The previous link is to an excerpt from a recent Papal address. I mean no disrespect to the Holy Father, but what does this mean? What do any of these addresses really mean? for that matter what did the addresses of JPII mean? They seem so vague and general and that they are not really saying much of anything.
I've always come away empty reading JPII and now Pope Benedict, except in his outstanding Motu Proprio and his letter scolding liberal clerics for bashing him during the SSPX affair. There he was pretty clear and concise and his words made sense.
Does the Pope have a staff of writers who simply compose these addresses and mass produce them, stating non-inflammatory, generic themes in variously ambiguous and vague ways?
I recently sat in on a conservative Catholic "discussion" of Pope Benedict's talks during his American visit. Just as the conservatives did for JPII, there seems to be a need for them to study each Papal address as if it were something along the level of sacred scripture and then take the time to reflect and marvel at the words in a humble awe and wonder. I sat there and read the address and the only real parts that stood out were the ones where the Pope recognized a deep problem in American society and a real loss of faith. Ironically when these passages were brought up, they were immediately responded to with stories of optimism by the group and that we shouldn't be worried because Christ will conquer in the end. As with JPII, it seems the conservatives, or Neo-Caths, or whatever you'd like to call them are viscerally repulsed by any perceived negativity about the Church and the response is to reject it immediately and concentrate on something positive. So what you get are long rambling addresses parroting vague generic positive aspects of religion that are then studied religiously and pondered on as if they were holy writ.
I just don't get it. I read most of these addresses and feel like I've wasted my time. If someone witheld the author of this piece and made it anonymous I would have yawned and stopped reading at the first paragraph. But since it was our Pope I felt compelled to at least finish the excerpt.
What ever happened to Popes like Pius XII, who, when they bothered to write something or make an address, it was like reading a breath of fresh air. Such keen insight into the problems of the day and their solutions; laser beam specificty and clarity. Today the truth is so shrouded in vague doublespeak as so not to offend anyone that it winds up completely ignored.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment