Listen until it hurts

John Waters wrote an article last week in which he expressed his admiration for Pope Benedict XVI. His enthusiasm was such that I was caused to stop and think about my assumed rejection of anything the current incumbent of the papacy might have to say. The article referred to Pope Benedict’s’ 2005 Encyclical letter, Deus Caritas Est. So I thought I’d better have a read and as advised by John Waters “listen until it hurts”.

Loath as I am to admit it my first surprise was that I found I could not only actually understand it but I was able to argue the toss with myself about it. Now I have never even attempted to read one of these things before and always assumed they were some kind of mystical writings handed down from on high. Silly, yes but that was the church in which I was raised. The Bishops and Priests did the interpreting and the flock were given a watered down and simplified version of it. So my next task is to search out some older stuff and other popes and see if they are as understandable as this one his. The objective of the exercise being to see if Benedict is making a special effort or was it always like this.

So, having found myself able to comment, I will.

On the issue of marriage [para. 11] we find:

Marriage based on exclusive and definitive love becomes the icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa.

This sets a very high standard for marriage and of course underpins the RC churches position on divorce. The cliched expression of which is that what God has joined together let no man put asunder. The problem for me lies in the assumption that all marriages are ‘joined’ by God. This, in turn, is based on the assumption that all acts of sacrament are accepted by God. Is it not possible that priests have presided over sacraments of marriage that God would never in a million years consider to be a good idea?

In discussing where politics and faith meet [para 28 (a)], we find;

Faith by its specific nature is an encounter with the living God-an encounter opening up new horizons extending beyond the sphere of reason. But it is also a purifying force for reason itself. From God’s standpoint, faith liberates reason from its blindspots and therefore helps it to be ever more fully itself. Faith enables reason to do its work more effectively and to see its proper object more clearly. … [The churches] aim is simply to help purify reason and to contribute, here and now, to the acknowledgment of what is just.

It’s hard to beat that. I am not a church goer and have not put much pass on what the Irish church has had to say since the last vestiges of respect for its authority disintegrated with Casey, Ferns and Archbishop O’Connell. My last attempt at understanding was attendance at a parish meeting organised to discuss clerical abuse with local priests present. It was a farce and became obvious that it was intended as providing us, the flock, with an opportunity to vent our anger so that everyone, as in us, could build a bridge and get over it. Well it failed and only added fuel to the fire and footsteps through the door.

But I do wonder if any of the church goers who have no problem dropping their cars on corners and double yellow lines because they are late for mass will ever read this encyclical or even if they will be encouraged to do so. If they don’t and if they are not asked to, then the bliss of their ignorance will be no more than a peek experience.

Of course, the encyclical is on the internet.