Tag: catholic

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Enrollment and The Hail Mary Pass

A Vanderbilt University study concluded colleges that had recently closed had enrollments of fewer than one thousand students and endowments of under $50 million. Many were religious institutions such as Bethany University in California. First year student enrollment drastically dropped – by 10% or more –  at more than a quarter of U.S. private four-year colleges over the past two years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Higher education experts foresee a death spiral for small private schools due to an overreliance on tuition revenue and a scarcity of large endowments.

JFGVHoughton College has been affected by low enrollment over the past several years. Last year, Houghton missed their enrollment target and the administration enacted austerity measures such as staff layoffs, closing of floors in dorms, and cutbacks to underperforming academic and sports programs. Houghton has survived more than a century of wars, depressions, and social changes. The problems faced today are found within rapidly changing local and national demographics. As Western New York loses 1% of its population every two years and families move south, the possibility of a vibrant local enrollment diminishes. In addition, our winters make Houghton a tough sell to out-of-state students.

The national numbers are even more implacable. As high school graduating class size declines, those who graduate are deciding in larger numbers not to attend college. Private liberal arts schools continue to be dominated by white, female students. At open access colleges, which accept at least 80% of applicants, enrollment for African-Americans and Hispanics doubled in the past decade.

Religion in America is also changing, according to Pew Research. In 1955, our country was composed of 70% mainline Protestant faiths. Today, Protestants account for 50%. Catholics and non-denominational Christians are now up to 36%.  Houghton College and Dean Michael Jordan have been very accepting of all Christian faiths, but Houghton should include our Christian diversity more when promoting the school.

The dawn of online education also hurts enrollment. According to a Babson College survey, 32% of students nationally had enrolled in an online course. To add fuel to the fire, many liberal arts schools have simply priced themselves out of the market. Tuition costs have risen beyond the inflation rate and the ability to find a job to pay off debt has severely diminished due to a poor job environment.

Every problem has solutions and Houghton has responded with many positive initiatives to assist in this year’s enrollment, which is up 10%, or about thirty students, from last year’s numbers.  The increase can be attributed to an agreement with Indiana Wesleyan to launch Houghton education online, a newly opened associate’s degree program in Buffalo, the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, and an increased effort to attract foreign students in Hong Kong. These endeavors have moved the football down the field a few yards, but more students can be added at a low cost. Houghton would score a touchdown by using its best asset.

Through a generous gift by the Kerr-Pegula family, we have trumped nearly every college in the Northeast with our athletic facilities. Houghton has also spent a lot of money to complete the project. There has been a growing population of students who play sports at Houghton. According to Skip Lord, Houghton’s Athletic Director, 25% of students participate in athletics, with a goal of a 33%. The ratio is excellent, but consider elite academic schools such as Haverford College and Williams College with nearly 40% of their students playing varsity sports. Athletics attract students to come to campus, stay on campus, take up residence, and buy Houghton sports themed apparel. Our teams recruit players at camps and give Houghton visibility. Houghton athletes establish recruiting pipelines from their former high schools. Coaches have a distinct advantage of selling the college over an admissions officer as athletes and their parents are easily swayed by the opportunity to play at the next level.

Recently, the addition of several new sports has helped enrollment. Of those additions, baseball has been the biggest success adding more than 30 students. Coach Brian Reitnour has recruited students from Colorado, Washington, New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Canada and British Guyana. We could add more students by relaunching low-cost, official JV teams. Sports like soccer and baseball are ripe for JV programs and could add 50 students. Houghton is well known for its equestrian studies and runs one of best equestrian summer camps. Could not Houghton mirror the program and competition schedule of Centenary College of New Jersey, which packs ninety students on the equestrian team?

However, the enrollment touchdown pass for a small college is to add a football team with a promise of over one hundred new, paying students. Since 2009, over 40 new college football programs have been added. Many programs have helped small private schools such as Hendrix College reverse the enrollment death spiral. Seton Hill also found enrollment in football. The school’s president noted to The New York Times, “I could have started a spiffy new major of study, spent a lot of money on lab equipment and hired a few new high-powered professors; I might have gotten 25 more students for that. Instead, I started a football team, brought in hundreds of paying students, added a vibrant piece to our campus life and broadened our recognition factor.” College football is a game changer for small schools. Besides just boosting enrollment it can eliminate low male ratios and attract new Christian minorities and ethnic, Catholic students that might not consider Houghton. Football can also add a 25 person cheerleader squad and a 60 student marching band to our vibrant music community.

