January 11, 2010
Presbyterian pastor Michael Jinkins, professor and dean at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas, questions the beatification of Pope Pius XII, especially the Vatican's explanation that it's OK to separate one's private faith from public actions--in this case, anyway.
In a post on the Duke Divinity "Call & Response" blog, Jinkins took particular offense with the almost Orwellian defense by Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi that the Vatican wasn't evaluating "the historical impact of all his operative decisions."
Jinkins quotes Thomas Merton: "If you want to have a spiritual life you must unify your life. A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No one can serve two masters."
