Within minutes of the media announcement that
Cardinal Ratizinger was selected Pope Benedict - I
refuse to call a process whereby less than 1% of 1%
can vote an election - I received an email asking if I
was going to switch churches or wait to be
excommunicated! My friends laughed and said "A
progressive American Catholic is now a double
oxymoron!"
The first Pope joke is already racing around Rome.
When gregarious and generous Pope John XXIII was made
pope, his first words were "Be not afraid!" Now when
Pope Benedict is sworn in his first words will be "Be
afraid! Be very afraid!"
For those of you who are not Catholic, selecting
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Pope is a lot like
selecting Attorney General John Ashcroft as President. Ratzinger has been the enforcer of orthodoxy for years. No women priests. No gay unions. No questioning authority. Fall in line.
As a progressive American Catholic I feel
uncomfortably out of place - both in country and in
church. While the last Pope spoke passionately about
poverty and peace and solidarity - these principles
were undercut by the practices of protection of the
all-male clerical hierarchy.
Likewise, we have a president who speaks boldly about
freedom and democracy and opportunity - yet these same principles are undercut by practices of global military and economic domination and widespread denial of social and human rights at home and abroad.
Yet I, and millions of others, are not leaving -
country or church.
Millions refused to give up and go to Canada when our
current fundamentalist president was elected.
And we millions are not leaving the catholic church
just because the fundamentalists have assumed power
there as well.
Our church and our country have wandered far away
from the principles of respect and justice and
equality that are supposed to be the foundations of
each. Yet, we will not leave.
It is time to stand and struggle for the soul of
church and country - and, I am afraid, more frequently
than I would like, to struggle with both our church
and country to force them to stand consistently for
their principles.
If our country will not stand up for justice for
civilians in Iraq, prisoners here and abroad, a living
wage, racial justice, quality public schools, fair
healthcare, and reigning in national and international corporate power - then it is up to us to do it. Our country is the one of Harriet Tubman, Patrick Henry, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cesar Chavez, and Martin Luther King. They inspire us and they give us hope to push forward in these times.
If our church will not stand up for women leaders, accountability for abuses, democracy in our institutions, healthy sexuality, equality for people of all orientations, and real respect for all life - including the born - then it is up to us to do it.
Our church is the one of Archbishop Oscar Romero, Joan
of Arc, Philip Berrigan, Dorothy Day and Francis of
Assisi. They inspire us and give us hope to push
forward in these times.
Benedict and George - we are not leaving. It is our
church and our country. We are going to stay and
struggle for the soul of both, with love and justice
for all.
Bill Quigley is a lifelong Irish Catholic U.S. citizen who teaches at Loyola University New Orleans School of Law. His email is quigley@loyno.edu.
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