Is it time for a new Pope?

Not all that long ago, the Pope was a widely-respected and much-loved leader of the world's billion or so Catholics as well as the Vatican City's head of state. His word carried a certain moral and ethical authority even for non-Catholics. What went so badly wrong?

Well, all of that was Pope John Paul II, the Polish Pope known for his warm public receptions and charismatic appearances. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, is a German with a far colder public image, positively lacking in charm or charisma. Worse, he brings the reputation of 'God's Rottweiler' to the role, from his time as Cardinal Ratzinger and has gradually undermined that moral and ethical authority carried by the title Bishop of Rome.

Without wanting to understate the conservatism of John Paul II's papacy, Pope Benedict's conservative direction is one of the principle damaging factors in the Catholic Church's recent history. Yes, the sex abuse scandal is serious and damaging, but it is one in a series of incidents that show this conservative trend to be distancing the Church from the people. The scandal's personal implications for the man at the top – Ratzinger being the Cardinal blamed for earlier alleged cover-ups – tarnish the Papacy itself and the entire Church by implication. Worse, the conservative thinking of the current Papacy – in danger of taking the Bible literally – is out of touch with the secular society Pope Benedict is concerned to re-establish religion within; the two are incompatible.

That incompatibility is down to the Church's inability to move with the times. Secular society has advanced into the modern age, but the conservatism of Pope Benedict holds the Church back, restraining it in the race of human progress. This is the Church that refuses to even discuss the possibility of ordaining women because there are no female preachers in the Bible. It's funny, there's no electricity in the Bible but I don't hear of many priests refusing to have their churches re-wired.

But the Bible was written (if you take a non-Christian or cynical view) by men in a patriarchal society roughly two thousand years ago. If you take a Christian, theistic view, it was written by God, via men in a patriarchal society roughly two thousand years ago to be read by that same patriarchal society. Of course there are no women preachers!

The worldwide church (not just the Catholic one) does a great deal of good in the world, as do other organisations in the name of their faith. So let's not go lambasting religion and arguing that anyone willing to listen to the Pope is somehow evil or misinformed. Religion has the power to help as well as harm – it's much more about how people interpret it – and I'm not for one minute arguing that religion is necessarily a bad thing. I just question whether Joseph Ratzinger is the best man to be leading the Catholic Church right now. Someone so embroiled in the biggest scandal the Church has faced in living memory, and generating such opposition in other areas is perhaps not the best spokesperson for the world's billion or so Catholics.

The Catholic Church needs to accept that the march of history has advanced, and they have to adapt or get left behind in their medieval theology. The Church is still stuck in the past, and that, your Holiness, is why secular society has marginalised religion.