Election result from Vatican City - conservative hold

Britain's opinion polls may be disappointing but the news from Rome is much more encouraging.

The election of Joseph Ratzinger is a sure sign that the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church wants to protect theological and moral orthodoxies.

Just yesterday Cardinal Ratzinger described the need to resist a dictatorship of relativism.

A few months ago - in the wake of the Rocco Buttiglione affair he warned of the dangers of secular fundamentalism.

Pope Benedict XVI is also a defender of traditional positions on abortion, family life and social structure.

The legacy of Pope John Paul II is safe.

Comments

[Peter Crombie]

POPE - POLITICS - ELECTION

Current events are interesting and very much related. This new pope [I am not a catholic] is right to draw attention to a dictatorship of relativism where ego and self interest rules. This is becoming more true for most organisations, particularly governments of left / centre / right and their quangos. We now have regimes of power e.g. national and local government organisations, DTI / RDA's / hospital trusts et.al who operate on the principle of indifference to those in their grip and they seek to evade responsibility for their acts. We need to find ways to hold these regimes if indifference to account. All the 'executives' in these regimes are paid 'every Friday' from the public payroll. No-one, particularly those in government and quangos, likes to talk about their pay. It is time this subject was 'opened up' within the context of relativism. What are they paid? Why are they paid? How does pay relate to performance? The current antics of Sir Ian Blair, chief conc, are also relevant. He does not know the time of day. His problem is more fundamental in that he does not know what he does not know. This is a character trait of people who 'rise to the top' in organisations funded by the taxpayer. They begin to believe that they are 'clever' but actually they are 'clever buggers'... all training and no education - or- All fur coat and no knickers. Classic examples are John Prescott, Stephen Byers and Patricia Hewitt.

Regards

Peter Crombie

[Adrian Owens]

Pope Benedict understands clearly the need for faith to influence politics, but also for the need to avoid a theocracy - a view underlined by his opposition to Liberation Theology.

I expect this pope to build on John Paul II's masterpiece Veritatis Splendor - The Splendour of the Truth. An attack on relativism which will leave the Pontius Pilates among modern-day politicians bemused and asking "What is truth?"