Things that Pope Benedict XVI will never do

Although Cardinal Ratzinger was elected the Successor of Peter not even two days ago, the media predictably has already begun foaming at the mouth with criticism of our new Holy Father, and with speculation about whether he is or is not too "rigid" to allow certain "reforms".

In response to some of the hot-button issues that are being bandied about in the media, the following is a short list of things that this Pope -nor any future Pope- will ever do. He will never change Church doctrine in order to give acceptance to:

elective abortion or euthanasia (or any other form of murder of the unborn, the elderly, the sick, the unwanted);
artificial birth control;
ordination of women;
human cloning;
fornication, adultery, or masturbation;
homosexual acts or same-sex marriage.

The Pope does not have the authority to declare something acceptable that is in fact intrinsically evil or contrary to the divine constitution of the Church. All of the above items have been clearly condemned infallibly by the Church as intrinsically immoral, except for the ordination of women. However, ordination of women is impossible because, as the Church infallibly teaches, the Church has no authority to ordain women because doing so is irreconcilable with the way Jesus constituted His Church.

One may or may not find persuasive the reasons offered to explain and defend any of these doctrines, but that's not really relevant. The fact remains that the Church holds these postions not as opinions, but as solemn doctrine. True Catholics willingly believe the solemn teachings of the Church.

To reject any of the Church's doctrines is to place oneself above the Pope, to whom Jesus gave final authority to decide doctrinal questions. To do so is to defy Jesus, Who gave final doctrinal authority to the Successor of Peter, and not to You and me. To reject this and still consider oneself "Catholic" is nonsense, and simply betrays a rejection or misunderstanding of the Catholic faith.

Believing something because it is persuasive does not require faith. Faith requires belief in what God has revealed precisely because God, Who is perfect Truth, has revealed it. God deserves our belief, even though His revelation can seem at times hard to understand. Because God is perfect Truth, the smartest, most logical thing in the world is to believe what He has revealed through His own Church.

The Catholic faith is not a buffet, where one can pick and choose the more appealing tidbits and reject those we find inconvenient or difficult to accept. One either accepts it whole and entire, or one does not. In between total acceptance and rejection is a no-man's land where truth can not abide, a land in which one can not offer God the total "yes" of faith which makes possible complete union with God.