BishopAccountability.org
	Catholic Church: Test of Faith By Dani Garavelli Scotland on Sunday March 21, 2010 http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/comment/Catholic-Church-Test-of-faith.6168691.jp AS POPE Benedict XVI lifted his pen to sign his pastoral letter to Catholics in Ireland, addressing the child abuse that has blighted the lives of generations of the country's children, his hand must surely have hesitated over the page. An academic, with no innate talent for communicating with the masses, he could have been in little doubt as to how much was staked on the way he had chosen to express himself. Nor of the fact that little short of ordering the resignation of the Primate of All Ireland Cardinal Sean Brady – and perhaps proffering his own – would be enough to satisfy his fiercest critics. In the last few weeks, what started as a localised storm involving a paedophile priest, Fr Brendan Smyth, and a culture of secrecy which allowed him to keep on abusing, has swept across Europe as new allegations of a cover-up have emerged, moving through Holland and Austria to Germany, where it threatens to engulf the Pontiff. Already, it has emerged that, as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Joseph Ratzinger allowed paedophile priest Peter Hullermann to move to Munich for therapy. The priest soon returned to parish work where he continued to abuse for another 30 years. Did Ratzinger know Hullermann still had access to children? And if he is so determined to root out the "filth" in the Church, why did he later, at the Vatican, order all allegations of child abuse by priests to be referred directly to Rome? Last week the growing international clamour overshadowed the official announcement of Pope Benedict's state visit to the UK in September, and the news that his formal meeting with the Queen will happen in Edinburgh. With the abuse row showing no sign of abating, and a broad coalition of humanists, women's rights campaigners, gay and victim support groups banding together under the banner Protest the Pope, there is little doubt the 82-year-old leader will face acrimony from the moment he steps on British soil. More damaging than the protests, however, may be apathy on the part of his own followers. It has already been alleged that Scottish bishops – at odds with his traditional attitude towards the liturgy – are not overly enthusiastic about the prospect of a papal visit, and even optimistic predictions put the number likely to hear him say mass at Bellahouston in Glasgow at 150,000 – just half the number who turned out to see John Paul II when he became the first Pope ever to visit Scotland 28 years ago. Pope Benedict – who recently criticised the UK's Equality Bill – has said he hopes to give "moral guidance" in a speech on civil life to be delivered at Westminster Hall. But with some critics questioning why a visit by the head of a state smaller than Hyde Park should be funded by the taxpayer, will the Pope's presence in the UK help to heal the wounds created by the child abuse scandal or open them further? And will the message the Pope brings to his flock in Scotland rekindle their faith or simply serve to highlight the seemingly inexorable secularisation of society? It was all so different in 1982. Back then, the sun shone as Christians of all denominations poured into Bellahouston Park to hear charismatic actor/poet/cleric Pope John Paul II say mass. The on-off nature of the event (because of the Falklands War it was unclear right up to the last moment whether or not it would go ahead) served to heighten the excitement, while the beautiful weather, the picnics and the upbeat music gave the event the feel of a massive open-air music festival. At Murrayfield, too, the reception from Scotland's young Catholics was rapturous. There were protests too. Discovering that six trees were to be cut down, vehement anti-papist Pastor Jack Glass barked his dissent, marching to Bellahouston Park with Ian Paisley on the day of the mass. But as Karol Wojtyla made his plea for ecumenism with the words: "Can we not make this pilgrimage together hand in hand", it felt as if Scotland – and the world beyond it – was on the cusp of something new and exciting. This time round, everything seems muted. Political and Church leaders have welcomed the news of the visit. But even sources within the Church agree that the sense of excitement, so tangible the first time round, is lacking. "The two Popes have completely different personalities and that affects the way they are seen," says John Haldane, professor of philosophy at St Andrews University. "John Paul II was unbelievably talented across a range of fields; he was a romantic figure who had endured under both the Nazi and Communist regimes; he had travelled more than anyone before him; he was slightly theatrical and had a love of crowds. "Benedict, on the other hand, is a rather ascetic man. Until he became Pope, he stayed in a small flat in Rome in which he had his cat and his piano. The picture you get is of someone who doesn't like the limelight. He is not the subject of endless profiles, so people know a lot less about him." Certainly – at 62 – John Paul had a youthful vibrancy which appealed to worshippers used to anonymous old Italians. But the difference in the public attitude towards them cannot be explained by their personalities alone. In the last 