So last week, a colleague of mine from Philosophy approached me with an odd request. He is organizing a philosophy conference in a couple weeks, and one of the events is a panel discussion about the new Pope. He has arranged for a variety of Catholics with a variety of viewpoints to participate on this panel. One of the perspectives he was hoping to have represented was that of a politically progressive nun, but he was having a hard time finding one willing to participate in the panel. Nearby Erie, PA, is home to a community (I'm not sure it's correct to call it a convent) of liberal Benedictine nuns, but the heavy hand of the Vatican has been cracking down on them, and I suspect that may be why my friend has been unable to find a progressive nun willing to express her opinions in public.
So instead, he asked me to speak. And then I said yes. I think this will suffice to explain the title of this diary.
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One could question whether substituting a gay agnostic ex-Catholic man for a progressive, believing Catholic nun is really legitimate. I'm not in any way an authority on religion; I'm a chemist, after all! However, my friend wants a diversity of views, including one with the potential to disagree with the very conservative local diocese. On the other hand, I tend to be one who prefers to avoid conflict. I watched the youtubes of Christopher Hitchens eviscerating his Catholic opponents in a debate on the question of whether the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world (below), but I could never do anything like that myself, though I would love to be that forthright and well-spoken, with the facts at my fingertips.
The principal issue, it seems to me, is whether there is any hope that Francis has the capability, or even the desire, to address the many problems that currently besiege the Catholic Church. Of course, the issue with the highest profile, and most pertinent to me as a gay man, is the Church's policy on LGBT people, and on same-sex marriage, in a world where opinions are rapidly changing in favor marriage equality. Last night I bought a copy of John Boswell's Same-Sex Unions in Premodern Europe in the hope of finding facts to use as ammunition. After all, the Church actually did solemnize same-sex unions--the evidence is undeniable--so how can they be so virulently against them now? (Before Argentina approved marriage equality, Cardinal Borgoglio, who objected to same-sex marriages, offered instituting civil unions for same-sex couples as a compromise, so he may not be completely beyond reach.)
Throw in the continuing fallout from the child sex abuse scandal, the current Vatican banking scandal, and the decline of the Church in Europe and the US, and that should round out a fairly ugly picture of the Church's current situation. Benedict XVI's stonewalling only made it worse.
While the picture is pretty bleak for the Church, I do think there is some small hope that Francis will be able to bring about some changes. Francis is a Jesuit, and the Jesuit order promotes intellectual rigor and openness to new ideas. In fact, Francis is the first Jesuit ever elected Pope. Further, he chose the name of St. Francis of Assisi, who rebelled against the grandiosity of the Church of his time in favor of living a simple life; he put the needs of the poor above all else. Already, Francis' rejection of the trappings Benedict was so fond of is reason to hope. Further, the fact that, for the first time ever, the Pope washed the feet of two women on Holy Thursday suggests that perhaps he will be open to ideas about changing the role of women in the church. I have long thought that most of the problems in the Catholic Church would rapidly disappear if women were allowed into the clergy, and if the clergy were permitted to marry.
I'm not holding my breath on reform in the Church in the immediate future, however, even under a new Pope with a visibly different attitude. Francis is still a conservative. Even if he did begin significant reforms, the Church is notoriously slow to implement changes. In my opinion, there is hope, but not a whole lot.
So this is the direction I intend to go in. I don't know how effective or appropriate it will be, and I've never participated in this sort of panel discussion before so I can't predict how well I will fare. If you have any suggestions regarding information that could be useful to me in this panel discussion, I'd appreciate it.
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TOP COMMENTS
April 6, 2013
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From hubcap:
The long term game plan exposed by truong son traveler, in ek hornbeck's recommended diary 'Electoral Victory' My A$$.
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I liked Calvino PartigianI's comment in kos's weekly Nutpick-a-palooza diary.
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April 5, 2013
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