WOW, NOBODY ASKED

Today a Yahoo! story about Benedict XVI included the following quote, "South African Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu called Benedict a 'rigid conservative' out of step with the times. 'We would have hoped for someone more open to the more recent developments in the world, the whole question of the ministry of women and a more reasonable position with regards to condoms and HIV/AIDS,' Tutu said."

First, I thought the Anglicans left because they didn't want to deal with Rome anymore. Why is Tutu commenting on the Church now? I mean, the Anglicans have their own issues, not the least of which being that Prince Charles does not appear to believe, and has expressed a desire to *not* be the Defender of the Faith should he become King of England. Maybe Tutu should be focusing on some of those sorts of issues, rather than judging Benedict's time as Pope the day after it begins.

One of the things that has amazed me about this process is that non-Catholics all over the place have been talking about what sort of Pope we should have, and expressing support for different people. Really, the doors to the club are open. If you are already baptized, there is pretty little to becoming Catholic. However, if you are not in the club, this doesn't really have to do with you. Besides, Popes don't appear to only spend their time on American issues. It turns out that there actually important issues that the other BILLION Catholics in the world encounter that are not big issues in the American Church. Thus, it is unlikely that a Pope will be elected or not based on whether Christ was made man for "us" or for "us men." Oy, let's give Benedict a chance before we get all Tutu on him.