In sum, Houghton doesn’t have to be a small school casualty. We must acknowledge that demographic shifts and technological changes are moving rapidly and are beyond our control. With our athletic facilities, Houghton College has distinct advantage to reverse a national trend. How we react and adapt to those trends will be how our future is determined.

 

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Opinions

L.I.F.E. Club Panel Disappoints

I was horrified when I first received the L.I.F.E. club email stating in big bold letters “Abortion: A Modern Day Holocaust?” that was accompanied by the feet of what appeared to be an infant.  I was horrified not because of my views on abortion, but because of the way the e-mail presented the event. The email claimed to be a panel “discussion” yet the way information was presented did not suggest any “discussion” would occur.  Instead the email suggested that one viewpoint would automatically dominate the event. In addition to my horror, we must realize that even in this small community; there are most likely people who have experienced the effects of abortion to one degree or another. Therefore I do not feel that we should abruptly equate our fellow sisters and brothers to Nazis. Regardless of the impressions I received from the email, I decided to attend, hoping that researched opinions and detailed thought would be respectfully presented.

allysonSadly my hope was, for the most part, in vain–the panel quickly veered in one direction and rarely slowed down to think about other avenues of opinion.  However, though the conversation repeatedly traveled in one direction, I as well as fellow students, were very thankful to have Dean Jordan present. He continually inserted thought-provoking responses that were honest; reminding the students that there are not easily deduced answers when it comes to society’s issue of abortion. However, this was not as true of the other two speakers.

The male guest speaker was a Bible-thumper, who continually repeated kitschy catchy phrases such as, “We have the World View, and then we have the Word View” or “God is Scripture and Scripture is God.” I assure you, Scripture is not cut and dry. Issues dealing with morality are rarely-if ever- black and white. Yes John 1 does say, “In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” but the Bible speaks in metaphor. As one student at the panel pointed out, there are thousands of denominations within the Protestant Church alone: clearly believers do not commonly agree on many issues regarding the hermeneutics of scripture. In relation to this, Dean Jordan again pointed us to the important realization that the Bible never addresses abortion, but instead discusses the value of life as a theme prevalent within the Bible. We should approach abortion as intellectuals who can support opinions within secular communities, not just as believers who speak up in our small, faith-based town.

The female guest speaker reverted to a repeated tactic of statistical references throughout the discussion, and at one point admitted to looking up facts online recently to ensure she would have information to bring to the panel.  Statistics work for initial effect, but we have heard them before and we will hear them again. When bombarded with statistics, one does not often come away with new thoughts to dwell on, but rather one comes away with a jumble of disorienting facts that are hard to process. Also this guest speaker was a Catholic and I, like other students, expected the discussion to at least briefly deal with the differences between Catholic and Protestant viewpoints on contraception, but this was never formally addressed. Instead, references were made to the differing thoughts, but time was not devoted to discussing this rift within the Church.

Lastly, the discussion was not clearly focused from the beginning. I expected the first question to be a starting point that dealt with the definition of when life truly starts. This question was only addressed at the end, when a student asked for individualized definitions from each panelist.

Overall I was disappointed. The issue of abortion is regarded as a very heated discussion both inside the church and within the secular world. Students should experience a discussion that holds differing opinions respectfully presented in a way that stimulates an individual’s thought instead of staunching it. Students who are not encouraged to carefully think about issues will not be ready to confidently present his/her own thoughts when given the chance later in life.

Next time the L.I.F.E Club creates a panel discussion, I suggest they bring in a pro-choice opinion–there are academics in our community who hold this view. I also propose they find more readily equipped panelists to argue each side.  This campus also holds people who have devoted time and energy into Pro-Life viewpoints through continual research from both a Christian perspective and a secular perspective.  Once again, I was extremely glad that Dean Jordan had a voice in this discussion, but I wish the panel had been better prepared and more diverse.

