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    Letters to Pope Benedict: College Students Speak Out
    Letters to Pope Benedict: College Students Speak Out
    Letters to Pope Benedict: College Students Speak Out
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    Letters to Pope Benedict: College Students Speak Out

    By R. John Kinkel

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    About this ebook

    Being a modern day Catholic woman, the ancient teaching that bothers me the most is the tradition that states no woman is to be ordained a priest.
    Erika Bussard, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

    Our Church needs to listen to the parishioners and not ignore the words they speak.
    Chris Ruark, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio

    Pope Benedict and his advisors are not listening despite the fact the church is in crisis, says Hans Kng and a host of European theologians. Author Dr. R. John Kinkel believed that if he shared students opinions about the state of the Catholic Church in a series of letters addressed to Pope Benedict, the pontiff just might listen. Convinced that this strategy might work where others have failed, he collected letters from college students over the last four years (20072010). Simply put, he asked students to tell the pope what they think.

    Kinkel believes time is running out; the Catholic Church is losing a whole generation of believers because they are frustrated. The Vatican, according to most students, needs reform; from the belief that woman should be ordained to the perception of antiquated teachings not based in todays reality, Letters to Pope Benedict gives these students thoughts and vital opinions voice. Within this volume lies the key to preserving the church and bringing the vibrancy of a younger generation into the fold.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTrafford Publishing
    Release dateNov 2, 2011
    ISBN9781466900325
    Letters to Pope Benedict: College Students Speak Out

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      Book preview

      Letters to Pope Benedict - R. John Kinkel

      Letters to Pope

      Benedict

      College Students Speak Out

      Edited by

      R. John Kinkel, Ph.D.

      Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan

      Order this book online at www.trafford.com

      or email orders@trafford.com

      Most Trafford titles are also available at major online book retailers.

      © Copyright 2011 R. John Kinkel, Ph.D.

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

      Printed in the United States of America.

      isbn: 978-1-4269-7431-1 (sc)

      isbn: 978-1-4269-7432-8 (hc)

      isbn: 978-1-4669-0032-5 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011917756

      Trafford rev. 10/28/2011

      7-Copyright-Trafford_Logo.ai

      www.trafford.com

      North America & international

      toll-free: 1 888 232 4444 (USA & Canada)

      phone: 250 383 6864 21095.png fax: 812 355 4082

      Contents

      DEDICATION

      Acknowledgments

      INTRODUCTION

      THE LETTERS

      I. TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

      II. REFORM IS NEEDED.

      III. GIVE GAYS A BREAK.

      IV. YOUR RELIGION IS GOOD.

      V. EMBRACE RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE.

      VI. THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IS STRONG.

      VII. WHY NO WOMEN PRIESTS?

      VIII. PREACH RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING.

      IX. WORK TOWARD GENUINE UNITY.

      X. HUMILITY IS A VIRTUE.

      XI. RETURN TO PRAYER, RENEWAL.

      XII. GOOD JOB, BUT CHANGE.

      XIII. CHANGE OR THE CHURCH WILL DIE.

      XIV. THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY: CHANGE PLEASE.

      XV. I’M OUT, BUT YOU’RE OUT OF LINE

      XVI. WORK ON RELIGIOUS UNDERSTANDING.

      XVII. EXPECT YOU TO LEAD.

      XVIII. POSSIBLE CONVERT?

      XIX. WHY NOT INNOVATE?

      XX. MAINTAIN TRADITION OF CELIBACY?

      XXI. VERY IMPRESSED WITH CATHOLIC CHURCH.

      XXII. KEEP SOME TRADITIONS, CHANGE OTHERS.

      XXIII. SHOW US THE WAY.

      XXIV. EASE UP A BIT—–TOO MANY RULES.

      XXV. IMPROVE YOUTH CHURCH ATTENDANCE.

      XXVI. THE CHURCH AND YOUTH.

      XXVII. JEWISH CHRISTIAN RELATIONS.

      XXVIII. LOST GENERATION?

      XXIX. I LEFT THE CHURCH.

      XXX. SEMINARIAN SPEAKS OUT.

      XXXI. REPORT ON BAD EXPERIENCE.

      XXXII. MAJOR CHANGE REQUIRED TO SAVE CHURCH

      XXXIII. LEARN TO RESPECT WOMEN LEADERS

      XXXIV. DO WHAT YOU THINK IS RIGHT.

      CONCLUSION AND COMMENT

      DEDICATION

      Charles W. Bailey (1946-2008)

      Acknowledgments

      All books depend on the generosity and cooperation of numerous individuals. I am grateful to the many students who took pen in hand and boldly spoke out about their ideas concerning the Catholic Church. I know it took time and effort to formulate those ideas and now they have them on paper bound for Rome. Numerous colleagues reviewed portions of the manuscript and offered valuable suggestions and encouragement. Toward the end of this research project I read Eli Saslow’s book Ten Letters (2011), and knew I had a winner. His volume recounts the importance of letters sent to President Barak Obama by ordinary citizens like yourself. Yes, letters got through to the most powerful person in the world. He read some of them and the citizen opinions had an impact on public policy. Despite all my previous doubts, I am convinced this project was a good idea and back in 2007 I really was on the right track.

      Many thanks are in order to the support staff of Trafford Publishing for their email reminders that deadlines have to be met. Kudos to those who granted permission to reprint various articles. Finally, I thank my wife, Norma, and our two children, Jonathan and Danielle. You are my inspiration and please keep it up. Mere words cannot express the importance of your love and support.

      Rochester, Michigan, October, 2011.

      INTRODUCTION

      How does the average person get through to one of the most isolated public figures in the history of the modern world? No pope in the last 25 years has ever held a press conference as we understand the term. Obviously interviews on EWTN (Mother Angelica’s Catholic TV station) do not qualify. Popes do not, on a regular basis, take or answer questions from a wide variety of journalists and Christian leaders about Catholic issues and problems. The current pope has never explained himself with follow up questions to the general public regarding his stand on women in the church, his role in Germany’s priest sexual abuse crisis while he was Archbishop, or his stand on married priests. Some have rightly described Benedict’s trips to the U.S. and Australia as papal pep rallies designed to cheer the team during hard times.¹

      To counteract this closed organizational style, I have asked college students (about 10 % of whom were older and non-traditional students) to write Pope Benedict XVI a letter and tell him what they think. Are things ok? . . . . Are there problems which they feel need fixing? Maybe he will listen to them, I thought, although he failed to acknowledge or listen to those who have questioned his recent policies or pronouncements.² Simply put, students were invited over a three-year period (2007-2010) to contribute a letter to a book I was assembling called, Letters to Pope Benedict. They were free to say whatever they wanted. Some used pseudonyms to protect their job status. In effect, I was turning the tables on this modern apostle—St. Paul wrote letters to his early Christian churches to teach them how to live a Christian life. Now these college students are writing letters to the modern apostle and leader of the Roman Catholic church (1.1 billion members) and offering their views on the Catholic church. From the type of letters in this volume one can see that a wide variety of opinions and perspectives exist in and outside the Catholic church. Students were free to write their own stories and they did. Only minor editing was done to make clear what students were trying to say. Letters that I felt unfairly attacked the Pope or the Catholic church were eliminated. After reading what these 34 students had to say, I decided to help the reader of this volume recall some of the controversial issues referred to in the letters. Hence, there are newspaper articles and notes interspersed throughout the book. It is clear that these epistles are for the pope to read and ponder, but this project is for everybody to listen, to learn, and to react. People should know what others are saying about the pope and the Catholic church. These notes from college students can give Vatican decision-makers pause for thought—are we on the right track? Are we building a bridge to nowhere?

      Will the pope ignore the views of these college students I have

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