John Paul vs Benedict
There is another spat of comment around the blog world comparing Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict. This was triggered by the news that Pope Benedict’s audiences have declined in 2008. They are still quite large as 2.2 million people saw him live in Italy in 2008. There is nobody else who can draw those kind of numbers without actually going anywhere. But it is down from 2.7 million in 2007. Some see this as proof that their predictions of a decline in the church after John Paul’s death are coming true. I do admit it is a bit discouraging. You want bigger crowds. But you have to expect these numbers to go up and down.
What is interesting is the notion that if Pope Benedict was more progressive that he might get bigger crowds. It appears that many have forgotten that John Paul was not exactly progressive. Much of the love he is getting now was not there when he was pope. Certainly the public loved him but the press and the intellectual elite (including many Catholic theologians) were not nearly so kind. That is the case with many saints. They are much more loved after they die then while they live.
So what about Pope Benedict? Is he more reviled than John Paul was? Probably so. But how much of that comes from the fact that society has become more militantly anti-Christian? John Paul lived in a time when gay marriage was not legal anywhere. Now you can be labeled a homophobe just for saying it is a bad idea. That is not a change in the pope but a change in society. Benedict is in office a little under 4 years but in that time atheism has grown by leaps and bounds and secularism has grown much more bold in attacking Christian morality. So John Paul would be much less loved if he was alive today than he was even 10 years ago.
So is any of it due to the change in popes? I think some of it is. Benedict has pushed a lot harder on the truth of the Catholic faith in ecumenical relations. That has ruffled some feathers. He has also been a little more traditional on matters of liturgy. But these are not the kinds of things that the average person is going to know about and care about. They have created some angst amoung more liberal churchmen. Again, this is in the context of many other churches moving in the opposite direction.
So where is this going? Not Benedict’s crowd numbers but the future of the church in society? I think it is going to keep getting worse for a while. I was surprised at the level of hatred express by people around his comments comparing a sex change operation to clear cutting of a forest. Of course nobody engaged his argument. But the severity of the insults in the responses seemed quite harsh. Almost the same reaction you get from an Osama Bin Laden video. We are definitely moving towards a very ugly period of persecution especially in Europe.
Of course the church will survive. It always has and always will. It is what Jesus promised and it is a joy to see Him keep that promise. No other mainline denomination has seen such orthodox leaders as the Catholic Church has. Not just our past 2 popes but the vast majority of our bishops as well. It is nothing short of a miracle that they have not been overcome by secular thinking like we have seen in other churches. There is just no human explanation for it.
What we are seeing is a core of strong, orthodox Catholics being built up to re-evangelize society. Right now they are hard to find in the midst of so many half-hearted Catholics. But they are there. Stronger in the US in large part because of the protestant converts. But even in Europe they are there. Many of them are immigrants from Poland or the Phillipines. But God has preserved a faithful remnant. Protestants often describe a conservative schism as a faithful remnant but these folk are truly faithful in that they have stayed with the church and prayed for her to start teaching again without shame what she has always claimed is the true gospel of Christ.
They told the Missionaries of Charity that when Mother Theresa died their donations would dry up.
Nasayers all.
January 10th, 2009 at 4:40 pmSo it is an isolated number that is difficult to analyze. It might be the economy. Who knows? People read into it whatever they want.
January 10th, 2009 at 9:08 pmAlso, as Randy notes, holding the audiences indoors (Paul VI Hall) will necessarily make the crowds smaller.
It’s hard to tell what these numbers really mean.
January 10th, 2009 at 10:24 pm