Defender of the Faith

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That inclination expressed itself early, in his suppression of liberation theology, a Marxist-tinged philosophy that attained popularity in the '70s among the Latin American poor. Critics wondered why the Pope would fan the flames of a people's struggle in Eastern Europe while dousing a similar movement elsewhere. The simple answer was that liberation theology smacked too much of communism. But as time went on, it became clear John Paul was equally offended by a broad spectrum of doctrinal creativity and criticism. He dismantled the Jesuit leadership, presumably because of its perceived leftist sympathies. (In its place of papal favor, he raised the extremely conservative organization Opus Dei, elevating the once obscure group to the status of his "personal prelature.") Catholic scholars who deviated from orthodox interpretations of the faith--often, it seemed, those who questioned papal prerogative--were silenced or deprived of their teaching positions and expected to take a kind of loyalty pledge.

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The Path of Pope Benedict XVI

He was not much more open to greater collegial participation among his bishops. His papacy saw the centralization of church authority. He published a decree effectively requiring national bishops' conferences to get Vatican approval before making statements on doctrine and made episcopal appointments subject to seeming litmus tests on topics like abortion and homosexuality. Even conservatives like Father Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the interfaith journal First Things, feel that the result, at least in the U.S., has been the advancement of "team players, CEOs and managers. They have genuine piety, but they are not the kind of people who are very spiritually flammable."

Regarding the laity, the Pope made it clear that he did not consider individual conscience a legitimate rationale for believers' second-guessing the church's positions on birth control, abortion, female ordination and a host of other teachings. "Opposition to the church's pastors," he wrote, "cannot be seen as a legitimate expression of Christian freedom. It is prohibited--to every one in every case--to violate these precepts."

THE SCOURGE OF FEMINISM

The Pope faced no opposition greater, at least in the developed West, than that on topics regarding women. That was no doubt a frustration to him. He had many close women friends and continued establishing such affinities throughout his life. He favored women in the workplace, and early in his career, he was a co-author of the book Love and Responsibility, which, among other things, championed the female orgasm.