[AP photo] In case there was any question as to whether Rome cares much about popular sentiment in the United States here's something to consider. This is Cardinal Bernard Law, former Archbishop of Boston, presiding over memorial ceremonies [Novemdiales] for Pope John Paul II. Despite the opprobrium heaped upon him for his role in covering up recent sex scandals Rome sees fit to feature Law prominently in the memorials. This serves to remind us that the Roman Catholic Church is a global, not just an American, institution. Its priorities and values are quite different from those that dominate American political and legal culture.
In a related story, the NYT, runs a piece arguing that Rome has to adapt Catholic doctrine to the demands of public opinion. The general argument -- one that has been prominently featured in American Catholicism since the founding of the republic -- is that the Church must become more "American" in order to survive. In this specific iteration, which focuses upon Hispanic Catholics, there is a suggestion that the next pope should be Latino so as to better understand their peculiar religious culture. The piece closes with an expression of the heretical view that "the Church is the people." None of this, of course, is going to have any effect in the Vatican and the tendency of organs like the NYT to feature such critical perspectives only highlights the inconsistencies between American and Catholic cultures. Read the story here.
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