Benedict XVI

I return from extended blogger hiatus to comment on the ascension of Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy as Benedict XVI. There seems to be a lot of disappointment in the blogosphere, among those who would have preferred a Third World figure such as Cardinal Arinze or a moderate such as Cardinal Tettamanzi.

First there is the matter of whether the pope should have come from the Third World, where Catholicism has had recent growth. In terms of where the pope should come from, there were too many factors to be considered to give particular weight to any one place. The church's issues are different all over the world: general decline of religiosity in Europe, diminishment of the priesthood in the US, competition with Protestant evangelicals in South America, and competition and conflict with Islam as it too expands in Africa. Therefore, the geo-politics of the papacy became irrelevant through the variety of challenges faced by what is increasingly a global religion.

The second, more contentious matter is fear of Benedict's social conservatism, concerning abortion rights, gay rights, and the prospect of women in the priesthood. In spite of being a supporter of abortion rights and gay rights, I cannot possibly fault Benedict, or any church figure, for taking these stands. To those taking umbrage, I would reiterate that this is, after all, the Catholic Church, and I don't think I'm too rigid in my thinking to say social reform is not to be expected from it. The Church's stances on abortion, homosexuality, and female clergy are not anachronistic bogeys to be shedded with the passage of time, but rather logical outgrowths from initial faith in creationism and the divinity of Christ.

I see the Church's conservatism on social issues as a positive, in spite of its dischord with my personal beliefs. First of all, to pursue social reform through the Church rather than the government would be to have tacitly given up the larger philosophical notion that we should not be making social policy according to the dictates of any religious faith and instead with respect to individual choice, plurality, and freedom. Secondly, we should take comfort in Church dogma's persistence as an intellectual counterweight to the doctrines of social liberalism. Just as the country would be worse off if the Republican Party collapsed tomorrow, so might the world be without the continuity of the Church.

The final word on the election of Benedict XVI is that we should simply leave it as a matter of trust. He was not elected by the Holy Spirit: Innocent III and Alexander VI can attest to that. However, he was chosen by 117 men who have devoted their lives to the faith and works of Catholicism. The process isn't perfect, as nothing human is, but that does not mean the decision is anyone else's to make but theirs.