Tuesday, 12 February 2013

Pope, Politics and Divine Revelation

So, being Pope is like any other job - you can jack it in when you've had enough. That's a shocker. For any Catholic that is. We were taught that the Pope was infallible and chosen by God. No shirking that one.
Yet here he is, off to the sunshine, while the flock wonders what went wrong. Quite a lot as it happens. Benedict is healthier than his predecessor John Paul, but he has decided to go. Has the past caught up with him? Some say he had more to do with the child sex scandal than he let on. He may even have been behind the decision to pay off victims. Who knows? Not us, not now.
Back in the day at convent school we had to accept the Pope's teachings on everything, because clearly, he could do no wrong. Ever. Infallible. Some people still believe that. They think the cardinals are guided by God when they make their choice, rather than the usual politics and skulduggery that surround every position of power.
The Pope has shown how human he is. No shame there, but for those who believed he was God's right hand on earth it's a bit of a come down.  Now the eyes have been opened maybe people will see the church for what it is.

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