From the Wall Street Journal: Is the Pope Catholic?
Posted on April 22, 2005 02:01 PM. Filed under: religion.Ordinarily that question is a rhetorical device, intended to suggest that someone has said something foolish, ignoring the patently obvious. But as cardinals of the Catholic Church gathered in Rome this week, many commentators seemed to wonder whether the next pope would hold firmly to the age-old doctrines of the Catholic faith: Would the new leader of the world's one billion Roman Catholics be ready to compromise on matters such as abortion, homosexuality and the ordination of women?
The public speculation before the papal election suggested that anything was possible -- that the church might strike out in a radically new direction. But the 115 cardinals who entered the conclave thought differently. They elected Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in a remarkably quick conclave, because he was the obvious choice to inherit the legacy not only of John Paul II but also of 264 other Roman pontiffs in a line stretching back to St. Peter. There would be no break in that continuity, no shifts in fundamental dogma.
Yes, the pope is a Catholic. Yet that unsurprising result has clearly shaken many secular liberals -- and more than a few liberal Catholics --who feel that they have been somehow cheated of an opportunity. [continue]