A belated welcome to any visitors from Proverbs Daily. Feel free to look around and comment on anything you see.
Jeff sent you here for comments about the Pope. My comment is:
My suggestion is that you disregard any news story that uses the words "rottweiler" and panzerkardinal to describe Benedict XVI and instead look to those who know him well and have described him as kind, gracious, intelligent and open to dialogue.
Despite his "hardliner" reputation, I predict you will see a lot of goodness and love. Will he come down hard if he has to? Undoubtedly. But a**-kicking and name-taking are not the Pope's primary ministry, he is a shepherd.
As for comments you may have seen about his being unfriendly towards other religions, I think a quick study will only show that he's being honest. If you are a Protestant reading this, you are not Catholic. Why? Because you in some way think that the Catholic faith is defective. We may not always speak that way, but to say it isn't being mean or disrespectful, it's being truthful.
As Catholics, we believe that non-Catholic Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, New Ageism, etc. contain errors. That's why we're Catholic. That doesn't devalue the adherents of those religions, nor does it ignore the genuine true human and even divine goodness and wisdom which may be found in those religions. It merely asserts that there are differences and we are on a certain side of them. If we refuse to assert that there are differences, there can be no unity, because we would be lying.
Despite the differences, we cherish the goodness and truth which we share with people of all faiths, and appreciate, respect and love all people precisely because they are people, created in God's image.
I like the way you tell it like it is. It's refreshing to read a straight shooter.
My Protestant office-mates both agreed that there was no contradiction between the Cardinal's written position about other religions and his openness to dialogue with them.