Friday, March 21, 2008

The Pope Condemns Violations of Human Rights (in Ancient Rome)

In his Good Friday homile Pope Benedict XVI alluded to the Christians who were thrown to the lions in the Colosseum 2000 years ago. Whether that indeed happened or not it is good to see that the pope cares about anybody's human rights, living or dead. What possible good the pope intends to do two millenia after the fact for those dusty martyrs, and whether the flesh and bone ones who are at this very moment being martyred for the faith in places like China and Cuba will have to wait 2000 years for another pope to take cognizance of their sacrifice (and to the same effect), must remain one of those inscrutable mysteries which mortal man must renounce knowing but can certainly make some well-founded speculations upon. Perhaps we cannot expect the pope to utter one word on behalf of Buddhists being butchered in Tibet by Chinese Communists (that kind of ecumenism is altogether too Christian for Catholicism to tolerate), but there are also millions of Catholics throughout China who face the same persecution and merit not a word of recognition much less solidarity from the pope.

Not that the pope ignored China. Like his predecessor, Benedict has been "cultivating" the Chinese Communists since he became pope. Although he never alludes to the persecution of the faithful in China, the pope is fond of including Chinese tokens in his masses. This time he asked the archbishop of Hong Kong, Joseph Cardinal Zen, to compose meditations to be read at all the stations of the Cross. Zen admits the Vatican warned him not to include anything in his meditations that might give offence to Beijing as the pope is "eager for the Vatican and China's Communist government to establish diplomatic ties." And once such ties are established, as in Cuba, the Vatican will continue to observe a moratorium on criticism of the Communists in order to maintain those ties in good repair.

When, then, will come the space for criticism let alone condemnation? The answer is never. Remember Christ's injunction about "giving to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God?" Well, it has been reformulated for our times. Now Caesar can ascribe to himself the prerogatives of the Church -- in China's case, going so far as to appoint the bishops -- but the Church must cede to Caesar absolute authority to savage the people of Christ. If ancient paganism fed Christians to the lions it must have done so without opposition from the Church. Their heirs today continue to persecute the faithful with the Church's tacit approval. Neutrality in the face of evil is complicity.


POSTSCRIPT:

Well, this will make everybody's Easter more joyful, I'm sure. Pope Benedict has donated the collection from one of the Holy Thursday masses to a Cuban orphanage (the first such donation to Cuba ever). The Associated Press notes that the Vatican has worked hard in recent years to "rebuild credibility with Havana, opposing the U.S. embargo and keeping an arm's length from the exile community in Florida." Cuban exiles should certainly return the favor on Easter and keep an arm's length from the collection plate.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Pope(s) has(ve) traditional mistaken God and the Caesar for one another. I wish I could be positive and think that this is just a literary figure to condemn the present through an example of the past, but hell no, I am my own old pessimist -or should I say realistic???

Ms Calabaza said...

Everything is "politically correct" these days. Everyone appears as if walking on egg-shells or speaking double-speak. How refreshing it would have been if the pope would have spoken some truth about the oppressed in the world TODAY . . . What a waste of time. He had the world listening; he could have said so much.

On another note, MaT and readers here . . . have a Happy Easter.

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

ms. calabaza:

I added your blog Pumpkinseeds & Contradictions to my "Fraternal Blogroll" at the same time as I enrolled Obalesque. Next week I will formally introduce your blog to my readers though I am sure that many are already acquainted with it.

Ms Calabaza said...

MaT,

Thanks, I am honored that you thought of adding me. Take care.
I hope you and yours enjoy a peaceful, happy Easter Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Reading your postscript I realize that I am not such a negativist, just a damn realist. Be reassured that no donations will find their way to the children of political prisoners, or the orphans of executed men, or the orphans of lost balseros. That doesn't gain the Vatican any favors with the regime. It's interesting how the author thinks that "Havana" and "regime of Havana" or simply "the tyranny" are exchangeable terms, without realizing that with that usage the victims and their tormentors get rolled into a morally impossible one. Or maybe the intention was to ignore the Cuban people, and to fuse them with the regime.
Happy Easter everyone.

Sharpshooter said...

I did not expect anything better from a former member of the Hitler's Jugend.
Ratzinger is not my favorite Pope by a long stretch. And of course his underlings like Cardinal Bertone much less.
Happy Esater to all your readers, MAT!.

Anonymous said...

What would Jesus do with Raul?

Manuel A.Tellechea said...

anonymous:

Jesus would have little to do with Raúl. The Devil a great deal.

Vana said...

Not a word for today's Christian's, to mourn and speak out for dead ones is easy indeed!