el papa

In Italian, the Pope is referred to as 'el papa'. It's sweet, sort of like 'father', 'daddy', 'papa'.

A couple of weeks ago, in Sociology, we were talking about something or other, and I mentioned the Pope. Someone said "God, I wish he'd hurry up and die, I'm bored of hearing about him". Lovely. I have to say, I find the way the Pope is revered in Catholicism slightly unsettling. There's only so much stock you can put in one man, there's only so much significance a human being can have before attention starts getting diverted away from God. I'd say that's a kickback to my 'I don't agree with organised religion' days, but it still worries me. There was this popular rumour that went round, I don't know how true it was, that the Vatican had been putting it about that using condoms doesn't prevent the spread of HIV, and so there was no reason at all that people should use them. Very responsible.

I have nothing against Catholics (here comes the but) BUT I have a lot against some of the teachings of Catholicism. I'm choosing my words exceptionally carefully, because I'm about to prove myself a complete hypocrite. Never mind.

This morning in church, no one mentioned the fact that the Pope had died. Unless they mentioned it in that 5 minute interlude when I was out in the foyer with Sian. There seems to be this attitude that, if you're not Catholic, why should you care?

Well, here's the thing. Whether or not you agree with the guy's teachings (ahem), he devoted his entire life to serving God. Completely. Not part-time, not a little bit on the side of his other commitments - everything he had went into preaching that there gospel, right up until he couldn't speak anymore, and when he didn't have the strength to read the scripture, he got someone else to read it for him. Right up til the minute he died, he was praying, hanging out with his cardinals, getting biblical. They said before he died he was 'remarkably serene'. Away into God's hands, in immense pain but completely calm, totally trusting in the man upstairs.

You gotta have respect for a guy like that, I take off my imaginary hat to him.

Catholic, Anglican or bewildered (that's my denomination), the selection of a new Pope is a massive deal - their choice has repercussions across the globe. If they pick someone who's really progressive and liberal, then that could mean massive changes. I sincerely doubt they'll do that, seeing as the thing that everyone liked about John Paul II was that he was so traditional. There is this one guy in the running, I forget his name but I think he's Brazilian, he's intending to promote unity between denominations.

That's the kind of Pope I could get on board with, y'know? I don't agree with some of the Catholic practices, but more than that I can't stand that we're so divided as a church. We are one body, there is one faith, one baptism, one Christ and yet there are many, many churches. St. Peters, Yateley has links with St Marys, Eversley but not with St Swithuns, Yateley. Why? Guess. I read a testimony once where this girl said becoming a Christian was difficult beacuse she'd been raised Catholic. Uh?

Yeah, there's so many different kinds of people, for everyone to follow God in exactly the same way would be ridiculous, for everyone to interpret scripture in exactly the same way would be ridiculous. Having all these different kinds of churches means, in theory, there's a church for everyone. That's not ridiculous. But all this division, this petty squabbling, "he's not my Pope so why should I care that he's dead?" - that's ridiculous. Forgetting that being a Christian, any kind of Christian, is about following Christ, first and foremost - that's ridiculous.