Diálogo Plural

There are many things that can be said about the new Pope. I'll try to be balanced. As conservative as they come, former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became head of the Roman Catholic Church a little before 18:00h CET on April 19, 2005. Before his election by the College of Cardinals he led the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (formerly known as the Inquisition) where he disciplined some of the most brilliant theologists for falling outside the doctrinal boundaries of Catholic Dogma. With this he assured the Church's lingering in medieval attitudes 'per secula seculorum' as well as many faithful to exercise their God-given free will in favor of using their common sense when approaching issues like contraception. Of course, one must also give the new pope the benefit or the doubt and there are signs that the new Pontiff is tempering his postures. Read this piece published electronically in Yahoo! News . Here are some quotations: The new pope said he...

Pope John Paul II has died. What can I say about such an important and at times controversial figure in world history? I would have nothing to add to this NPR's obituary by Sylvia Poggioli . Read also this written obituary be The Guardian . As a person who voluntarily separated from the Catholic Church because of all its banal medievalist views I always would take the opportunity of criticizing strongly the Pope for its stubborn adherence to strict traditional dogma. His resistance to change left the catholic faithful in some parts of the world flabbergasted, provoking in the end an exodus from the Church into other faiths or out of religion altogether. Still others remained in the Church humoring official Roman Catholic conservative preaching while realistically adapting their spiritual and practical needs to the realities of everyday life (such as their viewpoints on contraceptives, sex, and celibacy). It is ironic that in this interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski by NPR'...