Through whose eyes? [View All]

[dsc]

Like most people, I never met the Pope. But I knew a lady who did. When I was a kid I had a paper route and on it was this elderly Polish lady who had met the Pope shortly after he was named. On a table in her house was a framed, autographed picture of the Pontiff. She was so proud of the picture, and a article in our local paper which recounted her meeting with him. She was from the Old Country and it was easy to see why she literally worshipped him. Thanks in large part to his efforts she lived to see the liberation of her homeland. I can fully understand, looking through her eyes, why Catholics in general, and Poles in particular, are mourning today.

But I also have to look at him through the eyes of Robbie and his parents. Robbie was a freshman at the local Catholic school who killed himself due to his inability to deal with being gay. Even worse, the local bishop refused to burry him in a Catholic cemetary unless the parents agreed not to speak of his homosexuality. In the end the parents agreed and then broke the agreement. Understably, I doubt Robbie's parents are in mourning for the Pope this day.

So whose eyes do I view the Pope through? Do I look at him with the adoring and worshipful eyes of my Polish neighbor or the righetously indignant eyes of Robbie's parents? The answers is both.

I can greatly admire the Pope who set his people free and spoke out for peace, even when it wasn't popular. I can admire the Pope who moved forward the causes of reconsiliation with both Jews and Muslims. I can admire the Pope who was honestly pro life in all senses of the word. He didn't just love fetuses but felt that the needs of babies also needed to be met. I can admire the man who walked the walk by amoung other things forgiving the person who tried to assassinate him.

But I also have to despise the Pope who is so out of touch with the modern world. A Pope tied to a Mideval ideal of a male celebrate priesthood. A Pope who used his considerable bully pulpit to call gays evil and sick. A Pope who was close to silent in the face of an organized plot to cover up child abuse in both the US and Europe.

As much as I might like to, looking at the Pope only through my neighbor's eyes shortchanges him every bit as much as looking at him only through Robbie's. While I understand and respect those that mourn the man tonight, I won't be among them. I am not celebrating either. We lost both a good man and a not so good man today. That is often what happens when the famous die. I will miss the good and hope the bad stays dead. Neither my neighbor, nor Robbie deserve less.