Ian blew chunks all over the living floor this afternoon, so a brief post before I go check on him as he sleeps feverishly on our bed. It's very dangerous to have a kid with a stomach virus in your bed, so he'll have to be moved soon.
Tonight I'm thinking about the Pope. Growing up in a very traditional, Catholic family, the pope was always in the background. My mom is an Italian Catholic. Italian Catholics take their saints and their icons very seriously. The holy pontiff smiles beneficently over their bed, next to a cross and a picture of a hooded saint (his name escapes me at the moment). Dad is an intellectual Catholic and read Pope John Paul II's theological treatises eagerly. The pope was always around, but received little thought from me, shallow creature that I am.
Today I'm thinking about him. I've been surfing around to get commentary. For the blogger that wrote that the Pope is responsible for the spread of AIDs in Africa, I give a bemused smile. Please. The Islamic countries in Africa have a far harsher line on birth control and sex than the Catholics, and their AIDS rate is zero. Others have pointed to crisis in the Catholic church that occurred during his tenure. Some have pointed to his strong position on the errors of communism. I don't think that anyone has written about his harsh criticism of unregulated capitalism, so there now I said it. He also made a historic apology to the Jews for the lack of action by the Catholic church during the holocaust.
What I am most interested in tonight is numbers. There are 1 billion Catholics worldwide. 1 billion. The population of China, which by the way has 12 million Catholics. Unlike other major religions, the Catholic church is hierarchically organized with one guy at the helm. Unlike nation-states, these Catholics are distributed across the globe, not bound by geographic location.
That's a lot of potential power held in check. Yes, give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, but what if he didn't? What if he weighed in on issues more serious than prophylactics? He could sway national elections. There are some signs that the American bishop are becoming more politically confrontational, but what if efforts were orchestrated and financed by Rome?
I think one of the testaments to the recent line of popes is that they haven't used their 1 billion worshippers to interfere with the ways of nation states. They have played a backseat to the leaders of the nations of the world. Yes, there have been criticism and quiet rebukes, but nothing major. Political restraint should be remembered as one of the best qualities of the John Paul II. Who knows what the next pope will do.