At the close of 2009, Pope Benedict XVI floated the idea of a modern-day "court of the Gentiles" in which non-believers and atheists could somehow commune with the Catholic church without renouncing their unbelief. I explored this idea in two earlier posts entitled Benedict Calls for a Court of the Gentiles and What is a "Court of the Gentiles?". Yesterday, the Pontifical Council for Culture made the first steps toward implementing this proposal, inviting atheists and agnostics to fellowship with the Roman Catholic church through dialogue. The whole plan seems quite shaky--that is, unless one understands the Vatican's true purpose.
Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows that the Vatican wants to expand its influence over the entire globe, one way or the other. Facing the reality that many religions and people groups have no interest in converting to Roman Catholicism, the Vatican is now becoming innovative in exerting influence over even these outlying parts of humanity.
Based on his recent remarks, Benedict views Vatican influence akin to the architectural model of the ancient Jewish temple. Compare the following with the picture I have posted above:
- In the innermost part of the temple stood the Holy of Holies. In Benedict's vision, this represents the Roman curia and the Roman Pontiff himself.
- Outside of that was the Courtyard of the Priests. Here, that corresponds to the Roman Catholic bishops and priests around the world.
- Next was the Courtyard of the Men of Israel. Today this encompasses all Catholic lay men and women.
- Outside that was the Courtyard of Israel. Nowadays, this includes all professing Christian denominations and other monotheistic religions like Islam and Judaism.
- At the furthest edge of the temple lay the Courtyard of the Gentiles, where pagans and unbelieving peoples from surrounding nations could approach the temple and experience the spiritual place from a distance. Here, the purpose is exactly the same.
In the end, Benedict's plan is to expand the Vatican's influence over mankind in the same gradated way that the ancient temple did. The idea is to make everything and everyone at least somewhat tied to Rome, and then to draw in the ropes little by little.
Only time will tell how responsive the atheists will be to the Vatican's initiative. Based on Rome's recent outreach to artists and scientists, however, it seems quite possible that this new idea will be just as successful.
The article comes from from the Catholic News Agency.
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Atheists invited to join Vatican Council for outreach initiative
Vatican City, Feb 25, 2010 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Pontifical Council for Culture has announced that it is creating a foundation to focus on relations with atheists and agnostics. The president of the Council announced the initiative on Wednesday as a response to Pope Benedict's call to "renew dialogue with men and women who don't believe but want to move towards God."
Speaking with the Italian Bishops' Conference's Avvenire newspaper, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture (PCC), outlined the objectives of the foundation, called "The Courtyard of the Gentiles."
"Firstly," he said, it is "to create a network of agnostic or atheistic people who accept dialogue and enter as members into the foundation and, as such, into our dicastery."
Archbishop Ravasi listed further objectives of starting relations with atheistic organizations, studying the "spiritual place" of non-believers and developing "themes of rapport between religion, society, peace and nature."
"With this initiative, we would like to help everyone to step out of a poor conception of believing, (and) promote the understanding that theology has scientific dignity" and a founding in nature, he continued.
These themes, said Archbishop Ravasi, would be addressed in a yearly conference, the first of which will take place in "the second half of this year, probably in Paris."
