News Flash:
“Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI scheduled to hold press conference to denounce
current Pope’s most recent encyclical, saying, ‘I heard the voice of God tell
me, in no uncertain terms, that I must voice my opposition.’”
Wow! Suppose Benedict was to
do such a thing, while claiming he was acting upon the very spoken command of
the Lord. How would the sitting Pope take that? Would he say, “Oh, yeah? Well,
the Lord in His own voice told me otherwise.” More importantly, how would the
world’s Catholics respond? That future response should wait until a response is
forthcoming to this from the present:
QUOTE:
In
an emotional goodbye to 100,000 supporters, the Pope revealed that he is
stepping aside because God told him to.
…
Benedict XVI [said] that he was resigning because God had called on him to
devote himself to prayer. He said God had told him 'to climb the mountain'.
:UNQUOTE: Source: see NOTE 1.
The Voice vs. the Lord’s Will
The response I’m looking for
is in the form of answers to some questions: “Pray tell, Benedict, what was the voice of the
Lord like? Was it high or low? Tenor or baritone? Male, female, androgynous?" I’ve
heard stories of people claiming to have heard the voice of the Lord, but I’ve
never heard anyone actually describe it.
I suspect this Pope Emeritus
did not hear the actual voice of the Lord or he would have described this
voice. Or even if we should grant that he felt disinclined to describe, much
can be made of the media not even bothering to ask this question: “What did
this voice sound like?”
What most likely happened is
that Benedict prayed, or perhaps more accurately “meditated,” on whether or not
to resign. The resulting sense of what he should do ended up simply being
referred to as “God had called on him to devote himself to prayer.” Apparently,
God can “call” without using His actual voice - the idea being, the man doing
the praying simply interprets his own personal sense of the Lord’s will as
being the Lord’s will.
Benedict’s infallibility: Current status
The following quote,
especially the part I highlight in yellow, makes clear that Benedict is no
longer infallible:
QUOTE:
Papal infallibility
is a dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter,
the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error[1] "when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of
all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a
doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church".[2]
:UNQUOTE: Source: Wikipedia
article, “Papal infallibility.”
This quote should put the
matter to rest. However, there are complications, the first of which takes this
form: Can a currently reigning Pope when, in
the exercise of his office “[define] a doctrine concerning faith or
morals” which is in opposition to a doctrine offered by another Pope, (say)
centuries earlier (also when, in the exercise
of his office)? Can both Popes, even though at variance with each other,
be said to be infallible?
“Unconditional reverence and obedience”
Another complication: Even
when a Pope resigns, could an influential number of lay (and clerical)
Catholics come to feel that he still has authority, especially were he to claim
he’d heard the voice of God telling him to rise in opposition to the current
Pope? Keep that question in mind while you ponder this:
QUOTE:
[On 2/28/13, Benedict XVI said] "Among you
there is the future pope, to whom I today declare my unconditional reverence
and obedience."
:UNQUOTE:
source: see NOTE 2.
More amazing than Benedict saying such a thing is
why he would say such a thing. The Pope Emeritus shouldn’t have had to find it
necessary to so “declare” - his silence on the matter being more sensible. I
mean, how can anyone declare “unconditional reverence and obedience” to a man
not-yet-elected? Is Benedict saying that he could accept anyone elected by the
College of Cardinals, a body which (by the way) is not infallible? Even though
Benedict’s words seem to trap him into supporting the new Pope, he could simply
reverse himself later by declaring that God told him to. And that possibility
should be of grave concern to the College.
What Benedict seems to be saying - a message I’m
sure is not lost upon the College - is, “Yes, you’d better believe it makes a
difference that I would make such a declaration at all.” It seems that the man
known as “God’s Rottweiler” - the author of 66 books, a former university
theologian, and former head of the Inquisition (yes, I’ll use the old term for
that office) - is serving notice that the College can’t elect any but a staunch
conservative as the next Pope.
In spite of his words to the contrary, Benedict XVI
has no intention of simply fading away to live a life steeped in prayer while
removed from worldly concerns. He will wear the white dress of the Popes, not
the black of an ordinary clergyman. He will be called His Holiness and Pope
Emeritus, and not something more humble. Of course, the new Pope will not be
entirely without resources should Benedict show any signs of opposition. I’ll
come right out and say it: The new Pope could see to it that Benedict dies an
untimely death.
