New Man in Popemobile

The Catholics have a new pope today: Pope Benedict XVI. The last Benedict, if you’re curious, reigned around WWI. Full list of men with funny hats here. The new pope’s birth name is Joseph Ratzinger, and he’s German.

I’m not Catholic (as if you couldn’t tell), so this doesn’t have a big impact on my life. My wife and her family are, however, and obviously this is a historic event, so I do follow it with interest. What I was most interested in is this new pope’s history, which is summed up at the end of the CNN article linked above. Judging by the summary, this pope will be a very conservative pope.

I have mixed feelings on that.

On the one hand, I think it’s a good thing that Catholics stick to their guns, especially where it concerns items right out of the Bible as opposed to something conjured up by a couple more guys in funny hats centuries ago. To change something going on that long (or presumably handed down to/by the apostles) just because people don’t like it cheapens it, and pretty much undermines the whole foundation of the church.

On the other hand, this is exactly what could hurt the church. If you’ve been following the news at all the past several years, this isn’t a major revelation. And if the good ol’ boy, don’t-ask-don’t-tell position on pedophile priests doesn’t change, it’s going to get worse.

Again, it doesn’t have a direct effect on me. I just find it interesting to observe the interaction. It says a lot about human beings and spiritual vs. religious behavior.