Another New (for Me) Voice Saying Important Stuff

Daniel, a semi-new regular, happened to suggest I check out Den Mother and it was well worth the time (thanks, Daniel).

For example, here I read about one woman's reaction to the new Pope that I admit echoes some of my own. Here's a snippet:

Of much greater concern to me is the impression of Ratzinger as an ultra-traditionalist in areas such as the role of women in the church, ecumenism, personal/moral issues like birth control, and what more progressive Catholics call "a sub-culture of clericalism" and the concentration of power among the curia. He is known to have wielded tremendous influence during the later years of John Paul II's papacy, which also happens to be the time when the hierarchy fell down on the job on the issue of sexual abuse by priests. In short, he's been around long enough that his positions are very clear from his actions.

Sometimes his remarks have been bluntly critical, on such diverse topics as dissident theologians, liberation theology, "abuses" in lay ministry, homosexuality, women as priests, feminism among nuns, premarital sex, abortion, liturgical reform and rock music.

[ . . . ]

After review by Cardinal Ratzinger's congregation, U.S. Father Charles Curran, who questioned church teaching against artificial birth control, was removed from his teaching position at The Catholic University of America in 1987.

Well said.

While I think it's important that people "give the man a chance", his position within the Church makes it probably fairly clear where the former Cardinal Ratzinger falls on many key issues. I applaud what he said about the (most recent) Iraq War, but some of his other activities bother me a lot.

Yes, it's always possible that he could moderate his position. But he's 78 - while I know a lot of people who continue to think and evolve well into their 90s, too few perhaps do - and he hasn't only lived by this very strict, exclusionary doctrine for many decades, he's written much of it.