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Opinions Two Views

Two Views: Pope Francis and Capitalism

A fear of all things red prevalent in our Western cultural mindset only continues to expound itself in our cultural practices, even as memories of the Cold War fade from the minds of our youngest generations. Popular entertainment pits our favourite Hollywood heroes and videogame characters against stock Russian supervillains. Historical figures from Marx himself to revolutionary Che Guevara are labelled and discarded by religious, educational, and state institutions. Even the most recent twitter trend #SochiProblems can be traced back to massive generalizations about countries that are politically unlike us in favour of an educated knowledge of their governmental systems and Christ-like interest in the wellbeing of their citizens.

alexThis inherent bias lashes out against anything our ‘red detectors’ might suspect, including (what should be considered) apolitical statements by Pope Francis about the inequalities present in many Western economic systems. In an apostolic exhortation entitled Evangelii Gaudium (“The Joy of the Gospel,” for those of us who don’t speak Latin), Pope Francis outlines in five chapters what he believes the evangelical goals of the Catholic Church ought to be.

While my quick scan with the search bar dragged up the word ‘capitalism’ zero times in Evangelii Gaudium, it is evident that parts of the second chapter of the apostolic exhortation released in November of 2013 point directly at some of the glaring inequalities of free market systems. The Pope denounces “trickle down theories” that leave the poor sidelined, and claims that “a rejection of ethics and a rejection of God” are the primary causes of growing economic inequalities. The “new idolatry of money” finds us scrambling to consume and leaving those who can’t keep up behind us.

Read: Communism? “pure Marxism,” to quote Rush Limbaugh? Pope Francis is clearly not an economic theorist (nor does he claim to be), and the Evangelii Gaudium is not a political statement. It’s boldly Christian.

“I exhort you to generous solidarity and to the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings.” Let’s be honest. We live in a culture of overwhelming affluence and comfort. We also live in a culture in which we find homeless beggars on the street to be commonplace, and we are willing to literally kill each other over good sales (American Black Friday death tolls since 2006 amount to seven deaths and up to ninety injuries). Is it possible that our anti-Communist cultural bias has become an excuse to avoid charitable practices?

Those who denounce Pope Francis as a Communist or as simply too liberal for the Holy See are missing the point. Pope Francis’ statements centre on a Christian theological core: the desire for Catholics (and for all Christians, at that) to express love and concern for our neighbours. There’s nothing political, let alone Communist, about sharing wealth with the needy. This financial practice is one that was endorsed both by Jesus himself  (Matthew 19:16-30) and practiced by the early believers (Acts 4:32-35).

Questions about the influence of liberation theology on the Argentinian pope have been raised, but especially for those of us outside of the realm of Catholicism it is difficult to judge the theological beliefs of another. Fair concerns about Pope Francis’ writings being viewed as sweepingly general (and primarily negative) towards wealthy people have also been voiced. It may well be that not all of us will agree with all of the Pope’s exhortations. Yet, as Christians, I think the message at the heart of Evangelii Gaudium’s second chapter is one that deserves our interest.

 

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Opinions

Trivializing the Sacrifice

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

The above passage is taken from St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 27-29. To give a brief summary of this passage, St. Paul is writing to the Corinthians reprimanding them for things they’re doing wrong, one of which is communion.

andreI have attended a wide range of churches throughout the course of my life. This is not to say that I understand each and every one of their doctrines, but simply to say that I have had decent amount of exposure. I attended a Catholic school for a little over a decade; simultaneously I attended an Assemblies of God church, followed by a nondenominational church. Interspersed in all this was a Baptist church and getting into the Vineyard movement. For a few years I also joined a Mennonite congregation and now I finally—for the time being—settle in the Wesleyan Church. One thing that is constant in all these churches is the practice of communion, also known as Holy Communion, the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, the breaking of bread and the divine service, all referring to the eating of the bread and drinking of the wine in remembrance of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for our salvation.

I have always been fascinated by how different churches conduct communion. Regardless of the church you attend, this practice is pretty much guaranteed to take place within the walls of a Christian institution. And of course as with any Christian practice, it varies from church to church. Some uphold the doctrine of transubstantiation whereby the bread and wine literally transform into the flesh and blood of Christ while others uphold the doctrine of Consubstantiation whereby the blood and body of Christ are present alongside the bread and wine which remain present—think of red hot iron, where fire is joined with iron yet both retain their distinct elements—and lastly (for the purpose of this editorial) we have the memorialists who take on a more simplistic approach and that is that the bread and wine symbolize and remind us of the sacrifice Christ made on our behalf.

Not only do churches hold differing opinions on what exactly happens to the elements during communion, they also differ in how and to whom it is administered. Some churches I have attended reserved communion exclusively for members of their particular denomination, other churches request that only those that have been baptized by immersion partake in the Lord’s supper, and others allow everyone who sets foot in their church to partake, regardless of their affiliation, commitment, age, etc.

I would like to clarify that I by no means see myself as anything other than a layman. I have not studied the original text, nor have I had any training in biblical interpretation other than the basic introductory classes required by Houghton College. So I will not attempt to pick apart these doctrines. What I will say is that regardless of your stance, there is one common denominator amongst all these views: communion is a mystery. Whether you believe that there is a physical transformation occurring, a metaphysical change, or just plain remembering the death and resurrection, there is a component that cannot be explained in human terms and therefore we deem it to be sacred.

What St. Paul is reprimanding the Corinthians for is not a faulty belief regarding the practice of communion. He is getting after them for trivializing the practice.  If I am honest with myself, I have to confess that I have never put much thought into what I was doing when communion was served. For kids it is nothing more than a mid-service snack, and unfortunately for many adults it isn’t much more either.

A few weeks ago during a Sunday morning service communion was served. I had not been feeling particularly well; I was not where I needed to be in my relationship with God and various people in my life. I knew there was a lot of sin in my life that had not been dealt with. As the pastor invited people to come receive the elements I noticed an array of people go up. The passage that I opened with struck me. If I were to get up and take these elements without examining myself I would be eating and drinking a judgment on myself because I would be trivializing what they represent.

Leaving aside the details of the various doctrines, we take communion for the purpose of commemorating the most sacred act, the death and resurrection of Christ. To go through these motions of eating the bread and drinking the wine without fully understanding their meaning is to in essence mock the sacrifice Christ made by trivializing this sacred act.

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Stories In Focus

Catholic Students at Houghton

Though Houghton College professes Christian Wesleyan religious affiliation, many students enrolled at the school inevitably differ in denomination, tradition, or religion in general. Such differences serve to produce a conversation between contrasting beliefs and a resulting respect for others regardless of his or her religious tradition.

One such presence, differing from the Wesleyan denomination, is students affiliated with Roman Catholicism. Approximately 30 students currently enrolled at Houghton College this fall identified themselves as part of the Catholic religious tradition.

Kayleigh Gurney, Houghton freshman and Catholic, explained some of her experience as a Catholic student in a Protestant institution. Sometimes people will “talk about Roman Catholics as some completely outrageous religion,” she said, but for the most part people at Houghton prove understanding and accepting.

Courtesy of stpatsbelfastfillmore.org
Courtesy of stpatsbelfastfillmore.org

College often serves a time for exploration in a student’s beliefs or practices, an idea that may contribute to the accepting nature of the campus. Andrew Gibson, senior, though raised Catholic, takes the opportunity to attend a Protestant church while at Houghton. “Most of the backgrounds and views are the same,” he said, “so it’s a fairly easy transition to be Catholic at a Protestant school.”

Though students like Gibson participate in a different religious tradition, others continue to pursue the tradition they know. A family from Buffalo recognized the need for a ministry to provide a link between Catholic students at the college and a Catholic church. Consequentially, the family requested that Saint Patrick’s Catholic Parish in Fillmore initiate such a ministry.

Officially beginning in 2007 and initially aimed at engaging students affiliated with the Catholic tradition, the ministry surprisingly brought in equal numbers of Catholic and non-Catholic Houghton students from the start. The result, according to the ministry’s website, was a “dynamic, organic, and personal Campus Ministry,” in which Catholic students desiring a connection with a parish community and non-Catholic students interested in exploring the Catholic tradition might come together with a “mutual respect for each other” and their differing religious traditions.

Debra Fitzgerald, current campus minister to Catholic students at Houghton College along with her husband, Dan, first encountered the ministry through her children attending Houghton. When the previous campus minister left the position, Fitzgerald had been actively involved and the former minister subsequently recommended her to take over.

Through her experience in the ministry, Fitzgerald emphasized the importance of the church’s availability to college students interested or involved in the Catholic tradition. “We try to incorporate the students into the life of the parish,” she said, “so that they feel like they have a church home while they’re away at school.”

While the main focus of the ministry lies in providing transportation between Houghton and the Fillmore Parish every Sunday for Mass, on Holy Days, and on Saturdays for Confession, the ministry also provides access to other related events.

Consistently focusing first on the needs of the students, Fitzgerald proves attentive to their busy schedules and academic concerns. “We’re fulfilling the needs that the students have without piling things onto them,” she said.

As a result of such a focus, events such as Donut Hour on Sundays after Mass, a time when students eat donuts and drink coffee provided by the church while socializing with each other as well as local parish members, often promote a low-obligation atmosphere, while intentionally building relationships between the church and the students.

Fitzgerald encourages both Catholic and non-Catholic students to take advantage of the ministry, to produce even more conversations and relationships between different religious traditions. She believes there is more opportunity and understanding now than before, especially between Catholics and Protestants.

“Houghton has a very good atmosphere in terms of social morality and seriousness of study, as well as respect for the whole Christian tradition,” said Fitzgerald.

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Opinions

Pros and Cons of Cultural Identity: Part 1 of 3

Cultural diversity is a concept that it is valued by most progressives, and even the non-progressive and monocultural, though they may not value others’ cultural identities, would die before they allowed someone to strip them of their heritage. But is praising cultural diversity a healthy practice? Though I would like to think so, I wonder if it really is beneficial, especially if we wish to decrease the high levels of violence and hate in our societies.

Courtesy of sempresicilia.wordpress.com
Courtesy of sempresicilia.wordpress.com

I was born in Southern California, but set foot on three different continents before my first birthday. I have lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, France, and Texas. I have traveled to approximately 15 different countries. I am the descendant of a survivor of one of the worst and most neglected genocides in history—that of the Armenians. Needless to say, when it comes to cultural diversity, I lack no experience. Yet through all this, I have not come out with a particularly passionate view of the plethora of cultures that inhabit our world, rather I have come to view them as a significant source of violence and hatred. Could it be that mankind would be more productive and peaceful were it not for all this diversity?

Fukuyama, a political and economic scientist, wrote a book titled The End of History in which he discusses the development of liberal democracy as being the “end point of mankind’s ideological evolution.” However, Fukuyama limits his idea to state ideology and claims that the shift into liberal democracy will only eliminate conflict between “post-historical” states. Could we then extend this concept to include secular globalism? After all, religion and cultural identities (which are really synonymous in the majority of the world) appear to supersede, in most cases, that of national identity.

Fukuyama bases his theory on observable historical trends. He is deeply influenced by Hegelian thought, stating, “Hegel was the first philosopher to speak the language of modern social science, insofar as man for him was the product of his concrete historical and social environment.” Much like Hegel, Fukuyama sees historical trends suggesting a progression in humankind, not necessarily towards a utopian-style society as perhaps Marx would, but rather, “a moment in which a final, rational form of society and state became victorious.” This is to say that despite there still being violent acts perpetrated by individuals, there will be no more large-scale cultural or ideological inspired acts of violence.

Similar to both of these thinkers, I would like to take a look at the historical development of cultures from around the world. The Armenians and the Turks are an obvious choice for me, given my heritage. My ancestors were slaughtered in the early 20th century, and to this day many Turks still deny that this genocide ever happened. Violence against the Armenians still residing in Turkey continues today, not to any genocidal proportions, but the hatred remains deeply rooted in the culture. The simple explanation is the same one that explains the never ending slaughters in the Balkans, and the incessant retributive attacks between the Palestinians and the Israelis–it is due to cultural and religious diversity.

