{"id":422,"date":"2012-07-10T10:05:14","date_gmt":"2012-07-10T10:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/polsis.org\/?p=422"},"modified":"2012-07-10T10:05:14","modified_gmt":"2012-07-10T10:05:14","slug":"only-vatican-can-change-the-catholic-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/2012\/07\/10\/only-vatican-can-change-the-catholic-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Only Vatican can change the Catholic Church"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Friday, POLSIS\u2019s G\u00ebzim Alpion<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0Lecturer in Sociology, was interviewed <\/em><\/strong>by the Slovakian newspaper PRAVDA<\/a> on recent developments in the Vatican. While there is no English translation of the newspaper article<\/a>, the editor Andrej\u00a0Matisak has uploaded details of those he interviewed on his blog<\/a>.\u00a0 G\u00eb<\/strong>zim\u2019s contribution is reproduced here:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Andrej\u00a0Matisak:<\/strong> We have seen some strong actions by the Holy See in the recent past. The papacy reprimanded American nuns for their book on sexuality and there was very strong aftermath of the Vati\u2013leaks<\/a> scandal. How can one read this? Is this a push for more centralization of power in the Church, a demonstration of power maybe? Or is it more a coincidence and nothing special happens [sic]?<\/p>\n

G\u00ebzim Alpion:<\/strong> I take it you are referring to Sr Margaret A. Farley\u2019s book \u2018Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics\u2019<\/a>. The Holy See\u2019s reaction towards this publication is hardly surprising given that the author apparently \u2018preaches\u2019 a kind of morality which is not compatible with the orthodox version of Christianity \u2018copyrighted\u2019 and fiercely defended by the Vatican. The Vatican\u2019s reaction in this case is of interest because it reveals once again this institution\u2019s uneasy relationship with certain communities of American nuns, whose numbers have reduced drastically since the mid 1960s partly because of what American nuns perceive as the Vatican\u2019s unwillingness to mend some of its \u2018misogynistic\u2019 views and failure to engage with them in a constructive way. American nuns have traditionally been more vocal in their \u2018dissent\u2019. The Church needs perhaps to engage more with its female missionaries especially in view of the fact that its 800,000 nuns outnumber priests by two to one. Whether the Church can afford for much longer to \u2018castigate\u2019 any Catholic, including nuns, as \u2018outsiders\u2019 because they express unorthodox views remains to be seen. As for the Vati-leaks, one wonders if secular institutions would have reacted much differently in similar situations.<\/em><\/p>\n

Andrej\u00a0Matisak:<\/strong> Joseph Ratzinger was considered very conservative even before he became Benedict XVI. But what about the Church? Do you think that Catholic Church is becoming more liberal and maybe that worries the Vatican and propels the action?<\/p>\n

G\u00ebzim Alpion:<\/strong> The Vatican IS the Catholic Church. This institution is always run by conservatives whose main challenge remains the handling of the Church\u2019s uneasy relationship with modernity. The greatest reforming popes have been conservatives at heart. In this respect, Pope Benedict XVI is hardly any different from his \u2018revolutionary\u2019 predecessor, John Paul II. If, indeed, the Church becomes more \u2018liberal\u2019, for any liberalizing attempt to have a chance of success it must emanate from within and have the full support of the Vatican. When it comes to the fundamental tenets of the Catholic faith, however, as in the past, they remain beyond reforming.<\/em><\/p>\n

Andrej\u00a0Matisak:<\/strong> Pope named German Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig M\u00fcller<\/a> to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith<\/a>. A strong conservative, Muller is however being connected with the theology of liberation, which was strongly criticised by both John Paul II. and Benedict. How can you explain this?<\/p>\n

G\u00ebzim Alpion:<\/strong> While the Church has distanced itself from liberation theology<\/a>, this institution cannot do without the poor and any leading Church figure with an interest in their condition cannot be bad for the Vatican. No matter how \u2018open-minded\u2019 and as such \u2018problematic\u2019 Archbishop M\u00fcller is to his critics, they have no reasons to fear him. After all, M\u00fcller and Ratzinger have been close to each other before the later became a pontiff. Whatever differences they may have, the current Pope and the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are committed to promoting the unity of Christ. M\u00fcller\u2019s appointment is perhaps a timely compromise.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, POLSIS\u2019s G\u00ebzim Alpion,\u00a0Lecturer in Sociology, was interviewed by the Slovakian newspaper PRAVDA on recent developments in the Vatican. While there is no English translation of the newspaper article, the editor Andrej\u00a0Matisak has uploaded details of those he interviewed on his blog.\u00a0 G\u00ebzim\u2019s contribution is reproduced here: Andrej\u00a0Matisak: We have seen some strong actions … Continue reading “Only Vatican can change the Catholic Church”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[60,117,156,157],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comment-and-analysis","tag-gezim-alpion","tag-pope","tag-vati-leaks","tag-vatican"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.bham.ac.uk\/polsis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}