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 The official stance on contraceptives and specifically condoms, for example, is not just outdated but plain irresponsible.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.

The Weekend

Not a lot happened to be honest. Played a match against Wanderers, won 55nil. They were crap. Went to Sideways on Saturday night though. What a film that is! One of the funniest I've seen in a long time. Kind of American Pie with middle aged men instead of the Stifmeister etc but its a lot more serious and a lot better.

Belvo in the Senior Cup Final on Paddys Day- lovin' it!

The failings of Madden 2004

So in my unemployed boredom, I turned to the trusty Playstation and a spot of Madden '04 to pass the time. It's a great game but it has faults.

Although there are not many, there is one glaring ommision when compared to, say, the 2002 version. Namely the lack of classic stadia. In the case of the Washington Redskins, this would be the great RFK stadium. In Madden 2002 you could play in franchise mode at RFK. In 2004 however, we're stuck with frickin' FedEx Field. Come on EA, sort it out or else I'm gonna have to switch to NFL 2k5!!

Sitting here now with my cup of hot orange for my sore throat. Gonna have to take a panadol before bed- can't be like this for the weekend.

The Joys of Public Service Exams

Right, as the title of this blog suggests, I am currently unemployed. So, in an effort to remedy this problem, I did an exam to work for Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council here in Dublin. For anybody who hasn't done one of these, their basically aptitude tests tailored to test your suitability to the job. This is about my sixth or seventh. They used to be a bit exciting but now they are just so boring it's not true. The fact that most of the people doing the exam seemed to be "simple" and hence the exam ran way over time didn't lighten my mood in the slightest.

And I've a sore throat so couldn't train tonight (I play rugby by the way; 2nd row for Old Belvedere 3rd XV- top of our league!)

Oh well, at least I've got 6c text messages off Vodafone so I can have a good moan to my friends about it...

The Da Vinci Code, am I missing something?

First ever post, my God I am now a blogger!!!

Feel free to post comments by the way, the more the merrier!

Anyway, enough of that, what's with the Da Vinci code? I've finally started it (after everbody else) and I' m up to about p.316 but frankly it's doing nothing for me. I mean it's not exciting at all. Dan Brown's writing style just doesn't work as far as I'm concerned. He seems to be obsessed with showing off his wonderful knowledge of Opus Dei and symbology but he all he does is come across as a know it all. I was in the States in 2003 and the book was everywhere but I had never heard of it and now it's a world wide hit but I just can't see the greatness in it. If anybody can tell me what's so great about it then please email me.

mailto:fredericktunney@gmail.com