Amid all of my Vatican watching, this graf from a piece in today's Washington Post grabbed my attention. It's about which cardinal will succeed John Paul II.
Any European candidate will probably need to demonstrate his deep concern and respect for the Third World now that about half of the voting cardinals come from outside Europe. One sure bet: The new pope won't be from the United States, which is considered both too powerful and too suspiciously modern to produce a leader who can pass muster.
The new pope won't be from the United States, which is considered both too powerful and too suspiciously modern to produce a leader who can pass muster.
Are you kidding me? I mean, come on. The powerful part I get. If anything, today's United States are becoming more like Ozzie and Harriet than the Osbournes. President Bush's Code Phrase O' the Day is "the culture of life." The U.S. Chief Executive spends his time sending smoke signals to the religious conservatives of this country. Still think they're a vocal minority? Consider the scrubbing of the nation's airwaves in the wake of Janet Jackson's Mardi Gras moment. If this nation's Catholics are too suspiciously modern, then why didn't they vote for Cheese Eating Surrender Monkey Kerry? They voted for Bush because he's a "man of his convictions," just like John Paul II.
I just want to set the record straight on that. Livin' in the free lovin' sixties we ain't.