Word: biema
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...context and meaning of the Catholic Church's acknowledgment of its own sins at the dawn of the third millennium. "Above and beyond giving a mea culpa, John Paul II will attempt to frame what the church means by a mea culpa," says TIME religion correspondent David Van Biema. "His belief that the church strengthens itself through a frank acknowledgment of past sins is a remarkable thing. But the Vatican is also being careful to make clear that this isn't simply a spectacular act of self-flagellation before hostile outsiders; it's about the church's need to express...
...some would argue, even its complicity in creating the climate for - the Holocaust. "The Jewish Anti-Defamation League is unhappy with what's contained in 'Memory and Reconciliation,' because they believe it still fails to admit the church's corporate responsibility for any complicity in the Holocaust," says Van Biema. "It lays the blame on flawed humans - although the document uses the term 'generations' to imply this wasn't simply a few bad apples - rather than admitting any flaws on the part of the church itself...
...Catholic hierarchy. "Even when they released the 'Memory and Reconciliation' document, the Vatican made clear that there were different camps inside the church, some of whom felt the church was going too far in its apology and others who believe it hadn't gone far enough," says Van Biema. The central point of contention is whether responsibility for sins rests with the church itself, or simply with its errant children. "Although this pope has gone a lot further than any in history toward acknowledging corporate responsibility on the part of the church, he's pushing against significant opposition...
...many ways, it's an intensely personal mission of a pontiff nearing the end of his life as his church celebrates its Jubilee. "The pope has long promised to lead the church in coming to terms with some of its sins on the occasion of the Jubilee," says Van Biema. "For him, it's the culmination of many years of work, as a pontiff who lost a lot of his Jewish friends during the horror of the Holocaust and questioned the complicity of his own faith as a result...
...window of opportunity for such soul-searching is not simply the millennium itself, but the papacy of John Paul II. "This pope has an unusual propensity for reflection and penance, with which he has struggled hard to infuse the whole church," says Van Biema. "It's pretty unlikely that the next pope will share what in the end may be more John Paul II's personal peculiarity than a characteristic of the church he has built." That much was clear in comments last weekend by Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, 71, of Bologna, touted as a leading candidate to succeed John Paul...