First off, I hope I can be forgiven for parting with my usual subject matters in order to write about an issue of paramount importance for me.  Not to worry — more censures of Congress and prognostications regarding sports teams are forthcoming.

Photo courtesy of geopoliticalmonitor.com

For now, however, I would like to focus on the recent announcement from the Vatican that Pope Benedict XVI will be resigning at the end of this month — and how horribly it has been covered by the mainstream media.  The failure to understand not only Church hierarchy but also Catholicism in general has led to widespread misconceptions surrounding the Pope and the future of the Catholic Church that desperately need to be put to rest.

Perhaps the most dangerous lie spread by the media is that the pope’s impending resignation indicates that the Catholic Church is in crisis and in need of reform.  In fact, neither of these is true.  The fact that a Pope is allowed to voluntarily step down, followed by a speedy and diplomatic election of his successor, demonstrates that the Vatican is a well-oiled machine and the Curia a stable authority.  No decline, no chaos — doesn’t sound like a crisis to me.

Since this is the case, the media should stop giving excessive airtime to the Church’s critics, who, for the most part, don’t know anything about it.  All kinds of unfounded faultfinders have been trotted out in front of cameras, from campaigners for women priests to defrocked Marxists to, worst of all, cradle Catholics.  I’m sorry, but if you were born a Catholic but have since rejected your faith and spent the rest of your life challenging Church teachings, you are no longer a Catholic and therefore should not be labeled as such.  A religion is defined by belief, not by birth.

This is not to say that the aforementioned groups of people do not have the right to voice their opposition to the Pope’s announcement.  But if they are going to do so, they need to do so with respect for the Catholic Church and at least some understanding of its structure and function.  Not everything can be viewed through a political lens, as much as the mainstream media would love for us to believe that it can.  Catholics do not fall into camps of Left and Right, and religious beliefs are not objects of negotiation.

Yes, this abdication is historically significant.  Yes, it is recently unprecedented.  But those who are calling for doctrinal reform are essentially saying that they would rather the Church be governed by a frail, aging man who is unable to perform his job efficiently than by a new, more capable successor, simply for precedent’s sake.

Now, I respect tradition as much as the next person, but I sincerely hope I am not the only one who finds all of this disconcerting.  The Pope and the Church aside, there is a majorly pressing issue here.  Strip the situation down to its foundation, and what do you have?  A widespread falling-in-line behind the mass media in vehement opposition to what may very well be a wise decision simply because “that’s not how it’s usually done.”  If this is how we approach all other major political issues, we are in big trouble.  We, the people—and, in the case of the United States—those we elect to represent us — can’t be afraid to blaze trails in policymaking.  Who knows?  It might actually lead to something crazy, like progress.

And yes, it looks like I managed to sneak in a stab at Congress after all.