"At the heart of Benedict’s papacy..."

"... is the belief that Catholics must worship God properly."

That is from a profile of Pope Benedict XVI, "Test for a reluctant pope," written by Damian Thompson of The Telegraph for The National. Here is a bit more:

He wants to heal the wounds caused by the liberals’ cruel repudiation of beautiful Latin services. In 2007 he dramatically removed all the restrictions on the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass. Old and new worship should live side by side, enriching each other, he believes.

This policy has alarmed a generation of middle-aged and elderly Catholics (including bishops) brought up to regard Vatican II as a new beginning, a year zero. And Benedict has paid a price for his lack of allies in the Vatican: some cardinals sought to exploit the crisis.

However, the new generation is on the side of the Pope, for younger active Catholics are surprisingly conservative. They see the Pope as a grandfatherly figure who is introducing them to ancient treasures rejected by their hippy parents. Rome these days is full of black-clad seminarians inspired by this “Benedictine” conservatism.

There are interesting parallels here with Islam. Benedict does not believe that Christianity and Islam can converge theologically, but he shares an understanding with Muslim leaders who believe that the strength of a religious community lies in its traditions. Liberal Catholicism and liberal Islam have one thing in common: they have a very poor track record of attracting followers.

Benedict rejects extremists of all faiths, but he is also unimpressed by diluted religion. And he is curious to learn more about how Islam is walking the tightrope of modernising without surrendering its identity because he is walking a similar tightrope.

According to Fr. Samir, S.J., author of 111 Questions on Islam and an adviser to Benedict on Islam and related matters, Islam is, by and large, not walking the tightrope—it is simply ignoring its existence. He bluntly states, "The Muslim world today faces one of the most profound identity crises in its entire existence" (p. 16). Fr. Samir connects this crises to the lack of a "single recognized authority", which in turns means a lack of "Muslim unity." He then remarks, "Modernity is a concept that is foreign to many Muslims. This is exacerbated due to the fact that most Muslim countries suffer from widespread illiteracy and are governed by authoritarian political regimes or dictatorships. The concept of 'human rights' is foreign to a large segment of the population" (p. 17). At the heart of issue, Fr. Samir argues, is how "the very sources of the Muslim faith (the Qur'an and the sunna)" are understood, interpreted, and lived. He holds out some hope that a tolerant, moderate form of Islam can appear, but admits that it will be a very difficult and tumultuous task (see Part II, "Can Islam Change?", pp. 54-89).

Read Thompsons' entire piece.

• Christians and Muslims, Living Together | Samir Khali Samir, S.J. | The preface to the English edition of 111 Questions on Islam.
• In praise of Fr. Samir’s "111 Questions on Islam" (May 1, 2009)
• "Knowing their faith and knowing the Gospel, the Gospel cannot fear the Koran." (Mar. 8, 2009)
• "Dialogue starts with serious, academic, honest information about Christianity and Islam." (Mar 4, 2009)
• TIME magazine profiles Samir Khali Samir, S.J. (March 4, 2009)

Comments

[Randy]

In fact, neither the Pope nor the Church has made a definitive statement about the morality of using condoms against disease.

I don't think that is true. The church has said that condoms distort the sexual act so using them is gravely immoral. I am not sure what questions he thinks have that leaves open.