POPE OR ROCK STAR?

First & foremost, I mean no disrespect to either Pope John Paul or the new Pontiff, Benedict XVI. May his reign be prosperous.

That said, this whole passing of the Pope & the new election was fervor run amok turned into a media circus. In every way it has been excessive. Is it the actual event that produces the rabid Media coverage or does the coverage ratchet up the emotions & the event? (A little like the proverbial chicken or the egg question?)

Just days before the death of John Paul, we had the all-Schiavo-all-the-time network coverage. (Again, I mean no disrespect.) Her very tragic life & deathwatch was really the saga of two families' battles to do what they believed was right for Teri. However, it became so ugly & strifeful that you knew you were watching the wreckage of people's souls. It was very real life drama, with the emotions amplified by the inordinate scrutiny of every media outlet in the world.

Unless you live in a spider-hole, you know that John Paul's death was preceded by the arrival of every news station in the world. Even the big-shots anchors flew in for this; Christiane Amanpour, Anderson Cooper, Shepard Smith, etc. (Rome... not a bad place to spend your "downtime.") I understood the faithful in St. Peter's Square, praying for the Pontiff's health while still alive. The initial public mourning that followed his death, also appropriate.

Then somehow, again, the attention became disproportionate, as if there was nothing else going on in the world. Even the late night talk shows were replaced with special tributes to John Paul II. Did anyone care this much about him in life? Yes, there was the news story when he met with a world leader, traveled to other countries, published his writings on church doctrine, called for peace or officiated on a holy day. How much he <u>actually</u> influenced world events is questionable. Yet, some how in his death, he became a rock star. Calls for his sainthood were abundant. His viewing - an event that tens of thousands flocked to like Times Square or the Pyramids at the millennium. People slept in the streets & then stood in line for untold hours for a 10 second glimpse at his remains. And the media was in the center of all the action, cataloguing each tear. John Paul's funeral was carried live worldwide.(Oh, how the American Networks must have wept that it wasn't in prime-time.)

I remember when John Paul II's predecessor, John Paul I, died suddenly after only 33 days in office. I recall nominal coverage of his 1978 electorate, treated like any other International news story. For this 2005 conclave we had smoke cams! Every major network had a dedicated camera trained just on the smoke stack above the Vatican. Thank God a new pope was elected swiftly. I don't think I could have endured much more of the "breaking" news stories to tell us the color of smoke, frenzied speculation & handicapping of who the next Pontiff would be. (Personally I love the Irish man who took bets on his web site.)

Pope Benedict has the charge of bringing this fragmented Roman Catholic Church into the 21st Century. Disaffectionately known as John Paul's Rottweiler, he is dogmatic regarding traditional Catholic doctrine.Doctrine that is in desperate need of contemporization. (I speak of Canon law as written in Ecumenical Councils, not necessarily Biblical accuracy.) At the age of 78 it is doubtful he is up to this task. The Catholic Church has become an old church. Particularly here in America, it has increasingly failed the needs of its younger people since it is still steeped in the traditions of the Dark Ages. Nearly three-quarters of American Catholics say they are more likely to follow their own conscience on "difficult moral questions," rather than the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll.

Additionally conversions to the priesthood & the convent (the future leadership) are almost nonexistent. Benedict needs to shake the very foundations of Catholicism while he has the world's spotlight. He has the opportunity & the stage to make his brand of Christianity a living & real, vital spiritual walk with the Heavenly Father rather than the outdated traditions & rituals of men. And isn't the worship of the Almighty what this really should be about... rather than the focus on a mortal man, the representative?!