The Papal Post

So I've finally have internet access from my bedroom. Part of me thinks this might be more conducive to blogging. At least while everything's still novel.

I have been too silent this year.

And especially this week given the Vacancy of the Apostolic See.

Of John Paul II, what can be said that hasn't been repeated thousands of times over? He was a good man and a great pope. Sure, he could have done more as far as the role of women in the Catholic Church goes, but he did name another female a Doctor of the Church (St. Therese of Lisieux)--just the third woman to be recognized as such. And for an institution as conservative and patriarchal as the Catholic Church, that's a fabulous start. I mean, what do people expect? Female ordination over night? That's a LONG ways away--if it ever happens at all. I'm sure I won't see it in my lifetime. That's a task for another pontiff. It was not Karol Wojtyla's.

His task, I believe, was to be a bridge-builder and he more than accomplished that (in part by apologizing for egregious, past transgressions on the part of the Church [ie. the Church's silence on the Holocaust and the pillaging of the Crusades]). If you want to read more (though after the media saturation of this past week, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't! That's part of the reason why I want to keep it abbreviated here), the CBC's coverage of John Paul II's life and accomplishments is a good start.

I've actually become pretty interested in seeing what's going to happen on the 18th (the start of the conclave of Cardinals) and thereafter. I mean, it's not like I have a Cardinal I'm rooting for; it's not a bloody election. Or, at least, it shouldn't be. I'm well-aware how political the implications of papal succession are. There has been much talk about the next pope being from the developing world (ie. the conservative Cardinal Francis Arinze from Nigeria) or--a very long-shot, but still--from Canada (Cardinal Marc Ouellet). Whatever happens, I just hope the Cardinals do their jobs instead of their own will. (Though is it wrong for me to say that I personally would prefer not to see another Italian pope so soon? Looking at it politically, it could be alienating for some.)

Anyway, I know religion can be an uncomfortable, divisive subject, and this is about as comfortable as I am with discussing my religious beliefs in this format. So I'm done. I've said my piece. You can say yours if you want to. Or don't. My posting/your commenting has been so irregular, I have no idea who reads this blog anymore.


Afterthoughts...
Dictionary.com's Word of the Day for Sunday, April 10th was "hagiography". I didn't see that until after I had posted. A portent, perhaps, for the "Santo Subito" I mentioned?