MASSACHUSETTS
Enterprise
By Joann Fitzpatrick
For The Patriot Ledger
Posted Mar 09, 2013
COMMENTARY —
Traditionally the election of a new pope gives the Roman Catholic hierarchy a chance to remind the world of one of its great religions and of how much influence the Vatican has.
Until fairly recently, the gathering of cardinals, the procession of red hats into St. Peter’s Basilica, crowds waiting for the puff of white smoke to indicate that a new leader has been chosen – all the attendant rituals and the secrecy of the process made for great theater. A sense of the mystique of the church pervaded.
Not this time. A measure of inscrutability is present in all religions and helps sustain them and their followers in the modern world. But events in recent years have stripped the Vatican of the mystery cloak that sheltered it so securely.
We always knew there was intrigue; it’s been the stuff of lore and literature for centuries. Now we know of financial scandal and, most alarming, of the persistent and worldwide cover-up of sexual abuse by priests.
What happens at the Vatican no longer stays at the Vatican, and what happens in the conclave to select a new pope is of far less interest than it used to be, even among the faithful. The men who run the church may use Twitter, but their outlook remains rooted in another time. They refuse to acknowledge that their efforts to keep Catholics tightly controlled have failed. Most Catholics practice their faith as they know and feel it, distanced emotionally and theologically from the Vatican managers who are so removed from the lives of their followers. These men rail against contraception as though they don’t know that the vast majority of Catholics in developed countries turn a deaf ear. Italy has one of Europe’s lowest birth rates, and it’s not because of the Mediterranean diet.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.