It is well known that the Vatican is a roiling mess of disaffection, petty bickering and alleged financial corruption. The scandals about the papal documents, the Vatican bank, the sex scandals and the growing collapse of church membership must alarm those who are still committed. It seems to have been an unsuccessful ending to a period during which Benedict has been at the center of events, before and after he became Pope. He is praised for resigning because of ill health, but it would have been more appropriate if he had admitted that he had mismanaged affairs and proved incompetent to actually manage the church. He desperately wanted the job in the first place – to achieve what?

Already his supporters are out there writing encomiums about the Pope, claiming that he has been more liberal than expected, no dictator but a holy man doing his best. But if the ship is foundering, wise people get a new pilot.

Had Epicurus been asked to design a Christian church he would have designed a democratic church (not a mirror image of Roman or medieval society), where the people elected a chief, where belief reflected society, and all members had their say. No section of the population would have been left out and scorned.

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