Benedict XVI: Conservative or Radical right winger?

So to some surprise Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Tuesday. It was not thought he had enough votes in the Conclave to claim a 2/3s majority but he got in on the fourth (or possibly fifth) vote. The fear that seems to be present in many quarters of his church now, especially in the developed world, is that Benedict will be a radical conservative pope and thus alienate even more a flock that has drifted away from the Catholic Church in alarming numbers over recent years. This is based primarily on Benedict's writings and speeches during his time as Pope John Paul II's "enforcer" over the last quarter century. He has suggested that because Christ took the male form it proves man's intrinsic superiority to women. He has also suggested that homosexuality is morally abhorrent and at a mass recently he spoke out against rampant liberalism and the dangers of changing to suit "fads" in the modern world.

This attitude alarms many people but I am not one of them. What else should a Pope be? He is, after all, the defender of the Catholic faith on Earth. The Church has not accepted homosexuality for 2,000 years. Why should it accept it now? Women priests have not been permitted for 2,000 years. Why should they be allowed now? One need only look at the Church of England to see what can happen to a church that seeks to change itself in order to attract a new generation. Religion should not feel the need to change to suit the people. If somebody doesn't like the idea of mass being in Latin or drowned in incense then that's not the church's problem (that's one thing about George Bush- I may hate him but I know exactly what he stands for). Hamlet doesn't change because solliloquys and brooding young men go out of fashion. Why should the church be any different?

Of course the Pope is a Conservative, as he should be. A liberal Pope runs the risk of the Church changing where change is unneccessary. Yes some changes should be made. The official stance on contraceptives and specifically condoms, for example, is not just outdated but plain irresponsible. Apart from the obvious risk of contracting STDs, surely it is as big a sin to bring a child into this world when the parents are incapable of raising that child officiently as it is to prevent conception in the first place. This, however, would not be changing just for change's sake. This would be common sense as much as anything else. It is not as if sex out of wedlock is a modern issue after all. In general though, the Pope should maintain the status quo and I believe Benedict to be able to do this effectively.

At the end of the day though, what the death of John Paul and succession of Benedict has thought me is that whoever is the Pope has little effect on my everyday life. If I'm about to have sex I'm not going to think of a guy 800 miles away who says it's a sin to use a condom and I'm not going to tell a gay friend that I think he is evil. Perhaps that is why I believe the Pope should always be a Conservative. It's reassuring to know what my church stands for and that it won't be forever changing what it stands for but it will make little difference to me whether I live up to certain aspects of its teachings or not.