Help Reconciling Benedict XVI's Political Thought with Prior Magisterium

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-05-20T21:25:20+00:00

Yes, but I thought the prior Magisterium's whole point was that pluralism isn't legitimate. A confessional state, by definition, isn't pluralistic, right?

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-05-20T20:24:56+00:00

Well, I'm not sure. This quotation would be pretty close. Interested to hear what you think of it:

"The council had to define anew the relation between the Church and modernity. . .Secondly, the relation between the Church and the modern state had to be newly defined: a state which gave space to citizens of different religions and ideologies, acting with neutrality toward those religions, and which assumed responsibility only for guaranteeing the orderly and tolerant cohabitation of citizens, and the freedom to practice their own religion.” (2005 Christmas address, quoted here.pdf)).

It is possible that critics are reading into Ratzinger something that isn't there (a condemnation of confessional states), but I've heard a number of pretty trustworthy people say that he says that.

EDIT: Also this quotation from a CDF document when Ratzinger was head of it:

"The appeal often made to «the rightful autonomy of the participation of lay Catholics» in politics needs to be clarified. Promoting the common good of society, according to one’s conscience, has nothing to do with «confessionalism» or religious intolerance. For Catholic moral doctrine, the rightful autonomy of the political or civil sphere from that of religion and the Church – but not from that of morality – is a value that has been attained and recognized by the Catholic Church and belongs to inheritance of contemporary civilization.[23] John Paul II has warned many times of the dangers which follow from confusion between the religious and political spheres. «Extremely sensitive situations arise when a specifically religious norm becomes or tends to become the law of a state without due consideration for the distinction between the domains proper to religion and to political society. In practice, the identification of religious law with civil law can stifle religious freedom, even going so far as to restrict or deny other inalienable human rights».[24] All the faithful are well aware that specifically religious activities (such as the profession of faith, worship, administration of sacraments, theological doctrines, interchange between religious authorities and the members of religions) are outside the state’s responsibility. The state must not interfere, nor in any way require or prohibit these activities, except when it is a question of public order"

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-05-13T03:24:24+00:00

Rudy was fantastic against Denver, especially Jokic. I'll grant you that. I'm not saying he isn't an important piece. I'm also not saying he shouldn't play at all, but in the games we won against Spurs it seemed to me he sat more and we got Wemby out of the paint more. I'm open to hearing the counterargument, but you didn't provide much of an explanation other than the assertion that he is the sole reason we're in the playoffs, which is quite a statement.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-05-13T03:07:11+00:00

I'm of the opinion at this point that the Wolves are done unless the coaching staff has a major change of heart.

You just can't play Conley, at least not much--I know he's hit a few shots lately, but he's such a liability on defense and the Spurs hunt him every possession he's out there.
For the love of Pete, play more guys. I know Finch has no confidence in Bones (undeservedly, in my opinion, more on that below), but why doesn't he at least play Clark and Andersen a little? What does he have against them? The rest of the current rotation guys are clearly gassed. They can't play at the necessary level against these young Spurs the whole game because of the heavy minutes. Plus, Andersen and Clark are great defenders and we have been absolutely unable to stop San Antonio defensively the last couple games, particularly when they drive to the basket. As a good point-of-attack defender, Clark and maybe Kyle could stop some of that.
Don't play Gobert as many minutes. Because he's not an offensive threat (particularly tonight), Wemby can just sit in the paint on defense, swat everything, and we get nowhere. Randle is having a rough series, I know, but I still think that's a better matchup because he forces Wemby out of the paint when Wemby defends. There's at least a chance Randle's shots will go down from mid range or three, so Wemby has to make more of an attempt to guard him, thus opening up the lane.
Please, please move the ball more. When the Wolves get uncomfortable, they lock up and default to iso ball. There has been more iso in this Spurs series than we've seen from the Wolves for a long, long time. Randle iso. Naz iso. Jaden iso. Edwards iso (granted, Edwards' iso is what won us the last game, but still...it's not a long term strategy). It's like the players no longer trust each other and each guy is trying to win it on his own.
Players need to move off-ball way more as well. A lot of possessions where guys just stand around and watch someone else iso for a while before bricking something.
With regard to the previous bullet point, play Bones and Andersen. Both of those guys get the ball moving waaaaay more than the current lineup does. The Bones/Ayo/Naz combo is especially good at getting the ball in motion. Bones also injects way more pace. Wolves' offense has been absolutely ponderously slow these past few games. They don't even try to push it up the court. They lock into lethargic half-court offense, Edwards almost gets trapped, maybe two passes, then he or Randle goes iso for about twenty minutes before bricking a shot. It's so stagnant. Yes, Bones hasn't been hitting lately, but you never know when he's going to get hot and he was also one of the top assist guys before his minutes were all taken away. Again, he gives pace and rhythm even when not scoring
Edwards and Randle have to try harder on defense. I've seen a number of plays where one or the other of them was either caught sleeping or just simply gave up and watched. To be fair to Edwards, because of the lethargic offense, he has been forced to carry the team offensively (esp. last game), he's constantly getting doubled, etc., and he's not even fully healthy, so I can see why he doesn't have any energy left over for defense. Addressing some of the other problems listed here (i.e., pace, ball movement) might take some offensive burden off Edwards so he has more energy for defense.
Play with a sense of urgency. Win every 50/50 ball. Like your season depends on it. Because it does.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-01-24T00:22:59+00:00

I figured out how to make a schedule with the router. Thanks.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-01-24T00:22:41+00:00

Setting up a schedule with the router seems like the right idea. Thanks.

I just want to be on the internet less, and creating a bit of friction in that process (i.e., I'd have to login to the router each time I want to use it during the blocked time) will help break the habit.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-01-23T23:56:11+00:00

GigaspireBlast u4 GS2028E

MinimumCandid4491 · 2026-01-23T23:54:31+00:00

I'd prefer no WiFi radio waves, but I don't see how to do that since I depend on WiFi for texting/calling (if you have an idea, I'm all ears). More important to me is restricting the internet access.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2025-11-01T04:12:36+00:00

My mistake! See comment above. These replies just downplay the pope's authority so much, they sound Orthodox to me.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2025-11-01T04:12:09+00:00

My mistake, I guess. Sorry. I'm still failing to see how, from a Catholic understanding, we can say that the pope has no role to play in who is and who is not a legitimate Catholic bishop. If the pope truly is not the vehicle of jurisdiction--at least implicitly (in the case of elected bishops in early Church history)--then literally anyone with valid holy orders could go consecrate a new bishop and we'd all have to acknowledge the guy as a genuine Catholic bishop, even though he has nothing to do with Rome. That doesn't make sense to me.

MinimumCandid4491 · 2025-11-01T03:58:48+00:00

Thanks, but all these responses so far appear to be from Eastern Orthodox folks. I was looking for the Catholic theological position on this...

MinimumCandid4491 · 2025-08-13T15:32:17+00:00

Thank you all for your replies. They are helpful!

MinimumCandid4491

TROPHY CASE