April 4, 2005 RIP John Paul
I’m curious about how Catholics feel about the passing of their pope, John Paul II. I saw the images of candlelight vigils when he was administered to hospital and now the ones being held with his passing. I just wonder what you should pray for? He was old and suffering in pain from his illness, so to pray for his continued good health would perhaps go against the universal Christian charity, we so noblely hold up. If anything, it should be joyous moment since now he has earned his reward for spending his life ministering to the needs of the faithful as God’s representative on earth. And as Christian, especially Catholic, doctrine tells us, that reward is to be closer with God.
And no, I’m not being cynical. I really do hope he finds peace now.
What I am cynical about is how they plan to pick the next pope. Oh sure, the doctrine tells us that divine inspiration will decide who sits on the papal throne. The reality is that the election of the next pope will probably see more wheeling, dealing and jockeying for favours and powers than a US presidential election. It’s also surprising to think that the Catholic church, being one of the single largest organisations in the world, with so many peoples lives under their sway, is still untouched by democractic reform.
All I can say is that I hope they steer clear of the hard right, like the folks at Opus Dei, and go with a reformer again. Lord knows they need someone to bring the ailing institution into the 21st century.
Tags: Random Thoughts
- 4 comments
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kipper
said
Actually, I think that the candle-lit vigils were being held to mark his passing. Everyone knew he wasn’t going to recover this time, and I think they just wanted to say goodbye to their Pope, and pray for his soul.
As to your points on the voting system for the next Pope; do you really think it would work to have people from all continents voting for candidates from all continents? It would just end up with everyone voting for their “local” candidate, as I’m sure they would be the only candidate they really knew about in any detail. Plus, how do you verfiy that somone who votes is actually Catholic? I don’t think they have a database of their congregation to check against. Outdated the system may appear to be, but for a faith with a reported following of 1 billion people, it makes sense.
Also, I think that democratic reform has its place. I’d like to believe that some institutions should withhold some of their aspects from modernisation. Plus, has democratic reform really spared us from corruption and having mad, inappropriate leaders? (I think we both know which leader we’re talking about
).
Finally, I was reading an article by some religious observer (sorry can’t remember where it was to link to it) that was suggesting that the influence the late Pope had (not only on the Catholics, but globally) on the world means that the Vatican would be funneled towards a successor in the same mould. Seems a reasonable assumption to me, and will hopefully mean they’ll avoid someone from the far right.
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henry
said
you’ve been reading too much dan brown!
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Eshin
said
Centralized religion is a concept that is slowly losing its meaning. It worked when we had to build the great pyramids, wage wars and so on. But shouldn’t we be phasing out religious dogma in favour of enlightened spirituality?
Having someone tell you what to do and what to belief was important before because people were uneducated and couldn’t think. They can still choose not to think, but at least they have the means available to them to think, question and believe.
Henry – yeah, and I’m planning to write a book called everything I’ve ever known about the Catholic Church, I’ve learned through reading Dan Brown.
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kipper
said
“But shouldn’t we be phasing out religious dogma in favour of enlightened spirituality?”
Why, exactly, should we be doing this? As you say only a few lines later – people should think for themselves. As the Catholic church is growing in popularity (in S. America and Africa, admitedly according to the church itself), we can only assume that people are liking the idea of centralised religion (of course, a lot of people may have been brought up into a particular religion). You seem to be suggesting that all these people (and those of other centralised faiths) aren’t thinking when they find a religion, in which case I would suggest that you, in fact, think before you make that implication…
P.S. As you should know I’m neither Catholic nor particularly centralised in my religion — I’m just arguing a point.