FEATURE ARTICLE

Dr. Wumi AkintideSaturday, August 10, 2013
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New York, NY, USA

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POPE FRANCIS MOVES A STEP CLOSER TO ST JOHN PAUL THE SECOND
Embraces a paradigm shift on Papal Infallibility and concern for human rights & LGBT issues

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ne of my article carried by Nigeriaworld titled “The new Pope reinforces Obama doctrine” bears some relevance to this subject because the new Pope appears to me to have put conservative ideologues around the world including Republicans on notice that they would have to fundamentally change their perspective and policies towards the poor, the middle class and the LGBT to be on the same wave length with him. It was a courageous move by a Pope who is not afraid to be different and who probably thinks the notion of infallibility does not give him the power to play God by judging others like most of his predecessors have done.

I can see the new Pope’s interpretation of Catholic doctrine to be more in line with the position taken by the Liberals and the Democrats than it was with the conservative plank of the ideological divide. That position puts the new Pope on the same side with the current President and the Democrats on most of the issues that should determine the outcome of future elections in America in particular if the Republicans do not quickly mend their ways and stop saying no to every initiative coming from the first American President who happens to be black.

The affordable health care law designed to give medical coverage to no less than 30 million Americans who can least afford it stands out as one of those initiatives. Like the emancipation law signed into Law by the great Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, or the social security legislation pushed and signed into law by FDR, a democrat and the civil rights legislation signed into law by Lyndon B. Johnson, Obamacare which is being ridiculed and targeted for repeal in more than 40 futile attempts by the Republicans is going to be one of the enduring legacies of the first black President more than 100 years from now. Future Administrations in America may amend it to improve some of its provisions or sanitize some of its imperfections. What they cannot do is end it because it is a fundamentally helpful legislation to America and other countries looking up to America for leadership and emulation.

The Catholic Church and their leadership by their history, tradition and culture have remained one of the most rigid and conservative institutions in the world but the world has changed and the Catholic Church with the coronation of this Pope now seems to have come a long way from what it used to be, if the observation I want to make with this article is anything to go by. The Pope is supposed to always represent a symbol of that rigidity by his word and action but the current Pope, the first Jesuit in Vatican history to come from Latin America is already serving notice to the world at large and the Catholic Church in particular that he sees the world a little bit differently from the great majority of his predecessors and he is determined to put his imprimatur on the Church with some uncanny humility and integrity.

The world saw a little glimpse of that refreshing autonomy when the new Pope came to the same conclusion that many of us have reached that the Almighty God, the great judge has the capacity to put gays and lesbians in their places and to punish them without his help as the Pope if God Almighty actually believed their sexual orientation was serious enough to permanently ostracize gays and lesbians and to condemn them to eternal damnation. That was my position on the issue of same sex marriage and the general discrimination against the LGBT target group when the debate suddenly became one of the hot button issues in the last presidential election in America that saw Obama coasting to a second term in what can be called a land slide victory.

Pope Francis responding to a question at a press conference during his recent visit to Brazil gave an answer that would have been considered as heresy by the Church 50 years ago by asking “who am I to judge gays and lesbians” By that simple answer, the Pope had made it clear that his own concept of papal infallibility does not put him in a class above and beyond the rest of us because he fully understands he is still human and that “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God as human beings” I feel empowered to make that case because one of the main duties and responsibilities of a Pope is to “pontificate” or to pronounce judgment on others. Whatever the Pope pronounces “ex cathedra” whether right or wrong automatically assumes the connotation of infallibility in pretty much the same way like the Yorubas used to view powerful traditional rulers who are often referred to as “Kabiyesi” meaning “Ka bi o ko si” meaning there is no one on this Earth to question their authority or judgment. Whatever they say is presumed right and final just like the Catholics used to view the pronouncements by every Pope.

Pope Francis statement on gays and lesbians was one major statement that is bound to define his papacy for a long time to come as the Church and commentators around the world and even his College of Cardinals draw their own conclusions and interpretations from that statement. The observation is more so in America where every viewpoint is always subject to debate and where religious and political correctness and public safety do not necessarily go hand in hand. I see the Pope’s position as being more in line with Bile teaching which says “Judge not so you not be judged” Jesus said in the Holy Bible he has not come to save those who are already saved but the sinners who are still looking for redemption. The good shepherd always goes out looking for the one sheep that has gone astray while leaving the others by themselves.

I believe Pope Francis, the successor to apostle Peter is pretty much preaching the same doctrine without pulling punches but making it abundantly clear that his preference as the holy father is not to keep his distance from perceived sinners but to try and save them or show them the way to redemption or reconciliation with God. Ever since his coronation as the Pope, he has led the way in sticking to that precept. He did it again during his recent visit to Brazil by identifying with the poor and the underprivileged in society and by shunning ostentatious and glamorous living in the Vatican refusing to drive in bullet proof Mercedes Limousines and pope mobile and moving around to identify and pray with the poor and asking them to pray for him when he should be the one praying for them.

When you compare his shinning example to the Anglican Communion in Nigeria breaking away from the Church of England a few years back over their policy to ordain Anglican priests and bishops and by being more roman catholic than the Pope in a sin-soaked country like Nigeria where pen robbers and our political leaders who steal millions and trillions of Naira and murderers are allowed to walk free while little infractions and thefts like stealing a few Naira are visited or punished with jungle justice of public lynching and facing the firing squad. The new Pope has shown he does not believe in playing the blame game or playing “the holier than thou” eye service which stands condemned before God.

It should now be crystal clear to the radical religious right in the South of America who like to claim a special affinity with God but are very racist in their dealing with the minorities in America that they can no longer count on the new Pope as their ally in their nihilist opposition to the affordable health care Legislation otherwise called Obamacare because they want to deny no less than 30 million Americans of medical coverage in the richest country on Earth as I hinted earlier. By the same token it is now clear that the new Pope like Pope John Paul II, would never agree with the Russian Government decision to have gays and lesbians participating in the Olympian Games in Russia arrested and treated shabbily because of their sexual orientation which is absurd.. Russian communists who do not believe in God and who used to outlaw religious freedom in any shape or form are today the greatest protagonists of gays and lesbians thus putting their country in opposition to much of the Western Democracies which are more tolerant of same sex marriage and the human rights of minorities everywhere in the world.

I salute the new Pope for his principled stand on gays and lesbians and for standing up for many of the values and signature laws that have helped to make America the greatest country on Earth.

I rest my case.

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