Students, faculty and the campus community expressed varied
reactions to Tuesday’s announcement of Pope Benedict XVI as
the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
While some were disappointed by the election of a conservative
pope, others found his expressed commitment to Catholic policies
encouraging.
Those who were not pleased with the decision said they were
concerned with the pope’s conservative stance on issues such
as homosexuality and the role of women in the church.
Scott Bartchy, a history professor and director of the UCLA
Center for the Study of Religion, said the pope’s
conservative policies mean the Catholic church will maintain its
position against condoms, which he said will lead to the further
spread of HIV.
In the 1960s, Bartchy was a faculty member at Tuebingen
University in Germany, where the future pope also taught. At the
time, student movements against the Vietnam War and the university
caused the future pope to adopt conservative views.
The pope’s views and his past involvement in the German
army may also hinder future interreligious dialogue, said Cynthia
Yoshitomi, a campus minister.
Some said the pope’s conservatism might also cause a
divide within the Catholic community.
While the youth liked Pope John Paul II, Yoshitomi said, she
does not think that they will like the new pope or his
position.
The pope’s views will also exacerbate the already existing
tensions in Catholicism between different regions that practice the
religion, said Carol Bakhos, a professor of near eastern languages
and cultures.
“American Catholicism certainly isn’t monolithic,
but … relative to other parts of the world, it is
progressive,” she said.
In addition, Bakhos said, the election of a pope from Europe
surprised her because of the amount of discussion of electing a
pope from Latin America or Africa.
But others were pleased that the new pope expressed his
commitment to policies traditionally advocated by the Catholic
church.
Martha Jameson, a third-year history student, said while she
understood that the pope’s position could cause controversy,
she admired his decision to stick by his beliefs.
“I really like the fact that he is a strong advocate of
the Catholic doctrine,” she said.
Jameson is currently studying in Rome and was among the crowd
congregated at St. Peter’s Basilica when the new pope made
his first public appearance as leader of the Catholic church.
The pope’s decision to enforce Catholic doctrine also
pleased Michael Rael, a second-year mathematics student and member
of the Catholic Students Association.
But Rael also said he did not think that the points advocated in
Catholic doctrine could be defined with political labels, saying
that while some parts of the doctrine are conservative, such as the
church’s stance on abortion, others, like its position on
social justice, are progressive.