28 years, as society has become more liberal, the Catholic Church has hardened its stance on many issues, widening the gulf between Catholics and non-Catholics and between the clergy and the laity. And while his predecessor appeared to reach out to other faiths, some argue Pope Benedict drives them away. When John Paul II arrived in Edinburgh, he met the Moderator of the Church of Scotland under the statue of John Knox and bonded with other Church figures, including the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, who became a good friend. But Pope Benedict's visit will take place in an entirely different atmosphere. Having earlier this year – and apparently without forewarning– paved the way for disaffected Anglicans to join the Catholic Church en masse – his visit is likely to be treated with a degree of wariness by the Church of England, although he will take part in a prayer vigil at Westminster Abbey. "We have had 25 years of ecumenism now and in that time we have covered the easy stuff – Third World hunger, injustice, poverty, the kinds of stuff Christian churches ought to be able to agree on. We are now coming to more complicated issues, such as the role of the papacy, the nature of the priesthood," says one Catholic commentator explaining why relations were now running less smoothly. The fact that the tour will begin in Scotland – and that the Pope will meet the Queen in Edinburgh as opposed to London, where she would be surrounded by ranks of Anglican bishops – will help to offset the potential embarrassment factor. Still Haldane and others believe there will be other sensitivities, not least a resentment on the part of more traditional members of the Church of Scotland, who realise that to celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Reformation of Parliament in August would be perceived as a sectarian gesture, coming so close to a papal visit. Far more significant than any of this, however, is the growing child abuse scandal and the way it has been handled. In Ireland, revelations that Cardinal Brady was present when two teenage victims of abuse were sworn to secrecy have caused shock waves that are unlikely to be offset by today's letter. And the Church's insistence that the Pope was unaware Hullermann had been returned to parish duties merely fuels suspicions of a cover-up. While the Pope has called paedophilia by priests "not only a heinous crime but also a grave sin which offends God", it was he who, as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, imposed secrecy on sex abuse cases in 2001, making them subject to "papal confidentiality". While accepting that the Church's response to child abuse in its ranks has been inadequate, Haldane believes Pope Benedict set out to tackle the problem in a way that John Paul II – who was busy on the international stage – failed to do. But his opinions are unlikely to sway those who see the mounting scandal as a symbol of all that is wrong with established religion. "It seems the allegations are beginning to reach further and further towards the top of the Vatican," says Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society. "It could well be he won't be in office in September, we just don't know how big it's going to become. But the Church leaders mustn't be allowed to just sit it out." To the Protest the Pope lobby, the child abuse scandal is just one of many reasons to oppose a leader they see as right-wing and intolerant. Their petition, which has been signed by 28,000 people, cites his opposition to contraception, abortion, IVF treatment and same-sex relationships as reasons why – far from funding it – the government should dissociate itself, financially and politically, from the event. But for all the dissension, isn't it possible the Pope's visit will act as a catalyst for healing? "The Church is going through a very challenging period – and lessons have to be learned," says Liz Leydon, editor of the Scottish Catholic Observer."In this respect, I think the visit is very well timed because it might bring about a healing and a renewal of faith." Others, though, believe it is too late – that there is no forcing the genie of secularism back into the bottle. "People are drifting away from the Church and this Pope has a lot to do with that because his authoritarian attitude and his right-wing policies on condoms and homosexuality drive people away," Sanderson says. "The whole nature of society has changed. There is far less deference to figures of authority and that has to be healthy." Of course, none of this will deprive the Pope of an audience. Although numbers will be depleted, a large proportion of practising Catholics in Scotland will probably attend the mass at Bellahouston, their numbers swelled by worshippers from the north of England and Ireland. But as he meets the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, makes his speech on civil society and beatifies Cardinal John Newman in a public mass in Coventry, Pope Benedict seems likely to meet as much hostility as hospitality. With a twist of irony, the scale of the backlash that is brewing against him may make those Catholics who cheered and sang themselves hoarse in 1982 look back nostalgically at Jack Glass – with his sandwich boards and his "No Pope of Rome" rhetoric – as a symbol of simpler, happier times.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.