Benedict XVI Leaves The Papacy Much As He Found It -- Washington Post editorial
IN EIGHT years as pope, Benedict XVI’s boldest act may have been his last one. His planned abdication at the end of this month, which took the world and most of the Catholic Church by surprise, would be the first by a pope in nearly 600 years. Though the Vatican said he was not suffering from any life-threatening ailment, the 85-year-old pontiff concluded that he lacked the “strength of mind and body” to carry out his ministry in a world “subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith.”
The hallmark of Pope Benedict’s tenure, for better or for worse, was fierce resistance to those changes. He rejected calls by Catholic progressives for reconsideration of doctrines such as celibacy and the ban on women in the priesthood; at a time when acceptance of the rights of gays and lesbians is rapidly spreading across the world, he was outspoken in condemning homosexuality as “unnatural” and unacceptable. With sectarian tension growing in Europe as well as the Middle East, he eschewed dialogue with Muslims and infuriated many by quoting a condemnation of Islamic theology as “evil and inhuman.”
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Commentaries, Opinions, And Editorials
Benedict: a conservative whose papacy was dogged by scandal -- Philip Pullella, Reuters
Administration Was Not Benedict's Forte -- Greg Sheridan, The Australian
John Paul, Benedict and the Modern Papacy -- Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary
Egypt’s ‘Christian Winter’ -- Brian C. Stiller, National Post
The Pharaoh Fell, but His Poisonous Legacy Lingers -- Fouad Ajami, Wall Street Journal
Syria’s new kingpin -- Abdel Bari Atwan, Special to Gulf News
Al-Khatib’s futile effort -- Daniel Nisman, Jerusalem Post
On My Mind: Peace expectations -- Kenneth Bandler, Jerusalem Post
Tunisia: The assassination of hope -- Vijay Prashad, The Hindu
A Sea Change in the Muslim World -- David Ignatius, Real Clear World/Washington Post
Why North Korea Is Testing Nuclear Weapons Now -- Andrew Natsios, US News and World Report
Putin Appeals to Russia’s “Silent Majority” -- Walter Russel Mead, American Interest
'The Absentee Commander in Chief' -- Rick Moran, American Thinker
Not the Drones They Thought They Knew: The left's schism between Obama fans and terror-war foes. -- James Taranto, Wall Street Journal
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