Papal Paradox

by PRASHER, G. | Category: Focus | Jun 2005

Pope John Paul II died on 29th March 2005, having fulfilled more than a quarter-century of distinguished service in the papal office - longer than any other pope except Pius IX (1846 - 1878). His personality and energetic zeal fitted him to break out from traditional papal reclusion, mostly cloistered in the Vatican except for brief excursions within Europe. Just three months after his appointment in 1978 John Paul II undertook his first pilgrimage to Mexico and Dominica. Over the years he made 104 similar excursions to scores of countries, including distant third-world areas such as Uganda, Zambia, South Korea, Indonesia and Timor. On arrival he would dramatically kneel to kiss the tarmac. His orchestrated procession through welcoming crowds was designed to express his personal interest in all belonging to the Catholic faith. He once observed: "To have communion with the people, that's the most important thing."

Doubtless this openness and studied publicity also did much to stimulate recruitment to the Catholic Church, especially in some third-world countries. Official statistics claim a 40% increase in number world-wide during John Paul II's reign, bringing the total to 1.09 billion. The most rapid growth was in Africa.

Another outgoing feature of his papal tenure was the active promotion of ecumenical dialogue with bold initiatives to build bridges and seek reconciliation. When reviewing the two millennia since Christ he publicly acknowledged the wrong of the Inquisition and the Crusades, apologizing for Roman Catholic involvement; also his Church's condemnation of Galileo for teaching that the sun, not the earth, was the centre of the solar system. John Paul II tried strenuously to find accommodation with the eastern Orthodox Church which had broken away from the Roman Church in the eleventh century. He held talks with the Church of England. He was the first pope to visit a mosque.

Perhaps most significantly he strove to change the stance of the Catholic faith towards the Jewish people and Judaism. He upheld the right of Jews to nationhood in Israel, formally recognizing the State of Israel in 1994. In Year 2000 he visited Israel, prayed at the Western Wall (without any reference to the Lord Jesus!) and paid homage at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. There he recalled Polish friends and neighbours who had perished. "Men, women and children cry out from the depth of the horror they knew," he said, "How can we fail to hear their cry?" There too he met a Jewish concentration camp survivor who remembered him as a young Polish cleric who had saved her life.

Yet in contrast to these relatively liberal attitudes in relationships with other faiths, John Paul II maintained a conservative grip among his own flock, a paradox which many found difficult to understand. For there were Catholic bishops and priests, particularly in North America, who advocated change on a number of issues. Because of acute shortage of new recruits for the priesthood they favoured the recognition of women priests. The Pope firmly dismissed the idea, asserting that there was not even to be any further discussion of the subject. The Jesuit leadership was disbanded because of liberal theological tendencies. Catholic scholars who presumed to deviate from traditional doctrinal views would be taken to task. National bishops' conferences must seek Vatican approval before issuing statements on doctrine.

On practical issues such as abortion, contraception, homosexuality and euthanasia he retained a rigid disapproval. Many of his Church members ignored the Vatican's declared standards about these matters. Aware of this, he rebuked people who attended Mass but did not respect the guidance of their Church, reaffirming that "it should be prohibited - in every case - to violate these precepts."

Outstandingly John Paul II was an ardent devotee of Mary, the Lord's mother. As he collapsed when shot by an assassin in St. Peter's Square (May 13 1981) his appeal was to "Mary, my mother." Believing he owed his life to her, the bullet which nearly killed him was fitted into a jewelled crown adorning her statue at Fatima. Yet Scripture asserts that there is but one mediator between God and men, Himself man, Christ Jesus (1 Tim.2:5). In this, as in countless other inconsistencies, the Roman Catholic Church makes void the word of God by its traditions. Sadly appropriate to so much of the late Pope's acclaimed record are the words of Paul the apostle about his Jewish compatriots: 'they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge' (Rom.10:2).

PRASHER, G. | Jun 2005
Focus