blame the church. And whatever higher power may exist won't begrudge me that because if there is a God who hates gays, believes His followers should spend their lives alone, is against birth control in a world growing dangerously overpopulated, who believes women are lesser than men and thinks AVATAR was anything other than an enjoyable visual spectacle, I don't know if I want to worship Him. Because put like that, He kinda sounds like a jerk.
- Ryan
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