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The term grinds on...a few more weeks, however, and it'll all be over. I'll not be a First Year any more. I'll be a wise old Second Year, dispensing knowledge and wisdom like pearls to the lowly incoming Divlings. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll still be the slightly goofy American who's bumbling his way through. I think I prefer that, actually. There's something so obnoxious about smug, self-assured seminarians. Especially us Anglo-Catholic types. One is apt to forget that one is not God himself. My internship supervisor and I were talking today and the conversation turned toward the Anglican Church's current conflict. He made an excellent point - when Pope John Paul dies, the whole perspective of Christianity will change, and with it the framework of the sexuality debate. I pointed out that some denominations are so divorced from catholic (small c) ecclesial polity, Baptists for instance, that they'll likely feel nary a ripple. But those of us who maintain the apostolic succession will certainly be affected. Though we pay no obeisance to Rome, one can hardly be untouched by the death of a beloved pope and the election of his successor. Just what the change will be will depend greatly on the man elected to fill JP's considerable shoes. (Love him or hate him, the current pope is nothing if not influential.) We might see an even more conservative pontiff if Opus Dei shoehorns one of their own (Cardinal Ratzinger, for instance) into Peter's throne. We might also see a more liberal thinker, although I fear that the aforementioned group would rather burn the Vatican to the ground than see a pope relax rules such as those against birth control. Millions dying of AIDS, but no...don't use condoms. Oy. At any rate, should Rome go further right I wonder how many moderate Anglicans would grudgingly surrender liberal ideas? Or would it serve to further polarize the situation? (As if it could be more polarized!) A liberal pope might generate discussion and an opening of minds...or it might send conservative Anglicans spinning in disgust into an entirely conservative, evangelical mindset. Either way, it's going to happen in the next few years...months, even. Then again, people have been saying that for a long time. John Paul is the Energizer Bunny of popes. But immortal he is not, so hang on...it'll be a bumpy ride, and who knows where we'll land? |
