Welcome Benedict XVI.
I wonder if I'm alone in being slightly bothered by GW Bush's reaction. Most other world leaders have contented themselves with some platitudes about it being a tough and noble job.
GW on the other hand has said "He's a man of great wisdom and knowledge. He's a man who serves the Lord."
I'm squeamish about this 'serving the Lord' bit. It doesn't seem a million miles from Muslim clerics whose highest compliment is that someone is 'a good Muslim'. Or 'a man who serves Allah'. I guess as a secularist I'm just not comfortable with such professions of faith from our leaders.
By the way, The Sun's front page today is superlative.
2 comments:
Dude. The headline was a joke. The point was in the post itself. But yes, the headline was misleading.
Just spotted this on the Daily Dish (there's a permanent link off this site.) It struck me as interesting in the light of the flippant banter between myself & Wembley.
THE CHURCH NEVER CHANGES? The response of some non-Catholics to those of us who are appalled by the selection of the new Pope goes something like this: What did you expect? The Church never changes. Having a new Pope who adheres to doctrine is not a big deal. Expecting big changes in a church whose main selling point is eternal verities is stupid. All these non-Catholics like their Catholic church authoritarian, unchanging, eternal. All I can say is: what would they have said about, say, John XXIII or even John Paul II? In the last forty years or so, the Church has officially revoked its previous anti-Semitism, it has changed the very structure and vernacular of the mass, it has doubled the number of saints in heaven, it has shifted its position on religious and political liberty, it has apologized for the Inquisition, it has declared that homosexuality is innate and without sin as a condition, it has ordained married priests, it has innovated a new policy against all forms of artificial birth control, and dramatically strengthened its teachings against the death penalty. If you were to believe James Lileks, none of this would have been even faintly possible.
Here's the link:
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2005_04_17_dish_archive.html#111401311637187381
Many other articles about the new Pope there too.
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