Religion

The news is full of reports of Pope Benedict XVI and his travels in England and Scotland with and emphasis on the disruption of community by those who want to protest the Catholic church's response to the sexual problems that have embarrassed the church for many years. The Pope has tried to respond to these, but is himself implicated in some of it from his time as an Archbishop in Germany. I also have seen a number of articles about the Vatican Treasures that are travelling the world and will be in Pittsburgh at the Heinz History Museum shortly. Religion is in the news again, and certainly not favorably. The focus of the news media seems to be on the transgressions and the wealth of the church, not on its mission.

Jesus created controversy also. His love of the poor, the sick and the outcast outraged the religious of his day. They were so upset with him that they eventually nailed him to a cross. We don't seem to create the same kind of outrage in our own time. We are more focused on the "Vatican Treasures", or pedophiliac clergy than we are on what Jesus taught us about the poor, the sick and the outcast. That is really an outrage.