Waiting for Concrete
We're entering the 55th day of the B16 papacy. And what has he done?
It's a serious question -- he's named a handful of bishops, taken the tiara off the crest, given a stirring plate of platitudes, presided over a spectacular Corpus Christi, confirmed WYD, the Synod and named Levada to CDF. And the Germans have had some catfights.
But has there been a single consequential move on the part of the Pope? Not yet.
By "consequential," I mean something which sets a defined tone strong enough to last beyond his pontificate and be a point of resonance to the wider church. We haven't seen that to this point.
Creating new cardinals (coming in Sept./Oct.) would be a consequential gesture, as they would elect a successor. An encyclical, a formal synthesis of thought to last for time immemorial, would be a consequential gesture. A major pronouncement of whatever sort would be a consequential gesture. But we're still left hanging.
So what will that first concrete act be? Anyone's guess right now -- encyclical in December, cardinals in September, but will anything big come of the first 100 days? It's an open question and a point to be made. I'm eagerly awaiting the answer.
-30-
It's a serious question -- he's named a handful of bishops, taken the tiara off the crest, given a stirring plate of platitudes, presided over a spectacular Corpus Christi, confirmed WYD, the Synod and named Levada to CDF. And the Germans have had some catfights.
But has there been a single consequential move on the part of the Pope? Not yet.
By "consequential," I mean something which sets a defined tone strong enough to last beyond his pontificate and be a point of resonance to the wider church. We haven't seen that to this point.
Creating new cardinals (coming in Sept./Oct.) would be a consequential gesture, as they would elect a successor. An encyclical, a formal synthesis of thought to last for time immemorial, would be a consequential gesture. A major pronouncement of whatever sort would be a consequential gesture. But we're still left hanging.
So what will that first concrete act be? Anyone's guess right now -- encyclical in December, cardinals in September, but will anything big come of the first 100 days? It's an open question and a point to be made. I'm eagerly awaiting the answer.
-30-
posted by Rocco Palmo at 05:56
1 Comments:
After 26 years of John Paul II, I think Benedict XVI is more than likely doing a lot behind the scenes while endearing himself to the public.
Once the crusade against secularism gets underway, I'm sure he'll be spending that goodwill from the public in big ways.
After all, the Catholic Church in Italy just won its first big battle with the referendum (that is if the current trend remains the same and voting does stay under 50%).
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