Vatici-can't: Catholic Church Debacle

By Adrian Chamberlin
fsunews
February 28, 2013

http://www.fsunews.com/article/20130228/FSVIEW0303/130228001/Vatici-can-t-Catholic-church-debacle?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|frontpage|p

Pope Benedict XVI made history when he announced he would resign at the end of February, citing his poor health as the reason for his decision. Unfortunately, being the first pope in 598 years to resign will not be the only legacy Benedict XVI leaves behind.

Much of Benedict’s papal reign has been tarnished by continued allegations claiming the Catholic Church participated in covering up instances of sexual abuse done by their priests. The latest news in this scandal also happens to be one of the pope’s last acts in office and concerns the resignation of a high-level official.

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the Archbishop of Scotland, had previously announced to the pope and to the public he would resign effective upon his 75th birthday on March 17. In spite of this, O’Brien’s resignation was made effective immediately via official word of the pope, in light of his imminent resignation.

By itself, this does not seem too shocking; the pope appears to be cleaning up shop on his way out. The truth, however, is much more suspicious.

Benedict’s announcement to, shall we say, expedite O’Brien’s departure came one day after the British newspaper The Observer reported three priests and one former priest were leveling allegations against the archbishop of Scotland. These allegations reportedly dated back 30 years and included one priest claiming the Cardinal had “developed an inappropriate relationship with him.”

Now the actions of an already embattled Pope are cast in a different light, as is the resignation of Cardinal O’Brien. Making matters worse is this is just the latest in the string of sex abuse scandals that have plagued Benedict XVI almost from the moment he took office. Regardless of whether the 85-year-old Pope’s health truly is the reason he is resigning, I think it would be folly not to weigh the impact of so many scandals.

Though the announcement of his resignation reportedly rocked the Catholic community, life for the average Catholic, person and college student is unlikely to experience change. Having been raised as a Catholic, I can attest to the relative lack of interest the average practitioner has in papal matters; interest usually stops at learning the current pope’s name. For non-Catholic college students and non-Catholics everywhere, the announcement is just a minuscule blip on their news radar. Even for Benedict himself, the announcement’s momentousness is tempered by how many facets of papal life he will carry over.

The Pontiff will retain his title of Benedict XVI after his resignation, continue to wear the white cassock of the pope, and be assigned the new title of Pope Emeritus. As far as significant changes go, his having to now wear brown shoes instead of red, and the destruction of his official papal ring, is about as far as it goes. Seriously. Benedict XVI will even continue to be attended by the same key aide who will be attending the next pope.

No matter which way you cut it, Benedict XVI’s resignation does nothing except show the world the weight of his office, and his office’s scandals, proved too much for his increasingly frail health. I can only speculate as to whether he will ever officially acknowledge the claims of abuse allegedly swept under the rug during his reign, and I join Catholics everywhere in hoping the next Pope avoids the mistakes of his predecessor.