Pope’s Anglican gambit a tactical move against Islam

October 27, 11:45 AMSpiritual Life ExaminerRabbi Ben Kamin

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The Pope
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Some dismissed him as a scholarly shadow after the charismatic and warm John Paul II. Others, including in this corner, have been concerned about his seeming insensitivity to Holocaust-related issues (he has since demonstrated magnanimity and public contrition). In fact, Pope Benedict XVI has now demonstrated a particular shrewdness, applauded here, that potentially grows his Church and secures all of us from a common foe.

Surely, most Catholics themselves do not understand the intricacies and the politics involved in the Holy Father’s invitation to disaffected Anglicans. He has reached out to them and offered them a place in the Church, or as Ross Douthat wrote so effectively in The New York Times, “an Anglo-Catholic mansion within the walls of the Roman Catholic Church.” While this was quite a contentious move, though not entirely without historical context, it was not followed by a series of fatwas, beheadings, suicide bombings, or mass killings. It remains to be seen if a few Anglicans will actually convert to full Catholicism or if the papal note will inspire millions. But no one is too concerned about bloodshed—even the ones accusing the Pope of pilfering. (It is a matter of greater gravity than that)

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But the real question is, why aren’t people in Europe and Africa—the continents where intra-church tensions most simmer—making more noise about this bold exploit? One reason may be that since the 1960’s, there actually has been an improvement in ecumenical discussion and relations and that the Catholic Church has proven its relevance by spending a lot of time on pertinent issues such as the environment, social justice, and world peace. The other reason, not spoken out loud perhaps: Islam.

Pope Benedict XVI, sometimes awkwardly, has not spoken softly about the Muslims and their threat to civilized life. In Germany, 2006, he openly disputed “Islam’s compatibility with the Western way of reason” [Douthat]. This verbal challenge resulted, not surprisingly, with a cascade of Muslim riots about the globe and an untold number of deaths.

Some criticized the Pope; it’s three years later and all we have are heaps and heaps of more dead (most them of Muslims killed by Muslims) and so many systemic suicide bombings in so many places that they are read by news reporters like so many traffic dispatches. Osama bin Laden of 9/11 remains at large. The United States is more at risk in Taliban Afghanistan and Pakistan than ever.

The Anglican Church, meanwhile, continues to be one of those good-hearted Christian bodies that seek conciliation with the Islamic world. A number of sources have reported that the Archbishop of Canterbury has even speculated about the eventual acceptance of sharia law in the United Kingdom!

Maybe the Pope is trying to pull together the Christian world for a very real and significant reason.
 

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