On Wednesday in Berlin, Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, judged the decision of Catholic Pope Benedict XVI to resign from office on February 28, 2013 to be a sensible step. At the same time, Wolf warned that the staging of the resignation and the election of a new pope would distract attention from important issues. “With an unusual and surprising decision, Benedict XVI has also caused much relief among quite a few Catholics and other Christians,” said Frieder Otto Wolf. In view of this fact, a far-reaching commentary on his work was not necessarily necessary. However, Wolf recalled that Benedict XVI had warned of the importance of “practical atheism” last November. This was ultimately even more destructive than the theoretical denial of the existence of gods in previous centuries, he said at the time. “We can of course hope that Benedict XVI’s responsibility in the context of his many years of service as master of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will not be forgotten. But it is now particularly up to the faithful at the church base itself to seize opportunities for a long overdue awakening as well as a humanizing renewal of church structures and positions. We wish all reform-oriented forces continued strength, perseverance and, above all, success.” Frieder Otto Wolf went on to say that from a secular and humanist perspective, the repressive, reactionary and dogmatic policies of Benedict XVI are no longer the central problem for European societies today. Humanists should therefore not allow themselves to lose sight of significant crisis situations and really important issues in the coming months. These include the consequences of unregulated financial capitalism, which are having an alarming impact on the reality of life for large sections of the population, and not just in some southern European countries. Wolf emphasized that there is now a consensus on this topic that is not limited to political or civil society associations. The papal message for the Catholic World Day of Peace at the beginning of the year, for example, demonstrates this relatively unmistakably. “Crisis situations without visible ways out are not only found in Greece or Spain,” Wolf continued. “They even exist in Germany, as the lack of convincing and sustainable solutions for coping with demographic change, the growing alienation of politicians from the real needs of the people and the population’s dwindling trust in the social and political authorities show.” Humanistically minded people should maintain a perspective in their personal as well as public and social commitment, despite the expected media staging surrounding the change of the head of the Catholic Church, which will continue to enable and promote the solution of the serious problems.
Wolf: “The election of the next pope can therefore only be interesting insofar as it contains an answer to the question of whether the Roman Catholic Church will be a serious player in the coming years in a globalized world that is often secular and multi-religious and in the sense of humanizing all conditions, or whether it will stick to the course set by Benedict XVI for years.”
