New pope confronts modern Europe

Let's face it: it has become common knowledge these days that the Catholic Church in Europe is struggling to survive. This generation of Europeans are simply not in step with the traditionalist doctrine of the Church, favoring an approach to life that relies much more on reason and self-interest than faith. And now with the appointment of Pope Benedict XVI (aka Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), many are wondering what role, if any, he will have in revitalizing the Church in Europe and making it the relevant institution it once was.

The New York Times' International section featured an interesting article today that opens up with an inside look into the thoughts and feelings of students attending Belgium's centuries-old Catholic University of Louvain. Many of the students that were interviewed expressed doubt about the new pope's willingness to listen to them, referring back to their experiences with his predecessor, John Paul II.

For Pavils Jarans, a 24-year-old Latvian student, it is hard to believe that the reserved, intellectual Pope Benedict XVI can succeed in wooing back the faithful to church practice and dogma given that John Paul II - a onetime amateur actor who knew how to work a crowd - failed.

"The image that I have of Pope Benedict is that he's the guard dog of the church, very rigid, very intellectual," he said. "I don't really see how he's going to solve the problems of the church."

It is this image of the "rotweiler of the Church" (as I've heard one imaginative NPR reporter put it) that Benedict will have to shake somehow if he plans on making serious progress. Although he shouldn't completely compromise his traditional beliefs, he has to convince the world that he is willing to think outside of the box by breaking free from his current 12th Century mindset.

However, as the article goes on, we find that some of the things that he has been outspoken on are a bit shocking.

Arguing in an interview with Le Figaro Magazine last summer that it was a "mistake" to omit Europe's Christian roots in the European Union Constitution, he called Europe a "cultural continent, not a geographical one" whose roots are Christian.

He used the same argument to explain why Turkey, with its mostly Muslim population, should not be a member of the European Union.

Europe's rising Islamic population only makes the problem more complex. Pope Benedict has criticized "multiculturalism" as "an abandonment and disavowal of what is our own." At the same time, however, he also has noted the success of Islam in inspiring Muslims, and has said it offers a "valid spiritual foundation for people's lives" that "seems to have escaped from the hands of old Europe," meaning Christian Europe.

Okay, so on the one hand he calls non-Catholic churches "deficient" ecumenical communities, but he still has enough PC-ness left in him to call Islam a "valid spiritual foundation." A bit of inconsistency here? Also, I don't think I like all of this talk against multiculturalism. I'm going to try to find out where this quote came from. In any case, to be the leader of the most multicultural religion on the planet and be against that very ideal is a bit frightening.

One of the final persons of interest that was mentioned in this article was the Rev. Willigis Jäger, described as an "80- year-old German Benedictine monk and Zen master" (a religious combination I have yet to come across up until this point). After being ordered in 2001 by the former Cardinal Ratzinger to cease his "mystical" activities, he had this to offer about the new pope.

Benedict will be incapable of a meaningful dialogue on issues ranging from ecumenism to women's rights in the church, he said in a written response to questions. Because of that, he said, "Europe will search for a spirituality that does not consist of outdated, traditional theological beliefs."

And what will Europe find? Islam, secularism? How about Zen?

Tragic.