Populist with an instinct for power

adminonDecember 15, 2021January 5, 2022Leave a Comment

– – (Portrait) – (Theme package)By Jean-Pierre Kapp (epd) =Cape Town (epd). Jacob Zuma will not be stopped. After a victory in the parliamentary elections on 22. April, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) will most likely elect its party leader as South Africa's new president. Despite various scandals, the polarizing politician, who belongs to the Zulu people, unites above all the black population behind him. 15 years after the end of apartheid, she still suffers from disadvantages. Zuma is their beacon of hope. "The ANC will remain in power until the return of Jesus," Zuma shouts at a campaign rally in Johannesburg. His supporters rejoice – but church leaders are incensed. The next day, in a church in neighboring Rustenburg, the 67-year-old presents himself as a repentant sinner, qualifies his statement and apologizes with a donation to the poor. Zuma pulls out all the stops. He likes to use song and dance in his speeches to engage his audience. He succeeds in winning the sympathies of broad sections of the population with his direct and jovial manner. And this despite the fact that his political skills are often called into question. Critics compare Zuma's style to Silvio Berlusconi's. Like the Italian prime minister, Zuma appeals to people's secret desires, longings and fears and presents simple solutions. Both politicians also have a lavish lifestyle in common. Zuma owes his luxury mainly to businessmen and their donations – after his appointment as president, they may expect compensation of one kind or another. With his affable manner, Zuma also manages to camouflage his hunger for power. When then president and ANC leader Thabo Mbeki removed him as South African vice president in 2005 because of his involvement in corrupt dealings, Mbeki probably did not expect Zuma to ever be a competitor again.But his rival managed to get three-quarters of the ANC leadership behind him in a short time. Zuma's meteoric rise cost Mbeki the party presidency at the end of 2007 and the office of state president in 2008. Even several scandals could not slow down Zuma's success story. In 2006, a woman suffering from AIDS had sued him for rape. Zuma claimed she consented to sex and was acquitted. He refused an HIV test – on the grounds that he had showered afterwards to protect himself from infection. After the prosecution dropped corruption charges against him in early April of this year, Zuma's path to the South African presidency should finally be clear. Zuma got there partly through his loyalty to the ANC. The young man, who came from a poor background in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, joined the ANC as early as 1959. Three years later, he also joined the armed wing of the liberation movement. Zuma had to leave school at an early age because of his family's precarious financial situation. He was able to catch up on part of his schooling after being arrested in 1963. Ten years of imprisonment on Robben Island followed, where Nelson Mandela was also imprisoned for 18 years. In 1987, Zuma became head of the ANC's intelligence services in Zambia. After the fall of communism in South Africa, Zuma's negotiating skills came into play. As a member of the provincial government in KwaZulu-Natal, he made an important contribution to settling the bloody unrest between supporters of the ANC and the Inkatha Freedom Party.President Mbeki appointed him vice president at his side after the second free elections in 1999. Zuma knows what he wants. His advocacy of traditional values is also a source of fascination. Zuma often appears before black audiences in leopard costume. Many blacks are convinced that he is the only presidential candidate who really takes their concerns seriously.

Right or left - the templates do not fit

Peacemaker, superstar, visionary: for an entire generation John Paul II was. the face of the church. He ruled for two and a half decades, at first powerfully and dynamically, at last seriously ill.

For more than 26 years, he led the universal Catholic Church and ushered it into the new millennium: the tenure of Pope John Paul II. (1978-2005) was the second longest of the 2.000-year history of the church. Moreover, the Pole whose civil name was Karol Wojtyla was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. On 18. May he would have been 100 years old.

Wojtyla, born in Wadowice near Krakow in 1920, was deeply influenced by his native Poland, its history and culture. As a young man he experienced the Second World War and the German occupation, worked in the quarry of a chemical factory and studied in the underground seminary. Afterwards, he also experienced the other totalitarian system in communism. As a young priest, as a theology professor and above all as archbishop and cardinal in Krakow, Karol Wojtyla demonstrated stamina in dealing with totalitarian rulers and officials.

Gifted communicator

The pope from Poland proved to be a gifted communicator, who promoted the church with pastoral creativity, strengthened its reputation and influence in the world and society – and was celebrated by the media as a "superstar. The new pope cultivated a new style, did away with carrying chairs and majestic "we," continued skiing in his spare time. In his inaugural address, he appealed to the Church and the world: "Do not be afraid of! Open, yes tear the gates wide open for Christ. Opened the borders of the states, the economic and political systems to his saving power."

John Paul II. launched many spectacular initiatives. He convened 15 synods of bishops, invited the world's religions to the peace summit in Assisi, received 890 heads of state and government, and proclaimed 1.800 Saints and Blesseds. He wrote 14 encyclicals, a wealth of doctrinal letters and messages, and gave 900 speeches a year.

A "political" pope

Peace and justice, human rights, freedom and solidarity became the strong themes of his pontificate. He stopped the previous "Vatican policy towards the East", which was based on compromise, and took a harder line towards the communists. With demands for a social market economy, free trade unions and, later, globalization based on solidarity, he further developed the Church's social teachings.

