I have more thoughts on the Pope and modern Catholicism

Phoenix's response to my original post about the Pope got me thinking a little more deeply about the Catholic Church and its new leader. Andrew Sullivan has written a great deal about the subject, and I agree with him nearly 100%. Like I've told others, I think Catholic theology has changed and needs to continue to do so, not just to "get with the times," but to remain relevant to the broadening scope of human knowledge. I'm not talking about changing core beliefs, only how those beliefs are taught and how they apply to what we now know about the human experience. In trying to wrap my head around the seemingly endless contradictions that abound in Catholic teaching and thought, I was reminded of a piece I wrote back in my freshman or sophomore year at Catholic University: a review of Charles Curran's Absolutes in Moral Theology?. Curran's name has popped up frequently in discussions of Pope Benedict XVI because in 1986, he was forced to leave Catholic University by Cardinal Ratzinger for his "radical" thoughts on human sexuality and contraception. Of Curran's work, I wrote back in October 2000:

In my view, Charles Curran's basic assertion is critical for the development of Catholic thought. If one accepts the fact that man's scientific, medical, and psychological knowledge has exponentially developed since the sixteenth century, then one must realize that man's understanding of moral theology should as well. If Catholic thought fails to accept the ramifications of human achievement, it will cease to be a viable and relevant field of study...Even though he encounters some problems explaining the details, I found Curran's work refreshing and thought-provoking. His strongest argument comes out of his analysis of the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium...He champions the idea of a "pilgrim church."...He states, "A pilgrim church is ever on the arch towards its goal of perfect union with Christ the spouse. A pilgrim church is constantly striving, probing, falling, rising, and trying again." This statement goes to the heart of Curran's argument; I agree with it completely.

The new Pope seems inherently hostile to the idea of a pilgrim church; I still believe it's one of the few ideas that can salvage Catholicism from scandal and irrelevance.