|
|
Article: Catholicism's new cold war: the church militant lurches rightward. (The Political Power of the Catholic Church) (Cover Story)
- Article from:
- The Humanist
- Article date:
- September 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 American Humanist Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Each time Pope John Paul II has visited the United States, his hard-line message of Catholic fealty has grown a little sterner. Back in 1979, all of the papal fanfare obscured the realities of papal conservatism. Onlookers were too busy watching the popemobile whiz by to hear John Paul II's call for a return to pre-Vatican II Catholicism, cloaked in the rhetoric of adherence to the "spirit and essence" of the post-conciliar age.
By the time of his second visit in 1987, U.S. Catholics began to realize that their pontiff was less concerned with episcopal collegiality--a tradition which sees consultation and doctrinal inquiry as shared among the pope and body of ...