PhilBaker.net: On Popes and Elections

I only heard that the pope had died last night, when my sister told me. It’s a little strange, actually, to think this. I’m not a Catholic, so I don’t necessarily agree with the theology of having priests and popes, etc., but watching his Easter address, I don’t know who could have failed to feel some spark of compassion. He was obviously in pain and frustrated by his inability to say everything he wanted to.

The link above is to a post made by someone that spoke at our Church a while ago, and it really made me change the whole way I see this. At first, I was a little sad, but I was thinking more about the differences between my theology and Catholic theology. Reading this post was really refreshing, because it reminded me that the most important thing here is empathising with Catholics. Instead of squabbling over differences in theology (and let’s face it, the theology of my church isn’t always easy to take), we should be focussing on the very genuine pain a lot of Catholics will be feeling at the moment. I may not be able to understand or identify with their pain, but I can certainly understand the need for support in spite of disagreement of beliefs. I ask for that with my non-Christian friends, so I should certainly grant the same to Catholics. I need to put my differences aside and recognise that their pain is valid and real, even if I don’t understand the cause of it.