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The dictionary defines blasphemy as, To speak of God in an irreverent, impious manner. This isn’t really technically about God, so I guess I’m safe. A new Pope was elected today. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is now Pope Benedict XVI. I’m not Catholic, at least anymore, although I was baptized Catholic. My opinion of the election of Ratzinger is only from the perspective of how the Catholic church, in it’s far-reaching influence, will affect my life as a non-catholic living in a country controlled by the religious right. I intended this post to be more humorous, but before I get to that, I thought I’d make a few observations from things I’ve read. Ratzinger has been a strict defender of Catholic orthodoxy for the past 23 years. He was head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which is basically the modern successor to the Inquisition (the name was changed in 1908). An article in Reuters said,

In that office, Ratzinger disciplined Latin American “liberation theology” theologians, denounced homosexuality and gay marriage and pressured Asian priests who saw non-Christian religions as part of God’s plan for humanity.

I’ve also read that at the age of 15, Ratzinger, a German, was a member of the Nazi Youth, although most say he was involuntarily drafted.

There are a lot of catholics who are dissapointed with this choice, saying that his strict adherence to age-old doctrine will keep the church from moving forward with society. I’m sure there are a lot of east versus west views on this. Some have said that the Catholic Church can now officially kiss off all of Europe, the US, and Canada, while the developing world will hang on maybe, but not after reaching actual development.

Anyway, I’m not trying to piss anyone off here but I couldn’t resist after seeing photos of the new Pope. Is it just me or does the whole institution of the catholic church seem eerily like something out of Star Wars? Judge for yourself.