A European Pope?

Much storm brewed after the Pope's speech at the University of Regensburg. But people misread the Pope.

New strategies by Benedict XVI

His primary foe is not the Muslim world, but a dispute with secular Europe. What might this mean for Europe?  The current Pope is an enigmatic person. He is difficult to scrutinize. For many years he lived in the shadow of the Polish Pope Paul II. While John Paul the II travelled incessantly staging Christianity as a full blown (pop)show for the masses, Ratzinger sat at home in the Vatican contemplating and writing about the 21st century world.

Modern sociology supports Pope's strategy
We do not know whether Ratzinger has ever read the work of American sociologists like Rodney Stark and Bainbridge. They published results in the late 20th century, which demonstrated that a church that tries to reach everybody will in the end obliterate itself.  It’s impossible to accommodate each and everyone. For instance holy orders that continue to wear the religious attire and abide by the traditional rules and regulations thrive, whereas those with a less strict profile waned. The bottom line is that relativism and secularism are not the business of thriving churches.  

What we do know is that he is currently following a strategy that positions the Christians as a people apart, as described in the book “Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony”.

Catholic Politics
First of all he is actively positioning the Catholic Church as the opposite of a full-blown political actor. This has to do with the Italian experience in the second half of the 20th century, when the church was actively involved through its support of the Christian Democrats, a party which ended up tarnished by corruption and connections to the Mafia. Nowadays the Catholic Church is active voicing its support for specific standpoints of a more ethical or Christian nature. Thus one may find staunch Catholics as members of both the Italian (left-winged) government and the opposition headed by Berlusconi.

Revival of stands
But it also has to do with Ratzinger’s position in the wake of Vatican II. Amongst other things he has recently opened up for the possibility of a revival of the use of Latin in the prayers and in the liturgy of the Mass. Secondly Ratzinger has intensified his policing of the behaviour and ethics of his flock. Woe the divorced, the gay and the abortionists plus the politicians condoning their behaviour. The ante has definitely been upped.

What's in a name?
Finally it has to do with his positioning himself as “Benedict”. In the audience immediately following his inauguration, he explained he wished to name himself after the European patron saint, Benedict of Norcia, because he had exercised an enormous influence on Europe’s Christian heritage. Maybe Ratzinger even thought of the influence that Benedict exercised on his follower, Gregory the Great. Ratzinger must have known at that moment that his time is running out and his main job is to prepare for his successor.

No to "christianity-light"
The consequences for Europe are not easy to prophesy about. It seems, however, as if ecumenism, conciliation or dialogue are not high on the Pope’s agenda. Classic Christianity has high priority! This will also have implications regarding our European Heritage in terms of buildings and churches. Already it is getting prohibitively expensive to see the large cathedrals of Christianity. You may enter them freely but only in the side chapel set aside for devotion and prayer. Lesser churches are currently being sold and resurrected as restaurants, offices, fitness-centres etc. A devout church as the present Catholic strategy calls for doesn’t need huge buildings for spectacles. It needs small meeting places set apart.

Who will care for the fabric of Christianity when it is sold off?

Related Information
Papal Blessings?  Should the Pope address the parliament in Strasbourg? A proposed upcoming visit is seen as recognition, if not an approval, of the current pope's politics. This issue is widely discussed in Europe.
Europe in Crisis: A question of Belief or Unbelief? Perspectives from the Vatican. By Lieven Boeve. Modern Theology. Vol. 23:2, 2007.
The Church in Catholicism in Contemporary Italy. By Franco Garelli et al., Journal of Modern Italian Studies. Vol. 12: 1, 2007.