Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, said on Friday in Berlin that the latest statements by the new Catholic Pope Francis were a clear thought-provoking impulse.
The earlier predictions about a future head of the Catholic Church now seem to be confirmed, says Wolf. Fundamentalist dogmatism and a bizarrely independent faith would also characterize Francis’ attitudes. In the first major mass after his election to the Catholic papacy, Pope Francis claimed to the faithful that all those who do not pray to his Lord are praying to a devil. “If you do not confess Jesus Christ, you confess the worldliness of the devil, the worldliness of evil,” the new Catholic Pope continued in his speech to the faithful. Wolf pointed out that with these statements, Francis is not only defaming and insulting the members of religious faith communities who do not share the Christian concept of God and in particular the doctrine of Christ as a savior. The Pope also disparages more modern Christians who have developed a different rationale for their church and religious commitment than that of the official doctrine of the triune God. “This should be a clear and sobering reminder to them and to all those who are working towards a reform of church policy.” These statements by the Catholic Pope should not be underestimated or dismissed as irrelevant, as they are not only believed to be true by younger and more naive people around the world. In Germany, his church has also taken on a large number of public tasks in education, health and culture. “It is necessary that the continued spread of such views from the highest levels of the church hierarchy is finally critically addressed here. It is no longer just a question of how the traditional privileged position of the churches can be dismantled, but whether a Catholic Church that allows itself to be tied down to these positions can still be promoted as a partner of the state and civil society,” said Frieder Otto Wolf. In any case, there is no reasonable reason why this religious community and the positions it represents should not be scrutinized in the same way as all other denominations and ideological organizations without a religious confession. Finally, Wolf called on humanist and secular-minded people not to exaggerate the new papal election by paying too much attention to it: In view of the outbursts that can also be expected in the future, it is also important in Germany not to exhaust one’s own energies and wishes for improvement in indignation, he said. Because in order to really change habits and attitudes in the long term, convincing positive alternatives are also always needed. “Criticism should be constructive. And constructive criticism doesn’t just have to take place on a linguistic and media level. Nor should it be limited to this, but should be authentically convincing through a different, tolerant and critical practice,” emphasized Wolf. Nevertheless, a self-confident dialog with church members remains an important task. This could take place in direct conversation and also through communication in the so-called social networks. It is crucial that a rethink can be initiated in this way, which helps to promote the necessary enlightenment and humanization of the current situation.
Frieder Otto Wolf considered it positive that the election of Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Catholic Pope has fundamentally strengthened the importance of the global perspective. “Bergoglio comes from a country that, alongside the African continent described by Benedict XVI as the ‘spiritual lungs’ and some regions of Asia, is characterized by a living tradition of the Catholic faith. The fact that he confronts us today as Pope of the Catholic Church can also provide an impetus for humanists in questions about how humanist attitudes can be anchored and promoted in societies to break with the naively Eurocentric view that is prevalent in Germany in particular and has also been reinforced by previous pontificates, which focuses too much on our country and Europe.”