John Paul II. was a "political" pope. This was especially evident in his 104 foreign trips to 129 countries, during which he traveled 1.2 million kilometers. They became a guiding tool of his pontificate. He spoke to dictators like Chile's Augusto Pinochet and Cuba's Fidel Castro. Thanks to his robust constitution, he survived the still-unsolved assassination attempt by the Turk Ali Agca on 13. May 1981. The masterminds are suspected to be behind the Iron Curtain.

John Paul II. Contributed decisively to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Eastern Bloc and Soviet regimes. Former Kremlin leader Mikhail Gorbachev credited him with a significant contribution to the overthrow of communism in Europe. Once again, before the Gulf War in 2003, the pope became a sought-after contact point for top politicians of all camps – even though he, already severely marked by his illness, could not prevent the war.

Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue

Bridges built by John Paul II. built in ecumenism and dialogue with other religions. Some successes as well as setbacks he recorded in reconciliation with Judaism. He was the first bishop of Rome to visit the synagogue of the Eternal City, where he greeted the "elder brothers". On his 2000 Holy Land trip, he went to the Wailing Wall and to a moving memorial ceremony at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial site.

Spiritual highlight of his term was the Holy Year 2000. John Paul II. had set himself the goal of leading the church into the third millennium. 30 million visitors to Rome passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica. In a prayer of forgiveness, the "great mea culpa," the pope asked forgiveness for errors and omissions of Catholics in 2.000 years of church history.

Templates do not fit

Even in retrospect, it seems impossible to force the Wojtyla pope into a pattern. Progressive or conservative, right or left – the templates do not fit. As celebrated as he was at the beginning of his pontificate and in his last years in office, as revolutionary as some new openings and gestures seemed, from the 1990s on he was also criticized for conservative positions: on moral or disciplinary ies, on certain forms of liberation theology, against progressive theologians.

There were protests against conservative bishop appointments, especially in the German-speaking countries. In addition, John Paul was criticized for giving the Vatican curia too much free rein as a result of his frequent travels. Also, he had not acted decisively enough against sexual abuse by clerics.

His last phase of life was marked by illness and suffering. Already at his funeral mass on 8 September. In April 2005, posters and chants demanded his immediate canonization. The pope from Poland was beatified in May 2011 and canonized in April 2014.

Once again the Synodal Way enters new territory because of Corona – this time in the form of a two-day video conference. This one could be exciting. The talks enter a new round at the beginning of February.

A year ago, the Synodal Way to the Future of the Catholic Church in Germany began with a plenary assembly in Frankfurt. After months in which mainly the coronavirus dictated the rhythm of public life, the event seems almost unreal in retrospect. 230 synod members, church representatives from neighboring countries and a host of journalists actually met there in the flesh. Already the meeting in early fall was split into five regional conferences because of the pandemic. Now the Synodal Way goes online.

No resolutions for the time being

On two days, on 4. and 5. February, the synods want to exchange views on the state of affairs. As with the regional conferences, they will not pass any resolutions. That will be left to the regular plenary assembly, which, according to current plans, will not meet again until the fall, also in Frankfurt. Nevertheless, observers expect that the further route for the reform dialogue will now be mapped out.

Four forums will deal with preliminary work on the central themes of the project launched by the bishops and the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK): power, the priestly way of life, sexual morality and the role of women. It can be amed that they used the video conference as a "mood test" for some basic papers and draft resolutions that had already been prepared.

Controversial discussions

Preparations for this have progressed to varying degrees. In the forum on power there is a document of about 50 pages. As expected, the discussion in the forum on sexual morality was very controversial. Cologne Auxiliary Bishop Dominikus Schwaderlapp left the forum very soon because the line taken by the majority there was aimed at changing church doctrine. It could find imitators. Various proposals are currently circulating in the forum, and it is difficult to find common ground among them.

The church's handling of sexual abuse, which was at the beginning of the Synodal Way, is pushing back with force onto the agenda. One example is what happened in a children's home run by the Niederbronn Sisters in Speyer during the 1960s and 1970s, where there are allegations of promoting prostitution.

Batzing insists on more speed

Against this background, is the prere for reform growing?? Hard to say. It is striking that the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Georg Batzing, is cautiously but persistently pressing for more speed. It is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the ban on women being ordained deacons and priests, the Bishop of Limburg told "Herder Korrespondenz" at the turn of the year. For talks on parish reforms at the Vatican, where German discussions are being watched warily, Batzing pushed through lay participation.

Most recently, Pope Francis officially allowed women to serve as lectors and communion assistants; girls now allowed to be altar servers. At the same time, he reaffirmed his predecessors' no to the ordination of women to the priesthood. Some participants in the Synodal Way may feel reminded of the Echternach Spring Procession: two steps forward, one step back.

Books about church reforms are booming

Despite all the obstacles, the synodal journey has not completely lost its way. A look at the book market shows that. Synod members Michaela Labudda and Marcus Leitschuh recently offered impressions from the "engine room" of the reform process, religious Philippa Rath lets in "…because God wills it" women tell of their vocation to be deacons or priests. And from the late theologian Eberhard Schockenhoff, now already sorely missed by some, appears shortly before the video conference "The Art of Loving. 'On the way to a new sexual ethic'. A legacy that points the way to the future.

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