The Benedict Blog

Pope Benedict Roundup!

2012-01-28T23:53:00.007-05:00

In the News

11/09/11 - At the end of a general audience, a delegation from Natz-Schabs (Naz-Siaves), located in the Italian province of Bolzano, conferred honorary citizenship upon the Pope. Noting that the town was birthplace to his great-grandmother, Elisabeth Maria Tauber, and his grandmother, Maria Tauber-Peintner, Benedict XVI then reminisced about the stories told him by his mother. Zenit News has the full text.
11/17/11 - The Vatican secretariat of state is seeking legal protection for the Pope's image after an advertising campaign in Italy made use of a fake photograph of Benedict XVI:
According to a statement from the Vatican today, "The Secretariat of State has authorized its lawyers to initiate actions, in Italy and elsewhere, to prevent the circulation, via the mass media and in other ways, of a photomontage used in a Benetton advertising campaign in which the Holy Father appears in a way considered to be harmful, not only to the dignity of the Pope and the Catholic Church, but also to the sensibility of believers."
The ad campaign portrays various world leaders kissing on the mouth those who are or could be perceived as their enemies. The image portrayed as Benedict XVI is kissing the image of Imam Ahmed el-Tayyeb of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque. The mosque also protested the ad, calling it irresponsible.
According to the National Catholic Reporter, Hours after the Vatican condemned the advertisement, the Italian fashion house Benetton withdrew the photo.
11/17/11 - Benedict XVI was selected to receive a Polish honor recognizing his contribution in the fields of theology and culture". According to Zenit News, the award was granted to Benedict XVI in the context of the bicentenary of the University of Wroclaw. (Pope John Paul II was the first recipient of the prize in 2003).
11/26/11 - Johannes Christian Sundermann, a lawyer from Unna in North Rhine Westphalia, has filed a complaint against Pope Benedikt XVI for not wearing a seat belt in his "Popemobile" during his last trip to Germany. The pope allegedly broke the law during his visit to Freiburg at the end of September as part of his tour of Germany. (Source: "The Local: Germany's News in English"; HTP Curt Jester).
11/30/11 - Benedict XVI addressed a group of people working to the end the death penalty, expressing his hopes that their efforts will succeed:
"I express my hope that your deliberations will encourage the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the effective maintenance of public order."
12/06/11 - This past December, Benedict XVI used a tablet computer to switch on the lights of the world's biggest Christmas tree. The "tree" is made up of an arrangement of 700 colored lights on the side of Mount Ingino. It is a tradition at the site since 1981. (Zenit)
12/16/11 - News that Benedict XVI is set to appoint Hildegard of Bingen as a Doctor of the Church in October of 2012. RomeReports has the details.
01/0/12 - The Pope, at the end of the Angelus announced the list of 22 cardinals -- including 18 under 80 years of age (La Stampa "Vatican Insider").

Anticipating Benedict's Visit to Cuba

On November 10, it was announced that Benedict XVI is studying the possibility of a trip to Mexico and Cuba in the spring of 2012, "the nuncios in Mexico and Cuba have been instructed to inform the highest civil and religious authorities that the Pope is examining concrete plans to visit those states, in response to invitations he has received." (Zenit)
In a message for Thursday's feast of the Immaculate Conception, the bishops of Cuba laid out an evangelization plan for the upcoming jubilee in celebration of the island's patron, extending a welcome to the Holy Father. According to Zenit:
The bishops outlined steps that they propose to their country's Catholics for the Marian Jubilee Year, which will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the image of the Virgin of Charity, patroness of Cuba. The year runs from Jan. 7, 2012, to Jan. 5, 2013.
On December 12th, Benedict confirmed his travel plans to Cuba and Mexico during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica honoring Mexico's patron saint, the Virgin of Guadalupe:
In his homily, Benedict said it was his responsibility as pope to help confirm the faith in such an important Catholic stronghold. He said he hoped the region would continue to create new missionaries who would help build a society "rooted in the development of the common good, the triumph of love and the spread of justice."
"With these wishes, and supported by the help of divine providence, I intend to make an apostolic trip before Easter to Mexico and Cuba," he said as applause erupted in St. Peter's Basilica. He said it was a "precious time to evangelize with a solid faith, a lively hope and ardent charity."
December 15th - Zenit features a two part interview on "The Cuba That Will Welcome Benedict XVI" Part I; Part II, interviewing Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of Havana, Cuba, on what the Holy Father should expect to find
On January 6, 2012, The Vatican confirmed the dates and locations of of the Pope's visit to Cuba and Mexico: The March 23-28 trip will be centered in Leon, Mexico, and in Santiago and Havana, Cuba, and will include the feast of the Annunciation. (Zenit).
The "Vatican Insider" reports that the Vatican and the Cuban government are working towards a face-to-face meeting between Benedict XVI and the now-sick and elderly leader, Fidel Castro. "The unknowns surrounding the meeting are largely related to Fidel’s health, which justifies the secrecy maintained around the project so far."
Cuba and its patron saint await Pope Benedict (Reuters):
The Virgin of Charity of El Cobre is a gold-clothed, doll-like figurine which, according to Cuban legend, three fishermen found floating in a bay as Spain colonized the region with the sword and the cross.
She is Cuba's patron saint and Pope Benedict will visit her in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on March 26 to mark the 400th anniversary of her discovery.

Commentary

Back in October 2011, concerns were raised when Pope Benedict XVI was pulled down the aisle of St. Peter’s basilica on a rolling platform before he celebrated Mass -- the same platform used by Pope John Paul II in his later years. Similar to his predecessor, provoking observations from the press on how "tired, weak and worn out" the Pope appeared and even speculations of retirement. Fr. Federico Lombardi at the time dismissed concerns, asserting that no medical condition prompted the decision to use the moving platform in St. Peter's; "the sole purpose is to ease the effort of the Holy Father, to reduce the fatigue."
On November 9, 2011, Andrea Tornielli (La Stampa's "Vatican Insider") makes he claim that "Pope Benedict suffers from arthrosis, a degenerative condition in the joints of his legs ... [making] it painful for the Pope to walk long distances." Phil Lawler of Catholic Culture comments on the peculiar silence of the Vatican:
A degenerative joint condition can be quite painful. But it is not a life-threatening condition. Nor is there any shame involved. We all know that age is taking its toll on the Pope’s physical condition, and aching joints are a common complaint among men of his years. There is abundant evidence that the Holy Father can no longer walk without difficulty. Eyewitnesses notice that his stride is labored; his right leg seems gimpy. In past years he vacationed in the Italian Alps, where he could take long walks; this year he opted instead for a few quiet weeks at Castel Gandolfo, where he could relax, play the piano, and stay off his feet.
So why not tell the whole truth?
The Pope’s Life of Jesus - Anglican Bishop and biblical scholar N.T. Wright reviews Pope Benedict's Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection. (Times Literary Supplement December 14, 2011).
The perils of a 'part-time pope' John Allen Jr. reviews Joseph Ratzinger: Crisis of a Papacy, a critical review of Benedict's pontificate by a veteran Italian journalist and commentator Marco Politi:
I've known Politi for two decades, covering Vatican happenings with him and reading his stuff. Whatever one makes of his big-picture perspective, he's an astute observer, and there's always something to learn from what he has to say. (Proof that Politi is taken seriously in the Vatican is that Gian Maria Vian, editor of L'Osservatore Romano, was among the panelists at a Nov. 16 presentation of the book in Rome -- even though Vian said he came as a "devil's advocate" to argue that the book "shouldn't be canonized.")
Politi's core thesis is expressed in the provocative assertion that Benedict XVI is a "part-time pope."
As Politi sees it, Benedict dips in to running the church or acting as a global leader only when circumstances require it. His passion, however, is focused on his private theological studies and his own writings.
Benedict’s Christocentrism: Realities of a Primary Order, by Elizabeth Scalia. (First Things "On the Square" December 20, 2011):
Pope Benedict has served Christ and the Church for very nearly his whole life, and it seems that even in the infancy of his ministry he was called to deliver a clear and unambiguous message against relativism, which he many decades later famously (and rightly) referred to as a “dictatorship.”
Perhaps the Holy Spirit understands more than those worrying about a “governance gap” that while we watch governments and nations founder and fail in the fogs of their own contrived and faulty gospels, the pope we need right now is the one who will keep reminding us that there is only one truth, and one constant reality.
Pope Benedict's 'State of the World' address - summary and detailed analysis from Catholic World News of Pope Benedict's annual address to the Vatican's diplomatic corps, noting with respect to the varied reactions from the press that Reuters "devoted most of its analysis to the question of same-sex marriage: a topic that the Pope did not mention." (Here is the full text of the Pope's address to the diplomatic corps of the Holy See).

Upcoming Books

	Joseph Ratzinger: Fundamental Speeches from Five Decades Ignatius Press (March 2012) While a professor of theology and throughout his rise in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, Joseph Ratzinger again and again delivered important speeches over the course of five decades at the Catholic Academy of Bavaria (1963-2004). The broad spectrum of topics from the primacy of the papacy to the moral foundations of western society demonstrated not only his breadth of knowledge but also his prescience, for these issues remain important for both the Church and modern man. The fundamental speeches in this volume are arranged thematically. And before each one is a brief introduction written by Dr. Florian Schuller, the director of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria in Munich, who also contributed the foreword.
	Holy Men and Women Of the Middle Ages and Beyond Ignatius Press (March 2012) While a professor of theology and throughout his rise in the Roman Catholic hierarchy, Joseph Ratzinger again and again delivered important speeches over the course of five decades at the Catholic Academy of Bavaria (1963-2004). The broad spectrum of topics from the primacy of the papacy to the moral foundations of western society demonstrated not only his breadth of knowledge but also his prescience, for these issues remain important for both the Church and modern man. The fundamental speeches in this volume are arranged thematically. And before each one is a brief introduction written by Dr. Florian Schuller, the director of the Catholic Academy of Bavaria in Munich, who also contributed the foreword.
	My Brother, the Pope Ignatius Press (March 2012) It wasn't always the case that Msgr. Georg Ratzinger lived in the shadow of his younger brother, Joseph. Georg was an accomplished musician, who for over 30 years directed the Regensburger Domspatzchor, the world-famous boys choir of the Regensburg cathedral. Brother Joseph was a brilliant young professor, but mostly known in German academic circles. Now Georg writes about the close friendship that has united these two brothers for more than 80 years. This book is a unique window on an extraordinary family that lived through the difficult period of National Socialism in Germany. Those interested in knowing more about the early life of Benedict XVI will not be disappointed. They will also learn of the admirable character and inspiring example of the parents, and see how the Catholic faith can shape not just a family, but an entire culture-in this case, that of Bavaria. Georg's reminiscences are detailed, intimate, and warm. And while they begin with the earliest years of the Ratzinger family, they continue right up to the present day.
	Benedict XVI's Reform: The Liturgy Between Innovation and Tradition Ignatius Press (April 2012) When Benedict XVI reestablished the celebration of the older Latin Mass, voices of protest rose up from many sides. The widespread fear was-and is-that the Pope had revealed himself as the reactionary defender of tradition that many have accused him of being since he was the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office. Defenders of Benedict XVI have responded to these objections by explaining that the use of the Tridentine Rite is not a "step backward" to pre-Vatican II times, but rather a step forward. Now the Church can see what the older rite offered in terms of beauty, reverence, and meaning and perhaps desire more of those elements in the ordinary form of the Mass. A professor of theology and liturgy, the author of this book explains the motives behind the Pope's decision to allow two forms of the Mass. He does this by turning to the Pope's own theological and liturgical writings, but he also draws from his experiences on various Church commissions and in offices of the Roman Curia.

Pope Benedict XVI - Apostolic Journey to Benin (November 18-20, 2011)

2011-11-20T22:37:00.002-05:00

From the Vatican

Pope Benedict waves at the crowd as he arrives in his Popemobile to celebrate a mass at the Stade de l'Amitie (Friendship Stadium) in Benin's economic capital Cotonou November 20, 2011. Source: Reuters

Addresses of the Holy Father

Meeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI with journalists during the flight to Benin (Papal Flight, 18 November 2011)
Welcome Ceremony at Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport of Cotonou (November 18, 2011)
Visit to the Cathedral of Cotonou (November 18, 2011)
Meeting with Government members, representatives of the Institutions of the Republic, Diplomatic Corps and representatives of the major religions gathered in the Presidential Palace of Cotonou (November 19, 2011)
Meeting with priests, seminarians, men and women religious and lay faithful gathered in the Courtyard of St Gall Seminary (Ouidah, 19 November 2011)
Visit at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception of Mary of Ouidah and signing of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation (November 19, 2011)
Meeting with children at St. Rita Parish in Cotonou (November 19, 2011)
Meeting with the Bishops of Benin at the Apostolic Nunciature of Cotonou (November 19, 2011)
Holy Mass at the "Stade de l’amitié" of Cotonou (November 20, 2011)
Consignment of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation to the Bishops of Africa at the "Stade de l’amitié" of Cotonou (November 20, 2011)
Recitation of the Angelus Domini (Cotonou, 20 November 2011)
Farewell ceremony at Cardinal Bernardin Gantin International Airport (Cotonou, 20 November 2011)

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates a mass at the 'Friendship Stadium' in Cotonou on November 20, 2011. Source: Getty Images

Commentary

Veteran papal journalist John Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter) accompanied the Pope -- and blogged the papal journey:

From rumba to voodoo, subtext abounds on pope’s Africa trip 11/17/11.
For anyone seeking an off-beat lens through which to see the journey, there’s almost an embarrassment of riches. From witchcraft to voodoo, from funky rumba music to politically incorrect comic books, subtext abounds – and that’s even without any new papal commentary on condoms, which was the sideshow that dominated Benedict’s last outing to Africa in 2009."
Don't surrender to laws of market, pope says 11/18/11.
On the heels of a controversial Vatican document blasting free-market ideologies and calling for a global authority to regulate the economy, Benedict XVI today warned the continent of Africa against an “unconditional surrender to the law of the market or that of finance,” in a speech opening his second African journey as pope.
The political nerve of Catholicism in Africa 11/18/11.
A core motive for Benedict XVI’s trip to Benin this weekend is to honor the late Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, yet it's actually another former Archbishop of Cotonou whose memory may be most helpful in grasping one key feature of African Catholicism: Its brazen disregard of Western notions of church/state separation.
From a Eurocentric pope, a remarkably African message 11/19/11.
If one were to survey African Catholic leaders about their most pressing social challenges, responses would likely focus on their struggles against corruption and religious intolerance. As it happens, those were precisely the two themes raised today by Pope Benedict XVI, in a highly anticipated speech to government and religious leaders at Benin’s Presidential Palace.
In voodoo capital, Benedict blasts 'occultism and evil spirits' 11/19/11.
In a West African city widely regarded as the spiritual capital of voodoo, Benedict XVI today urged Catholics to resist a “syncretism which deceives” and to uphold a Christian faith that “liberates from occultism” and “vanquishes evil spirits.”
On AIDS, Benedict avoids the ‘C’ word 11/19/11.
Heading into Pope Benedict XVI’s Nov. 18-20 trip to Benin, one bit of drama was whether this African outing, like the last one two years ago, would be engulfed by controversy over the pope’s stance on condoms and AIDS. That now seems unlikely, for a simple reason: The “C” word has not passed from the pope’s lips.
Benedict’s Africa plan: Stay spiritual, and stay Catholic 11/19/11.
Pope Benedict XVI came to Africa this weekend primarily to deliver his conclusions from a 2009 Synod of Bishops for Africa, representing a papal game plan for the faith in the region of its most explosive growth. He chose an evocative setting – the city of Ouidah on Benin’s Atlantic coast, a onetime slave port known as the spiritual capital of the Vodun religion, referred to in the West as voodoo.
The lonely liberation theology of Benedict XVI 11/20/11.
Anyone just tuning in now to Pope Benedict XVI, who doesn’t know much about him but somehow caught wind of his Nov. 18-20 trip to Benin, could be forgiven a bit of confusion about exactly what the pope came here to say about the political role of Catholicism in Africa. Understanding that a unique form of ‘liberation theology’ circulates in the pope’s intellectual and spiritual bloodstream can, perhaps, help make sense of things.
Hard questions about Pope Benedict in Africa 11/23/11.
It may seem counterintuitive that an 84-year-old German intellectual should be the Western leader most enthusiastic about Africa, yet it actually makes all the sense in the world. Spiritually speaking, Africa is a superpower -- both the world's largest manufacturer and consumer of religion. For a pope who has spent a lifetime lamenting the "death of God" in Europe, Africa can't help but seem an oasis of vibrant faith. Africans seemed to return the sentiment.

Pope Benedict and Assisi III

2011-11-20T10:54:00.002-05:00

On April 2, 2011, the Holy See's press office announced the details of Pope Benedict's 2011 visit to Assissi to preside over an ecumenical and interreligious gathering in a day of dialogue and prayer for peace::

On 1 January 2011, after the Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he wished to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the historic meeting that took place in Assisi on 27 October 1986, at the wish of the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II. On the day of the anniversary, 27 October this year, the Holy Father intends to hold a ‘Day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world’, making a pilgrimage to the home of St. Francis and inviting fellow Christians from different denominations, representatives of the world’s religious traditions and, in some sense, all men and women of good will, to join him once again on this journey.
The Day will take as its theme: ‘Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace’. Every human being is ultimately a pilgrim in search of truth and goodness. Believers too are constantly journeying towards God: hence the possibility, indeed the necessity, of speaking and entering into dialogue with everyone, believers and unbelievers alike, without sacrificing one’s own identity or indulging in forms of syncretism. To the extent that the pilgrimage of truth is authentically lived, it opens the path to dialogue with the other, it excludes no-one and it commits everyone to be a builder of fraternity and peace. These are the elements that the Holy Father wishes to place at the centre of reflection.

Invited to this event were "representatives of Christian communities and of the principal religious traditions" as well as professed agnostics "from the world of culture and science -- people who, while not professing to be religious, regard themselves as seekers of the truth and are conscious of a shared responsibility for the cause of justice and peace in this world of ours”.

The intinerary was a simple one. On October 27th, Pope Benedict and fellow delegates would board a train from Rome -- upon arrival in Assisi, they would make their way to the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, "where the previous meetings will be recalled and the theme of the Day will be explored in greater depth. Leaders of some of the delegations present will make speeches and the Holy Father will likewise deliver an address". This in turn would be followed by a simple lunch and "a moment of silence for individual reflection and prayer", a "pilgrimage" to the Basilica of Saint Francis (also, again, "in silence"), and culminating in "a solemn renewal of the joint commitment to peace".

Reactions and Commentary

"Traditionalist" Catholics were (expectedly, and we should acknowledge, justifiably) wary of the Pope's call for yet another ecumenical/interreligious event at Assisi. Although Pope John Paul II had insisted that what would take place was not a manifestation of religious syncretism (representatives of the world's religions would not "come to pray together" but "to come together to pray"), the visutal images and impressions of the 1986 event provided much fodder for criticisms of such gatherings, unheard of in "pre-conciliar" times.

As recollected by Cardinal Oddi in 30 Giorni ["30 Days"] magazine:

... On that day, I went as the Pontifical Legate for the Basilica of St Francis, and I saw true profanations in some places of prayer. I saw Buddhists dancing around the altar, on which they had put Buddha in the place of Christ, and they were burning incense to the Buddha and venerating it. A Benedictine protested – he was thrown out by the police. I did not protest, but my heart was scandalized. Confusion was apparent on the faces of the Catholics who were attending the ceremony. I thought: if at this moment the Buddhists were to distribute bread consecrated to Buddha, these people would be capable of agreeing to eat it, perhaps with a greater devotion than when they receive the Host.

In fact, it was the first gathering of Assisi that, together with John Paul II's visit to the synagogue of Rome, reportedly prompted Archbishop Lefebvre to consecrete bishops and issue a furious denunciation of the "modernist and liberal religion of modern and conciliar Rome" (December 2, 1986):

The public sin against the one, true God, against the Incarnate Word, and His Church, makes us shudder with horror. John Paul II encourages the false religions to pray to their false gods—an immeasurable, unprecedented scandal.

See "Assisi Revisited" (The Remnant February 15, 1987 - republished) for a characteristicaly traditionalist critique of the events of Assissi, 1986. A compilation of traditionalist criticisms of Assisi (I-III) is available at the SSPX website.

Responding to the criticism, Fr John Hunwicke suggested that the Holy Father's traditionalist critics "wait it out":

Considering Papa Ratzinger's subtlety and his views on the necessarily coherent, non-self-contradictory, nature of the Tradition and of the Magisterium, I can't help feeling that his intention to have the meeting in that particular place may have, as one its purposes, a resolution of the worrying ambiguities in the original event.
Can't we wait and see what actually happens? If all is done with propriety, then presumambly the Holy Father is saying 'This is what the true contextualised meaning of these occasions is; so let nobody in the future claim that the rough edges in the original format afford precedents for syncretism.'

So, how did it turn out?

From the Vatican, the booklet for the celebration and the addresses of the Holy Father:

Address of the Holy Father (Assisi, October 27, 2011)
Farewell address by the Holy Father (Saint Francis Square, October 27, 2011)
To the delegations taking part in the meeting for peace in Assisi (October 28, 2011)

The Pope and "the Agnostics"

Of particular interest and discussion was Pope Benedict's focus on agnostics (as distinguished from "militant atheists") in his address at Assisi. Here is the relevant excerpts:

The absence of God leads to the decline of man and of humanity. But where is God? Do we know him, and can we show him anew to humanity, in order to build true peace? Let us first briefly summarize our considerations thus far. I said that there is a way of understanding and using religion so that it becomes a source of violence, while the rightly lived relationship of man to God is a force for peace. In this context I referred to the need for dialogue and I spoke of the constant need for purification of lived religion. On the other hand I said that the denial of God corrupts man, robs him of his criteria and leads him to violence.
In addition to the two phenomena of religion and anti-religion, a further basic orientation is found in the growing world of agnosticism: people to whom the gift of faith has not been given, but who are nevertheless on the lookout for truth, searching for God. Such people do not simply assert: “There is no God”. They suffer from his absence and yet are inwardly making their way towards him, inasmuch as they seek truth and goodness. They are “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”. They ask questions of both sides. They take away from militant atheists the false certainty by which these claim to know that there is no God and they invite them to leave polemics aside and to become seekers who do not give up hope in the existence of truth and in the possibility and necessity of living by it. But they also challenge the followers of religions not to consider God as their own property, as if he belonged to them, in such a way that they feel vindicated in using force against others. These people are seeking the truth, they are seeking the true God, whose image is frequently concealed in the religions because of the ways in which they are often practised. Their inability to find God is partly the responsibility of believers with a limited or even falsified image of God. So all their struggling and questioning is in part an appeal to believers to purify their faith, so that God, the true God, becomes accessible. Therefore I have consciously invited delegates of this third group to our meeting in Assisi, which does not simply bring together representatives of religious institutions. Rather it is a case of being together on a journey towards truth, a case of taking a decisive stand for human dignity and a case of common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force. Finally I would like to assure you that the Catholic Church will not let up in her fight against violence, in her commitment for peace in the world. We are animated by the common desire to be “pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace”.

Some were able to appreciate the Holy Father's words (see Michael Potemra (and related commentators) at National Review). Others were not too keen (ex. mixed reception from readers of the "traditionalist" blog Rorate Caeli, with one observing that the vast majority of "agnostics" in this day and age "are simply too worldly to be bothered to find out more about God, or are too averse to the idea of "absolute truth" to want to concede the truth of Christianity, or indeed of any religious system that claims to be true."

It is noted that this is not the first time the Pope has praised agnostics. During the papal mass at Freiburg Airport in September (apostolic visit to Germany), the Pope stated:

“Agnostics, who are constantly exercised by the question of God, those who long for a pure heart but suffer on account of our sin, are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is 'routine' and who regard the Church merely as an institution, without letting their hearts be touched by faith.”

Additional Addresses (La Stampa's "The Vatican Insider")

Address of Rowan Williams, The Archbishop of Canterbury at Assisi III October 27, 2011.
Address of Rabbi David Rosen at Assisi III. Rosen is Director of Interfaith Affairs for the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and honorary Advisor on Interfaith Relations to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
A summary of the speeches made by representatives of the various religions, during the pilgrimage to Assisi - Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Bartholomew I, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury; Olav Fykse Tveit, Secretary General of the Ecumenical Council of Churches; Rabbi David Rosen; Wande Abimola, spokesman for the Ifu and Youruba religion; Ja-Seung, a Korean Buddhist, Julia Kristeva, a philosopher of language, and Great Mufti of Tajikistan, Muskaram Abdukadirov, as Muslim representative.

Pope Benedict XVI prays in front of the crypt of Saint Francis at the end of the meeting 'Pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace ' a day of reflection, dialogue and prayer for peace and justice in the world at the Saint Francis Basilica on October 27, 2011 in Assisi, Italy. Source: Getty Images

Additional Coverage and Commentary

From Sandro Magister, a personal letter of Pope Benedict XVI -- responding to concerns about Assisi expressed by longtime friend and Luthern pastor Peter Beyerhaus:
"I understand very well," the pope writes, "your concern about participating in the encounter of Assisi. But this commemoration would have been celebrated in any case, and, in the end, it seemed to me the best thing to go there personally, in order to try to determine the overall direction. Nonetheless, I will do everything I can to make a syncretistic or relativistic interpretation of the event impossible, and to make it clear that I will always believe and confess what I had called the Church's attention to with 'Dominus Iesus'."
FromRorate-Caeli, a list of those in attendance at Assisi III:
- "From the Eastern Churches, 17 delegations";
- "From the Western Churches and ecclesial communities, 13 delegations will be present";
- From Jewish Organizations: delegations of the "International Committee on Interreligious Consultation", "of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel", the "Chief Rabbi of Rome";
- "4 personalities in representation of the Traditional Religions of Africa, America, and India";
- "18 people" of "religions related to the Indian subcontinent";
- "67 Buddhists";
- the "President of the Confucianism Association", "the President of the Tao Association", "2 Shinto delegations from Japan", representatives of "the New Religions of Japan";
- "48 Muslims" from "Arab countries and the Middle East, and from Western nations", including "a representative of the King of Saudi Arabia and Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", and "5 personalities, accompanied by other 7 Muslim representatives" from "Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia;
- And also 4 invited guests of the Pontifical Council for Culture, including a member of the Austrian Communist Party.
From the "Vatican Insider" (La Stampa), A more detailed list of attendees by name (including Mahatma Ghandi’s grandson), noting that "for the first time ever, leaders of world religions will be meeting at the tomb of St. Francis" to pay personal tribute to the saint.
According to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the presence of atheists (and/or presumably "agnostics") at Assissi was at the specific request of the Holy Father ("Vatican Insider" 10/15/2011):
"It was an idea of ??Benedict XVI's", says the cardinal of Milan, "and he himself presented it during a meeting with some cardinals in sight of the preparations for Assisi. " In doing so, explains Ravasi, "Ratzinger shows that he holds in great esteem an ancient teaching of Christian theology: man is made of natural and supernatural. The supernatural does not remove or destroy nature, but perfects it. It sets itself, that is, an additional element, but does not eliminate human nature. So the invitation of the Pope's attempt to reassert the importance of the relationship between faith and reason."
The four atheists who participate in Assisi are the French philosopher and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva (who will speak before Benedict XVI), the Italian thinker philosophy professor at UCLA in Los Angeles Bodei Remo, the British philosopher Anthony Grayling, which established the New College of Letters and Philosophy, London, and Mexico's Guillermo Hurtado, founder of the second period of the history and philosophy magazine Dianoia. The day before the meeting in Assisi, October 26, the four will participate in a panel discussion in the main hall of the Rectorate of Roma 3 University.

Pope Benedict XVI and Archbiscop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (in red) pray with other religious leaders in front of the cript of Saint Francis. Source: Getty Images

Austen Ivereigh (America comments on "The hidden history of the Assisi gatherings". The impression is given that "these gatherings have been entirely the initiatives of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, and that little has happened between the three gatherings of 1986, 2002 and today's." Not so:
What it missed out is that every year since 1987, the Community of Sant'Egidio -- which played a major role, along with Focolare and Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, in preparing Assisi I -- has held an annual prayer for peace in a different city"in the spirit of Assisi" and following a similar format (speeches, prayers, common pledge of peace), intended to develop a "spiritual humanism of peace".
The 1986 gathering was originally designed as a one-off event, with no plans to repeat it or continue it in any way. The fact that it has become embedded in the life of the Church is down to Sant'Egidio's annual gatherings and Focolare's conferences "in the spirit of Assisi".
That experience has been heavily drawn on to prepare today's event. What is billed as the great innovation of Assisi III, for example, the inclusion of nonbelievers, has happened for years at the annual Sant'Egidio gatherings.
Taking his cue from Assissi, Paul Bhatti, Pakistani PM’s Special Councillor for Minority Affairs (and also a Catholic), has announced interreligious Congress in Islamabad, in early 2012:
The meeting will be on the theme of harmony and peaceful coexistence and we will be inviting guests of international renown. It will send a message of peace to the entire nation.”
The Councillor intends to commit “to interreligious dialogue, on a National and international level, with the aim of improving conditions for religious minorities in Pakistan. All people of goodwill will need to be called, to unite together for the common good of the nation.”
The concerns and complaints of Assissi's critics were validated by at least one instance of abuse, where inside the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi, an African pagan priest sang a prayer to the pagan deity of Olokun. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf remarks:
When something is consecrated, it should be used for sacred purposes or at least purposes that are not contrary to the Faith. Was that African holy man doing something contrary to our Faith? I can’t say for sure, because I don’t know enough about what that fellow actually sang. I don’t understand that language. But it sure looks like he did. My immediate impression was not good. At the very least, the choice to have that in a consecrated church shows little regard on the part of the organizers for the appearance of things. It was also wrong to be so insensitive to the Catholic sensibilities of members of our Holy Church.
I am trying to imagine what St. Francis, who as tough as nails when it came to the faith and nobody’s fool, would have said about that chant in a consecrated church.
For pity’s sake, couldn’t the organizers have learned from the mistakes made at Assisi I, back in the day?
In any event, I don’t think this is worth freaking out over. No doubt some people will say that this was Pope Benedict’s fault, as if he made out the schedule and took that fellow up to the microphone himself. I doubt any of the organizers intended to do anything contrary to the Catholic Faith, but I am irritated that these people seem not to be able to learn from the past.
Finally, John Allen Jr. draws attention to the man "behind the scenes" at Assissi III, "papal contender" Peter Cardinal Turkson of Ghana:
Rome saw a striking coincidence this week, which could be either simple luck or a sign of things to come. There were two big-ticket Vatican news flashes, Monday's note on reform of the international economy and Thursday's summit of religious leaders in Assisi. In both cases, the same Vatican official was a prime mover: Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Turkson, still young in church terms at 63, was the chief organizer of the Assisi gathering, just as he was the top signatory on the document blasting "neo-liberal" ideologies and calling for a "true world political authority" to regulate the economy. During Vatican press conferences to present both, Turkson was the star attraction each time.
Can anyone say, papabile?
Before getting over-heated, however, three cautions are in order ... [Read the rest]

Pope Benedict Roundup!

2011-10-30T00:04:00.003-04:00

October 27th, 20011, marked the gathering of Pope Benedict XVI and representatives of the world's religions in an interreligious "prayer for peace" in the town of Assisi. The Benedict Blog will provide a roundup of coverage of this event in a separate post.

News

An olive tree more than 200 years old grown near Nazareth was sent as a gift from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Pope Benedict XVI. (The Forward 10/24/11).
Pope Benedict has named Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, 70, to be the new nuncio to the United States. Catholic News Service has the profile (10/19/11).
Pope Benedict XVI announced a special "Year of Faith" to help Catholics appreciate the gift of faith, deepen their relationship with God and strengthen their commitment to sharing faith with others (Catholic News Service 10/18/11):
The pope said the observance would begin Oct. 11, 2012 -- the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council -- and conclude Nov. 24, 2013 -- the feast of Christ the King.

The Hollywood actress Susan Sarandon recycled an old smear, referring to Pope Benedict as a "nazi" during a film festival in New York (10/15/11), prompting Abraham H. Foxman, director of the The Anti-Defamation League and Bill Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights to join in condemnation of the slander.
During his September 28th general audience, Benedict XVI reflected on his recent apostolic trip to Germany, defining it as "a great feast of the faith" during which he had seen "how it is God Who gives our lives their deepest meaning, their true fullness". From The Benedict Blog, a roundup of the Holy Father's apostolic journey to Germany).

"Ratzinger Fan!" -- A man wearing a Kosovo 'Dardanian' flag holds a poster reading 'We thank Vatican, we thank Germany' (Wir danken dem Vatikan, wir danken Deutschland) as he attends a mass held by German-born Pope Benedict XVI on the grounds of the airport in Freiburg, southern Germany, on September 25, 2011, on the last day of the Pontiff's first state visit to his native Germany. Source: Getty Images

Zenit news marks two Papal firsts in 2011:
A papal first happened on May 21: the Bishop of Rome conversed via satellite with the crew of the International Space Station, on the occasion of the space shuttle Endeavour's last mission.
That was followed by another novelty: the first papal tweet. Benedict XVI launched the Vatican's new news portal on June 28, eve of the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.
During his visit to Ancona, Benedict XVI had lunch with 16 workers who had been laid off from their positions at the local Fincantieri shipbuilding company (9/12/11). The pope was presented with two cakes, one with the symbol of the Christian fish and the other with the papal seal. [Video from RomeReports].
On September 20th, 2011, Pope Benedict personally conveyed birthday greetings to Spanish Cistercian Sister Teresita, who turned 104. (9/20/11):
Sister Teresita has spent 85 years in the cloister, more than anyone else known to history. She expressed her desire to meet the Holy Father shortly before his Madrid journey, and the apostolic nuncio in Spain, Archbishop Renzo Fratini, shortly thereafter confirmed that it would be possible. ... [Read the rest]
New files uncovered in September revealed that Cardinal Ratzinger was under surveillance by East-German Stasi, who considered him a fierce foe:
The GDR secret service viewed Professor Ratzinger as "conservative, reactionary and authoritarian," Erice writes, and contended that John Paul II had appointed the then-Cardinal Ratzinger as organizer for "counter-revolutionary development in Poland." More Stasi notes reveal they considered him as "one of the fiercest opponents of communism"; they believed he supported nuclear deterrence between the East and West military blocs, and that he considered pacifism "unrealistic."
(Zenit News has the full and detailed report).
In mid-September (16th-18th), the Catholic faithful of the United Kingdom reflected on the Pope's historical visit. Zenit News interviewed Clare Ward, the Home Mission Advisor for the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, on the festivities that took place as well as inspiring stories of the papal visit.
75 being the normal age of retirement within the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict will begin the search for the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, replacing the American Cardinal William Levada. "Benedict XVI has a special connection to this position, where he served for 24 years before being elected pope." RomeReports has the story.
"The Pope's Day" - Andrea Tornielli ("The Vatican Insider") walks us through a typical day in the life of the Holy Father:
A day at the Vatican for Pope Benedict XVI begins shortly after six o'clock, when the Pope gets up. Around 6:50 a.m. Ratzinger leaves his room and crosses the twenty meters that separate his room from the chapel. When he enters the chapel, the Pope stops to pray briefly, placing his glasses on the altar, then goes into the small sacristy to don the robes. At that moment the two secretaries, the German Gänswein Georg and the Maltese Alfred Xuereb, are ready to celebrate mass. ... more]
By way of Sandro Magister, news that almost a million euro obtained in 2010 from the sale of pontifical blessings by Pope Benedict XVI has been given to seven thousand needy families.
Ignatius Press' Carl Olson brings to our attention that Father Maximilian Heim, a 50-year-old professor of fundamental and dogmatic theology as well as Abbot of Heiligenkreuz [Holy Cross] Monastery in Bavaria, was among the three winners for the Ratzinger Prize for their excellence in theological studies awarded in June 2011:
He is the author of Joseph Ratzinger—Kirchliche Existenz und existentielle Theologie (2005), translated into English by Michael J. Miller and published by Ignatius Press as Joseph Ratzinger: Life in the Church and Living Theology—Fundamentals of Ecclesiology with Reference to "Lumen Gentium" (2007). The book was awarded the Cardinal Innitzer Prize in Vienna, and the Johann-Kaspar Zeuss Prize in Kronach, Germany.
"Ratzinger's Circle", by Gianni Valente, on the Holy Father's annual seminar with his former students. La Stampa "Vatican Insider" August 24, 2011:
It is by now a regular appointment in Ratzinger’s annual agenda. Between the end of August and the first days of September, Benedict XVI interrupts, for a few hours, the fast and methodic pace of his commitments, whether ordinary or extraordinary, to meet with the more or less aged members of his Schülerkreis, the circle of his former pupils, who over the Sixties and Seventies prepared their theses for their Ph.D. in theology or studied to achieve their qualification as University teachers under the guide of Professor Joseph Ratzinger. ... [more]
See also: "Ratzinger, Teilhard and the New Evangelization" (8/28/11) - According to Valente, the subject of this year's seminar ("the new evangelization") will be the focus of the next Synod of Bishops in 2012.

Commentary

The Church may be less powerful but Ratzinger is not letting go of his authority - Daniele Menozzi, a church historian at Pisa's Scuola Normale Superiore, reflects on Benedict XVI's appeal for a more spiritual ecclesiastic community. (La Stampa "The Vatican Insider" 10/5/11).
"No Small Matter": Fr. Schall on what the Pope said in Germany, by Fr. James V. Schall. Ignatius Insight October 26, 2011:
[W]hat is especially remarkable about Benedict XVI is the ease and care with which he can illuminate overall things in brief discourses.
As an example, I want to comment on the address the Holy Father gave to representatives of the Evangelical Church of Germany. He was in the Augustinian Convent in Erfurt, where Martin Luther was ordained and where he lived from 1505-1511. Probably better than any of his predecessors, this Pope knows Luther. In general, the Pope stressed what Catholics and Lutherans have in common, not what divided them, the cause of so much strife. We are at a stage in history where we can look at the past much more calmly, but only if we will. ...
Covering the Pope: a guide for journalists Milo Yiannopoulos sheds some light on the arcane world of Catholicism, for the benefit of befuddled mainstream reporters. (Catholic Herald 9/26/11). "We hope that by sharing these best practice guidelines, we can help reporters to uphold the tradition of fair and balanced reporting on Catholic issues for which the British press is rightly famed. Here, then, are our top tips for success."
Benedict and Mozart on True Happiness | Monsignor Daniel B. Gallagher | September 23, 2011 | Ignatius Insight:
Delivered on the eve of a highly touted visit to the United Kingdom last year, most of the world failed to notice a short speech Pope Benedict XVI gave following a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem at Castel Gandolfo. The Pontiff hailed the piece as an "elevated expression of genuine Christian faith" in which "everything is in perfect harmony; every note, every musical phrase is just so and cannot be otherwise."
Ratzinger's Favorite Bach Cantata - it is the one for the last Sunday of the Lutheran liturgical year, centered on the parable of the wise and foolish virgins. All the details of a personal memory of Pope Benedict, on the eve of his next voyage to Germany, by Sandro Magister (Chiesa 9/5/11).
Sixty Years a Priest | On the 60th Anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's Ordination, by Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | Ignatius Insight August 16, 2011.
Pope Benedict's Guide to Youth Ministry, by Amy Welborn. (HeadlineBistro August 24th, 2011). "Anyone interested in the question of how to minister to young Catholics might want to set aside – just for a few minutes – all the expert advice you've bought and paid for over the years and watch and listen to what the Holy Father said during his time with these millions of young people [At World Youth Day 2011]. No charge."
Benedict XVI on Europe's Future , by George Weigel. First Things' "On The Square". August 10, 2011. "In remarks to Croatia’s religious, political, business, and cultural leaders in Zagreb’s National Theater, the Pope refined into six digestible propositions the case he has been making about religion-and-society ever since his election to the papacy in 2005 ..."

In the publishing world ...

Painting the Pope | An Interview with Ann Kissane Engelhart | Ignatius Insight | August 30, 2011:
Ann Kissane Engelhart (personal website: www.annkissaneengelhart.com) is a watercolorist based in Long Island whose paintings have been featured in the Empire State Building, St. Francis Hospital, the DeMatties Center, Brooklyn College and Wagner College and in private collections. She has won numerous awards, she has exhibited in galleries on Long Island and New York, and her illustrations have been published in a variety of magazines and periodicals.
She illustrated the children's book, Friendship with Jesus: Pope Benedict XVI Talks to Children on Their First Holy Communion, which features Benedict XVI's answers to questions put to him by children in Rome; the book is edited by popular author and blogger Amy Welborn. Ann recently spoke with Ignatius Insight about her artwork, illustrating Friendship With Jesus, and meeting Pope Benedict XVI. ...
The Libreria Editrice Vaticana has released a small anthology of texts by Benedict XVI on interreligious dialogue titled "Pensieri sul Dialogo Interreligioso" (Thoughts on Interreligious Dialogue). The 64-page publication, edited by Lucio Coco, brings together some 60 texts of the Pope’s teaching on the topic of dialogue. (Zenit 9/21/11).
"Mein Bruder Der Papst". On September 13, 2011, Georg Ratzinger presented his book, My Brother, The Pope. He says in the book that his younger sibling never changed as he climbed the ecclesiastical ladder to the Vatican. [HT: Carlos Echevarria, Caput Mundi].

On a humorous note ...

Hans Kung will be disappointed to learn that Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi has dismissed reports published by an Italian newspaper that Pope Benedict XVI plans to resign from the papacy in 2012 (Catholic News Agency 9/27/11).
Pope Benedict is reportedly "astounded" by how much he has written, responding to an exhibition of his work by the publisher Herder and the Vatican Publishing House in September.

Pope Benedict Among the Lutherans

2011-09-29T00:12:00.000-04:00

There's no question that the Catholic-Lutheran dialogue matters greatly to Pope Benedict XVI.

In discussions of Fides et Ratio, he extended the invitation to Protestants to read the works of "the Catholic Luther" -- his works written prior to the Reformation, which he himself claimed to have read in their entirety prior to entering university.

John Allen Jr. tells the tale of how reconciliation between Catholics and Lutherans in the form of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was realized through the intervention of an unlikely source: the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ("Ratzinger credited with saving Lutheran pact" National Catholic Reporter 9/10/99).

On September 23, Pope Benedict addressed representatives of the Protestant EKD (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland), a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany, headed by Council Chair Nikolaus Schneider. The encounter took place in the former Augustinian Convent in Erfurt, which was once the home of Martin Luther.

Benedict XVI and Nikolaus Schneider, president of the council of the Evangelical Church inSource: Getty Images

According to Zenit, the deliberately ecumenical dimension to the Pope's visit to Germany was in anticipation of an upcoming Catholic-Lutheran Joint Declaration on the Reformation, in view of the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther's 95 Theses.

The rumor of the Church's "rehabilitation of Martin Luther" was first instigated by the British journalist Richard Owen in 2008, on news that Luther would be the topic of the Pope's annual theological seminar ("Ratzinger Schülerkreis") at Castel Gandolfo. Predictably, the Pope's visit to the Lutheran congregation in 2011 reinvigorated Lutheran hopes -- Kartrin Gorin-Eckardt, President of the Lutheran synod, asserted that “the reappraisal had already taken place” because the Pope has actually spoken about “the entire trajectory” of Luther’s life (Is the Catholic Church moving to rehabilitate Martin Luther?" "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 9/23/11).

However, As David Jones observes, the more logical conclusion is that the Pope's primary objective is not a "Catholic rehabilitation of Martin Luther" (to which there are substantial theological obstacles, as we will see) but rather to identify avenues of religious and cultural solidarity -- as he does with the Islamic community -- against the greater threat of secularism.

A published interview with Ratzinger, 'Luther and the Unity of the Churches' (Communio Vol. 11, 1984) provides helpful background reading for those seeking insight into the Holy Father's ecumenical intentions as well as his comprehension of Martin Luther himself. He remarks on current trends in "Catholic Luther scholarship", the move towards a "historically truthful and theologically adequate image of Luther" and the question of Luther's excommunication. He rightly points out that, while "Luther's excommunication terminated with his death because judgement after his death is reserved for God alone", the rehabilitation of Luther -- the question of whether or not Luther's proposed teachings separate the churches -- is an entirely different matter:

To be sure, one must keep in mind that there exist not only Catholic anathemas against Luther's teachings but also Luther's own definitive rejections of Catholic articles of faith which culminate in Luther's verdict that we will remain eternally separate. ... After his final break with the Church, Luther not only categorically rejected the papacy but he also deemed the Catholic teachings about the eucharist (mass) as idolatry because he interpreted the mass as a relapse into the Law, and, thus, a denial of the Gospel. To explain all these contradictions as misunderstandings seems to me like a form of rationalistic arrogance which cannot do any justice to the impassioned struggle of those men as well as the importance of the realities in question. The real issue can only lie in how far we are today to go beyond the positions of those days and how we can arrive at insights that will overcome the past.

It must be said that Ratzinger himself is skeptical -- or realistic -- about attempts to bridge the theological gulf ("the skillfull approach leading to unity as suggested by H. Fries and K. Rahner in their theses remains an artificial exploit of theological acrobatics which, unfortunately, does not live up to reality").

Ratzinger is "convinced that the question of final union of all Christians remains unanswerable" (reminding us that this is also tied into the question of the unification of Israel). Nonetheless, he does broach the question of concrete ecumenical goals in the here and now. There's a lot to unpack here but I found it to be a helpful window into what he is doing in his pontificate:

The actual goal of all ecumenical endeavors must naturally be to convert the plurality of the separate denominational churches into the plurality of local churches which, in reality, form one church espite their many and varied characteristics. However, it seems to me that in a given situation it will be necessary to establish realistic intermediate goals; for, otherwise, ecumenical enthusiasm could turn into resignation or, worse, revert to a new embitterment that would place the blam for the breakdown of the great goal on the others. Thus the final days would be worse than the first. These intermediate goals will be different depending on how far individual dialogues would have progressed. The testimony of love (charitable, social works) always ought to be given together, or at least in tune with each other whenever separate organizations appear to be more effective for technical reasons. One should equally try to witness together to the great moral questions of our time. And, finally, a joint fundamental testimony of faith ought to be given before a world which is torn by doubts and shaken by fears. The broader the testimony the better. However, if this can only be done on a relatively small scale, one ought to state the possible jointly. All this would have to lead to a point where the common features of Christian living are recognized and loved desite the separations, where separation serves no longer as a reason for the contradiction, but rather as a challenge to an inner understanding and acceptance of the othew hich will amount to more than mere tolerance: a belonging together in the loyalty and faithfulness which we show for Jesus Christ. Perhaps it will be possible for such an attitude to develop which does not lose sight of final things but, meanwhile, does the closest thing by undergoing a deeper maturity toward total unity, rather than making a frantic scramble for unity which will remain superficial and at times rather ficticious.

Now, there is the question of the Holy Father's personal understanding of Martin Luther, and what the world (and perhaps we as Catholics) might learn from him today. In Pages 218-220 of his interview, Ratzinger presents his understanding of Luther and the key question which compelled him:

It seems to me that the basic feature is the fear of God by which Luther's very existence was struck down, torn between God's calling and the realization of his own sinfulness, so much so that God apears to him sub contrario, as the opposite of Himself, i.e., as the Devil who wants to destroy man. To break free of this fear of God becomes the real issues of redemtpion. Redemption is realized the moment faith appears as the rescue from the demands of self-justification, that is, as a personal certainty of salvation. This "axis" of the concept of faith is explained very clearly in Luther's Little Catechism: "I believe that God created me. . . . I believe that Jesus Chris . . . is my Lord who saved me . . . in order that I may be His . . . and serve him forever in justice and innocence forever." Faith assures, above all, the certainty of one's salvation. The personal certainty of redemption becomes the center of Luther's ideas. Without it, there would be no salvation.

Ratzinger explains how Luther's understanding thus alters the traditional theological Catholic perspective - the refashioning of the theological landscape:

Thus, the importance of the three divine virtues, faith, hope, and love, to a Christian formula of existence undergoes a signficant change: the certainties of hope and faith, though hitherto essentially different, become identical. To the Catholic, the certainty of faith refers to that which God worked and which the church witnesses. The certainty of hope refers to the salvation of individuals and, among them, of one's self. Yet to Luther the latter represented the crux without which nothing else really mattered. That is why love, which lies at the center of the Catholic faith, is dropped from the concept of faith, all the way to the polemic formulations of the large commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the Galations: maledicta sit caritas, down with love! Luther's insistence on "by faith alone" clearly and exactly excludes love from the question of salvation. Love belongs to a realm of "works" and thus becomes "profane."

Ratzinger revisits Luther's spiritual dilemma in his Address to the Evangelical Church of Germany on September 23, 2011 (Former Augustinian Convent, Erfurt). As the Holy Father points out, circumstances have changed dramatically in our day and age. Whereas Luther was preoccupied with the question of his own sinfulness, his guilt before God, and the certainty of his own redemption through Christ -- humanity in this age -- secularized, deChristianized -- is by and large ambivalent about such matters:

What constantly exercised [Luther] was the question of God, the deep passion and driving force of his whole life’s journey. “How do I receive the grace of God?” [better translated, according to David Schütz, as Luther's search for a gracious God]: this question struck him in the heart and lay at the foundation of all his theological searching and inner struggle. For Luther theology was no mere academic pursuit, but the struggle for oneself, which in turn was a struggle for and with God.
“How do I receive the grace of God?” The fact that this question was the driving force of his whole life never ceases to make a deep impression on me. For who is actually concerned about this today – even among Christians? What does the question of God mean in our lives? In our preaching? Most people today, even Christians, set out from the presupposition that God is not fundamentally interested in our sins and virtues. He knows that we are all mere flesh. And insofar as people believe in an afterlife and a divine judgement at all, nearly everyone presumes for all practical purposes that God is bound to be magnanimous and that ultimately he mercifully overlooks our small failings. The question no longer troubles us. But are they really so small, our failings? Is not the world laid waste through the corruption of the great, but also of the small, who think only of their own advantage? Is it not laid waste through the power of drugs, which thrives on the one hand on greed and avarice, and on the other hand on the craving for pleasure of those who become addicted? Is the world not threatened by the growing readiness to use violence, frequently masking itself with claims to religious motivation? Could hunger and poverty so devastate parts of the world if love for God and godly love of neighbour – of his creatures, of men and women – were more alive in us? I could go on. No, evil is no small matter. Were we truly to place God at the centre of our lives, it could not be so powerful. The question: what is God’s position towards me, where do I stand before God? – Luther’s burning question must once more, doubtless in a new form, become our question too, not an academic question, but a real one. In my view, this is the first summons we should attend to in our encounter with Martin Luther.

Related

"No Small Matter": Fr. Schall on what the Pope said in Germany, by Fr. James V. Schall. Ignatius Insight October 26, 2011
Properly translating the Pope on Luther, by David Schütz. (Sentire Cum Ecclesia)
The Pope, Martin Luther, and Our Time, by Mark Brumley. Catholic World Report September 25, 2011.

Pope Benedict XVI - Apostolic Journey to Germany - September 22-25, 2011

2011-09-24T15:33:00.013-04:00

From the Vatican

Addresses of the Holy Father

September 22, 2011

September 23, 2011

September 24, 2011

Holy Mass at Domplatz (Erfurt)
Greetings to the citizens gathered at Münsterplatz (Freiburg im Breisgau)
Meeting with representatives of the Orthodox Churches in the Seminary Hörsaal (Freiburg im Breisgau)
Meeting with seminarians at St Charles Borromeo Seminary Chapel (Freiburg im Breisgau)
Meeting with the Council of the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK) in the Seminary Hörsaal (Freiburg im Breisgau)
Prayer vigil with the young people at the trade fair grounds of Freiburg im Breisgau

September 25, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI (C, R) and praeses Nikolaus Schneider (C, L) leave the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, eastern Germany. Photo Credit: Getty Images

The Pope on Martin Luther
(With help from David Jones @ la nouvelle theologie).

Luther rehabilitated? Catholics and Protestants disagree, by Tom Heneghan. Faithworld (Reuters) 9/24/11.
Benedict XVI with Lutherans in Erfurt: “It is not strategy that saves us and saves Christianity, but faith.” Analysis and discussion of the Pope's address. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf (What Does The Prayer Really Say?). 9/23/11.
Benedict, Luther, and the "unity born of love", by Carl Olson. Ignatius Insight Scoop 9/23/11.
Is the Catholic Church gradually moving to rehabilitate Martin Luther?, by Gerard O'Connell. "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 9/23/11.
Vatican, Lutherans Preparing Document on Reformation: Pope's Trip to Homeland Will Have Ecumenical Focus Zenit. 8/30/11.
Further thoughts on Ratzinger and Luther, by Mark Brumley 3/10/08.
Ratzinger on Luther, by Carl Olson. Ignatius Insight Scoop 3/6/08.
Lutheran Hailed Cardinal Ratzinger as Expert on Luther: Cardinal Invited Protestants to Read Pre-Reformation Writings 5/5/05. "A leading Lutheran in Germany said in 1998 that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, was one of the few who really understood Martin Luther."

On the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification by the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. (1999) | Annex to the Official Common Statement
Ratzinger credited with saving Lutheran pact , by John Allen Jr. National Catholic Reporter, September 10, 1999.
Was The Joint Declaration Truly Justified? | An Interview with Dr. Christopher Malloy | Carl E. Olson. Ignatius Insight June 2007.
Luther and the Unity of the Churches by Joseph Ratzinger Communio International Catholic Review. 1984.

Video (Rome Reports

9/25/11: Pope: “Agnostics are closer to the Kingdom of God than believers whose life of faith is 'routine'”
9/24/11: Pope's final mass in Germany [Video Only]
9/24/11: Pope to Freiburg's youth: use your energy for the service of God [Full News Report]
9/24/11: Pope's Mass in Erfurt: “Saints, even if they are only a few, change the world” [Full News Report]
9/24/11: Pope visits Freiburg's Cathedral [Video Only]
9/24/11: Benedict XVI arrives in Freiburg [Video Only]
9/24/11: Pope talks about the importance of freedom in Erfurt [Video Only]
9/24/11: Pope celebrates Mass in Erfurt [Video Only]
9/24/11: Benedict XVI meets with victims of sexual abuse in Erfurt [Video Only]
9/23/11: Pope visits Etzelsbach shrine: “Life should be an answer to God's love” [Full News Report]
9/23/11: Pope to Protestants: Faith is not something that can be negotiated [Full News Report]
9/23/11: Pope prays at Erfurt's Cathedral [Video Only]
9/23/11: Benedict XVI arrives to Erfurt [Video Only]
9/22/11: Pope's Homily: with God we can transform even the negative into love [Full News Report]
9/22/11: Pope to German lawmakers: Decision based on human nature will assure justice and peace [Full News Report]
9/22/11: Pope meets with Jewish community in Berlin [Video Only]
9/22/11: President of Bundestag, accidentally steps on pope's cassock [Video Only]
9/22/11: Pope's speech in Germany's Parliament: On Solomon and how to know what is just [Video Only]
9/22/11: Pope: “I came to Germany to speak about God” [Video Only]
9/22/11: Pope talks to the press about sex abuse scandals and German protests [Full News Report]

Catholic Commentary
A sampling of diverse perspectives from the online Catholic community

Peter Seewald: The Pope triumphed over the media war in Germany, by Peter Seewald. Catholic News Agency. 9/28/11.
Reason will get us out of this bunker John Finnis comments on the Pope's address to the German parliament. ilsussidario.net. 9/27/11.
The music at Pope Benedict’s Mass in Berlin, by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf. What Does The Prayer Really Say? 9/25/11.
Pope Benedict’s Address to the Bundestag: God, Law, History and Politicians, by Donald R. McClarey. The American Catholic 9/25/11.
Open thread - Der Papst in Deutschland Rorate Caeli 9/24/11.
The Pope against pedophilia: the reality one pretends not to see, by Andrea Tornielli. "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 9/24/11.
Benedict's homage to the former Chancellor, by Alessandro Speciale. "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 9/24/11. "Pope Ratzinger has never hidden the admiration he feels for the architect of the reunification of the two Germanies, a man who has dominated German history like no other since the end of Nazism."
A blessing for the Vatican in (really) deep disguise , by John Allen Jr. National Catholic Reporter 9/23/11.
In land of Martin Luther, pope prays for Christian unity, by John Thavis. Catholic News Service. 9/23/11.
Das ElevatorMusik, PapstTrip Edition Rocco Palmo. Whispers in the Loggia 9/23/11.
Benedict XVI to the German Parliament by Joseph A. Komonchak. Commonweal 9/23/11.
Benedict XVI trying to meet the other Germany halfway, by John Allen Jr. National Catholic Reporter 9/23/11.
Benedict XVI on Luther and the challenges to Christianity today Rorate Caeli 9/23/11.
An interview with Fr. Franz Schmidberger published on the website of the SSPX German District (trans. by friends of Rorate). 9/22/11.
Berlin’s gay mayor gives Pope symbolic “neutral” welcome, by Giacomo Galeazzi. "Vatican Insider" La Stampa 9/22/11.

Secular Commentary

Der Speigel

9/23/11: Mission Clarity: Pope Benedict's Blunt New World "It has been billed as Pope Benedict XVI's most difficult trip abroad to date. But so far in Germany, the pope has not sought to shy away from controversy. His bluntness has surprised many -- and could transform the visit into a rousing success."
9/22/11: The Pope in Germany: Financial Crisis, Religion and a Bit of Protest "In Germany on Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI wasted no time in touching on one of the main themes of his papacy: declining religiosity. But he also chatted with Chancellor Angela Merkel about the financial crisis and said he understands the protests surrounding his visit."
9/22/11: Fighting the Dictatorship of Relativism: The Pope's Role in the New Battle for Religion "The criticism of Benedict XVI in Germany became deafening ahead of the pope's visit to his homeland. But those calling for reform want nothing less than for the Catholic Church to abandon everything that makes it unique."
9/22/11: The Popemobile A Brief History of the World's Holiest Car During his trip through Germany, Pope Benedict XVI will ride around in his bullet-proof, pearlescent popemobile. The history of the vehicle stretches back over eight decades and includes more than 50 exotic cars, which have been the height of luxury and technology.
9/22/11: Vats for the Vatican Pope Beer Commemorates State Visit "A number of commemorative souvenirs have been produced to mark Pope Benedict XVI's four-day visit to Germany. One brewery in Berlin has gone as far as creating a special beer in his honor. But no ordinary brew would do: This beer was serenaded by Gregorian chants by the light of the new moon."
9/21/11: Theologian Hans Küng on Pope Benedict: 'A Putinization of the Catholic Church' "On Thursday, Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Germany for a long-awaited visit. Prominent Swiss theologian Hans Küng explains why the papal visit will do little to help the crisis in the Church and compares Benedict to Vladimir Putin in the way he has centralized power."
9/20/11: Disillusioned German Catholics: The Pope's Difficult Visit to His Homeland "Benedict XVI's visit to Germany this week will do little to heal the deep divide between conservatives and reformers in the German Church."
4/20/05: From the Archive: Germany Celebrates New Pope

Other

9/24/11: Man Arrested in Air Gun Shooting in City Where Pope Holds Mass New York Times
9/24/11: Pope Benedict says East German Catholics suffered “acid rain” under communism FaithWorld (Reuters)
9/23/11: Pope Benedict wins over German Muslims in first meeting since Regensburg speech FaithWorld (Reuters)

Preparing for Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey to Germany

2011-09-21T08:26:00.004-04:00

Tommorow marks Pope Benedict XVI's third apostolic visit to Germany as Pope (and first state visit). If yesterday's story from an obviously-disgruntled Der Spiegel and Sandro Magister ("where atheists are in the majority and almost no one is baptized anymore") are any indication, he has his work cut out for him.

Pope makes rare television address to German people, by David Kerr. Catholic News Agency 9/20/11. (Video - Rome Reports).
Those Fearing the Future Should Follow Pope's Germany Trip Zenit 9/20/11.
Benedict XVI Planning a Busy Trip Home Zenit 9/19/11. "Benedict XVI's trip home this week -- his third pastoral visit to Germany as Pope and his first state visit -- will be uniquely intense. The 84-year-old Pontiff will give 17 addresses and have nearly two dozen meetings in four days."
German pope ventures into land of Luther and Marx, by Stephen Brown. Reuters. 9/16/11. "Indifference, irritation and, inevitably, protest will likely mark a papal trip to the former East Germany that includes an historic meeting in the one-time home of Martin Luther to find ways Catholics and Protestants can work together to save Germany's soul."
Benedict among the Germans, by Samuel Gregg. American Spectator 9/12/11.
How have the numbers in German Catholics changed during papacy of Benedict XVI? Rome Reports. (Video)
Germany, the Mayor of Berlin Sympathetic to the Antipapists, by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/27/11. "The Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, feels "great sympathy" for people who protest against Pope Benedict XVI during his first official visit to Germany."
Benedict XVI “theologian of the modern day”, the unexpected support offered by Gregor Gysi, by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/23/11. "At the eve of the Pope’s trip to Germany, the leader of the radical left unexpectedly praises the Pope."
Dialogue and reconciliation, the German church is put to the test, by Guido Horst. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/5/11. "As the President of the German Bishops Conference, the Archbishop of Freiburg, Monsignor Robert Zollitsch, closed the Conference’s plenary session in September 2010, he announced a comprehensive “process of dialogue and reflection” that would haul the Catholic Church in Germany beyond the crisis sparked by the story of abuse."
, by Allesandro Alviani. La Stampa: "Vatican Insider" 8/2/11. "What space do homosexuals have within the Catholic Church? Ten years after the law on same sex civil unions was introduced in Germany on 1 August 2001, the question divides German bishops."

Pope Benedict on the 10th Anniversary of 9/11

2011-09-11T09:54:00.004-04:00

To my Venerable Brother
The Most Reverend Timothy M. Dolan
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

On this day my thoughts turn to the somber events of September 11, 2001, when so many innocent lives were lost in the brutal assault on the twin towers of the World Trade Center and the further attacks in Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. I join you in commending the thousands of victims to the infinite mercy of Almighty God and in asking our heavenly Father to continue to console those who mourn the loss of loved ones.

The tragedy of that day is compounded by the perpetrators' claim to be acting in God's name. Once again, it must be unequivocally stated that no circumstances can ever justify acts of terrorism. Every human life is precious in God's sight and no effort should be spared in the attempt to promote throughout the world a genuine respect for the inalienable rights and dignity of individuals and peoples everywhere.

The American people are to be commended for the courage and generosity that they showed in the rescue operations and for their resilience in moving forward with hope and confidence. It is my fervent prayer that a firm commitment to justice and a global culture of solidarity will help rid the world of the grievances that so often give rise to acts of violence and will create the conditions for greater peace and prosperity, offering a brighter and more secure future.

With these sentiments, I extend my most affectionate greetings to you, your brother Bishops and all those entrusted to your pastoral care, and I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and serenity in the Lord,

From the Vatican, September 11, 2011

Recent and Upcoming Books by Pope Benedict XVI

2011-08-28T21:12:00.001-04:00

	Dogma and Preaching: Applying Christian Doctrine to Daily Life Ignatius Press (October 1, 2011) This volume is an unabridged edition of Dogma and Preaching, a work that appeared in a much-reduced form in English, in 1985. The new book contains twice as much material as first English edition. "Dogma", for many people, is a bad word. For the well-informed believer, it shouldn't be. Dogmas are truths revealed by God, which should enlighten the minds, guide the choices, and gladden the hearts of Jesus' disciples, including pastors, deacons, and lay teachers. But, as Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), notes in the foreword to this book, "The path from dogma to proclamation or preaching has become very troublesome." Finding ways to relate the content of the Church's dogmas to everyday life can be challenging for today's preachers and teachers. Some people find the task so daunting that they leave dogma out. As a result, they wind up presenting something other than the Church's faith and speak in their own name, offering perhaps unwittingly merely their own, subjective ideas, rather than the Word of God. In Dogma and Preaching, the theologian and priest Joseph Ratzinger provides (1) a theory of preaching for today; (2) application of this theory to some themes for preaching drawn from the Church's dogmas; (3) meditations and sermons based on the liturgical year and the communion of saints; and (4) some thoughts regarding the decade after the Second Vatican and Christianity's seeming irrelevance. Ratzinger insists that sound preaching should rest on three pillars -- Dogma, Scripture, and the Church Today, the contemporary situation in which the Church finds herself. He shows that the proper understanding of the Church, her dogmas, the nature of faith, and the contemporary world allow the proclaimer-believer to remain faithful to the Church's mission and life-changing message.
	Friendship with Jesus: Pope Benedict XVI Talks to Children on Their First Holy Communion Ignatius Press (October 1, 2011) To receive Jesus in Holy Communion is to enter into a lifelong friendship with him. In this beautifully illustrated book, Amy Welborn, well-known author and blogger, introduces Pope Benedict's profound yet simple answers to various questions put to him by children in Rome who had recently made their First Holy Communion. Pope Benedict's answers, and the children's wonderful questions concerning this very important spiritual occasion in their young lives, provide inspiring text for this beautiful gift book for First Communion.
	Doctors of the Church Our Sunday Visitor (September 27, 2011) They are saints and teachers, monks, priests, bishops, and nuns. They faced opposition and exile. They lived in periods of confusion and conflict. Their teachings and insights not only brought peace and understanding to the Church of their time, but continue to anchor the Church of today. They brought clarity to the fragments and simplicity to the complex. They used speeches, documents, poems, and songs to reach the people of their time. Now Pope Benedict XVI explores the lives and significance of thirty-two of the Doctors of the Church like no one else can. Taken directly from the pope's addresses in his weekly audiences, Doctors of the Church is an incredible journey through time to better understand these individuals who explored and explained the critical questions of the Church. ---Who is Christ? ---How do we know Christ? ---How do we act as Christ's disciples? ---How are we in Christ?
	Great Christian Thinkers: From the Early Church Through the Middle Ages Augsburg Fortress Publishers (July 1, 2011) In brief portraits, Pope Benedict XVI offers engaging, perceptive, and edifying sketches of some of the great thinkers and writers of Christianity, from early Christianity through the high Middle Ages. Pope Benedict discusses notable theologians from East and West but also many figures whose primary witness was as ascetics, poets, mystics, and missionaries. Always with an eye to their deepest religious convictions and struggles, the Holy Father presents these great thinkers importance for the church and for Christian life today.
	Holy Women Our Sunday Visitor (June 28, 2011) Women have always played a unique and critical role throughout Scripture which has continued through today. In his weekly addresses, Pope Benedict XVI expertly and thoughtfully explores the life stories of 17 such holy women. From St. Hildegard of Bingen to St. Teresa of Avilla to St. Joan of Arc and many more in between, each one brings a fresh experience and example of faith that is still relevant today. These models of prayer, faith, and action will help you gain a fuller understanding of Church history as well as personal faith. Bring your faith to life with the spark of history as told by the pope himself.
	Great Teachers Our Sunday Visitor (March 28, 2011) Discover the greatest teachers of the Faith as Pope Benedict XVI highlights their essential role during a time of scandal and strife in the Church. Focusing specifically on the 13th-century founding of the Franciscans by St. Francis of Assisi and the Dominicans by St. Dominic, the pope said personal holiness led the two saints to preach and to help actualize a return to Gospel poverty, a deeper unity with the Church, and a new movement of evangelization, including within the European universities that were blossoming at the time. The Franciscans and Dominicans followed in the footsteps of their founders and demonstrated that it was possible to live evangelical poverty, to live the Gospel itself, without separating themselves from the Church, he said. Their example continues to be relevant today as we struggle with a culture that focuses more on having than on being, and look to emulate those holy people who chose to live very simply.
	Holiness Is Always in Season Ignatius Press (March 1, 2011) The saints are our models and teachers in the ways of holiness. They show us that holiness is possible for us, since they experienced the same difficulties and weaknesses we do, yet persevered in achieving sanctity. The world of saints is a world of wonders, and in this book Pope Benedict XVI helps us to enter into that world. This inspiring volume presents the Pope's numerous reflections on many saints arranged according to the calendar year. He shows how the life of each saint has something unique to teach us about virtue, faith, courage and love of Christ. Dozens of saints are covered in this wonderful spiritual book. The Pope exhorts us through their lives, "Be holy! Be saints!"

World Youth Day 2011

2011-08-21T22:14:00.002-04:00

From the Vatican

Addresses of the Holy Father

Meeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI with journalists during the flight to Madrid (Papal Flight, 18 August 2011)
Welcome ceremony at Madrid-Barajas International Airport (August 18, 2011)
Welcome ceremony with young people at Plaza de Cibeles: Initial Address (Madrid, 18 August 2011)
Welcome ceremony with young people at Plaza de Cibeles: Initial Address (Madrid, 18 August 2011)
Meeting with women religious at Patio de los Reyes de El Escorial (August 19, 2011)
Meeting with young university professors gathered in the Basilica de San Lorenzo de El Escorial (August 19, 2011)
Way of the Cross with young people at Plaza de Cibeles (Madrid, 19 August 2011)
Eucharist with seminarians at the Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena (Madrid, 20 August 2011)
Meeting with the Organizing Committee of the 26th WYD at the Apostolic Nunciature (Madrid, 20 August 2011)
Visit to San José Foundation for disabled youth (Madrid, 20 August 2011)
Prayer vigil with the young people at Cuatro Vientos Airport (August 20, 2011)
Holy Mass on the occasion of the 26th World Youth Day at Cuatro Vientos Airport (August 21, 2011)
Holy Mass on the occasion of the 26th World Youth Day at Cuatro Vientos Airport (August 21, 2011)
Recitation of the Angelus Domini at Cuatro Vientos Airport (August 21, 2011)
Meeting with volunteers of the 26th World Youth Day at Pavilion 9 of the new Trade Fair of Madrid-IFEMA (August 21, 2011)
Farewell ceremony at Madrid-Barajas International Airport (August 21, 2011)

Photo courtesy of The American Papist

Zenit

08/20/11 - Benedict XVI Emphasizes Discernment in Seminary Years
08/20/11 - John of Avila to be 34th Doctor of the Church
08/20/11 - Storm Interrupts Papal Address at Vigil
08/20/11 - Aide: Pope Moved by WYD Way of the Cross
08/20/11 - 12 Youth Enjoy Lunch With the Pope
08/19/11 - Pontiff Asks Youth to Seek Out the Less Fortunate
08/19/11 - Protests Not Affecting WYD, Assures Spokesman
08/19/11 - Pope Reflects on Definition of University, Addresses Gathering of Young Professors
08/19/11 - Counsels Are Living Exegesis, Pope Tells Religious - 1,600 Young Nuns Meet With Benedict XVI
08/19/11 - Medals Blessed by John Paul II Given to Persecuted Youth
08/19/11 - These Youth Have Purpose, Notes Cardinal
08/18/11 - Madrid Overtaken by World Youth Day
08/18/11 - Cheering Thousands Welcome Pope to Madrid
08/18/11 - Archbishop: Catholic Education Must Prepare Students for Future
08/18/11 - Pope: Fruits of WYD Will Grow in Silence
08/18/11 - Youth Wish to Hear Word of God, Says Pope
08/18/11 - Indulgences for Youth in Madrid and Those Praying for Them
08/17/11 - