Translated from Dainik Jagaran of today.
Worry of the Catholic Church
By Renu Rajvanshi Gupta
The 80-year-old Pope Benedict was last week on a state visit to the US. The visit created many records. He became the first head of state to have been received personally by the US president George Bush, his wife and daughter at the air force base. He is only the third Pope to address the UN. Pope Benedict has followed Pope John Paul to occupy the Vatican throne. For him, it is a challenge as well as a necessity to establish his reputation and correct image in the world.
American Catholics are at the number three position in the Vaticanâs universe. About 24 percent of the American population follows Catholicism and is a powerful force that affects the currents of the countryâs politics. The Catholic churches of America hold a special significance for the Church.
According to Vatican statistics, the Catholics for the first time in history no longer constitute the largest religious sect of the world. Its position has been usurped by Islam. About 19.2 percent of the worldâs population is Muslim while the Catholics now comprise only 17.4 percent. It is a different matter though that Christianity with all its sects combined still remains the largest religion in the world.
Today, the American Catholics are standing on the crossroads. On one side is their religious belief and on the other side is its abandonment. About one-third of people with a Catholic background in America no longer believes in Catholicism or goes to the church. These days there is a steady stream of messages on the American radio or on bill boards that constantly invite âCatholics brothers and sistersâ back to their churches. In India in contrast, no temple has ever ran advertisement campaigns to attract devotees to its fold.
In the last two decades, many bad incidents have tarnished the image of the Catholic Church. One of these is the involvement of its priests in sex scandals. About six churches have gone bankrupt fighting law suits related to these. The Catholic church has till now spent about 2 billion dollars to reach a settlement in different cases. This has really hit hard the image of the Catholic sect in America. A proof of this is the constant decline in the number of churches as well as closure of several of them. Apart from this, the issue of abortions, changing values of the society and fundamentalism of the church are shaking the foundations of Catholicism in America.
The church is clearly going through an era of change. In this context, the Popeâs American visit will be very important in establishing new benchmarks as well as a ground for the future for the entire sect. The Pope during his American visit has given particular stress on two points. First, he expressed his sadness again and again on the sex scandals plaguing the church. He apologized for these and met the victims of sexual abuse. The repeated apologies of Pope for the scandals indicate that he really is worried about the falling reputation of the church.
The other issue on which the Pope stressed was regarding the entry of Latin Americans into America. He has special sympathy for these people and he raised this issue with President Bush. According to the Pope, all the Latinos living illegally in the US should be given a legal status. In America, out of the total Catholic population of 65 million, the Latinos account for about 18 million. If the latter are able to get legal citizenship in America, it will go a long way in strengthening the Catholic faith in the country. This demand of Pope has been labeled by some critics as a religion-led popularity campaign.
During his American visit, the Pope went to a mosque, synagogue, Ground Zero and an all-religion temple. He met Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim leaders. But he did not invite Dalai Lama to the Vatican. He talked about human rights, but avoided mentioning Afghanistan and Iraq. The status of women in the Catholic church is another issue that raises doubts about the churchâs talk of human rights.
This year on Easter, the Pope baptized a very powerful Muslim individual Magadi Alam, who was born in Egypt and brought up in Italy. The baptism was done in front of the whole world at the Easter Mass. The Pope in his Easter message appealed for world peace and also praised conversions to Catholicism. Due to this act of Pope, there was unrest and anger among the worldâs Muslims. Maybe the Pope does not know that one of the biggest threats to world peace is the competition for conversions among varoius religions.
Worry of the Catholic Church
By Renu Rajvanshi Gupta
The 80-year-old Pope Benedict was last week on a state visit to the US. The visit created many records. He became the first head of state to have been received personally by the US president George Bush, his wife and daughter at the air force base. He is only the third Pope to address the UN. Pope Benedict has followed Pope John Paul to occupy the Vatican throne. For him, it is a challenge as well as a necessity to establish his reputation and correct image in the world.
American Catholics are at the number three position in the Vaticanâs universe. About 24 percent of the American population follows Catholicism and is a powerful force that affects the currents of the countryâs politics. The Catholic churches of America hold a special significance for the Church.
According to Vatican statistics, the Catholics for the first time in history no longer constitute the largest religious sect of the world. Its position has been usurped by Islam. About 19.2 percent of the worldâs population is Muslim while the Catholics now comprise only 17.4 percent. It is a different matter though that Christianity with all its sects combined still remains the largest religion in the world.
Today, the American Catholics are standing on the crossroads. On one side is their religious belief and on the other side is its abandonment. About one-third of people with a Catholic background in America no longer believes in Catholicism or goes to the church. These days there is a steady stream of messages on the American radio or on bill boards that constantly invite âCatholics brothers and sistersâ back to their churches. In India in contrast, no temple has ever ran advertisement campaigns to attract devotees to its fold.
In the last two decades, many bad incidents have tarnished the image of the Catholic Church. One of these is the involvement of its priests in sex scandals. About six churches have gone bankrupt fighting law suits related to these. The Catholic church has till now spent about 2 billion dollars to reach a settlement in different cases. This has really hit hard the image of the Catholic sect in America. A proof of this is the constant decline in the number of churches as well as closure of several of them. Apart from this, the issue of abortions, changing values of the society and fundamentalism of the church are shaking the foundations of Catholicism in America.
The church is clearly going through an era of change. In this context, the Popeâs American visit will be very important in establishing new benchmarks as well as a ground for the future for the entire sect. The Pope during his American visit has given particular stress on two points. First, he expressed his sadness again and again on the sex scandals plaguing the church. He apologized for these and met the victims of sexual abuse. The repeated apologies of Pope for the scandals indicate that he really is worried about the falling reputation of the church.
The other issue on which the Pope stressed was regarding the entry of Latin Americans into America. He has special sympathy for these people and he raised this issue with President Bush. According to the Pope, all the Latinos living illegally in the US should be given a legal status. In America, out of the total Catholic population of 65 million, the Latinos account for about 18 million. If the latter are able to get legal citizenship in America, it will go a long way in strengthening the Catholic faith in the country. This demand of Pope has been labeled by some critics as a religion-led popularity campaign.
During his American visit, the Pope went to a mosque, synagogue, Ground Zero and an all-religion temple. He met Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim leaders. But he did not invite Dalai Lama to the Vatican. He talked about human rights, but avoided mentioning Afghanistan and Iraq. The status of women in the Catholic church is another issue that raises doubts about the churchâs talk of human rights.
This year on Easter, the Pope baptized a very powerful Muslim individual Magadi Alam, who was born in Egypt and brought up in Italy. The baptism was done in front of the whole world at the Easter Mass. The Pope in his Easter message appealed for world peace and also praised conversions to Catholicism. Due to this act of Pope, there was unrest and anger among the worldâs Muslims. Maybe the Pope does not know that one of the biggest threats to world peace is the competition for conversions among varoius religions.