IT’S A WIDE, WIDE WORLD

Hans Kung wrote recently that Pope Benedict XVI is turned in upon the Vatican and is not tuned in to what is happening in the world beyond the Vatican, which for too long has been his world.

I am aware, of course, that the pope and Kung are not close. Before he became pope, Cardinal Ratzinger forbade Kung to teach theology at the University of Tubingen in Germany.

Some might think that Kung is taking a shot at Benedict. My view is that Kung is simply pointing out that Benedict XVI, who is almost 82, is too isolated from the world. I think he is right. How else explain some of his actions, particularly three decisions that have shocked or confused Catholics throughout the world.

The first occurred shortly after he became pope. Benedict angered Muslims when he cited a medieval scholar who said, “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

Quoting this medieval scholar, an Orthodox Christian emperor, might be appropriate for his audience of academics at Regensburg University where the pope was exploring the historical and philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith, but not for audiences throughout the world. Was not Benedict XVI aware that as pope the world is his stage? Within hours people all over the world were reading about the event on the Web or hearing his words on radio and television. Benedict, obviously ill prepared for the repercussions, later apologized.

I was again baffled when without consultation the pope lifted the excommunication of four bishops, one of whom is a Holocaust denier, and restored them to the hierarchy. All four bishops were illegally ordained by a French archbishop, Marcel Lefebvre, who strongly opposed the Second Vatican Council documents and founded the St. Pius X Society to reverse the teachings of the Council. Along with Lefebvre, the four were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II in 1990. None has recanted his opposition to the Second Vatican Council.

If Pope Benedict XVI’s motive was an attempt to heal the schism between the church and the St. Pius X Society, the breach was made worse when it was revealed that one of the four, British-born Bishop Richard Williamson, said in a recent television interview that the “historical evidence” was against six million Jews dying in Nazi gas chambers. He denied the Holocaust ever happened. Predictably to nearly everyone but the pope, the outcry from Jews was worldwide. Benedict apologized and said that he was unaware that Williamson held that opinion.

Finally, Benedict XVI shocked (and embarrassed) many Catholics when he recently approved bringing back the doctrine of plenary indulgences, a trend started by his predecessor Pope John Paul II. Did the pope forget that plenary indulgences were a major contributing cause of the Protestant Reformation?

As a practicing Catholic, let me state that while I applaud efforts to dialog with Muslims throughout the world I hope that in the future Benedict XVI will listen to advisers about how to initiate that dialog. I am not threatened in any way by the followers of Archbishop Marciel Levebre, but I am deeply offended that my church can be perceived as being in sympathy with Holocaust deniers. The pope’s attempt to reinstate the practice of indulgences is beyond my understanding and in my view clearly shows that Benedict XVI’s world has shrunk to the Vatican, an area the size of an 18-hole golf course.

I would like the pope to address more important issues such as world poverty, genocide, war and peace, just wages, crimes against women and children. Why is it that I learn more from a column by NYT columnist Bob Herbert about mass rape and young girls forced into prostitution in Africa, Thailand and the United States than I do from Benedict XVI?

Pope Benedict XVI has a handsome face. More importantly, he has a voice that we need to hear on important issues that face the world. Let’s hear it!

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