Fantasize with Me for an Open-Minded Pope

The Pope has resigned and many of us "recovering Catholics" are cheering the news. Not that the Cardinals will elect anyone who is remotely open-minded or liberal, God forbid, but there is at least a chance. The reason that I have a seemingly ridiculous hope for a more liberal Pope is because I lived through the era when Pope John the XXIII [Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli] came to the throne and revolutionized the stodgy old, conservative church. He shook it up good.

Angelo Roncalli himself was surprised at being elected Pope. As a matter of fact he had a round trip ticket back to Venice--- that's how sure he was that he had no chance. Luckily for all of us he was elected in 10/28/1958 at the age of 77.

Due to his age, he was not expected to last long in his role as Pope, rather he was elected as a stop gap measure. Had anyone reviewed his record as a humanitarian I seriously doubt that they would have even temporarily elected him. But, interestingly, no one foresaw how he would become beloved in the entire world for his revolutionary ideas, his kindness and open-mindedness. 

John XXIII called the Second Vatican Council, something that had not been attempted for ninety years. Many good, forward changes came out of that Council, updating the church. It's amusing to me that the Church wouldn't have recognized that he was a fearless activist for human rights. The hierarchy of Catholic church tends to be against most human rights, and even today is apoplectic over the nuns helping the poor of the world, people choosing who they can marry, women as equals to men, and women's right to choose family planning. The current Pope was part of the Nazi's youth program which is ironic because John XXIII formally apologized to the Jews for the church's despicable behavior leading up to and after WWII. He said,

"We are conscious today that many, many centuries of blindness have cloaked our eyes so that we can no longer see the beauty of Thy chosen people nor recognise in their faces the features of our privileged brethren. We realize that the mark of Cain stands upon our foreheads. Across the centuries our brother Abel has lain in blood which we drew, or shed tears we caused by forgetting Thy love. Forgive us for the curse we falsely attached to their name as Jews. Forgive us for crucifying Thee a second time in their flesh. For we know what we did."

Out of Wikipedia I copied a few of the heroics of John XXIII did to save not only the Jews but others persecuted by the Nazis starting in 1935.

"As nuncio, Roncalli made various efforts during the Holocaust to save refugees, mostly Jewish people, from the Nazis. Among his efforts were:

• Jewish refugees who arrived in Istanbul and were assisted in going on to Palestine or other destinations
• Slovakian children managed to leave the country due to his interventions.
• Jewish refugees whose names were included on a list submitted by Rabbi Markus of Istanbul to Nuncio Roncalli.
• Jews held at Jasenovac concentration camp, near Stara Gradiška, were liberated as a result of his intervention.
• Bulgarian Jews who left Bulgaria, a result of his request to King Boris of Bulgaria
• Romanian Jews from Transnistria left Romania as a result of his intervention.
• Italian Jews helped by the Vatican as a result of his interventions
• Orphaned children of Transnistria on board a refugee ship that weighed anchor from Constanța to Istanbul, and later arriving in Palestine as a result of his interventions.
• Jews held at the Sered concentration camp who were spared from being deported to German death camps as a result of his intervention
• Hungarian Jews who saved themselves through their conversions to Christianity through the baptismal certificates sent by Nuncio Roncalli to the Hungarian Nuncio, Monsignor Angelo Rota.
• In 1944, during World War II, Pope Pius XII named him Apostolic Nuncio to France. In this capacity he had to negotiate the retirement of bishops who had collaborated with the German occupying power."

We have a church that not only tolerated pedophiles but until they were sued to bankruptcy in several cities, chose to hide these priests so they could abuse again. This is still the church that forbids any form of birth control including the condom. In some third world countries, pious Catholic men and women are having unprotected sex and dying from AIDS. Currently in Africa there are tens of thousands of children orphaned due to this epidemic. How can that be good and holy? Yet who is this church up in arms about? The Girl Scouts and the nuns.

By the way, technically, according to the rules of the church, any Catholic male can be Pope !  True, it's never happened before, usually only the Italian hierarchy, but my husband, Mr. G is busy dusting off his resume. Ah, men...

Is There Any Hope for the Pope?

Ah, the Pope he wears a dress-
says he'll excommunicate
any fag who's in drag
for in his position
it's competition
and he's learning to share his feelings.

Ah, the pope he lives alone-
peons serve him on a plate,
condemns all women from his throne,
for to him it's chillin'
if any woman is willin'
and he's learning to share his feelings.

Ah, the Pope who lives alone-
has no women near his throne
so no female can ever bother
this very holey father
says it's Mary he adores
[though we've heard this all before]
and he's attempting to share his feelings.

Ah, the Pope he's never married,
disgusting thing to procreate,
children, babies make him harried,
though he needs them for his coffers
since there are no other offers
to get all the gold he can hold
and you're learning his true feelings.
Susan R. Grout               1995

susansmagicfeather copyright 2013 Susan R. Grout all rights reserved