Catholics Go Fundamentalist?

The election of Pope Benedict XVI minutes ago seems to signal that Catholics can be as reactionary as Muslims and Protestants. It's as though the whole world of religion is contracting into hard little balls of doctrinaire indignation. Heavy weather ahead!

Speaking of balls, did you catch Cardinal Ratzinger's homily in the Mass he celebrated just before they closed and locked the doors to the Sistine Chapel. The man who would become Pope Benedict XVI two days later preached what would be called a hellfire & brimstone sermon in any Baptist church, which seemed to many knowledgeable Catholic on-lookers to be Ratzinger's public acknowledgement that he is too hardline to be the next Pope. Who wants a polarizing figure as pastor of such a huge and diverse flock? Well, at least 77 Princes of the Church wanted a polarizing figure.

Well, how polarizing? This BBC site says Ratzinger was "an intimidating 'Enforcer,' punishing liberal thinkers, and keeping the Church in the Middle Ages." During the 2004 campaigns Cardinal Ratzinger, as the Pope's enforcer of doctrinal purity, opined that politicians who favor abortion rights could (well, definitely should, after a warning) be denied Holy Communion, while he stopped short of saying that all Catholic voters who voted for an abortion-rights candidate should be denied Holy Communion. Perhaps that makes him kind of a "moderate" in your eyes, which might mean you've got one eye seriously impaired.

But ABC News has just posted this information about the new pope: "If the new pope was paying tribute to the last pontiff of that name, it could be interpreted as a bid to soften his image as the Vatican's doctrinal hard-liner. Benedict XV, who reigned from 1914 to 1922, was a moderate following Pius X, who had implemented a sharp crackdown against doctrinal 'modernism.' "

In poking about for information on Benedict XVI, I stumbled across a truly chilling prophecy made well before Pope John Paul II shuffled off this mortal coil. The "prophet" is one Ronald L. Conte Jr. (head-case, or merely playing one on an Internet near you? You be the judge). Conte wrote (mind you, BEFORE this election today of Ratzinger as Benedict XVI): "The next Pope after John Paul II will take the name Pope Benedict XVI, in imitation of Saint Benedict and also of Pope Benedict XV. Just as Pope Benedict XV was an emissary of peace, so will Pope Benedict XVI be an emissary of peace. Just as Pope Benedict XV sought peace and spoke of peace and wrote papal documents seeking peace, so will Pope Benedict XVI do also. Just as Pope Benedict XV failed to achieve peace in the world, so will Pope Benedict XVI fail to achieve peace in the world. Just as the Pontificate of Benedict XV began prior to World War I, so will the Pontificate of Benedict XVI occur prior to World War III. After the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, World War III will begin. The Arab nations will threaten and attack the United States; they will threaten, attack, invade and conquer Europe; they will threaten, attack, invade and conquer the northern part of Africa. It is God's will."

This is only a taste of what this cat is serving up (though he also predicted that Benedict XVI would be a black man, which may indicate that whatever he's smoking, it ain't exactly infallible).