Jen

I miss all the good stuff in Chicago!!! A real Virgin Mary sighting!?!?! I was just thinking about her the other day! Okay, well, not really. I have been thinking about religion though, especially with certain events that have recently happened in my life. I don't consider myself very religious; I'm more spiritual then anything. I've just had a lot of time to think about things, and some things about religion (especially Catholicism - which I was brought up on) just don't sit well with me. Now, to my story.

It’s true, I am getting older. One of the tell tale signs that my interests are changing is that now, on my way home from work, I listen to talk radio (NPR and such). It’s way more informative then the paper or obviously, the TV news, and I feel like I actually learn information that is pertinent to my life and of real interest to me. Crazy, I know.

Since the Pope’s death, I have been trying to figure out this “Legacy” that I hear all news sources talking about. I mean, as far I was concerned, the Pope just hung out in Vatican City (which, by the way, is amazing. There is so much incredible art there, it’s almost too much to look at in a day.) looking out at Rome and eating pasta.

Back to talk radio. So the discussion was about his “legacy,” and I found out two facts that really changed my mind about the guy.

1) Galileo. In the 1600’s Galileo was accused of heresy by the Vatican for teaching Copernicus’ theory as true – that the earth rotated around the Sun. He was sentenced to life imprisonment (which he spent at his home, but pleas for pardons and medical treatment were refused).

What the Pope did:

In July of 1981, the Pope constituted a study commission for the expressed purpose of studying the Galileo case. The commission - composed of scientists, historians and theologians - worked for over ten years and then in 1992 it brought its work to a close. Basically, Galileo’s sentence was revoked. Yes, people, it’s true! The earth does rotate around the sun! It took some crazy 300 years for it to happen, but it did. Pope John Paul spent most of his time um, “in office” working to prove Galileo’s theory. Really, for the Catholic Church, that’s pretty amazing to admit; we are not the center of the universe.

2) Evolution: According the Catholic church, we (minus the sinners!) are all descendants from Adam and Eve, all uniquely God’s creatures, blah, blah, blah. Point is, we are definitely not from monkeys!!!

What the Pope said:

"Today, almost half a century after the publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis."

Holy shit! You’re saying we might descend from monkeys? It’s true. The fact that he acknowledged that evolution is possibly more than just a tall tale, is also an amazing step for the church. I also heard on the radio that the Vatican has not joined many (pardon the terminology) hardcore Christian groups in their refusal to acknowledge of the theory of evolution.

So yes, there are still many things that are absolutely unfathomable about how the church is run, but these two changes, on the grand scheme of things, happen to be impressive. Don't expect to see me in church anytime soon though. Or, practice Catholicism. Or really believe in it either.

Anyway, for more interesting reading on the Pope, check out these two articles I referenced:

"What the Pope Said"
"Reconciling Old Lovers: John Paul on Science and Faith"