I must confess that I found Rudolf Ogoo  Okonkwo’s  piece published on this website with the title “An Epistle to Pope Benedict XVI”, very interesting. The reason was simply because some of the sentiments he expressed in the article were not difficult to identify with.  For me and for many others born in the late 70s and early 80s, Pope John Paul II was the only Pope we saw and grew to know.  In fact, the mere name John Paul became so synonymous with the Pope that whenever and wherever it was mentioned, the charismatic white-clad Bishop of Rome leaped to mind. In a way, it seemed impossible to imagine a Pope that did not have John Paul II as his name.  Hence I understood his position about subsequent Popes looking like ‘mere substitutes’ of John Paul II.

Besides, after the death of Pope John Paul on April 2, 2005, I did indeed hope and pray that a Cardinal from Africa emerge as the next Pope, or a Latin American Cardinal as a ‘second choice’.  That is where the practice of the faith is still alive and vibrant, and the universal church I reckoned, could do with a dose of that vitality. So Mr Okonkwo was not alone in that thinking, even though I would disagree that the Catholic Church would not be doing ‘the right thing’ if a cardinal from none of these two continents emerges as the next Pope. The reason was simply because, as a person of faith, I believe that the Holy Spirit ultimately has a hand in whoever is elected.  It happened then that a certain Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, a German and the Prefect of the Rome-based Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was chosen.

For many, the urge to eternally compare him with his immediate predecessor was almost irresistible; after all John Paul II was the template for so many people, to picture what it looks like to be a Pope.  However, just as no two people can exactly be the same (except if they are clones), as each person is unique and irreplaceable, most people have now gradually learnt to take this Pope on his own terms and have also realized how misleading and perhaps unfair, it is to continually compare him with his predecessor. They are each different and unique personalities, each with his own peculiarities, endowments, strengths and weaknesses, since they are still human.  John Paul II had a rock star machismo and was given to dramatic gestures.  With his actor’s instincts, he knows how to appeal to crowds most of whom found his person extremely appealing.

Benedict on the other hand, is a bit more of the quiet and reserved type. He is cerebral and a scholar. Some have described him as shy not to mention the famed stereotype of an aloof, cold, dour and ruthless Vatican doctrinal enforcer, an image that one must mention that the Pope had hardly lived up to since the inception of his pontificate 3 years ago.  Instead he has been pulling off one surprise after another to the absolute amazement of many.  For one thing, he has proved to the utter astonishment of most people to be gifted with his own kind of charm. Although he is quintessentially an academic, having spent a good number of years in the Academia as a professor of theology before becoming a Cardinal and was subsequently appointed to the Roman Curia, and having authored numerous reputed works in the same field, he has continued to dispel that myth of a doctrinal hardliner and to show it for what it really is, a mere myth.  This has been a bit of a pleasant surprise to those who earlier bought the cartoon Ratzinger and to others who were merely watching to see for themselves, who the new Pope is.

Consequently, public affection has been no less effusive nor general acclaim any less unstinting, than in the days of John Paul II. In deed, so many of those who knew and loved John Paul II have also given the same amount of admiration, respect and affection to the current Pope.

Mr Okonkwo clearly misread the scenario when he wrote: “For many millions who did not know John Paul II, you will be their Pope. They will look up to you to change their world. They will line up the street, storm the stadium, kiss your hand, and hang on every word you say. Many will be your groupies.”  The mostly favourable press coverage that the Pope’s US visit has enjoyed so far, the crowd of old and young people who lined the streets, not to mention the phenomenal turn out of people for the papal masses, clearly indicate that this Pope enjoys the public favour, acclamation and approval of not only those ‘who did not know John Paul II’ as he puts it, but from people from across section of society: age groups, ethnic origins, social standing and even religious leanings.  Of course not all who cheer the Pope on the streets and line up to kiss his fisherman’s ring, would take to heart all that he has to say. It would surely be business as usual for some, as soon as the media blitz dies down. But it matters that this Pope keeps saying what he says with consistency and courage.

Undoubtedly, this Pope has been intrepid in denouncing violence in the name of God, in whatever form this is manifested.  Faith as he continues to repeat is always to be proposed and never imposed.  Hence it indeed would have been fairer and nearer to the point, had Mr Okonkwo described him as an ‘anti-religious fundamentalist crusader’ (if he must) instead of the more reductionist ‘anti-Islamic fundamentalist crusader’. This is because fundamentalism as we know it, can rear its monstrous head in any religious setting whatsoever, although at the moment and regrettably so, the term seem to have become co-terminous with Islam. But that does not mean that it has always been Islam’s exclusive problem, nor that it will always be.  It is this bigger canvas of fundamentalism that the Pope continues to decry.

