A New Pope

Having been within a few feet of a supposed living goddess last autumn when I was in Kathmandu, I am intrugued by the current process for electing a new Pope. Personally, I can't see much difference in believing that the Pope is a direct descendent of Saint Peter & the leader of the Catholic church, chosen by the intervention of God, & believing that a randomly chosen child is a goddess.

I won't go into the many aspects of Catholic belief which I find unacceptable. People are entitled to believe whatever they want. I don't mind so long as those beliefs don't impinge on me. I do have issues with Catholic practices all over the world throughout history, which give just cause for real anger. But, in fairness that could be said about most religions. What I do object to is the real harm some religious practice & beliefs has caused particularly in the developing world.

I do find I am unbelievably put off and annoyed by the footage of huge numbers of very elderly, male, cardinals & bishops in expensive dresses & hats parading up the aisles of churches as though they ruled the world. In fact, given the machinations of the Vatican throughout history, I suspect that is indeed what they think they should be doing.

I'm not surprised that that the church, of whatever denomination, but particularly Catholic, is losing it's membership. We are better informed than ever before. Our societies in the West have moved enormously in the direction of greater equality, fairness & justice. Why should we feel that these antiquated rituals, which are simply a construct of man for man, whose only purpose is to keep men in power, have any relevance to us today. It is discrimination of the worst kind because it excludes half of the population.

The church is blind to the fact that it's hierarchy has lost it's "raison d'etre" & a good job too. The pomp & splendour of the vestments is an affront to the ragged poverty of much of the world. As is the hoards of treasures & buildings owned by the church, when people haven't even got clean water to drink & children die in their thousands.

The church needs to wake up to the 21st Century. All wo/men are not equal but all wo/men should have equal opportunities. We are not all the same, but we are all simply human beings.