On an individual level, a Catholic and a Muslim, for example, can have a peaceful and loving relationship. But, on a larger scale, if we wish to maintain our separate cultural identities, it seems unlikely that we can live in divided communities without developing hatred and violence. For thousands of years the Croats, Serbs, and Bosniaks have been slaughtering each other, for thousands of years the Jews and Arabs have despised each other, and for thousands of years the Turks and the Armenians have been at each other’s throats.

Where peace has begun to develop is within secularized, postmodern, Western societies. Could it be that as secularization settles in, as cultural identities are abandoned, and as we enter into not only a liberal democratic world but a secular and globalized world, that we will see peace, innovation and prosperity? It is in this environment that humankind seems to thrive together.

While I cringe at the thought of abandoning cultural diversity, as I do see beauty that has come out of various cultures, I would like to see peace develop in this world on a large scale. It seems as though the societies in which mass cultural violence has been near eradicated are secular and globalized societies, where cultural heritage is but a vague memory and faith is personal and disconnected from society as a whole. Is there any way we can practically achieve worldwide peace while maintaining cultural diversity?

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Future of Catholicism After Benedict XVI and John Paul II

Courtesy of npr.org
Courtesy of npr.org

In a country where Protestant Christianity stands as the dominant religion and Roman Catholicism often seems to be at a disjoint with the operations of Rome, it can be easy to underestimate the significance of this past week’s events. On Ash Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI said his last mass as the Church’s leader, and became the first Pope to resign in nearly 600 years, the last being Pope Gregory the XII in 1415. I admit that I myself (even as a Roman Catholic) didn’t fully realize the importance of this event until after thinking about it more closely. However, I believe that the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI creates an interesting situation for the future of the Catholic Church, in which the Church will either continue on its liberalizing path, or attempt to recover some of its lost traditionalism.

This is an interesting time in Catholic history. It is not hard to forget that just over 50 years ago the Catholic Church went through radical liturgical and theological changes that defined Roman Catholicism as we so know it today. These changes took place at the Second Vatican Council, the Church’s 21st ecumenical council. Among the most visible changes that the council made was a shift from a universal Latin liturgy to a liturgy that may be spoken in the vernacular of the particular congregation.

The change from a universal Latin Mass seems like a commonsensical move, I mean, doesn’t it make sense to hear a church service in your own language? But to Roman Catholics, this was a huge change, and it is difficult from our present-day perspective to appreciate just how radical it was. The Latin Mass has traditional roots that stretch back as early as the year 250 A.D and since the 16th Century it had been the official language of Catholic services worldwide. For Catholic theologians this was an important aspect of the Church’s practice, as it fostered unity not only with congregations worldwide, but also with the congregations across the historical spectrum. Unity of the believing body of Christ is among the irreducible goods for the Catholic, and the Latin Mass was among the most important tools for transcending cultural boundaries that may inhibit such unity.

However, Vatican II changed the liturgical framework, along with other things, in order to

Courtesy of images.huffingtonpost.com
Courtesy of images.huffingtonpost.com

better accommodate the Catholic Church to the modern world. But many believed that these decisions were compromising the Church’s distinctiveness and encouraging a liberally minded acceptance of wavering ideologies. At what point ought the Church attempt to accommodate for the increasingly pluralistic and scientific age, and when should the Church make the world accommodate to itself? This is a theologically difficult question, and to some, the Second Vatican Council made it loud and clear that the Catholic Church was ready to transgress its traditionally substantiated practices in order to meet the needs of the modern worldview.

But what does any of this have to do with the recent Pope’s resignation? Well, though Pope Benedict XVI has been labeled as a conservative, many forget that he, then known as Joseph Ratzinger, was one of the young theologians pushing for the Vatican II changes. Appearing at each of the Vatican II meetings in a business suit, young Ratzinger, along with Karol Wojtyla, (who would become Pope John Paul II) defended the belief that the Church needed serious changes if it were to remain effective in the changing world. Thus, Benedict XVI stands as one of the last active original members of the Second Vatican Council, and among the last of the original advocates of its general trajectory.

