The Other Pope

Picked this up via Bob Harris.

Prof. Juan Cole discusses The Other Pope to that many on the right and on the left are discussing.

John Paul II was a complex man and among the more intellectual popes in history. Because of his admirable stance against Stalinism in Eastern Europe (which did not in fact involve any denunciation of communism or socialism per se) and his anti-abortion stance, he is often claimed as an ally by the American Right (which is mainly Protestant and mainly about the best interests of wealthy business people).

But John Paul II was often an inconvenient man, whose moral vision would be upsetting to the US Republican establishment if it were taken seriously. He opposed the death penalty, to which George W. Bush is so attached. He opposed the Iraq War. He condemned laissez-faire capitalism and cared about the exploitation of workers, who he felt should have a dignity that is seldom bestowed upon them by the Walmarts and other firms in the US. And he cared about the rights and welfare of the Palestinian people in a way that virtually no one in the American political establishment does. He symbolically blessed the Palestinian claim that Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Palestinian people.

That is, the Pope's message sometimes had a strong progressive content, and he was in some important ways on our side. That progressives might have had differences with him on some issues should not forestall our celebrating his progressive legacy. The American Right appropriates shamelessly anyone who even halfway agrees with them. We on the left must learn to make sectional alliances and commemorate those areas of agreement we have with people like John Paul II.

My own opinion is that Pope John Paul II has been the most radical pope so far in history. For this reason alone, the conclave will probably elect someone more acceptable to the Capitalist ruling class. The reason the late pope was seen as conservative, was that he was not more radical than the left wing.

I suppose that a pope has the thankless task of trying to make sense of where that rampaging Spirit of God is inspiring people to go. Even though the pope suppressed the Liberation Theology movement, many of its ideas have been incorporated into the Church's teaching. My earlier posts showed how some aspects of Marxism have been taken whole into the pope's own writings.

As for the issue of women priests, my opinion is that the real problem is not that women cannot be priests, but that women cannot have power within the confines of the Church. To allow women priests would be to perpetuate the clericalism of the current Church structure. Instead, we need to introduce real democracy into the structure of the Church.

We, the People of God, come together into one indissolvable Church to worship our Creator, the One True God, and to celebrate the joy of the message of universal salvation gained for all peoples in all the ages by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, through his death and resurrection. We further acknowledge that we are one with Christ through our Baptism and the Eucharist. We are all equal before God and each other. We are answerable to God and to each other for what we have done and for what we have failed to do.