Challenges

Even the pickpockets in Rome, we are told, took a break during the vigil and funeral rites for Pope John Paul II. And fears about a terrorist attack in Rome did not materialize.

Either Italian security did a very good job, or else the death of the Vicar of Christ infused everyone with goodness, at least for a few days in Rome and many other parts of the globe.

More plausibly, the forces of Osama bin Laden, wise to the ways of international propaganda, recognized what a PR nightmare it would have been for the Islamist cause if they had launched an attack amid that enormous outpouring of grief over the Pope’s passing.

The forces of violence, however, merely rested, and will probably extend their vacation until the period of mourning is over and a new pope is picked.

Even during this lull those ranged against the forces of terror cannot rest.

Most people make an effort to avoid turning the terrorist threat into a religious war. The thinking is that Osama and his goons are mad merely at the United States and all the depravities of Western culture.

It is, unfortunately, no coincidence that every terrorist bomber arrested or killed since the first attack on the World Trade Center invoked Islam in defending his acts. And terrorists are expressing displeasure at a way of life — including all its excesses — that evolved out of Christian beliefs in free will, equality and social justice.

The war on terror is against extremism, not Islam; this cannot be emphasized often and strongly enough. But when the forces of extremism want to create a pan-Islamic state similar to the one that the Taliban set up in Afghanistan, how do the forces of the free world respond? And what role will the Church play in this conflict that is far more complicated than the communist threat?

If the Catholic Church wants to remain relevant, it cannot sidestep this problem. The next pope must chart the course of the Church in confronting a threat that invokes faith as justification for mass murder.

* * *

Representatives of several Islamic states attended John Paul’s funeral, in a show of solidarity with the community of nations. Ironically, in some of those countries, mere possession of a Holy Bible or rosary could land the owner behind bars. Christian proselytizing is dealt with severely. Celebrating Mass even in the privacy of one’s home is a felony.

There are precious few civil liberties to speak of in those countries. Don’t bother asking about press freedom. Women cannot vote and must get permission from their husbands or other male relatives to travel abroad. Music is an indulgence of the devil. Fine art representing the human body is destroyed.

The forces of terror are supposed to be promoting a return to morality, but this can be relative. What does the Vatican have to say about having four wives, of marrying off prepubescent girls, surely against their will, to men old enough to be their grandfather?

This is the way of life that Osama and his minions are trying to inflict on the world. They do not believe in any universal definition of human rights. They deprive women of education and proper health care due to a twisted concept of modesty.

It would have been interesting to see how Pope John Paul II would have responded in his prime to the challenge posed by al-Qaeda, not just in terms of security but in terms of sweeping social changes.

Unfortunately, by Sept. 11, 2001, the Pope’s debilitation from Parkinson’s disease had already started. In his final years he could not even respond effectively to the cases of child sex abuse that rocked the Church.

* * *

This war is better won from within, and it must be pointed out that the Islamic world is being rocked by a clamor for reforms from Muslims themselves.

Women are speaking up, some at great risk to their lives, working for an end to third-class status.

In Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, the seeds of democracy appear to be sprouting. (And if the Bush White House knows what’s good for America, it should avoid taking credit for these encouraging developments.)

I will always remember an Arab diplomat in Manila who, over dinner hosted by the British ambassador, said in a loud voice that democratic change would never come to the Islamic world the way it did to the West. It simply wasn’t going to happen, the Arab diplomat said, and the sooner the West learned to live with that, the easier co-existence would be for everyone.

But now some of the autocratic regimes in the Middle East are feeling the heat and are gradually opening up their societies. And the heat isn’t even coming from Washington, but from their own people. I wonder what that Arab diplomat is saying now.

Will the next pope find a way to encourage those nascent movements for greater freedom, the way John Paul encouraged anti-communist movements across Eastern Europe?

I doubt if the Islamic world will welcome interference from the head of the Roman Catholic Church. But you never know. Strange alliances have been formed in struggles for freedom, and those who long for civil liberties find inspiration in unlikely places and personalities.

* * *

The next pope may have greater success in serving as a voice against all forms of religious extremism, against violence and intolerance.

As spiritual leader of 1.1 billion Catholics, he must send the message that freedom can be exercised with moral responsibility. And even when people overstep moral bounds set by the Church, redemption is still possible.

He may even find common cause with Islam in certain areas, as John Paul did in matters of birth control. I would imagine though that as Muslim women find their voice, they will also demand greater control over their own reproductive health.

When the excesses of Christianity are challenged by al-Qaeda’s propagandists, the next pope may have to argue that it is always better to err on the side of freedom.

What he cannot do is avoid confronting the extremist threat.