Ed took off for guardian appointments this morning and I puttered around and got on the computer and in the background, MSNBC was covering the last official holy utterances of Pope Benedict before he steps down, leaving all that power and adulation behind.

The hushed background remarks of the news person, Andrea Mitchell, covering this story were reverential and respectful and I guess she is Catholic. My sorrow is that no one is hiring me to do the honors at this sort of event because I think I’d cause a religious riot and every now and then, we should really have one.

I think the obsession with the Pope among the faithful is a search for magic, an extension of the “big benevolent daddy” that takes care of us and sees that no harm will come to us. Of course, this is fantasy because harm strikes many of us – innocent or evil. God is an equal opportunity abuser. Meanwhile, the scandals of the church are ignored and sublimated and the perfection of big daddy is maintained.

If the church wants to truly address the sexual deviation that is no longer a private matter, it should vet those young men entering the priesthood to uncover whether their call to “the cloth” is genuine or if it is a divine cloak for their plans to live their private lives forever protected by holy orders.

The speculation here is that the Pope is stepping down not only because of frailty but also because he could not deal with the scandals and several recent stories also highlighted corruption within the Vatican, one being that male prostitutes were being clandestinely provided for some of the “under” priests.

Mind you, my caveat is not with their private arrangements but with their hypocrisy, and, of course, there is no excuse for pedophilia, no matter what your preference.

I have read of tests given to sex offenders to determine if they are”cured” – they are shown videos of children while wired for reaction and if the bulb lights up, that means they are aroused. I am no doubt misinformed about the particulars, but the premise is accurate. I think young men wishing to enter the priesthood should undergo such a test.

Meanwhile, the hoopla goes on and this story, like so many stories based on emotion and hype, goes on and on, covering endless news cycle and drowning out all other news. Presumably the networks are giving us “what we want” without even bothering to ask me, for instance. We are, presumably, gaga over who, who WHO, will be the next pope and will he be Italian or, sweet Jesus, maybe even American-born. Oh Oh Oh.

Finally the Swiss guard closed the gates of the papal see for the last time of this pope’s reign. It will remain vacant until the new pope is chosen by ballot among the cardinals. Seeing as these men are indeed men and not really supernatural beings, for all that they receive adulation and ring kissing as if they were, I can just imagine the jockeying and pushing and pulling and the deals being made and the votes being courted and the gleam in the eyes of those most likely to succeed, and perhaps, even, plots afoot to ensure the vote one way or the other. Don’t for a moment think it is any other way here or anywhere else in this world. And the world waits for that puff of smoke that announces they have elected the new pope. Ah … democracy.

xx, Teal