15 April 2005
	THE CHURCH NEEDS TO FIND ITS WAY IN THE WORLD

The death of Pope John Paul II received such obsessive attention that it must have given modern sceptics pause. Such religious devotion often embarrasses rationalists who stand a little open-mouthed at evidence that their world-view, which they believe based on science, is a minority creed. The white-hot intensity of media coverage reflected the deepest emotions of the millions of pilgrims who made their way to Rome, and the wider spiritual aspirations of humanity. This is in no way a judgment on the truth or otherwise of the Catholic Church's tenets of faith; nor on the saintliness or anti-modernity of the long-ruling pope; nor even on whether any religion can ameliorate the ills of the poor and sick world. But because of the hold the Church unquestionably has over ordinary people, what it says and what it does is important. While many see continuity of dogma as central, the world - of which the very essence is change - requires the priestly powers to examine the relevance of their doctrines, especially in Africa. The use of condoms against the HIV/Aids pandemic, the ordination of women, the lot of the poor - all these are issues with which it has to grapple. It needs to respond to reality on the ground; and in Africa that translates into the terrible death of millions. The Church needs to be part of the solution. Clearly, it has the requisite moral authority. It has been said that when a man loses his faith, he does not believe in nothing but in anything. Foaming around the pillars of the major religions is a torrid melange of New Age pseudo-faith and an upsurge of fundamentalism. And even if it is true, as Nietzsche and Dostoevsky proclaimed, that God is dead, there is a god-shaped vacancy in the human heart. Yet people want more than pious promises; they yearn for alleviation of their social and physical distress as well. In a historical cycle that has yet to be analysed, the great religions are finding a new place in the world. In all this, with its vast influence over the poor, Catholicism should examine its fundamental mission.