Benedict XVI Was Not a Good Pope
So, the pope is retiring. Even in Canada, which is hardly a Catholic country, this apparently ranks right up there with the fact that Harper’s select senators are pilfering the public purse. Which is a story I’ll return to tomorrow. But today the press and, more importantly, the government media page are devoted to glowing retrospectives on Benedict XVI, so Sixth Estate will be, too.
On that note, I’m seriously starting to wonder who writes editorials at the Globe & Mail. Are they just incredibly dense, or is this a joke to them? Honestly, how does anyone who pays the slightest bit of attention to world affairs — and we must assume that professional journalists do — write in all seriousness that Benedict XVI “established reasonably solid reforms to prevent… sexual abuse of children,” that he has applied “real freshness” to the role of the Catholic church in the 21st century, and that he has “contributed much to the world as a writer, philosopher, and theologian”?
He has done nothing of the kind, nor could he be expected to. Benedict XVI’s tenure as a pope was a failure, as was his predecessor’s, and as his successor’s likely will be.
It was a failure because Benedict XVI combined the worst reactionary instincts of Catholic dogma with the worst of religion’s routine anti-science bias to make an incredible proclamation that a “contraception mentality” would do even greater damage to African nations, and other human societies, than HIV/AIDS.
It was a failure because he continued to adhere to one of the church’s silliest superstitions of all, the myth that people are made saints because they have performed documented miracles. Benedict anointed two Canadian saints: a long-dead Mohawk woman and a Quebecois faith healer. Kateri Tekakwitha was officially canonized on the grounds that a few years ago an American boy was cured of a life-threatening infection by means of some combination of antibiotics and intercessory prayers to Kateri’s spirit — which is sort of like saying that I quenched my thirst with a combination of water and air. Anyways, Kateri was made a saint, and so was Brother Andre, and the Canadian government fell all over itself in a humiliating display of gratitude. The Catholic Church continues to make a respectable income selling ostensibly magical fluids at Andre’s old site of business in Montreal.
But most of all, Benedict’s time in office was a failure because he took no steps to reverse the Catholic Church’s morally repugnant claim that men enjoy a divinely appointed right to occupy positions of religious authority that are banned to women. The fact that the largest religious organization in the world, and in world history, continues in the 21st century to preach that men and women are unequal by divine right is a scandal of enormous proportions.
Fortunately, it hardly matters, because the Catholic Church’s influence is declining by the day, which is yet another thing that Benedict XVI’s far-right reign did nothing to prevent.
Tweet
albertaD
Finally someone speaks the truth. I am not surprised that The Sixth Estate was the one who had the fortitude to step away from the fawning media coverage and say what’s being ignored by the MSM. I would like to add one more black mark to the Pope’s legacy: meeting and congratulating the leader of Uganda on the “good work” Uganda is doing by pushing the Kill The Gays Bill.
So if the bill passes, and a homo-genocide occurs, will the MSM add that to the Pope’s list of achievements?
kubera
With the small exception of a few environmental statements the Panzer Pope was a failure who protected abusers not children during his tenure.
Simon
I agree with everything you say, but I find it deeply disturbing that any examination of Benedict’s legacy would not include his vicious assault on gay people. For surely his claim that gay marriage is a greater threat to the planet than climate change is worth mention. Mere omission or fatal blindness?
Sixth Estate
If you want a full list of made-up bigoted “problems” that Benedict XVI has claimed are more serious than actual real-life problems, we’re going to be here a while.
But yes, that should be here too.
Simon
hmm…I guess everything is relative, and it depends where you stand. But I would put inciting genocide pretty close to the top. Fatal something or other…
Sixth Estate
All right, look. In retrospect that should have been there too. I am sorry that it wasn’t. I don’t really want to get into a debate about which injustices are more important than others. Claiming that gay and lesbian people are somehow less than fully human is the same as claiming that any other group of people are.
jrkrideau
There was an excellent interview with a Irish priest, Fr. Flannery, on one of the CBC programs recently.
He had been subject to an gagging order by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and was having none of it. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21120326
In the interview he said something to the effect that the hierarchy of the Church was basically selected on ‘doctrinal soundness’ presumably as defined by the last couple of highly conservative popes and because of this, the bishops and so on had no leadership skills at all.
kootcoot
Pope Benny can now spend his declining years eating the left over unsold brownshirt cookies that were left over in his parents’ basement with brandy!
Sixth Estate
“In the interview he said something to the effect that the hierarchy of the Church was basically selected on ‘doctrinal soundness’ presumably as defined by the last couple of highly conservative popes and because of this, the bishops and so on had no leadership skills at all.”
I would imagine there’s a great deal of truth to that. (Those who are in it would probably disagree on the leadership skills part, but the Vatican hierarchy works like any other patronage system.)
The conservative stances taken by the Canadian recently named as a potential successor are evidence of that, although frankly, he has almost no chance of becoming pope. A non-European pope seems exceptionally unlikely, and a Canadian one even more so.
But I’m sure God will be actively involved in ensuring an appropriate successor, as he always has been.
me-me-me-its-all-about-me
To be fair to at least some of the mainstream media (and I don’t do this very often), I’ve heard somewhat less than laudatory comments about the Pope on the CBC.
But if your favourite MSM outlet can’t quite bring itself to point out at least a few of the missteps of this Pope, that says something about that organization’s ability to step back and impartially analyze the news.
trevorus
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=lightning_strikes_St._Peter_s_Basilica__hours_after_Pope_resigns_13_02_2013?ref=ccbox_weather_topstories
Sixth Estate
Yes I saw that too.
A shame the Almighty can’t bestir himself for more than some cheap parlour tricks.
sarah
I liked his statements in the area of environmental responsibility. In fact, Benedict XVI was much more than the head of the Catholic Church. He was also an intellectual with an extensive knowledge of a variety of subjects whose thoughtful remarks often made us think about the world’s most daunting problems. He spoke openly about the threats such as global warming and other challenges we’ll have to face in the years to come. In my native Vancouver there’s now a project called Greenest City 2020 Action Plan whose aim is to eliminate the negative impact that our actions often have on the environment and it seems to me that those in power are reluctant to speak about these problems or support the activities carried out by various environmental movements. And I have to say Pope Benedict was never afraid to raise his voice to warn against the possible disastrous consequences in this particular area. I think he should be a source of inspiration for a number of leaders and that’s why he will definitely be missed by many here in Canada.