It is because of actions such as this (
Domine Iesus, its reaffirmation, etc.), that the
Church's days may be numbered. This is known, in popular parlance, as
shooting oneself in the foot. 
It does more to undermine the
Church's message than almost anything else. It creates division where none need exist. It
entrenches many a man and woman who would otherwise be plenty ready to
move forward, yet who will probably feel that
they too, must abide by what the Pope has decreed, since - after all - he is the Pope!
To say that
this does not have to "shut down dialogue" or some such, is beside the point. Of course it doesn't. But it
does discourage it ... or at least, to those who are
not full-fledged members of the "one true Church of Jesus Christ," it certainly seems an affront.
"Oh wait, but I didn't
mean it that way!" Is
this what Mr. Benedict is going to say ...
again? If so, that line is wearing thin.
And ironically,
the very folks who STAND for agreement and cooperation amongst all religions ... and who
affirm that there are
MANY paths to the heart of God, all equally valid & effective (efficiency being the one point open to discussion) - THESE folks (Theosophical, Unitarian Universalist, certain types of Humanists,
New Agers, etc.) ...
these folks, come under fire for supposedly "
claiming some kind of high'n'mighty spiritual ELITISM,
superior to all other forms of religion or spiritual practice."
Gimmie a break. But
watch what kind of sophistry and casuistry we shall encounter, when the shoe is on the other foot. I must defend my faith (or spiritual path) here at CR,
when it comes under fire ... yet somehow,
even when the eyes of the WHOLE WORLD can see - we are supposed to believe that
the Roman Catholic Church doesn't mean EXACTLY what it says, namely that:
people outside of Christianity are "in a gravely deficient situation in comparison with those who, in the Church, have the fullness of the means of salvation", and that non-Catholic Christian communities [have] "defects".
(Domine Iesus)
For the record, Thomas, it is
not Roman Catholicism which I abhor. It is the
arrogance, the
ignorance, and the
smug, spiritual self-righteousness which allows -
not just the "common man" - but in fact,
a POPE (or even SEVERAL of them) ... to take such a stance, initiate such offensive doctrines (TOTALLY out of sync with
the original intent of Christ and the Apostles, of this we can be
certain) ... and to
foist such documents and viewpoints upon a laity that is
duty-bound to accept such a perspective
unquestioningly.
It is
one thing for a person to swell with pride, and declare that
HIS religion, and HIS spiritual understanding, is greater than another man's ... or to insist that HIS path leads
straight to the heart of God, while his brother's path
simply meanders, and never quite reaches the goal, or does so at great cost - and much slower than his own.
But it is another, and far worse CRIME - to issue such a TRAVESTY as
Domine Iesus ... as
POPE!
It is because of just such an error, that Christianity's Saviour uttered such a thing as,
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
The worst part of this ... as I say, is that
MANY a "good Catholic" will have the
understandable and
natural "gut feeling" that something is wrong with
Domine Iesus, and this reaffirmation ... but s/he will, in the last analysis, say things like,
"My opinion doesn't matter; I do not fully agree, BUT it is beside the point. THE POPE has spoken, HE has endorsed this, and thus I too, must accept the position."
If Christ could roll over in His grave, H
e would DO so at this point. As it is, I wonder if He is forced to
sigh, and say something like,
"When will they see, the humor in that joke IS my point?" (see Dondi's original post)
And so, again, I have no idea whether the
visit before Pope Innocent III by St. Francis of Assisi and his followers - as depicted in the Franco Zeffirelli movie
`Brother Sun, Sister Moon' - is accurate. But if so, I would encourage folks to view that movie, and note that scene in particular. Good ol'
Sir Alec Guinness, `Obiwan Kenobe' of Star Wars, portrays the Pope, and the scene in question is quite powerful (it brings such tears to my eyes, every time).
I know that Ratzinger,
Pope Benedict the 16th, is just a
fill-in, and that we certainly await a pontiff who is more
worthy of the title
`FATHER,' in concert with the
Aramaic `abba.' But I wonder, how many more blunders can we bear ... before irreparable damage has been done?
I am especially interested, MuslimWoman, in what your experience has been ... going back a
year or so (?) to the
first great blunder of Joe Ratzinger. How did you receive, and understand that, and what was your experience,
among other Muslims, in Egypt (or in any other connection, perception, etc.)? Perhaps that should be on another thread, or feel free to PM me.
But I also wonder, for those who are
NOT Christians (or at least, folks who do not feel
obliged to
defend Catholicism and Papal Bull
at all costs), how does Ratzinger's endorsement and restatement of
Domine Iesus strike you? Do you feel that, even with a stretch, it is understandable, or
justifiable, that Ratzinger has taken such actions?
The parts of the article you linked that concern me, flow, are mostly thus:
But Bishop Wolfgang Huber, head of the Protestant umbrella group Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), said the new Vatican document effectively downgraded Protestant churches and would make ecumenical relations more difficult.
Huber said the new pronouncement repeated the "offensive statements" of the 2000 document and was a "missed opportunity" to patch up relations with Protestants.
"The hope for a change in the ecumenical situation has been pushed further away by the document published today," he said.
A statement from The French Protestant Federation said that while the document was an internal pronouncement of the Catholic Church, it would have "external repercussions."
Bishop Friedrich Weber of Germany's United Evangelical Lutheran Church said the pronouncement "makes me sad," adding that the official Vatican teaching did not reflect the grass roots reality of inter-denominational dialogue in many communities.
And these reactions, I will point out,
are from other CHRISTIAN leaders ...
prominent and respected leaders from within the Protestant Church. You know, the
OTHER Christians ...
I mean, how many times can Ratzinger
insert the knife, twist, then say, "Bear in mind, I want to
strengthen relations with other Christian churches, and with people of other religions?"
Is he really fooling anyone except the
hardline Catholics?
No, it's not Roman Catholicism that upsets me. Why should it?
It's things like THIS ...
~Andrew
