As the Pope lands in the U.S., controversies follow

At a time when the relationship between religion and politics in America has never been more controversial, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States this week highlights a number of issues that are subjects of great conflict both within the Roman Catholic Church and in the broader society.

The pope, formerly known as Cardinal Ratzinger, is no stranger to controversy. Known as one of the most conservative members of the College of Cardinals, his election as pontiff polarized the church. Over the next few days, Michigan Messenger will be examining various aspects of the many issues involving the pope, the church as a whole and its involvement in American political disputes.

When Ratzinger became pope, in April 2005, some critics pointed to his youth in Germany, where at 14 he was a member of the Hitler Youth, but those accusations are overblown. Membership was required by law in Germany upon reaching one’s 14th birthday. There is no evidence that the young Ratzinger ever believed in or supported the Nazi regime; indeed, his father apparently was a staunch opponent of Nazi ideology. He was later drafted into the German army as well, but did not fight due to health problems and eventually deserted his unit and returned home in the waning days of the war.

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Far more interesting are his actions as a cardinal, when he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This was formerly known as the Holy Office, seat of the Roman inquisition, and his job was to police and enforce doctrinal uniformity within the church. To that end, Ratzinger was intent on stamping out liberal or radical versions of the faith, particularly liberation theology, which were popular among oppressed populations in Latin America. Many priests were suspended or reprimanded by Ratzinger during his time as a cardinal.

Ratzinger was also in charge of policing clerical misconduct, including the sexual abuse of parishioners that has cost the church so dearly for the last decade. In May 2001, he sent a letter to every Catholic bishop declaring that any investigation of sexual abuse by priests must be kept secret within the church. He ordered that all preliminary investigations were to be reported to his office only, not to the legal authorities, and he further argued that the church has sole jurisdiction of such complaints until 10 years after the victim has become an adult.

Victims of priestly abuse argue that this constitutes obstruction of justice and an attempt to cover up such crimes, and they point to the fact that the church merely moved priests who had engaged in such abuse from church to church as further evidence of that. The church has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in lawsuits all over the world over this issue. These actions have also caused great controversy within the church and have driven many members away from the faith. Ratzinger, more than any other figure in the Catholic hierarchy, is squarely at the center of the controversy.

The pontiff’s visit with President Bush may be a slightly awkward affair, largely because the church’s positions on political issues have never fit easily into the platform of any American political party. The two men can find common ground on issues like their opposition to abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage; at the same time, the church has been an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq and of the death penalty, both issues on which Bush is unwavering. The church also supports generally liberal positions on issues of social and economic justice, including a strong welfare state.

In the United States, the Catholic Church has likely never held more political influence. Despite a long history of anti-Catholic bigotry in America, Catholics have moved into positions of great power and influence over the last few decades. An unprecedented five of the nine justices currently on the Supreme Court are Catholic. Catholic legal theory is a thriving area of legal scholarship, with prominent scholars like Robert George of Princeton and Rick Garnett at Notre Dame leading the way. More and more Catholics have been elected to public office in the wake of the presidency of John F. Kennedy — the first Catholic in the White House — which was highly controversial at the time.

At the same time, the church’s influence over its own members is probably at an all-time low. A National Catholic Reporter report in 2005 concluded: “Increasingly, knowing a person is Catholic does not predict her or his attitudes on political issues.” Surveys show that the majority of American Catholics disagree with the church’s positions on the death penalty, on having a celibate male clergy and on birth control. That same survey showed that younger Catholics are more willing to disagree with the church even on core issues like abortion and still consider themselves “good Catholics.”

A new survey of American Catholics just released this week shows that a whopping 97 percent have used artificial birth control, something the church absolutely forbids. There are even organizations like Catholics for Choice that challenge the church’s doctrines from within the Catholic tradition. They have been sharply critical of the church’s positions on both abortion and birth control, pointing to the church’s opposition to condoms in overpopulated countries like India and in places where AIDS is rampant, like many parts of Africa, as evidence of the church’s “stunning indifference” to the realities of human suffering.