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| The Vatican: papal fallibility | The Vatican: papal fallibility |
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| Popes are already old men when elected, so it is to be expected they should not normally be in office for long. Seven years has been the average since 1400, and long papacies, like those of Leo XIII, moderniser of the church's social teaching; Pius XII, pontiff during the difficult years of the second world war and its aftermath; and John Paul II, whose reign helped end the Soviet empire, have been unusual. | Popes are already old men when elected, so it is to be expected they should not normally be in office for long. Seven years has been the average since 1400, and long papacies, like those of Leo XIII, moderniser of the church's social teaching; Pius XII, pontiff during the difficult years of the second world war and its aftermath; and John Paul II, whose reign helped end the Soviet empire, have been unusual. |
| Even in those cases the contradiction between the historic permanence of the office and the fragility of its human occupants was always evident. Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign nevertheless comes as a shock, partly because it is unprecedented in recent centuries, and partly because it is in such contrast to his predecessor's determination to continue, in spite of growing infirmities, to the very end. Some may seek an explanation for Benedict's decision in the financial and other scandals that have emerged during his time, the full story of which may not yet be known. | Even in those cases the contradiction between the historic permanence of the office and the fragility of its human occupants was always evident. Pope Benedict XVI's decision to resign nevertheless comes as a shock, partly because it is unprecedented in recent centuries, and partly because it is in such contrast to his predecessor's determination to continue, in spite of growing infirmities, to the very end. Some may seek an explanation for Benedict's decision in the financial and other scandals that have emerged during his time, the full story of which may not yet be known. |
| But it is more likely that the lesson he drew from John Paul II's last years was that fortitude in adversity is not always the best course. The demands on a pope are great, and such is the hierarchical nature of the organisation that the church will tend to drift, squabble and procrastinate if, because of failing physical and mental powers, he cannot meet them. A pope will, naturally, have access to the best that medical science can offer but it can only do so much. | But it is more likely that the lesson he drew from John Paul II's last years was that fortitude in adversity is not always the best course. The demands on a pope are great, and such is the hierarchical nature of the organisation that the church will tend to drift, squabble and procrastinate if, because of failing physical and mental powers, he cannot meet them. A pope will, naturally, have access to the best that medical science can offer but it can only do so much. |
| Benedict's papacy was theologically, politically and organisationally a continuation of that of John Paul II, with all its defects and its virtues. Its main virtue was that it was liberal and centrist in its social policies, offering a strongly grounded critique of the excesses of late capitalism, the shallowness of consumerist society, and the evils of inequality. It was also often forthright on the use of force in international affairs. Its defects lay in the failure to rethink moral doctrines, and its unchanged positions on homosexuality, celibacy, abortion and contraception. One result was a divergence on these matters between the high clergy and the laity. A long slow mutiny has as a consequence hollowed out Catholic communities in northern Europe and North America. Many have left. Some stay, but do not obey. Another has been the collapse in recruitment to the priesthood, which has seen priests imported into the old western heartlands from Asia and Africa, with all the cultural disjunctions to which that leads. | Benedict's papacy was theologically, politically and organisationally a continuation of that of John Paul II, with all its defects and its virtues. Its main virtue was that it was liberal and centrist in its social policies, offering a strongly grounded critique of the excesses of late capitalism, the shallowness of consumerist society, and the evils of inequality. It was also often forthright on the use of force in international affairs. Its defects lay in the failure to rethink moral doctrines, and its unchanged positions on homosexuality, celibacy, abortion and contraception. One result was a divergence on these matters between the high clergy and the laity. A long slow mutiny has as a consequence hollowed out Catholic communities in northern Europe and North America. Many have left. Some stay, but do not obey. Another has been the collapse in recruitment to the priesthood, which has seen priests imported into the old western heartlands from Asia and Africa, with all the cultural disjunctions to which that leads. |
| Organisationally, both papacies demanded conformity. Neither man was a believer in balance or diversity. Liberal clergy were isolated, shunted off to marginal jobs, or simply not advanced, leading to the situation today, in which not a single liberal candidate to succeed Benedict can be identified. | Organisationally, both papacies demanded conformity. Neither man was a believer in balance or diversity. Liberal clergy were isolated, shunted off to marginal jobs, or simply not advanced, leading to the situation today, in which not a single liberal candidate to succeed Benedict can be identified. |
| There are a few moderate conservatives, but while the next pope may come from a different continent and be of a different ethnicity, he will not come from a very different place intellectually or theologically. The thoroughness of the process that John Paul II initiated at the higher levels of the church, coming close at times to a purge, will take years to modify, let alone reverse. This leaves the church ill equipped to cope with the situation the liberal cardinal Carlo Maria Martini bleakly described in a last interview before his death last year. | There are a few moderate conservatives, but while the next pope may come from a different continent and be of a different ethnicity, he will not come from a very different place intellectually or theologically. The thoroughness of the process that John Paul II initiated at the higher levels of the church, coming close at times to a purge, will take years to modify, let alone reverse. This leaves the church ill equipped to cope with the situation the liberal cardinal Carlo Maria Martini bleakly described in a last interview before his death last year. |
| "The church is tired in Europe and America. Our culture has aged, our churches are large, our religious houses are empty, and the bureaucracy of the church climbs higher, our rituals and our clothes are pompous." The church, Martini added, "must recognise her mistakes and must follow a path of radical change, starting with the pope and the bishops", and he concluded "the church has been left behind for 200 years". | "The church is tired in Europe and America. Our culture has aged, our churches are large, our religious houses are empty, and the bureaucracy of the church climbs higher, our rituals and our clothes are pompous." The church, Martini added, "must recognise her mistakes and must follow a path of radical change, starting with the pope and the bishops", and he concluded "the church has been left behind for 200 years". |
| It would be wrong to see Martini's words as a prescription for following rather than leading the flock, or as a project of populist rebranding. What he was calling for was a deep rethinking of the faith. Whether a new pope can provide an opportunity for that process is another question. | It would be wrong to see Martini's words as a prescription for following rather than leading the flock, or as a project of populist rebranding. What he was calling for was a deep rethinking of the faith. Whether a new pope can provide an opportunity for that process is another question. |
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