Therefore, the last two popes each had a personal investment in the post-Vatican II Catholic mission: which, generally put, is to seek ways in which the Church can change in order to improve its influence upon the world. Many traditionalists believe that this is almost entirely opposite to the Catholic Church’s mission, which they deem to be maintaining a historical and theological bridge between believers today and the apostle Peter, claimed to be the first pope of the Catholic Church. So, with Benedict XVI leaving his position as the leader of 1.2 billion believers, in what direction will the next pope lead the Church? Traditionalists may claim that now that a main advocate of Vatican II has exited the papacy, it is now time for a pope to attempt to re-emphaisize the Church’s traditional distinctiveness, as opposed to liberalism. Yet, others believe that the next pope may continue Vatican II’s liberalizing trajectory, perhaps enacting changes such as the ordination of women to the priesthood and a progression of LGBT rights. The papacy, leaving behind one of the original advocates of Vatican II, is at a crossroads. The cardinals hope to have elected a pope by Easter, which puts a deadline on the Catholic Church’s decision-making. Regardless of the direction in which this largest body of Christian believers goes, the Catholic Church’s next steps will have immense ramifications for the ongoing dialogue between the secular world and the Christian tradition.

 

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News

Pope’s Resignation Ends 600 Year Precedent

Courtesy of http://hereandnow.wbur.org/
Courtesy of http://hereandnow.wbur.org/

In an unexpected move, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign in almost 600 years when he announced Monday he would step down from his position, citing deteriorating “strength of mind and body.”
“Before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” Benedict said in his speech Monday, delivered to a private church body in Vatican City.

“In today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith…both strength of mind and body are necessary… which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me…Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome,” he said.

Spiritual leader to the world’s population of over 1 billion Catholics, his quiet announcement Monday prompted immediate and widespread response across the globe. Monday morning saw news agencies as diverse as Aljazeera English to the Washington Post being quickly swamped with coverage of the unexpected announcement. Social media played its part as well, as The New York Times reported, with #pontifexit quickly trending on Twitter only minutes after the statement from the Vatican.

Yet the 85-year old pontiff, unlike the last of his predecessors to step down from the position, resigned in ‘plena libertate,’ translated from the Latin, in which he made his announcement, as being in “full freedom.” The health decline he had experienced in the last months had seen him taken to the altar of Saint Peter’s during Christmas Eve Midnight Mass on a wheeled platform, and his advancing years seem to have taken their toll. During the same mass, the tiredness that appeared to have crept in during the last months also manifested itself as he appeared to doze off during the proceedings; he appears to have done so at points throughout other masses as well.

Shocked though the rest of the world was at the news of the resignation, the pope’s brother, Georg Ratzinger, told German news organization DPA that he had known of the pope’s plan to resign for many months preceding, and that “age was taking its toll” on the pope.

According to the Washington Post, Ratzinger also noted his brother’s gradual decline: “He has gotten tired faster and faster, and walking has become hard for him” but still, Ratzinger also said his brother had done “the best he possibly could have done” in the position. The final decision had been made by Benedict XVI soon after a taxing trip to Mexico and Cuba in early 2012, according to the editor of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, Giovanni Maria Vian.

Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in 1927, in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany, the pope led a varied early life, growing up in a tumultuous Germany and at the age of 14 was reluctantly conscripted into Hitler’s Youth. He saw the tragic circumstances of WWII played out, and entered seminary afterward. In 1951, he was ordained as a Catholic priest, and from there built a formidable reputation as one of the staunchly conservative theologians of the Catholic Church.

He met his friend, the future John Paul II, Karol Wojtyla, during the 1978 conclave of cardinals to elect Paul VI’s successor. Nearly thirty years later, on April 19, 2005, Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI by the conclave of cardinals electing the pope following the passing of John Paul II.

As he departs, Pope Benedict XVI leaves a mixed legacy—one that will perhaps be better known for the challenges faced by the conservative pope in a world in which faith has served an increasingly different role than the one it has in the past. During his eight years as pontiff, he has resisted and rejected the issues of ordination of female priests, homosexuality, embryonic stem cell research, and has dealt much with the ongoing problems of rampant child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

The pope will retire after February 28 to “a life dedicated to prayer,” and the next pope may well be in place by Easter, March 31.