CONTENTIOUS VATICAN DECLARATION: THE POPE IS CATHOLIC

REUTERS

7 FEBRUARY 2008 - In the latest instance of the Vatican's effort to reaffirm Catholic orthodoxy, Fr. Federico Lombardi (official papal spokesman) announced a proclamation asserting that the Pope is in fact Catholic. Even the most seasoned of Vatican watchers were astonished by the announcement, coming in the wake of the restoration of the old Latin Mass and the Vatican's reaffirmation that the Catholic Church is the one, true church. "We knew an emphasis on the fundamentals of Catholic orthodoxy was to be expected with the elevation of Joseph Ratzinger to the papacy, but I don't think anyone saw this coming," said John Allen, The National Catholic Reporter's Rome correspondent. He continued, " No doubt, many progressives in the church will see this as a clear sign that Benedict is seeking to undo the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Conservatives, however, will view it as a turning point in the authentic implementation of the conciliar documents."

The proclamation, entitled Catholicior quam papam, and referred to in church jargon as a motu proprio (literally, "of his own accord"), was issued by the pope himself after private consultation with many cardinals. Widely considered to be a conciliatory gesture toward traditionalist Catholics, this document has gained guarded praise from the Society of St. Pius X, a schismatic group that broke away from the church shortly after the second Vatican council. An official statement from the society reads, "We welcome this development in our dialogue with the Holy See. The Holy Father's motu proprio is a radical and decisive confirmation of the weight he gives to our doctrinal concerns."

The document, sure to arouse angst among left-leaning Catholics, has not escaped the notice of the Anti-Defamation League. One of its more contentious passages asks that people of the Jewish faith refrain from thanking God for not making them gentiles and from referring to themselves as "God's chosen people", to the exclusion of non-Jews. Fr. Lombardi explained, "This is sort of a quid pro quo for the modification the Holy Father has made to the traditional prayers for Good Friday." Until recently, the Latin Mass included prayers that alluded to the "blindness" of the Jews, and implored God to "remove the veil from their hearts".

ADL chairman Glen S. Lewey claimed, "This could be the fatal body blow to Cahtolic-Jewish relations. First the Pope revives prayers that are manifestly anti-semitic, and offers revisions which are hardly an improvement. Now he asserts that he is Catholic? With one document, he has undone over forty years of progress ."

When asked about the timing of the document, Fr. Lombardi explained, "The Holy Father thought it best to address this question as quickly as possible, in light of recent events." Suspicion that the Holy Father might have converted to Scientology made front-page news last week, after he was photographed having coffee with Tom Cruise at a cafe in Rome.