|
On the other side of the divide, Dominican friar Gwann Scerri tells JAMES DEBONO that he still loves Benedict XVI, even if he is against liberation theology and the ordination of women. 
Dominican friar Gwann Scerri serves as Socius of the Master of the Order of Preachers for Latin America and the Caribbean and as general co-promoter of Justice and Peace in the Dominican Order. Scerri has also served his order in Brazil, where he formed part of the movement within the Church which made a clear choice in favour of the poor and the oppressed, known as liberation theology.
Scerri does not hide his disappointment on the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as pope. “I was very disappointed but what else can you expect from this conclave? After the initial shock I spent some time thinking. I concluded that we got the best we could get from this conclave. What is grave is not the choice made by the conclave but the conclave system itself. The conclave system is a horror, just imagine the same people choosing the same people. The choice made is the logical conclusion of the system. The conclave should not be restricted to cardinals chosen by the Pope but should include the Presidents of the Continental Conference of Bishops.”
What changes does Scerri expect from Benedict XVI? On a positive note, he hints the new pope could restore a sense of simplicity in the Church.
“I am a Catholic and I’ve been brought up by my mother who had all the images of the pope in our house. I belong to that tradition. Yet over the past years I was feeling very uncomfortable with the ‘super papacy’ of Pope John Paul II. The papacy has lost the simplicity which characterised the papacy of Paul VI and John XXIII. I recognise that this had its positive aspects. This style helped in keeping the Catholic ethos alive. Yet it was too super and too present. His overwhelming presence diminished the role of local bishops. He became the pope of every diocese in the world.”
Scerri notes that there was too much emphasis on sexual issues during the papacy of John Paul II. “There was a united voice, a sort of chorus on certain issues basically those related to sex. Unfortunately the same consensus did not appear on social issues. Few in the Catholic hierarchy supported the pope’s courageous stand on Iraq”
Not even Ratzinger? “The fact that you don’t know his position on the war is very indicative of the situation. I am sure that you know what Ratzinger thinks on homosexuality.”
Scerri was also deeply hurt by the way John Paul II was portrayed after he died. “We had an orgy of superlatives after the pope died. He was portrayed as having brought down communism alone. What was said about Pope John Paul II was not even said about Jesus Christ. This is not good.”
What do you think about the calls to make John Paul II saint or to give him the title John Paul the Great? “This is like the hysteria of a Maltese festa,” Scerri remarks.
Will the new and more austere Pope bring an end to the festa? “The new pope is a different man. He has two big disadvantages. The first disadvantage is the hugeness of John Paul II, something that Ratzinger himself helped to build. The second disadvantage is that he is the first pope elected in recent times about whom everyone has an opinion. Unlike Pope John XXIII and John Paul II he will not have a honeymoon period. Everyone knows where he stands”
Some progressive priests in Malta have pointed out that as pope, Ratzinger is only bound to change for the better. “Yes he will change, if he does not extend a hand to everyone, who would hear him? In the Gospel when Peter’s boat was sinking Christ told the apostles not to fear. He will change for the better. After all what can he do? Excommunicate all those who disagree with him? He is not Stalin. He cannot purge the Church of all those who disagree with him. And just as it is one thing being the reporter and another thing being the editor or owner of a newspaper it is a different thing being a cardinal and being a pope.”
Scerri, who also worked in Brazil, says that everyone in Latin Amerca’s largest country is disappointed although that is no surprise. “Even the cardinals who elected him did seem elated.” I point out that there was a lot of speculation about a Latin American pope. “Yes those who had no vote wished for this. But we have no vote and we have no possibility to lobby. It was just wishful thinking.”
So does he expect anything positive from Pope Benedict XVI? “He could at worse tolerate different opinions and at best engage in a dialogue. With Ratzinger we will not have a super pope. He is not such a person. His style is more modest than that of Pope John Paul II. The Russian Orthodox Church might be more willing to engage in dialogue with a German pope than with a Pole.”
Scerri considers the choice of the name Benedict as a positive one. “Saint Benedict was the father of western life. The last Benedict, Benedict XV was a man of peace. Of course I would have preferred the name Oscar Arnulfo I.” Oscar Arnulfo was the name of the Bishop of El Salvador who was killed by the US trained military for defending human rights in his country.
Scerri also welcomes the fact that the new Pope is an intellectual. “He is serious and clear. People who have met him say that he is a good listener and that he is very gentile.”
I ask Scerri whether people living in an ambiguous position with regards to the Church’s teaching due to their lifestyle choices will now leave the church in their droves. He objects to this question. “Am I not speaking to a lay newspaper?” Scerri asks me back.
“Let’s just for the sake of the argument assume that homosexuality is an ambiguity, then I ask what about racists who adhere to the Church? Are these not living in ambiguity? Aren’t the Catholics who support wars also living in ambiguity? The Church is a people’s movement not an army. The Church with its four gospels was heterogeneous from the beginning. The Church is love. I have homosexual friends who suffer a lot due to certain declarations made by the Church. But they won’t leave the Church.”
And how does Scerri feel in a church in a church led by Ratzinger?
“I love the pope. I have not seen much love from this pope as he stood against most of the things I hold most dear. He was against liberation theology and the ordination of women. But the pope is my father.”
Also see:
|
