Friday, December 08, 2006
THE SPIN ON THE BLUE MOSQUE
This particular quote is from John Allen's attempt to justify Benedict's act in light of Ratzinger's condemnations:
Had this been another senior Catholic official -- Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, for example, or Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, both known for more irenic views on Islam and other religions generally -- fierce debate might have been unleashed about the theological meaning of the prayer, and one can imagine the Vatican issuing a “clarification” spelling out all the qualifications.
Yet this wasn’t Etchegaray or Fitzgerald. It was, instead, the very man who identified a “dictatorship of relativism” as the central challenge facing the church one day before his election to the papacy.
Essentially what he argues is the equivalent of "if the Pope commits adultery it is ok because he is the Pope and thus is above sin". Which is ridiculous. A flip-flop is a flip-flop. Stop trying to spin it doctrinally correct. Benedict got put into a compromising position in his efforts to mend fences. He did what he believed he had to do. Who among us has not found ourselves in such a position? That is the nature of fallen humanity. Our failures and Benedict's don't make sin ok. They do make all of us human, and thus imperfect. God will judge his heart. Those of us who watched can only judge the action. I suspect God will be lenient.
