It’s a shame His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI doesn’t believe in limbo.
We already know that he doesn’t believe in limbo as a place, but it now appears he doesn’t believe in limbo the dance either. An editorial in L'Osservatore Romano shows just how low the former Cardinal Ratzinger has set the bar when it comes to terrorism.
The editorial takes to task one Andrea Rivera, who criticized Roman Catholic policy in between sets at a rock concert in front of the Saint John in Lateran basilica. Here is a sampling of those comments:
"The Pope says he doesn't believe in evolution. I agree, in fact the Church has never evolved," he said.
"I can't stand the fact that the Vatican refused a funeral for Welby but that wasn't the case for (Chilean dictator Augusto) Pinochet or (Spanish dictator Francisco) Franco," he said between musical acts at the open-air concert. (Source)
None of those comments seems particularly threatening to these ears. Caustic? Certainly. Disrespectful? Of course. But none of those comments are calling for any particular violence against the church or any of its leaders. To compare these comments to acts of violence committed in Italy three decades ago is excessive.
Unfortunately, the idea of labeling those critical of authority as terrorist is not a tactic unique to the Vatican. Since those of us who live in the United States have seen similar criticisms leveled against those who would dare to question the actions of the Bush administration. Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld set a similarly low bar when he described what constitutes terrorism:
"According to the twisted logic recently espoused by Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, the failure to support illegal, immoral and unnecessary wars defines me as a terrorist," said freelance reporter Charles Sullivan. (Source)
Heck, the mere wearing of a t-shirt by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan was enough to get her removed from the gallery during President Bush’s 2006 State of the Union speech.
Dialog is not always initiated through respectful language. Sometimes colorful language can attract interest in an issue in a way that proper words never could. The issue ought to be, not whether the words were satirical in intent, but whether they can lead to a conversation that unearths the truth.
As His Holiness should know, the truth will set you free...