After the speech at Regensburg University in September 2006, where the Pope cited the words of a 14th century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus (though at the time he disassociated himself from the emperor’s opinion), and after the resulting furore in some sections of the Moslem world who considered the statement offensive, the Pope expressed sadness that offense was taken and regretted that this happened. He neither retracted his message nor did he back down. For him as always, violence in the name of religion continues to be out of sync with reason and incompatible with the nature of God. He has since then continued to harp on that message time and again. The Pope’s credentials as an advocate of faith and reason (the two wings with which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth according to John Paul II), is not in any doubt, as he continues to excoriate with candid candour the toxic effects of extremism in religion.

However, one must admit that the relationship between Catholicism and Islam during this pontificate has indeed been marked by tensions. These tensions on the whole one is led to believe, are yielding progress and hopefully leading to better relations between the two faiths, though in a laborious kind of way. King Abdullah visited the Pope and Okonkwo asked when the Pope would visit the Saudi King in return, in addition to enquiring when there will be a church in Saudi Arabia. Albeit I can not claim to know when this visit will be, the gentleman may be delighted to know that there is a Church at present in Quatar. Okonkwo can be sure that the visit of the Saudi King was not without clearance from the Pope, since no dignitary comes to Rome to see the Pope without the Pope being disposed to host such guests.

It behoves the Pope as the successor of St Peter and Vicar of Christ to confirm his brothers and sisters in the faith. This is because as he himself noted in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love): “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”. That person is the Christ.  It is faith in him and the values he personifies that one hopes, animates what the Church teaches namely her doctrines and her dogmas, all through the course of history. However, one must admit that the Church’s understanding of the finer implications of these values does indeed evolve with the age albeit seldom as fast as some would desire.  In any case, one is aware that humanity in this 21^st century is faced with new and complex challenges. The religious and spiritual realm are not exempted from these upheavals, constantly confronted by the formidable forces of globalism, moral relativism, militant secularism, atheistic materialism and many other pernicious ideologies.

It is the consideration of what Christ himself would do in the face of these difficult and daunting challenges and how, that underpins what the Pope teaches with regards to faith and morals. How would Christ react to Euthanasia for instance? What about abortion, contraception, gay marriage and the death penalty? As inconvenient and uncomfortable as it may sound at times to me, it is difficult to imagine Christ telling us that it’s okey to use condoms even in ‘this age of AIDS and world overpopulation’. It is almost outrageous to imagine that Christ would advocate for promiscuity and lack of self-control simply because, it is easier and more like freedom as we know it today. Moreover, who says that condom is the panacea to the problem of AIDS? Hearing Okonkwo accuse the Holy Father of denying millions of teens what he calls “vital sex education knowledge” makes one think that either he is intentionally out to vilify the Pope or that he is blissfully uninformed on the issue.

The Pope surely supports sex education but of a different kind from the one you get from the popular media and the street corners. He insists that it be taught not as value-free notions and concepts but as value-laden. Our sexuality is neither a play thing nor just a commodity. Abstinence before marriage clearly factors into the equation.  Moreover, parents he maintains remain the primary educators of their offsprings, in these matters.  In any case, nothing could be more ridiculous and further from the truth than to hear him charge the Pope with murder since he has on his hands “the blood of many who die daily from AIDS and poverty”. Phew! That is fallacious to put it mildly.

However though it is true that some priests have been less than edifying in matters regarding their vow of celibacy, it simply does not wash to use that as a basis to castigate the practice of abstinence before marriage. It is like calling for the repeal of the anti-corruption law on which offending public office holders may be prosecuted, simply because the temptation to pilfer from the public purse has proved too strong for a few of them. If the Church were to keep up with that type of “revision” which Mr Okonkwo seemed to advocate, what sort of society emerges at the end of the day? Certainly one where there are no objective moral values, where everything is just tentative, precariously pitched on the shifting sands of opinions, fashions and fads.

Of course, the incident of sex abuse involving the catholic clergy (a minority though) was and still remains an embarrassment. It was and still is a dent on the integrity of the priestly office no doubt, yet the catholic priesthood remains a vital force for good in the world. It is said in Latin: “abusus non tollit usum” (abuse of a thing does not negate its use). Moreover, the sincerity and forthrightness which this Pope has shown in addressing this painful problem, has been truly encouraging and reassuring to many. As to whether the scandals and abuses make the Pope and the Church irrelevant and irredeemably destroyed, the answer certainly is in the negative.   The people in the Church are human after all, struggling like anyone else for their personal salvation.  However, that this Church has in fact lasted this long in spite of the odds, in some uncanny sort of way underscores its divine foundation.

Finally, John Powell in his inspirational book: “A stranger at your door”, wrote the following instructive lines.

Withstanding all the disorders and attacks to which human organizations are subject, his church has endured the trials and tribulations of twenty centuries... Christ’s Church has for these long years remained steadfast in her protection of his teachings, refusing compromise, refusing to modernise the truths which Christ taught and championed.  She has offered the world the countless fruits of her divine enterprise, and she remains confident in her role in the drama of human salvation...

Robot  # 1 | 21.04.2008 00:29

I must confess that I found Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo’s piece published on this websi...Read the full article.