Too Little too Late for Vatican After Pope Benedict “Arnolds’ ” by Quitting

From the sound of the headline, you would think I was saying Catholicism was on the decline (which it isn't), about to go under as one of the biggest organized religions in the world. Well, yeah I can see how you would think that but my actual intent is to say that the Vatican itself is too late when it comes to saving face and keeping  what little integrity it had in the eyes of former followers like myself, who while still believe to a certain degree but are sick and tired of these old farts trying to dictate to “the flock” how we should live our lives while living double lives themselves.

When Pope Benedict quit earlier this month, the first living Pope to say he had had enough (citing health concerns) and clearly showing that he didn’t want to die in office like all before him for the past 600 years or so, he proved what I already believed about him going into office; That he was the wrong choice and that he was too old. At the age of 85, he is so far out of touch with society that when he tries to issue some kind of formal statement on the position of the Vatican on just about anything, he sounds like an old man fighting against the times, angry at how the world has changed  “too fast” around him.

There were already numerous questions surrounding this man and he selection as Pope, starting with the allegations that he was in the German SS youth brigade back when he was growing up in Germany. Then came the confirmation that under Pope John Paul II, he was assigned to be the “go to man” when it came to correcting the prevalence of child abusers in the priesthood. He was the one who had all the allegations come to his office directly from the mid 1990’s until he became Pope and, instead of actually trying to fix the issue, he simply did his best to brush the allegations under the rug.

Now word comes out that there was a 300+ page report handed to the Pope the day before his announcement which outlined (in DETAIL) blatant homosexuality being perpetrated by priests who refuse to stop their actions and blatantly defy church doctrine. This must have been the last straw for a man who clearly was in over his head as Pope.

From the outside looking in, it would appear that this man simply had enough, knew he couldn’t do anything to “fix” the church the way he wanted (as in back to the times when mass was in Latin and the Pope could force elected leaders and Monarchs to do what he wanted) and pulled a move right out of Cartman’s playbook from Southpark by saying “Screw you guys, I’m going home!”

What he and many of the “old guard” can’t seem to realize is that it is completely unnatural to force a man to be celibate for his entire life. Forcing someone to live without a family, without a wife and children just to be a priest is simply ridiculous. Even the claim that this priestly rule is based on the life of Jesus has been called into question with revelations that it is entirely possible Jesus himself was married to Mary Magdalene and had children with her (as seen in the fictional book, although entirely possible Da Vinci Code). The church was so convinced that this was what would be best for Catholicism that they portrayed Mary Magdalene as a whore without any real proof, just to continue to propagate the lie of Jesus celibacy.  

When faced with such an asinine existence, and such a protective atmosphere (especially apparently if you are into being a child molester) is it no wonder that the priesthood is attracting such warped individuals? Men who would rather molest young boys are disturbed and yet for some reason, the priesthood seems to attract them in droves. There is a higher concentration of child molesters in the priesthood then every other profession in the world combined. Scary.

The Church has lost all its credibility with people like me who grew up in the “system”, so to speak, but have become increasingly turned off by their rigid interpretations of the rules and their refusal to progress as a force for good as well as changing with the times. They are one of the wealthiest organizations in the world as well as one of the most influential and they have the power to become the accepting harbinger of good will that they preach about what Jesus would do if he were here, alive in our times. Yet they have chosen to lie, hoard money, protect the guilty over the innocent and promote hatred instead of unity at a time when people need them to be a shining beacon of peace and love. 

It's for the best that Pope Benedict quit when he did, the problem is the institution will not change nearly as much as it should if it maintains the same remnants of the old guard exactly where they are. So despite a new Pope coming in, he will not be the new Hope that he should be...