Today (the 19th of April) is the third anniversary of Joseph Ratzinger becoming Pope Benedict XVI.

He is fulfilling his duty as caretaker Pope well!

Good man Herr Ratzinger.

The loss of Pope John Paul II is to be lamented. I have written previously that I liked the man, the way he lived his life and the way he treated all people.

Pope Benedict is a mystery man to me. A former youth of Hitler ‘preaching the faith’ to the plebs of the world.

I have a number of issues with the Catholic Church:

• Wealth is a sin …. so why is the Catholic Church sitting on so much wealth? Sell … sell … sell ………. make a difference to the poor!
• The Pope’s dallyance with the likes of George Bush is a hypocritical step too far for me. Why is the Church dancing with the devil? Don’t dance …. criticise …. use your ‘power’ for the betterment of mankind and not for encouraging the status quo.
• Where’s your ‘Equality of Access and Participation’ policy? We have one in my school. All are treated equally. Amazingly enough, Emminence, girls and boys are meant to be favoured equally. So when are you going to allow women an equal role in the Church?
• Allow priests to marry! By all means keep celibacy optional but allow the Bishop Caseys of the world the opportunity to do ‘it’ legitimately. (When I was a young lad I always thought that priests automatically got into heaven …. wow … was I wrong …. priests seem to be as bad if not worse than the ordinary Joe Soap sinner on the street). Priest were allowed marry until the twelfth century …. what ‘revelation’ made celibacy the ‘new fashion’? For the first 1200 years of the Church’s existence, priests, bishops and 39 popes were married!! Allowing priests marry might also reduce the instances of paedophilia amongst priests! If it saves one child from such treatment you’ll have made a good decision.
• Infallibility … the Pope may represent God on earth but he’s still a human …. and no human is perfect …. I can’t accept the argument that the Pope is infallible. Look at the shenanigans of previous popes and you’ll see what I mean.

If good and bad is so black and white …… why can the Church change black to white and vice versa when the inclination strikes it?

Answer: The Church is run by a group of power hungry men …. with opinions, feelings and biases same as the rest of us. The only thing is … when they make a decision or have a ‘revelation’ it affects half the world immediately.

As an aside ….. if there’s only one God …. whose God is the right God?

Is it the Catholic God?,

The Church of Ireland God?

The Muslim God?

The Buddhist God?

or?

It reminds me of the joke of a man dying and going to heaven. Peter meets him at the gate and welcomes him in. He tells the man that there are different areas in heaven …. the Jewish area, the Muslim area, etc. The only place Peter asks the man to stay silent is as they pass the Catholic compound. The man asks him why he has to stay silent while passing the Catholic compound only and Peter replies it’s because the Catholics believe they are the only group worthy enough to be in heaven. (Not quite the full joke/story …. but you’ll get the idea).

My ‘philosophy’ is life has evolved to trying to live each day the best I can without causing too much angst to those around me. ‘Live and let live’ would cover me I think.

As I don’t follow the Catholic ethos in my life anymore …. I guess my salavation is in jeopardy.

I don’t expect to leave a legacy after me when I die …. my only wish is that I will be remembered is some form now and again. I reckon my best hope will be for somebody to accidentally read my name on a graveyard wall. I don’t want to be remembered for my teaching (teachers are quickly forgotten when they are out of the classroom).