All Comments (14)

TO JACK SMITH:

You wrote, "One could easily have relayed the same message Benedict intended at Regensburg without hurting the feelings of others necessairly.".

Are we so "politically correct" today that we should be afraid to speak?

Jesus said some things that seemed to "hurt the feelings of others" to the point where some wanted to silence Him, did He not and did they not?

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

You wrote..."the truth is that among American Roman Catholics, excitement about this pope and his trip is remarkably low."

The Holy Father's plane left tonight making you either a fool or a liar. I don't know of a third option.

You wrote..."the truth is that among American Roman Catholics, excitement about this pope and his trip is remarkably low."

The Holy Father's plane left tonight making you either a fool or a liar. I don't know of a third option.

What is in your heart comes out at the most delicate situations, such as Regensburg. Or to smile, or touch someone in need. This can be done even non-physically.One could easily have relayed the same message Benedict intended at Regensburg without hurting the feelings of others necessairly.

This is the reason that in either a corporation, factory, or a country, the head is selected not by hereditary or dictatorial methods, but by transparent methods to find the most capable individual for the job.

The problem really is not Benedict, but those who chose him. If the pool of applicants is of such poor quality now, God help us when the next pope has to be selected because we all know that the quality of priests has been progressively declining

TO LISA MILLER:

You wrote, " It's that Benedict is a Christian believer first and an intellectual second,".

He is the Pope, isn't the Pope suppose to be a "Christian"?

Actually being a Christian, rather than just believing that Jesus is Who He Is, is what makes sense of the world.

You also wrote, " It's not that he doesn't care about people, it's that he wants people to care more about Jesus.".

Since he believes that Jesus is God-Incarnate and probably believes that God has the best in mind for us, doesn't this seem to flow naturally?

You then wrote, " they cannot convince the American church that he, in any but the most abstract way, resembles the people he was chosen to serve."

Trying to be a Christian is trying to do what God wants us, individually, and as a community to do, it is not to be a bunch of cookie-cutter people, or parrots or puppets on a string.

God made us all different and we are to use whatever God has given to us, not to be clones of each other, but each an individual and hopefully to let God's Image shine thru us.

Take care, be ready.

Sincerely, Thomas Paul Moses Baum.

Speak for yourself Lisa Miller! From what I've seen of the live television coverage and news reports of the comments by people who met him, I can see for myself that the Pope does connect, even with the abuse victims whom he met with personally who were understandably hating the Church since their abuse.

"My sheep hear my voice..." - J.C.

It is not the pope who does not connect. The pope in the estimation of fair-minded people in this culture, is spot on with his observations and with what Americans and others need to hear, and does his half of the connecting job just fine. It is those who will not listen to him, who will not challenge their preconceived notions by trying to understand the faith beyond their elementary school understanding of it, using all religious "discussion" as a pretext to trot out their own agendas instead of to learn something, who prevent themselves from connecting and betray their ignorance. I know, because I am intelligent person who used to be there, and who used to think that liberal objections to the Church were the end of all discussion.

where is the hyper-text link to report idiotic comments?

Catholics don't need a charismatic, all-things to-all-men, showman. They need a Pope who not only speaks the truth and personally attempts to live it, but they need someone who does more than talk about those things that the Church teaches which many Catholics reject.

Souls are being lost through the misuse of charity and pastoral practices that enable Catholics to "feel" part of the Church, even participating in it almost completely and sometimes completely, as they live an active life that causes scandal, even persecuting innocent people like maliciously abandoned spouses and their own children. The Church must do more to govern and to use its authority to defend the abandoned, even if it means asking their tormentors to leave the Church in hopes they cease their scandalous selfishness that is at the heart of the pervasive disunity in the Catholic Church in America.

Benedict and his predecessor have done precious little in this regard but talk. Their approach is a failure even though their spoken message rings mostly true. It seems they "do not know what they do".

A former Catholic

I pray that your are wrong on your opinionated assessment.

Thank be to God that the truth never changes and that his Church will never change.

What a whiny article and another MSM hit piece.

In the Catholic blogosphere we are overjoyed with the Pope's visit and love our faith even the parts that hit piece reporters don't like

The cruelest joke the cardinals played upon the faithful was elevating the ultra defender of orthodoxy, Ratzinger, to the throne of Peter. JP 2 was orthodox but people forgave him because of his kindness, his humanity. It was having John 23 back without that beloved man's courage. But John Paul exuded love. As far as I am concerned the papacy is dead.

Things must be changing. When the pope did mass in LA back in the 80's tickets were at a premium. I know someone who paid $1,000 for a seat -didn't have the heart to ask if he got his money's worth. At least the president isn't too busy or preoccupied.

Is the president going to mass or just doing the diplomatic, head of state to head of state kind of thing? I wonder if the pope's crew will pass the plate like when Mr Bush went to Billy Graham's, what do you call that, not mass but whatever it was they did pass the plate.

Benedict is caught between a rock and reality!!!

A synopsis of the realities of these last 200 years of historic Jesus studies for those who have not been paying attention:

Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/ simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics. earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

Luther, Calvin, Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

These realities will slowly crumble Christianity as the rock and reality merge. Benedict will survive his reign. The papacy will not.