Accidental Blogger

(Pope Benedict in Sao Paolo, Brazil, May2007)

Actually it is the Pontiff’s runaway mouth that needs a brake. Pope Benedict XVI, who succeeded the charismatic and popular Pope John Paul II has made an embarrassing number of faux pas during his short reign. Stiff in his demeanor and lacking the people pleasing skills of John Paul (who despite his conservative positions, knew how to reach out to a diverse group of people), Benedict is particularly fond of digging into the annals of history to fish out patently false or unnecessarily provocative testimonies to make his point.

The Pope was in Brazil recently, ostensibly to stanch the bleeding caused by religious conversions that is steadily losing Catholics to other Christian denominations in Latin America – the largest stronghold of the Catholic church in the world, both in area and number of adherents.  Denominations like the flamboyantly evangelical Pentecostals and tireless proselytizers like the Mormons have for years chipped away at the almost monolithic Catholic make up of countries like Brazil and others in the area. So, the Pope came to convince and cajole the errant sheep to return to the flock.  But with his wooden manner and singular lack of charm, he is the didactic and plain spoken (and often wrong) John Lennon to his predecessor’s Paul McCartney. During his short trip to Brazil, the Pope managed to annoy the indigenous population of the country, the Pentecostal church members and even liberal Catholics.  Quite a feat. Just as he has done before, (then later apologized) Benedict struck several sour notes during a journey across the oceans that was supposed to build a sturdy bridge back to Rome.

Some examples of Pope Benedict’s wishful interpretation of history as well as his tin ear on current affairs.

Indian rights groups are criticizing Pope Benedict XVI for insisting that Latin American Indians wanted to become Christian before European conquerors arrived centuries ago.

The pope said Sunday that pre-Columbian people of Latin America and the Caribbean were seeking Christ without realizing it. "Christ is the savior for whom they were silently longing," Benedict told a regional conference of bishops in Brazil.

But Paulo Suess, an adviser to Brazil’s Indian Missionary Council, said Monday that the comments fail to account for the fact that Indians were enslaved and killed by the Portuguese and Spanish settlers who forced them to become Catholic.

Benedict "is a good theologian, but it seems he missed some history classes," said Suess, whose council is supported by the Roman Catholic Church.

Marcio Meira, who is in charge of Brazil’s federal Indian Bureau, said Indians were forced to convert to Catholicism as the result of a "colonial process."

"As an anthropologist and a historian I feel obliged to say that, yes, in the past 500 years there was an imposition of the Catholic religion on the indigenous people," Meira said.

In Guatemala, where 42 percent of the nation’s 12 million people call themselves Indian, the former presidential commissioner on racism said the pope’s comments were a step backward.  "To say that there was no imposition is a falsification in light of the history if those that did not accept the faith were flagellated," said Ricardo Cajas. …..

With Pope Benedict XVI back in Rome after a five-day visit to the world’s largest Roman Catholic country, Brazilians debated whether his whirlwind tour would make a lasting impact on a region that’s pulling away from church influence. Newspapers here pointed out that fewer people than expected turned out for the 80-year-old pontiff’s appearances in the city of Sao Paulo and the shrine town of Aparecida.

Millions of Brazilian Pentecostals also largely ignored the visit while practicing the kind of music-filled, personalized religion that has emerged as a major threat to Catholic dominance here, said Luiz Venturini, a pastor at the Pentecostal Nova Vida church.

"The pope is losing people here, and that won’t change," Venturini said. "The Roman Catholic Church is still the majority in Brazil, because we were colonized by them. But our churches are getting big numbers by spreading the true word of God."

Some said Benedict missed an opportunity to revitalize the church by building ties with Pentecostal congregations, which have drawn millions of former Catholics.

The pope didn’t meet with Pentecostal leaders during an interfaith event that included Jewish, Muslim and Lutheran leaders. He repeatedly referred to Pentecostal congregations as "sects" during his speeches.

Venturini took offense. "For us, the Catholics are the sects," he said. "Independent of religious divisions, the will of God is above everybody else, above any single man."

The pope also offended some Latin American Catholics, especially adherents to liberation theology, a movement that preaches using religion for social change.

On the flight to Brazil on Wednesday, the pope said the movement was "wrong" and that "everybody knows this."