The Importance of the Pope in the 21st Century
Follwing is a post that is just a draft so far. I'm not entirely sure exactly what I want to do with it, but from the start you should get a rough idea of my general goal. When I make changes or additions I'll color code them by day so you (i.e., no one reads this stuff anyway) can get an idea of some of my thought processes.
Let me preface this post with the comment that even though I am not a Catholic, I hold great respect for the importance of the Papacy and its current leader. Like any institution that has existed for much of recorded history, well nigh a millennium, the passage of time notes actions and events surrounding it that range from the indefensible to the indispensable. Perhaps in part for the disparate nature of the Church’s history, the importance of the Papacy is greater than ever to adherents and non-adherents alike.
“In 1994, as age and infirmity began to incapacitate John Paul publicly, he told his followers he had heard God and was about to change the way he led the church. ‘I must lead her with suffering,’ he said” (Newsweek Online Edition – Feb. 28).
As the world examines itself in light of John Paul II’s most recent illness, “The spectacle of his condition crystallizes his ferocious attachment to life — the most central, coherent and consistent teaching of his papacy — whether that life is threatened in the womb by abortion, or in old age by euthanasia” (ibid).
