Will Christianity Topple Itself?
- Category: Faith
- Date 24-04-2005
- 396 views
Emerging from the abyss of grief occasioned by the untimely death of Pope John Paul II, the world has plunged into ecstasy of celebration with the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter. In the afternoon of 19th April 2005, the 115 Cardinals elected their colleague who becomes Pope Benedict XVI to the helm of the Vatican, placing him as the most powerful churchman, commanding the biggest religious following of 1.12 billion Catholics worldwide. Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope has since described himself as “a simple and humble worker in the Lord’s vineyard”.
To take the Pope’s words literary, he emerges as a weak figure in many senses. A “simple” man is the minimum the world desires in modern times where science and technology have taken the place of religion, especially in Europe and North America. The world is increasingly becoming a battleground and humanly requires an energetic player on the battlefield to turn the growing tide of secularism, which is raging in the developed world. The soldier that he was as a young man in the German army before he joined the seminary must already have given way to old age.
At the age of seventy-eight, Pope Benedict XVI is a very old man, the oldest candidate to the papacy in three centuries. The normal retirement age for a bishop is seventy-five, therefore such advanced age is not the time to take up new assignments, particularly on world stage and for an institution that is facing insurmountable challenges. Seventy-eight is the age for one to have retired or to be retiring into lighter duties. One hopes that the Holy Spirit who told the Cardinals to choose a man of advanced age will keep around pumping strength into this humble labourer.
As the globe rotates, it has brought new demands on the Church with many Christians demanding that the Church addresses their specific needs and provide immediate answers for the ever-emerging questions. Today, abortion, contraception and homosexuality have positioned themselves as new dimensions of life, accepted and practiced by many people who do not like their faith in God to be doubted at all. Former Cardinal Ratzinger, the well-known German theologian, is said to be a man with a great mind, widely regarded as conservative to the traditional doctrines and has reportedly described homosexuality as an intrinsic moral sin.
Home to a quarter of the world’s Catholics, and technically the origin of Christianity and missionaries to the developing world, Europe is fast speeding away from its Christian heritage. Europeans do not need someone to persecute them to give up the gospel, which they previously treasured, vigorously preached and sometimes imposed on others around the world. The trappings of power and wealth have taught them that God does not occupy an essential place in human life, and recent findings indicate that only 21% of the population in Europe say that religion is important.
In several places even where the populations subscribe to one faith or another, many Christians today do not like to look to the Church for direction. Instead it is perhaps the Church that should look to the people for direction and adjust its teachings to suit the changing human conditions. If the congregations are interested in dancing, then bring a music band into the Church. If they are obsessed with promiscuity, then supply condoms to your congregation every Sunday. If people want instant miracles, then urgently summon a magician or act as one to meet your followers’ expectations. If they are interested in drama, then preach like a comedian in a theatre.
To a considerable extent, the election of a celebrated “conservative” Cardinal has thus come as a disappointment to those who looked forward to having a “liberal, progressive” Pope who would run the Church according to human need, not one who sticks to the traditional doctrines. This has been one compelling reason many people have quoted as pushing them away from the Church, and how a very old Pontiff is going to fit into such circumstances becomes particularly telling.
On the other hand, one wonders whether Christianity will not indeed topple itself if it has to change with the times. Already, the target of most present day Christian missionaries is the Christian Church itself. The Church has no greater enemy than itself. Various churches are tapping into other churches for converts by permitting what the other forbids. Does the Church bend rules to suit human weaknesses or does it recognise human potential and ability to pursue holiness and virtue. If the doctrines must be modified to suit human needs, then does a person have to struggle to be religious? We await answers from the new pontificate.
By Venansio Ahabwe