This one ought to stir things up a bit ...

22 October 2007

Boy is this going to infuriate some Catholics.

Here are the difficult issues today:

1. The Pope ought to retire when he becomes too old and infirm to serve as Pontiff. This just makes sense – John Paul II connected with the young, the poor, the disenfranchised very well in his early days, the dynamism of the man was just what the Church needed. But, you have to question how effective he was as an old, bent-over man. Why not give him some time off – let him retire to a life of prayer and contemplation? Put in someone else to carry the burden. You don’t make retirement mandatory based on age, you just use common sense.
2. The Papacy ought to be open to women. This is not a question for God, it is something for humanity and it’s right that women ought to have the opportunity. Why are we denying ourselves 50% of the candidates for important, critical roles? We ought to pick whoever is best for any role, regardless of sex, religion, colour, age, weight or whiteness of teeth.
3. Abortion is wrong unless there are serious extenuating circumstances (the mother’s health, incest, rape).
4. Birth control is good. We have too many people and you can’t stop those we have from being really stupid. They are going to copulate, no matter what the Church says. Better that they are on the pill or using condoms or something to prevent another unwanted pregnancy and a child that grows up neglected, poor and under-educated. That’s just crazy.
5. Celibacy ought to be optional. If you are a priest and you want to get married, it’s okay. If you are already married and you feel the call to be a priest (or priestess), it’s okay. We need committed people – of both sexes, married or, if they choose, unmarried.
6. From the above, it’s clear that I already think that your sex has nothing to do with whether or not you should be a clergy-person. If you feel the call and it’s what you want, go to it. I want to be ministered to by someone who genuinely feels the call and is serving humanity equally. How can you join something so exclusive as a fraternity of judgemental, celibate priests and then call yourself a person of God? Jesus has got to be laughing himself silly at the way in which we’ve perverted his life and mission.
7. And, you’ve got to know this one is coming from the penultimate sentence in item 6: Judge not lest ye be judged. It’s up to the individual to decide if they are fit to take communion, you can’t turn them down if you are really God’s Church. It isn’t your church, it’s God’s. You can’t presume to speak for Him if you’ve got one real ounce of reverence and perspective; you can say how you feel about something, that’s not just a right, it’s your duty but you cannot judge – that’s imply arrogating to yourself a power that is waaaaay beyond you! If you are a Priest/ess, you have the obligation to accept that an individual has judged him/her-self worthy of communion if they present themselves. You are the instrument, not the player. Give them the wine and the bread and let the rest take place between that person and God.
8. I really can’t see that these are the difficult issues. There are others, real doozies, that are problems that you’ve got to come to grips with in your life – your relationship to God is one that you’ve got to work out for yourself, no one can do it for you. It’s your obligation to listen to, even seek out the views of others (including those of the clergy) but, in the end, you’ve got to be an adult and do your best, you are going to take that step into eternity that everyone does but, like everyone else, you are going to have to do it alone and in your own way. That’s just how it is – there is nothing I’ve seen that says it’s easy and nothing that convinces me you should cede the responsibility for your relationship (or lack thereof) with God.
9. Good Luck! Thanks for the all the fish!
10. I'm not Catholic. It's not possible to be a lapsed Anglican -- I heard it on BBC Radio 4 this morning so it must be true -- but, if it were true, that's probably what I'd have to lay claim to. So, go ahead, tell me I have no right to an opinion. Frankly, I don't care, I'll still have one.