Stephen Fry
UPDATED WITH NEW YOUTUBE LINK 12/26/2009
With the pope and some American Roman Catholic bishops getting more and more political, I wonder if this movement into the political arena is a way to compensate for a loss of power and authority because of the huge exodus of Catholics from the church.
With people leaving the Catholic Church the bishops still seem to need to satisfy their power urges. The pope and many American bishops are now overstepping into the political realm.
Some of these American bishops are involved in trying to criminalize abortion or taking away or taking back legal marriage for gays. Some use the Eucharist as a weapon. It seems they are grasping for the power and control they are losing because within the church their teaching is without credibility and folks are leaving.
The following is a video of Stephen Fry in a debate on whether the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world. It aired on November 7, 2009 on the BBC World News. He rather eloquently presents the case why these bishops should get back to being shepherds and not politicians.
UPDATED 12/26/2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL5WVecNdhk
Fry says that because of all the politicization by the pope and bishops even the Galilean carpenter would not be welcome in today’s Catholic Church.
Stephen Fry’s remarks begin at about 1:30 in the video clip.
Couldn't bring up the Fry bit. It's been taken down by the user. However...
ReplyDeleteThe hierarchy sees decline in the Western Church in the "North." Had it not been for the Hispanic immigration, the US Church would have declined even more than the 3% it has.
Rome seems to be looking to the South (Africa, Latin America, Asia) for its future and that will mean a whole new set of power relations. begin with Goeffrey Robinson's Power and Sex in the Catholic Church.