Of A Papal Passing & A Faltering Faith

The recent passing into glory of Pope John Paul the II, is, I believe, in many ways the end of a great era not only for the Roman Catholic Church that he led, but also for the entire religion of Christianity. Why? Because John Paul was in my opinion, one of the very few Christian leaders left who has displayed an unusual strength of character and resoluteness in his calling. A man who, while using the methodologies and technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries in his attempts to resolve the many problems beleaguering the world, did not fall into the trap of letting the issues and people that he reached out to define who he was.

Here was a Pope who did not think it necessary to allow deviations from the dictates of Word of God in the name of modernity or as a result of a need to achieve “political correctness”. The position of the Bible on many of the issues that made him so unpopular with the “liberals” in the 20th century – his stands on abortion, the use of the condom, homosexuality and so many related matters were clear and unapologetic, echoing the stand of the God he represented, as expressed in His Word. For the more I think of it, more people are expecting God to change to fit into their own mould or idea of what is right instead of the other way round.

This is why I strongly suspect that with the passing of this truly great Pope, the Catholic Church may begin a slow but almost irrevocable slide into compromise, allowing many of these external forces to influence it into allowing more and more of these practices and lifestyles into the church. The Anglican Church has of course begun this by allowing Homosexual priests a la Rev. Canon Gene Robinson in the United States. When one juxtaposes the late Pope’s position with the presently falling figures in church membership and attendance all across rich Europe and North America, coupled with the coming into the mainstream of what were considered “alternative” lifestyles just a decade and a half ago, one might see the Catholic Church and many others changing or should we say, “adapting” to shore up their membership. With increasingly dwindling membership, and its concomitant reduction in finances, I foresee something happening that will be very much in line with what Karl Marx wrote about the Anglican Church in a preface to Volume 1 of "Das Kapital", that the "English Established Church (would) more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles (of faith) than on 1/39 of its income."

I foresee a time in the not-too distant future when the Church as a whole, will be more interested in remaining economically afloat than in adhering strictly to the tenets of Christ. I already see it happening around me here in Nigeria, with more and more churches being afraid to talk about the hard issues of life and the faith, for fear of annoying their congregation and driving them away to other more “modern” churches, but instead, tout a cheesy and syrupy Christianity, one that assures you only of privileges without attendant responsibilities or duties.

Pope John Paul II was indeed a great man and a wonderful servant of God, but I wonder if he would be happy with what is almost certainly going to happen to the faith that he spent his life serving and defending in a few decades, as the world moves towards what I may describe as the age of “the designer god”.