Holy War Of Words

The signature sound bite of Benedict XVI's papacy may have been delivered the day before he became Pope. Just hours before entering the Sistine Chapel to help choose John Paul II's successor, then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger gave an impassioned sermon in which he decried the "dictatorship of relativism." The conservative German theologian used the phrase to warn against modernity's creation of a secular ideology "that does not recognize anything as definitive, and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's ego and desires." The "dictatorship of relativism" quote has become a rallying cry for some Roman Catholic conservatives, especially those dismayed by the growing spread of secularism in Europe, once the bastion of Christianity.

His message has not softened. In a June 5 speech in Rome, Benedict again warned about "our current secularized society" that, he said, [an error occurred while processing this directive] "corrodes the most sacred bonds and most worthy affections of the human being, with the result that people are debilitated and our reciprocal relations rendered precarious and unstable."

Such workaday pronouncements in Rome may not draw much attention. But this week Benedict visits Spain, the European democracy that arguably best represents the relativist tyranny he so dreads. Having accepted an invitation to attend the church's World Meeting of Families in Valencia on July 8-9, Benedict will arrive in a once devoutly Catholic nation that both admirers and critics around the globe now refer to as "Zapatero's Spain." Since his March 2004 electoral victory, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has pushed through a series of social policies — from gay marriage and adoption to easier divorce proceedings and increased stem-cell research — that have made him a lightning rod in the ongoing Western debate over family values.

Disciple

And for many participants in that debate, Benedict has become the anti-Zapatero. With a fierce intellect and clear ideas about fixing Catholicism's troubles on its home Continent, Benedict sees Spain as a prime battleground. When he welcomed the newly appointed Spanish ambassador to the Holy See on May 20, Benedict went beyond the typical diplomatic niceties, alluding to gay marriage, abortion and the right to a Catholic education. No doubt, the encounter with Zapatero on Saturday evening is the photo-op the worldwide media are most anticipating.

The real tone of that encounter, however, will be established after the event, when the Pope addresses the Valencia conference and sets out his views on family. Angelo Cardinal Scola, the Patriarch of Venice, a Ratzinger disciple who has written extensively on this issue, will be in Spain. "Rather than a 'better opinion,' we speak of a 'prevalent tradition,'" he tells Time. "The word family has a meaning. The word marriage means a union between a man and woman open to life. I hold that a homosexual couple does not constitute a family."

It seems likely that Benedict has chosen his destination strategically, in order to hammer home a point. (He is free to select his foreign jaunts from endless invitations.) "It's a gift for the Pope," says Austen Ivereigh, a top aide to Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster. "He can say, 'Look at Zapatero, this is what really underlies European secularism.' In Spain, he will look like he's articulating what is close to the heart of the mass of Europeans." Of course, that heart is also susceptible to relativism.

Polls consistently show that 80% of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholic, even if only about one-fourth actually practice their faith. Although gay marriage, and certainly gay adoption, is unacceptable to many, only a tiny proportion of Catholics follow the church's strict doctrine on birth control and premarital sex — doctrines that Benedict himself has recently reiterated. Rates of divorce in Spain, where just a quarter-century ago the practice was still outlawed, are about 50%, and abortion rights are guaranteed in virtually every corner of the Continent.

Faith

Still, Ivereigh, whose boss at Westminster is considered less conservative than his former fellow Cardinal Ratzinger, thinks the new Pope may be particularly well suited for swaying the European discourse. "Benedict is a real intellectual. He has an almost touching faith in the power of reason," says Ivereigh. "He's convinced that the intellectual arguments are on his side. The challenge for him is to make the case without looking like he's old-fashioned. How do you make the case about traditional marriage something interesting and exciting? But if any Pope can do it, he can."

For his part, Zapatero seems bound to look for new ways to make his case for radical social change. Though some have called for a new liberal euthanasia law, which would again raise the church's ire, the government has found that some of the changes it seeks surprisingly overlap with the church's interests — like a proposal made two weeks ago that would extend maternity leave for working mothers. But Anglo-Spanish writer Tom Burns Marañon, a liberal Catholic, anticipates an intellectual slugfest in Valencia. "What are Popes for if not to lay down the law over anything they don't like? Of course the government won't like it, but it does no harm to a government to hear the Pope criticizing them. If the Pope came here and didn't lay down the law, then Catholics would be very unhappy and the left would be in disarray. This way both sides will be happy." Spoken like a true relativist.

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