Peace and the Pope
Lots of stories have appeared in the press the last few days, calling the legacy of John Paul II a difficult one for many Western Catholics. Count me among the conflicted. It is a hard task to accept as your religious leader a Pope who would never accept you (or anyone the same sex as you) as a close advisor.
But when it came to peace, there John Paul II spoke with a voice that was hard to ignore, no matter your personal feelings on the politics of the Church. He denounced wars, including the Iraq war. He championed the cause of the poor. He questioned capitalism and the great inequalities it engendered. Even on the issues with which I disagreed with him the most -- contraception and abortion -- he presented a compelling view of the culture of life, explaining that not only should it be preserved before birth, but societies should guarantee that the world's children be cared for. Every child should have an education, food, a home. This vision of life as something more than a beginning and an end -- encompassing all the portions in between -- is a position that could be a powerful tool in the struggle for peace.
The role of religion in the pursuit of peace is one that has been discussed quite a bit on this blog, and, in my view, John Paul II presents a counterpoint to the view of religions as essentially tools of power and war. His efforts to reach out to other religions were almost startling. Why did the Catholic Church need (or want) to open a dialogue with Muslims, or Protestants, or Jews, when there was little or no political pressure on it to do so? But this Pope recognized the power of apologies and discussion. And he seemed to believe it was his role to mend the ties that had been broken centuries before. In a time of greater division, when fervent nationalism and religious fantacism are threatening to tear apart the social fabric of the international community, John Paul II tried to do his part to sew the pieces back together. For that, he will always be a champion of peace.
There are countless difficulties and counterpoints to all the issues I just raised. For example, the Pope's stance on contraception will, in the long-term, likely do more to cause war than peace. And this is why his legacy will be a difficult one for Catholics living in the developed world. Yet, in these days after his passing, witnessing the sadness and joy on the part of people (religious or not), it's difficult to believe that his legacy will be anything but one of peace. May we all be so lucky.
posted by Sammy @ 11:28 PM
2 Comments:
Chad and Susan - thank you for reframing this. I was feeling that all the coverage of the Pope, and the emails I got from Georgetown's pres. asking me to pray, were creating an uncomfortable atmosphere of orthodoxy. But now I see a rhetoric of peace and justice working it's way through, as it does with religion, and there is a place for someone like me in this conversation. I wonder if the new Pope will stand with the tradition of liberation theology? Prof. M
Sadly, I don't think liberation theology will have much of a place in the next papacy (much like it did not in this one). The idea that change could come from the bottom challenges the hierarchy of the Church, something that neither John Paul II, nor his likely conservative successor, would approve of.
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