Monday, May 09, 2005
JOSEPH D'HIPPOLITO'S ARTICLE IS UP AT JERUSALEM POST
which is unfortunately requiring registration now. From the article:
John Paul II cultivated a relationship with Islam not only as part of his ecumenical agenda. He viewed Islam as an ally against communism and secular materialism, particularly abortion. In 1994, the Vatican forged a coalition with the radical regimes of Iran, Libya and Sudan to oppose any proposals advocating abortion at a United Nations conference on world population.
Moreover, the brutal Nazi occupation of Poland traumatized John Paul to the point where he deeply feared a similar clash of civilizations between Christianity and Islam.
But John Paul's successor, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who led the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has other ideas, as Amir Taheri wrote on April 16 in Arab News:
"Ratzinger believes that John Paul II's strategy of alliance with Islam has put the Vatican not on the side of the Muslim peoples, but on the side of despotic regimes that dominate the Muslim world. Ratzinger sees relations between Islam and Catholicism as one of competition over the truth.
"Ratzinger suggests an alternative strategy under which the Catholic Church would focus on the consolidation of its position in its traditional strongholds in Europe and the American continent.
I hope he is right, because if he is, Benedict's attitude will be not only refreshing, but also more in line with the Catholic Tradition.
