Holy Father, Why Have You Forsaken Me?
Published February 23, 2005
According to the New Testament, as Christ hung on the cross His last words were, "Eloi Eloi lema sabachthane?" For those who do not know the translation it means, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" The headlines across the news wires this morning heralded the arrival of Pope John Paul II's fifth book, "Memory and Identity: Conversations Between Millenniums" in which the Holy Father compares the Holocaust to abortion. According to an Associated Press report, Paul Spiegel, the head of Germany's Central Council of Jews, issued a harsh statement rebuking the Pope's assertion that "the pontiff draws a broad comparison between abortion and the Holocaust, saying both came about when people decided to usurp 'the law of God.'" The Pope continued his assault on governments by saying, "We have to question the legal regulations that have been decided in the parliaments of present day democracies. The most direct association which comes to mind is the abortion laws ... Parliaments which create and promulgate such laws must be aware that they are transgressing their powers and remain in open conflict with the law of God and the law of nature."
The book is not limited to abortion. The Pope questioned the motivation of those who support gay marriage. "It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man" The Pope was harsh on lawmakers in The European Parliament and other governments. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, called a hasty press conference to discuss what the Pope said amidst an outcry from Jewish and gay-rights groups. The Pope "was not trying to put the Holocaust and abortion on the same plane," Ratzinger said. The pontiff was warning that evil lurks "even in liberal political systems."
The book is is essentially a transcript of conversations he had in Polish with close friends Krzysztof Michalski, a political philosopher, and the Rev. Jozef Tischner in 1993 at Castel Gondolfo, his summer residence near Rome. The Pope also discusses the assassination attempt on his life in 1981 revealing that he believes the attempt was part of a Communist plot and that the assassin, Ali Agca, did not act of his own accord. The Pope credits the intervention of the Virgin Mary, who is said to have appeared to three peasant children in Fatima, Portugal in 1917. According to the Vatican and the Pope himself, it is said that the Virgin Mary revealed in her predictions that the Pope would be shot. The Pope visited his assassin in prison several years later and said he felt that Ali Agca was bewildered by the fact that the Pope survived the attempt. The Pope also indicated that Ali Agca was very interested in the prophecies of Our Lady of Fatima.
- Holy Father, Why Have You Forsaken Me?
- Published: February 23, 2005
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- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: Law and Rights, Books: Spirituality
- Writer: Pope Silas I
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- Pope Silas I's personal site
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I may have fallen out of step with the Roman Church. But a larger question looms for me. When did the Church fall out of step with Christ?
It is one of those oddities of the world that a man who theoretically has never made a woman pregnant or had sex with a man should be telling a large minority of the world how to think about these two issues.
If procreation is such a big thing in the Catholic church, how did it get twisted around so that the head of the church denies God's will by being unfruitful and not multiplying?
Religions can be so strange sometimes... I like some of the spiritual aspects of religion (I do believe in right and wrong), but Christianity, like most religions, just seemed like such a far-fetched story to believe...
Thank you for this.
As more and more persons tend to their own soul urgings and inner knowing they will release the need to be told what to believe and what rule to follow. The grip that traditional religion now holds will wane and allow for more creative, less judgemental solutions for us to all live together in peace and shared dignity.
>>I may have fallen out of step with the Roman Church. But a larger question looms for me. When did the Church fall out of step with Christ?<<
Christ did not have specific positions on abortion or homosexuality, but the rest of the Bible sure does - kill the homosexuals and kill the abortionists. And all christian churches tend to default to the Old Testament when Jesus didn't address an issue specifically. So I'm not sure the Roman Church is all that out of step. Take up your complaints with the Bible, it's the real problem.
Dave
Not all gay people are intrinsically evil.
Well, that's a relief.
Now, tell me, how can I distinguish intrinsically evil gays from other gays, who may or may not be evil?
The Church has condemned homosexuality for hundreds of years. Because many people seek God, including gay people, many gay people over the generations gravitated to the Church for help (became priests, etc.)
The Church's counseling is based on a book written by people long ago, who did not have the understanding of all the dynamics of a human that we have today. Basically, it sounds like counseling consisted of prayer.
Since this didn't cure anything, the priests reached out to others because celibacy isn't as easy as one might think. The only others available were other priests and altar boys.
These dysfunctional relationships, besides being destructive to the youths, stem from a sexual confusion (most always a conflict of faith and sexuality), improper and downright laughable counseling, and a completely unrealistic expectation that a human should have to give up physical contact with another human being for life.
This extremely poor handling of sexuality is now costing the Church hundreds of millions of dollars, if not 10's of billions by now.
If you want to give weight to the Church's advice on how to handle sexuality, I'd consider looking at their track record.
how can I distinguish intrinsically evil gays from other gays, who may or may not be evil?
It seems that inevitably, the intrinsically evil ones show up on Survivor.
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This isn't exactly a radical change in Catholic philosophy. The Pope's been saying things like this for years. It's not that he's forsaken you, but that you're out of step with the march the Church has been on for years.
Dave