Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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Notes -
I'm still hoping that something truly crazy happens and we get Athanasius Schneider as the next Pope.
Eijk or Erdo seem to have the best realistic shot of the "obvious" conservatives. Conservative American Catholics have the fever dream of Burke, but that's just not going to happen - the American Catholic church is a weird combination of too powerful, in long term decline, and far to schizophrenic within itself to get that brass ring of a Papacy.
I have an unverifiable theory that a lot of even more liberal Cardinals see Pope Francais as a failed experiment in promoting a "third worlder." Conservative or note, I would be heavily included to wager the next Pope is from Europe - and nowhere east of Berlin.
I think success for a new Pope is clarity in doctrine of the faith and a renewed evangelization focused on bedrock truths that are unanimous; real presence, the trinity, marian sinlessness etc. Defenders of Pope Francais can quibble about intent and outcome, but I think it's safe to say that the man has been unnecessarily vague on many issues ("Who am I to judge?" ... "We're not blessing the union of same sex couples, but just the individuals who may or may not be in those couples") and has neglected a lot of the basic near unanimous issues (real presence is, imho, one of those rallying cries).
I still don't know entirely what to Make of Vatican 2 from a purely theological perspective. I do believe strongly that Vatican 2 created an opening for beige Catholicism. Once you have a watered down liturgy with Father Friendly playing an acoustic guitar and preaching about The Buddy Christ, a lot of kids who grow up in these kind of parishes end up leaving pretty quickly because it all starts to seem, well, fake and gay.
But it all stems from the same original issue - spending too much time paying attention to highly modern concerns that aren't at the core of the Faith. This is an inversion. "Hmmm, we really need to tackle the Catholic approach to climate change because climate change is really important in the world right now." The Church should not be led around by the concern of The World. The whole point is that it's helping to prepare the faithful for the Kingdom of God without getting bogged down and distracted by worldly distractions, pleasures, concerns.
So, I'd like to see a Pope who makes Playing The Hits a big part of his time in The Big Chair. Focus - and get others to focus - on the 2000 year old bedrock stuff. Maybe get a little tough on the Orthodox about the Filioque or something. Get behind the Latin Mass in a big way. Make Nuns Great Again.
We need a clear and strong - perhaps, "based", as the kids say - Catholic leader to reinvigorate the Church.
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