(Not So) New Vatican Target: Third World Catholics

(Not So) New Vatican Target: Third World Catholics
by Talia Whyte
Copyright 2005

With the recent death of John Paul II, a debate amongst church faithful has begun about who will be his replacement and the future direction of the Catholic Church.

The late Pope had a strict Biblical interpretation of many controversial issues, such as family planning, gay rights and women in the Church. Those firm beliefs have caused a severe corrosion among American Catholics. So much so that most surveys show that the number of regular church attendees has declined by as much as fifty percent in the last five years. This drastic decline is being blamed on the Vatican's seemingly laxed ability to effectively deal with the pedophile-priest scandals. The sight of Cardinal Bernard Law, former head of the Boston Diocese and alleged accomplice in the pedophile scandals, actually taking a major role in John Paul's funeral has American catholics crying loudly for a new leader who will preach a more modern philosophy of inclusiveness and taking more personal responsibility for the scandals if these believers are to stay with the Church.

Whether during the voting process the scandals will be taken into serious consideration by the cardinals is still up in the air. But it is very certain that the next Pope will not heed to American's desire for more modernity. What most Americans who are considering leaving the Church don't realize is that the Church left America - theoritically and practically - a long time ago. John Paul openly objected to America's love of materialism, greed and all things godless.

Europeans were also part of the Pope's scorn for even worse sins. According to a recent BBC report, only 20% of Europeans actually attend church regularly. A French friend of mine joked with me that France has four official religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Secularism. Actually the only other growing religion, or sense of spirituality, in Europe today besides Islam really is secularism. The two make for strange bedfellows as the they clash on many social issues. France recently enacted a ban on students wearing religious symbols. Although the French government claims that the law is used to maintain a strict separation of church and state, many Muslim citizens, especially women who wear hijabs, felt that they were being specifically targeted for discrimination. Meanwhile filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was killed in an Amsterdam street by Muslim extremist for his critical film about Islam's treatment of women.

With all this godless secularism spreading rampant in the West, the Vatican has moved on to greener pastures alright. This is why papal candidates from Africa and Latin America are being strongly totted. The future of the Catholic Church is in the Global South, where its traditional values coincide with Church doctrine. The Vatican is especially estatic to see recent events as a way to take advantage of a most opportune moment. The most striking example are the Anglican churches in Africa are seriously considering seceded from the rest of the world church because of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop.

The divisive issues such as homosexuality will continue to steam, but the Catholic Church should also see this as an opportunity to deal with issues in a more rational way. Coincidentally, the AIDS pandemic is running rampant in Africa. Whoever the next Pope is, whether he be from Africa, Latin America or Italy (again) will have to have a more rational view on condom use. Don't you think that since the Church has such a huge influence in this part of the world, shouldn't it be responsible for being realistic? This is really not an issue of who is godless or materialistic and being more modern anymore; it is about survival - literally. With over 2 million dead alone in Africa and another million in Asia and Latin America just last year, the next Pope should step up to the plate.

The truths are there, but who will speak of these truths?