The Dope on the Pope

Posted on September 18, 2006 in Pontiff Watch

Pope Rat took an extraordinary — or what one scholar called an “abnormal” — step by apologizing for comments which characterized Islam as a religion of hatred and violence. (I know I am feeling better because I have been following and actually thinking about the implications of this controversy.) I have a few thoughts:

First, I knew it put him in a tough place. Popes are supposed to be infallible, right? So if the pope goofs, what is he to do? An apology is tantamount to saying that he is not infallible, even though the doctrine applies to statements which are made ex cathedra, which this one was not. That Pope Rat came out and said he erred reminds us of his humanity. Which Catholic conservatives are sure not to like.

I think he took big steps towards The Right Thing and that is a precedent that I hope will continue to be followed.

Second, will this apologizing become a way of resisting change within the Church? As in “He apologized, so what more do you want?” which is a favorite ploy of conservatives caught telling off-color jokes.

Third, notice the wording of his apology: “I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address”. Is this an apology at all? It suggests that the ones who are responsible for the outrage are the ones who couldn’t look past the words and see what the Pope held in his heart. “It’s not my fault for poor wording,” he seems to say.

I’d give it another go at the Vatican press release office if I were him.

Fourth, I am not really keen on the reaction from some Muslims to the Pope’s faux pas. Bombing churches and shooting nuns does not, I think, make for jihad, in the sense of just struggle. In fact, these actions are anti-Koranic, which stresses that people of the book are not to be harmed.

Reminds me of those Christians who conveniently forget chapters 5 and 6 of Matthew.