Thank you for a clear and crisp reflection.

Simply, essentially,we need the clergy...from top to bottom...to COMMUNICATE THE WORD in all its simplicity and beauty.

The Popes have not been the only guilty parties in their inabilities or refusals to communicate or share....individual cardinals and bishops must share in the blame.

There needs to be a global realisation..and acceptance...that we are ALL part of the royal priesthood....even if we don't share in the finery!

Perhaps if the clergy reflected on what's meant to be the Pope's highest title...servant of the servants...they'd begin to understand the message of Jesus.

Honesty is certainly a must..together with a vow to stop putting words into His mouth.

Our concern is with the horror and sadness of AIDS and the totally unchristian attitude of those who would refuse lifesaving protection...especially within marriages where a spouse is HIV infected.

We invite you to visit our website at www.aids.net.au

Some may want to help us help. That'd be appreciated.

Brian Haill,
President,
The Australian AIDS Fund Inc.,
PO Box 1347, Frankston, Victoria,3199,AUSTRALIA
Email: bhaill@bigpond.net.au

With the Vatican about to elect a new pope, what should the world be hoping for....An Atheist!

Kenny :)

Well I'm hoping for a humanist - however I suspect linking the Vatican to humanism is creating something of an oxymoron.

You speak so eloquently regarding honesty with the Pope, yet you want the Church to be dishonest when it comes to the great command that Jesus had for all to go out in the world and tell of the Good News. Pope John Paul II was very true to his beliefs, and the Word as it is written. The Church did wrong years ago when it tried to be "more relevant". Relevancy does not mean to disregard the Word, it means to make the Word more appealing to the current generations. That is a big distinction.

When I came to Australia from a Communist (and atheist) country in 1968 I was pleasantly surprised to find it not a religious but a highly tolerant and civilised country. Now, watching from Germany, I am surprised to see how many secular fundamentalist "suicide terrorists" there are who " blow up" themselves, (and those who are in contact with them), fortunately only verbally. Another surprise comes from the fact that in Germany, certainly a more secular country than Australia, the recently deceased pope has been attacked and ridiculed not so much by atheists as by some Catholic theologians and activists who want to replace the dogma of the pope's infallibility (on matters of theology) by a dogma of their own infallibility.

Where to start?

I never cease to be amazed by the capacity of various writers to dream up such nonsensical drivel.

writes: "It should be eminently reasonable for the United Nations to have voting rights in papal elections"

Huh? So, does the UN having rights in Australia's or any other member country's democratic processes? No. So why is it "eminently reasonable" for them to be involved in electing the pope? What a ridiculous argument.

Re Galileo, it is not surprising to hear the commonly held revisionist view that the Popes resisted Galileo's science. Until the trial against him, Galileo stood in high esteem among the Holy See, the Jesuits and especially the popes of his lifetime. His teachings were celebrated. Upon Galileo's visit to Rome in 1611 Pope Paul V welcomed him in friendly audience, and the Jesuit Roman College honoured him with various ceremonies. Galileo's first written statement in favour of the Copernican system, his Letters on Sunspots, was met with much approval and no critical voice was heard. Among the cardinals who congratulated Galileo was Cardinal Barberini, who later became Pope Urban V111 and would sentence him in 1633. In fact, Urban even wrote an ode to Galileo. In 1615, an accusation against Galileo was filed but denied by the Court of Inquisition. From 1615 till 1632, Galileo enjoyed the friendship of many cardinals and the different popes.

Galileo fell foul of the church for personal and political reasons. It had nothing to do with science or religion. See A Koestler, "The Sleepwalkers: A History of Man's Changing Vision of the
Universe."

I do agree though that sexual predation of children within the papal domain be handled "in the most secretive way...restrained by a perpetual silence". Indeed, homosexuals who are intent on joining the priesthood in order to gain easy access to young boys should be flatly refused entry to seminaries and those already in the church should be thrown out.