WEBCommentary
If the new pope, Benedict XVI, has as much influence on the Catholic Church as John Paul II did, his papacy will shape the future of the church in many important ways. There are five vital issues that the church must address in the coming decade. John Paul II effectively defended the Biblical position on three of them. He ignored one. And he failed miserably in his attempts to deal with the last. Let us hope that Benedict XVI will follow the lead of his predecessor on the issues where he was effective, while addressing the issues that John Paul II did not deal with. ...
Perhaps the fact that the priest child abuse scandals came to the world's attention when the John Paul II was ill and aging had something to do with his failure to deal with it. Perhaps he got bad counsel from his cardinals. Whatever the reason, when all the cardinals went to Rome to take action on the issue, they ended up taking no action. If John Paul II had used forceful leadership, the result would have been quite different. Instead, children are still at risk of being sexually abused by the one person they should be able to trust: their parish priest.
It would not be possible to completely eliminate the possibility of priest sexual abuse, but there are two steps the pope could have (and should have) taken that I pray Benedict XVI will take. First, defrock all homosexual priests. The Bible is very clear that homosexuality is sin, and that no homosexuals will enter Heaven. So why do the Catholic Church and many liberal Protestant denominations allow homosexuals in pulpits?
Posted by kshaw at April 25, 2005 04:38 PM