Pope Benedict is going to be an extremely socially progressive Popes. Bear in mind that, for me, unlike many liberals seemingly do, I do not limit social progress to the issues of abortion and homosexuality. I support gay rights but am much less supportive of abortion because I think MUCH MORE support should be given to education & establishing the safety nets that would limit the use for abortion. There ARE other issues that define progressives such as the war on poverty, fair wages/living wage, the
right to healthcare, capital punishment, respect of the worker to include non-exploitation by capitalism, non-corruption and appropriation of the water and food supplies, and an emphasis on values a little deeper than the vapid materialism we take for granted.
I really hope that over time (but I'm not holding my breath) people will give Pope Benedict an honest look and a fair evaluation because the calculated smear job done on him was rather thorough & the only news non-Catholic-practicing Liberals/Progressives seem to get about him comes from the warped lens of O'Reilly and Hannity.
Here you go DUers... It only took me 5 minutes to google, cut and paste this. Please.... Do yourselves & the world a favor by not repeating things that aren't true.
The voices of people like Pope Benedict are very strong and carry a lot of weight. We could cleverly be fighting the lies of the right-wing in this country by exploiting these voices, by challenging the moral conscience of Bush-supporting Catholics but we can't do that if we attack such an important voice simply because we don't like the doctrinal teachings of the Church on the issues of homosexuality and abortion.
What means more to us? What is MORE pressing when thousands are being killed, tortured, raped, orphaned, all over the world? Abortion and gay rights or the death and destruction of poverty, exploitation and WAR? After writing all of this, as tired as I am tonight, I want to apologize to my gay brothers and sisters- it's not that I don't care, it's not that I don't fully support, it's just that global wars and the poor concern me a lot more than the rights of a few in wealthy societies.
It's not right to crucify a man (Pope Benedict) with nails he doesn't deserve when this man is an ally in, what I had hoped, is our most important cause.
Goforit, this post is not directed at you specifically- you just gave me an opening. I wasn't going to post tonight because I'm rather tired right now from a huge project at work but I saw your post and as a Catholic who has read Ratzinger's works from way back & followed him, it made me very sad.
==========================
(snip)
As talk escalated about a U. S. attack on Iraq, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, began stating unequivocally that "The concept of a 'preventive war' does not appear in the Catechism of the Catholic Church." His comments had been published as early as September 2002 and were repeated several times as war seemed imminent.
Cardinal Ratzinger recommended that the three religions who share a heritage from Abraham return to the Ten Commandments to counteract the violence of terrorism and war:
"The Decalogue is not the private property of Christians or Jews. It is a lofty expression of moral reason that, as such, is also found in the wisdom of other cultures. To refer again to the Decalogue might be essential precisely to restore reason."Preparation of a new shorter, simpler version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will soon begin and, according to reports and interviews with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, it will probably include
revisions to clarify the section on just war, as the official version has done against capital punishment in a civilized society. Cardinal Ratzinger will head up the Commission to write the new catechism. In an interview with Zenit on May 2, 2003, the Cardinal restated the position of the Holy Father on the Iraq war (II) and on the question of the possibility of a just war in today's world.: "There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a "just war."
(snip)
Houston Catholic Worker, Vol. XXIII, No. 4, July-August 2003.
www.cjd.org/paper/jp2war.html
==
Even after the war
, Ratzinger did not cease criticism of U.S. violence and imperialism: "it was right to resist the war and its threats of destruction... It should never be the responsibility of just one nation to make decisions for the world."
Yet perhaps the most important insight of Ratzinger came during a press conference on May 2, 2003. After suggesting that perhaps it would be necessary to revise the Catechism section on just war (perhaps because it had been used by George Weigel and others to endorse a war the Church opposed), Ratzinger offered a deep insight that included but went beyond the issue of war Iraq:
"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war'."
Doubtless this aspect of the pope's message will go pretty much unmentioned in US media, unlike his stands against abortion or gay marriage. Liberal media, blah blah blah.
(snip)
www.pastpeak.com/archives/2005/04/ratzinger_on_pe.htm
(snip)
Thursday, July 14 2005 @ 12:18 AM Eastern Daylight Time
Views: 116
By KERIM BALCI
On Saturday, the Scottish city of Edinburgh played host to a protest march by 120,000 Scots and Britons, in addition to a G8 summit.
The protesters had three main items on their agenda: Poverty, Iraq occupation and global warming. As a matter of fact, the march was organized under slogan, "Make Poverty History!" and the protesters demanded that the eight richest nations in the world take action beyond mere rhetoric on "trade justice," "cancellation of poor countries' debts," and "aid to Africa and other underdeveloped countries." However, those who have developed critical viewpoints against the present order in the last few years, seem to have formed a protest coalition. Those who organized the "Million March" in London against the Iraq War in March 2003, and the ones who organized the "Make Poverty History!" march, are the same people: Anti-militarists, environmentalists, Christian groups conducting relief activities for poor countries, those demanding the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and those against global warming…This time, the street coalition had an interesting partner: Pope Benedict XVI. The letter that the pope sent to the protest organizers made the entire Scottish Catholic Church hierarchy walk side by side with the people.
(snip)
http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20050714001851124
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