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I cannot believe I am writing something positive about Pope
Benedict again.
This time, I am reading about his trip to Africa (Quidah,
Benin) and the difference from his earlier trip where he made the stupid,
stupid mistake of preaching against the use of condoms (in the heart of AIDS
territory). This time he talked about abstinence and fidelity within marriage;
something very foreign to their culture but at least not as dumb and dangerous
as preaching against the use of condoms even though they obviously don’t use
them anyway.
What impressed me this time was the pope’s message of
cooperation and respect with the area’s other religions, Islam and Voodoo.
The pope said that Catholicism has changed from the days of
rigid religious missionaries. He now encourages the study of indigenous beliefs
to see where they may be compatible with Catholic doctrine.
This is not a new idea. In fact, when the then pope was
sending missionaries to the new land
of Great Britain
This is why many of our Catholic / Christian holidays like
Christmas and Easter, started out as pagan festivals that coincided with
natural phenomenon like the Winter Equinox (days get longer) and the arrival of
spring.
Too bad the Catholic Church regressed from that point into
strict adherence to Catholic teachings and practices with absolutely no respect
for the indigenous culture. That is why Spanish missionaries to Central and South America , burned thousands of years of learning by
the Mayans (among other cultures), depriving our civilization of such valuable
history and knowledge and possible discovery of something that could be
beneficial to us today like a new treatment for disease.
I am glad Benedict reads Catholic Church history and learns
from the mistakes that were made, even the mistakes he has made like in his
last trip to Africa .
The Catholic Church does not have all the answers to all the
problems of the world; the Church cannot even manage its own problems which are
quite severe but if it can marry the Voodoo culture with Catholicism and
introduce the people to new social and spiritual ideas that will help them lead
better lives while negating some of the bad habits, then we have something
positive and beneficial created.
At 84, the old dog seems to be able to learn new tricks…
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