Wednesday, March 02, 2005
PAPAL HEALTH AND POSSIBILITIES
Lee Penn sent this the other day:
The headline and sub-heads for the following e-mail writes itself:
/sarcasm on/
Paralyzed Pope to be fed intravenously, with 3 MDs always on hand
Spokesman says Pope is fully in charge, plans to write 3 more books
World Youth Day trip to proceed as planned
"Pope in full command," says press rep Navarro-Valls
/sarcasm off/
Lee
He followed it up with the email feed for this story from "Inside the Vatican":
Pope To Be Fed Intravenously?
Ok, the juxtaposition is funny. I chuckled, and moved on.
Trolling the news today brings up the following:
Pope Still Plans Germany Trip
Somehow today it doesn't seem quite so amusing. There are probably countless reasons why the statements issued from Rome are so contradictory--most of them reasons I haven't got a clue about. But it just looks odd to have all this activity involving the Pope make the headlines while at the same time there is talk about his needing constant medical attention.
I've been in the hospital. It's not a good place from which to manage my home. After a week or so of hospital I found I was somewhat disoriented. Coming home was like coming back from a vacation. It all looks just slightly unfamiliar for the first hour or so. Surely I'm not alone in this. Surely the Papal residence looks just slightly unfamiliar to a Pope who has been away.
Then there are the moments of clarity that we get when we see him on TV and hear him try to speak. Don't get me wrong, he makes a valiant effort that I applaud. But I also take note of the reality, and give some consideration to what had been happening in the Church when he was young and still in full possession of all of his faculties, which obviously he no longer is. Frankly the hierarchy got away with murder when he was in his 60s and 70s. Are they likely to become paragons of virtue now in light of his declining health?
I imagine him trying to read a paper that is shaking because his hands are. I imagine those same hands holding a pen. Let's be reasonable. Some things are possible when the body rebels. Some things are not. Like writing three new books.
Yet I don't doubt that three new books may well be released in his name. The doubt comes when I consider just whose ideas may be presented in those books that are attributed to John Paul II.
If we had a Church that was liturgically orthodox across the board...if we had a Church filled with well-catechised Catholics...if we had a priesthood that is a paragon of holiness and a bishopric known for its honesty in all situations, I could say sure, it was the Pope who wrote them. We have none of these things. What we have is dissent across the board. What we have is lieing with the voice of authority, support of liturgical anomolies, resistence to obedience. What we have is an internet that makes it possible for all of us to know what we have.
I'm mostly a pessimist when it comes to human nature. I've lost the illusion that the good will rise to the top just because I want it to. If there is opportunity in Rome, I expect there is a line waiting to take advantage of it. Why wouldn't there be when taking advantage of opportunities, and even making them when they don't exist, has been the general operating parameter in the Church for most of my adult life.
I'm not calling for him to retire. I'm not calling for him to step down. I just wish there had been a mechanism for him to delegate who would speak for him when he could not speak for himself. Because changes happen at an unprecedented rate in 2005, and ill health recovers ever more slowly as the human body ages.
