Religion lags in changing world

Matt Stern
With one of the most interesting papal transitions in recent memory now behind us, we have a unique opportunity to step back and take stock of what the Papacy actually means in the modern world. This is no small question, because said modern world is clearly at odds with much of what the Roman Catholic Church stands for today.
Pragmatically, there are serious questions about the impact that church doctrine has on public health issues in the developing world and beyond. The church’s dogmatic opposition to birth control is only one of many issues where Iron Age wisdom falls short, in a world full of knowledge and discovery.
In order to gain a better understanding of how exactly the Catholic Church fits into our world today, we can look to the media and their coverage of the papal election.
Looking specifically to the American media, we find that the major news outlets have taken a decidedly neutral stance toward the election of a new pope. That is to say, the coverage of Pope Francis’ rise was essentially the same coverage we see when a secular leader is elected.
Although more than a billion Catholics supposedly look to their faith and the pope by extension for guidance regarding the most important questions in life, the media’s coverage reflected something less consequential.
Instead, there was much attention paid to who was the favorite to become the next pope.
Discussions about who had the best odds were conducted, as if the papal conclave were merely a stopgap to hold us over between the Super Bowl and March Madness. There was also a lot of talk about where the next pope should hail from, based on where the world’s Catholics live today.
The fact that Pope Francis is from South America was discussed in the way pundits might discuss a presidential candidate who hails from a swing state. And even after the conclave ended and Francis emerged as the new pope, a media address was held to introduce the pope to the press.
Taken together, these elements make for a tone that is not all that serious. Instead, the Papacy along with so many other religious institutions appears to be taken less and less seriously by the secular world as time goes on.
Numerical measures support the idea that the public is increasingly writing off religion. In a recent Pew research poll, it was revealed that although only 7.3 percent of respondents considered themselves unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular”) when they were children, 16.1 percent now characterize the same.
Thus the number of people who do not subscribe to or outright reject religion has more than doubled in only one generation.
This is a huge swing, and if this trend continues, all religions could find themselves at the margins of society someday soon.
Perhaps we should not be surprised that faith and the organizations that claim to know “the truth” are declining in popularity. As we continue to learn more about the universe, and the moral guidelines that can lead human flourishing, religions, including Catholicism, are being put on the spot more often.
Whether this is a good trend is an entirely different conversation.
What is clear is that religious beliefs are under threat in America, and beyond. What is interesting is that they are not being threatened by some vast conspiracy to destroy the moral foundation of society. Instead, they are being threatened by a growing portion of the general public that continues to see empiricism work, while “infallible” religious institutions continue to disappoint.

New pope’s election indicative of priority shift in Catholic Church

Nafisa Masud
The Roman Catholic Church recently celebrated the election of the new pope, Argentine cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis I. He is the first non-European pope to be elected in 1,300 years and the first Jesuit. Pope Francis shares many of the same views as previous popes and the cardinals living in the Vatican, but it is his ethnicity that serves to make the largest impact on the future of Catholics worldwide.
Although he is the first Jesuit to claim the title, Pope Francis is known to be quite conservative despite the Jesuits’ reputation for being more liberal than their mainstream counterparts. Francis’ view on contraceptives, abortion and same-sex marriage don’t differ when compared with Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet and Italian Angelo Scola, both of whom were considered his strongest contenders.
What distinguishes Pope Francis from these nominees is his overwhelming humility. Even as an archbishop of Buenos Aires with many luxuries at his disposal, Pope Francis insisted on cooking his own meals and living in his apartment instead of the opulent residence set aside for him. He also rejected a private car and driver in favor of riding the bus, doing so in the hopes that churchgoers could approach him with questions.
This quality is a well-regarded one, but it is not the foundational reason for his appointment. The election of a pope from Latin America represents a shift in the perspective of the Catholic Church, one created by an attempt to focus on areas most densely populated with followers. According to The New York Times, four out of every 10 Catholics live in Latin America.
Unlike Europe, the Americas never experienced schisms at the hands of revolutionary thinkers such as Martin Luther King Jr. and John Calvin. Today, however, the rise of evangelists poses a threat to Catholicism in Latin America and has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of priests there. These clergymen are needed to preside over Mass, a crucial element in maintaining the sense of community among followers.
This number is also dwindling because of strict celibacy laws the late Pope John Paul II put in place in the ’80s during his attempt to stifle liberalism, according to an article in the Guardian.
Because of Paul II’s restrictive social policies, fewer and fewer young men are electing to become priests. Now, scarcely 30 years later, the average age of American priests has risen from 34 to 74. The ordination of married men into the priesthood is a possible solution to this problem, and a popular one at that, but it remains to be seen whether it will be put into action. Despite this crisis, Latin America represents the largest collection of Catholics worldwide.
A Latin American pope serves to harness the growing power of Hispanics in the world, especially in the Americas. This fact holds true in our state as well. According to the 2010 Census Bureau, minorities make up 20 percent of the population, Hispanics numbering more than 350,000.
The level of conservatism of Pope Francis and the policies he intends to put in place remain unknown for the time being, but it’s all too clear that his origins might speak more to the future of the Church than anything else.