A prominent Danish theologian, who is part of a commission set up to modernize the Vatican and the papacy, says that Pope Benedict XVI is out of touch with reality.
Pope Benedict XVI is the wrong man for the job in what has become a complex society, according to a Danish theologian who is part of a commission seeking to modernize the papacy.
“I have the greatest respect for Pope Benedict’s intellectual capacity. Theologically he is well-founded — he knows it all. But I don’t think he is the right man for the job. He forgets life,” says Professor Emeritus Peder Nørgaard-Højen in an interview with politiken.dk.
Ignoring Reality
Nørgaard-Højen, who has studied the Vatican and papacy for many years, has recently returned from meetings in an unusual Vatican commission composed of eight Catholics and eight Protestants. The commission is seeking to find ways to modernize the Vatican in an increasingly complex world.
“He ignores reality as it is. From a limited, theological point of view he is correct that the use of condoms goes contrary to the Catholic requirement of protecting life where it is found. But when he puts forward this sort of message on a continent where sexual practices mean that thousands of people die, it is clear to me that Pope Benedict has completely forgotten what kind of world it is that he exists in,” says Nørgaard-Højen.
“I know the pope. He has visited us and he knows what we are working with,” says Nørgaard-Højen, who sees a major risk that Pope Benedict will lead the Vatican astray.
