What’s next for the German pope?
Feb 18th, 2009 by Tom White
From “The Seeker” blog at the Chicago Tribune; newsblogs.chicagotribune.com What’s next for German pope?
For those flummoxed by Pope Benedict XVI’s gesture to invite an excommunicated Holocaust denier back into the fold, one theologian offers this theory. The German pope’s view of the church in history–especially during the time of the Holocaust–clashes with that of his fellow Europeans. Simply put, the church at that time could do no wrong, in the pope’s view.
Rev. John Pawlikowski, former president of the International Council of Christian and Jews and a professor at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, said Benedict is ironically out of touch with his European homeland, where sensitivity about the Holocaust is especially high. (Read Christine Spolar’s Sunday report from Germany.)
He demonstrated that most recently by inviting four schismatic bishops who lead the ultraconservative Society of St. Pius X back into the Roman Catholic church. For starters, the Society rejects the reforms of Vatican II, which include Nostra Aetate, the document that initiated a dialogue between Catholics and Jews. In addition, one of the four bishops quite publicly and recently rejected the fact that 6 million Jews perished in the war, saying he believes the death toll is closer to 300,000.
The pope also showed his tin ear last year when pressure mounted from supporters within the church for him to accelerate the cause of sainthood for Pope Pius XII. Opponents to the canonization believe Pope Pius XII should have been more outspoken during the Holocaust. Jewish leaders have lobbied Benedict to open Vatican archives for scholars to examine the church’s record and find out once and for all. Benedict has not agreed to that, instead putting the process on hold for the time being and appeasing no one.
Pawlikowski isn’t so sure Benedict fully comprehends the concerns of Jews who suspect Pius XII ignored their plight. For Benedict, the concept of complicity simply does not compute, he said.
He sees [the Holocaust]as a horrible event. No question about that,” Pawlikowski emphasized. “He views the Holocaust as a pagan, anti-human phenomenon but doesn’t really want to deal very clearly and explicitly with the Christian complicity that was also there.”
Pawlikowski said the notion that the church might have been an intentional or unwitting accomplice in war crimes “clashes with [Benedict’s] ecclesiology.”
“His vision of the church is very ahistorical. Really, the essence of the church is not within history. It’s transcendental and is not really impacted as such by the realities of human history,” Pawlikowski said. “This is part of the issue … He sees the church primarily as a victim of the Nazis and not in any way a collaborator.”
Benedict’s approach contradicts that of his predecessor John Paul II who, among other gestures during his journey to Jerusalem, inserted a note into the Western Wall asking forgiveness for Christian persecution of Jews throughout history.
The contrast puts the current pope in a bit of a quandary. While he wants to pursue friendly relations with religious leaders just as John Paul II did, he doesn’t see the point of inter-religious dialogue if no one intends to change their position.
“People who’ve met with him personally say he’s very engaging and very positive,” Pawlikowki said. “This desire for good interpersonal relations conflicts with his basic doctrinal position,” which assigns virtually zero value to inter-religious conversations.
It’s hard to have relations when you don’t talk and even harder when you don’t listen. What do you think should be the pope’s next step?