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Monday, August 16, 2010

'Greatest Scholar to Rule the Church Since [13th Century Pope] Innocent III

Here is an excerpt of the excellent article from ABC News International.

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In the past 30 years, the Vatican has moved strongly to reassert the authority of a traditional, even orthodox Roman Catholicism -- to bring the notion of a "one true church" to Europe and then the larger world. The intent was to reverse the "open" or liberalizing trend of the church represented by Vatican II.


In the past three decades, the Vatican has cracked down on liberation theology, affirmed traditional sexual morality, and is now quietly supporting ultradevout Catholic groups such as Opus Dei and the Legions of Christ -- while curbing ecumenical outreach and describing Protestant churches as not authentic.

The most constant, diligent, and serious champion of these moves is a shy but brilliant German theologian, Josef Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict XVI.


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You know who said that line in the title?  I did not make it up.

It was said by Princeton University Renaissance scholar Anthony Grafton, not a Catholic!

Though there are some lines that can strike a nerve like "the Vatican is not looking to adapt, modernize or open itself to new interpretations. Recent Vatican statements against women's ordination, and reaffirming priestly celibacy, are small examples."

You can read the rest of this article by clicking here.

2 comments:

  1. Re:the quote in the ABC article about "the petty gossip of dominant opinion":

    This was taken out of context. Benedict did not dismiss pedophilia as "gossip." In fact he met with abuse victims in the US, Australia, Canada. He uttered those words right after the press tried to link him to abuse cases in Germany. So the effort at linking to abuse was the "petty gossip," not the abuse of children.

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  2. I am a big fan of Papa Ratzi since he can dish out words that say the truth. Like the one about Islam at the dying days of the Byzantine Empire.

    Also Papa Ratzinger thinks extremely clearly. Compare this with the muddled thinking of Richard Dawkins!

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