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Is Pope John Paul II Jeopardizing His Legacy?

Aired April 26, 2002 - 13:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: "National Catholic" reporter, publisher Tom Fox, wrote yesterday in "USA Today," that the pope, John Paul II, is jeopardizing his legacy by not responding to the modern issues of the church.

Tom Fox is our guest live in Kansas City right now.

Good afternoon to you.

TOM FOX, "NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER": Good afternoon, Bill.

HEMMER: Heck of a statement to make. Tell us why you believe that.

FOX: I think we have to back up a little and ask ourselves, today, why you Catholics unhappy with what happened at the Vatican. And I think the answer is there have really been two issues that the bishops need to address. The first one was the sex abuse issues, and the second one has been the issue which really has in some ways angered a lot of the Catholics, and that is the governance issue, the failure of the bishops to respond to the sex abuse.

We started writing about this more than 15 years ago. And from the very beginning, the pattern from then until now has been the same. And that is, that the abuse is hurtful, but the failure to react has been even more hurtful.

HEMMER: Tom, let me play the converse here. I want to go back to the pope comment that you made and wrote about yesterday. "This is a pope for more than 20 years right now has done more to bridge the gaps of various religions around the world than frankly any man before him in that position." That's a very difficult thing to water down, don't you think?

FOX: Right, I agree. I have an enormous admiration, as do other Catholics, for this pope, and so we all want him to succeed. In the legacy of this pope is always in the area of human rights. At the same time, he has been very, very staunch in making sure that nothing changes within the institution. He was reacting to the changes that came earlier in the second Vatican consul in the 1960s, where there was a substantial reform and renewal in the church. That in turn was reacting to about 300 years of retrenchment that occurred since the reformation. So now we're in a period in which this pope is really trying to pull things and hold things together, and in that climate, we really have this real important question of church governance. And what's required is a wide open discussion, in which the wisest of Catholic leaders, both the clergy and laity, can come together and really address how the Catholic Church can best operate in the modern world.

HEMMER: It is my judgment, Tom, that that issue hasn't been shut and closed just yet. In fact, the bishop's meeting in June may indeed go a long way it satisfying some of the things you're talking about. Do you not see as that a possibility?

FOX: Honestly, I don't. I think at the moment what -- the focus is still on the issues of the scandal itself, the sex scandal, and what to do with priests, and whether it is one strike or two strikes. And those are important and immediate issues, but the wider issue is how do we involve educated laity in the decision making of the church.

I'm not saying that I have the answers or that other people have the answers, but it is clear that the church still operates largely as a monarchy, based on medieval times, and we have entered into the modern world with modern institutions and very educated laity. It is not time a time anymore when just the monks or the bishops are educated. We have educated lay Catholic theologians. So the point is, that we really do need to all discuss it, but the problem is that this pope is not open to this kind of discussion.

HEMMER: We only have a few seconds left here. Do you believe we will see a Vatican three in our lifetime.

FOX: Funny you should mention that. This is our newspaper. And our -- I don't know if you can see it from here. In this particular, our latest issue, we have just put a story together on the Vatican three. This discussion is beginning. And people are really beginning to talk about the major issues that face the church.

HEMMER: So you see it is a possibility, not a yes or no at this point, is that right?

FOX: It's not going to happen during this pontificate.

HEMMER: Tom Fox, "National Catholic" reporter, thanks for your thoughts, live in Kansas City.

FOX: Great. Thank you.

HEMMER: We appreciate having you on today.

FOX: I appreciate it.

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