It might be better for the new Pope not to wait
until Benedict shows any such signs. Even though Benedict might not be of a
mind to oppose the new Pope now, it’s not certain how he’ll come to feel in the
future. For it is written, “Sometimes people get strange in their old age.” Too
much is at stake to allow for the existence of a potential loose cannon, which
is a doctrine I’m sure even Benedict would appreciate.
The
Holy Father
QUOTE:
In February 2013, the Vatican announced
that Pope Benedict XVI
will retain the style "His Holiness" after resigning and becoming Pope Emeritus.
[and]
The Pope may be alternatively called The Holy Father.
:UNQUOTE: source:
Wikipedia article entitled “His Holiness.”
I have a problem when men try to make humans
into gods - even in the case of Jesus Christ Himself. How do we tolerate
calling mere men by such titles as “Reverend,” “His Holiness,” and (worst of
all) “the Holy Father?” To my way of thinking (even though I’m a Buddhist, not
a Catholic), there should be only one Holy Father as far as Catholics are concerned
- the Lord God sitting in heaven above.
Unfortunately, we humans seem possessed of a
need to think someone should be in charge. In the workplace, this is considered
ideal; but even in the realm of the spirit, many think likewise. However, I
draw great comfort from an odd source, the Gohonzon of the Nichiren sects. I
say “odd” simply because, though once a member of such a sect, I can appreciate
many of the lessons I’d learned under their influence.
When I chanted Nam-myoho-renge-kyo as a member of
the Soka Gakkai International, I would stare at a scroll of paper upon which
were printed Chinese characters. That scroll, called a Gohonzon, was supposed
to be my Object of Worship or, perhaps more palatably, my Object of Devotion. Or, as some would offer: "It's simply something to look at while I chant." The most important characters were prominently displayed vertically down the
center of this scroll:
“Nam-myoho-renge-kyo” under which appeared the name “Nichiren.” This was
supposed to indicate the “oneness of the Person and the Law.”
At first I thought that was rather strange that
the Person wasn’t even a Buddha - for it is well known that Nichiren, never
once in his life, declared himself to be a Buddha - while the characters
representing the buddhas Shakyamuni
and Many Treasures appear in smaller size “outside the Law (of
Nam-myoho-renge-kyo),” as it were, appearing near the top of the Gohonzon to
the left and right, respectively, of N-M-R-K.
This link shows the relationship clearly in the
form of a diagram:
However, it helps to remember that Nichiren,
the son of a fisherman, lived in 13th century Japan as a monk who founded
a sect that had relatively little influence in the halls of power or among the
general population. In short, Nichiren was a nobody. But with a distinction: he
(and, later, his followers) were the only people at the time who taught the supremacy
of the Lotus Sutra. This Sutra taught that all people have the capacity to
become fully-enlightened buddhas.
I think Nichiren was trying to say, by means of
listing himself as the Person referred to in the concept of “oneness of the
Person and the Law,” that the task of propagating the Law is up to the common
man (in other words, nobodies like Nichiren) since there are no longer any
Buddhas in the world - at least, there aren’t any who have stepped forward.
The importance of nobodies can be appreciated
in this quote from Burton Watson’s English-language translation of the Lotus
Sutra, declared by the Buddha as his highest teaching:
QUOTE:
Medicine King, if there should be an evil person
who, his mind destitute of goodness, should for the space of a kalpa [a period
of billions of years] appear in the presence of the Buddha and constantly curse
and revile the Buddha, that person's offense would still be rather light. But
if there were a person who spoke only one evil word to curse or defame the lay
persons or monks or nuns who read and recite the Lotus Sutra, then his offense
would be very grave.
:UNQUOTE.
It’s refreshing to see a Buddha pay such homage
to “lay persons” and to see Nichiren, the leader of a religious movement, use
himself as an example of a relative nobody with whom laymen could easily
identify.
Nichiren never had a temple to call his own and
was, for most of his life, a homeless monk living (barely) off the donations of
others. For my money, though, Nichiren stands far superior to Pope Emeritus
Benedict who is so worldly-attached to the honors and trappings of his (former?) office.
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NOTES
NOTE 1:
Article
by Hannah Roberts & Sam Webb published on 2/24/13 in the UK’s Daily Mail.
NOTE 2: “Pope Benedict quits Vatican with promise
to obey successor,” an article by Phillip Pullella (Reuters, 2/28/13).
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Steven
Searle, former candidate for US President (2008 and 2012)
Founder
of the Independent Contractors’ Party
“As for who should be in charge, look no
further than the reflection offered by your bathroom mirror.”
Contact
me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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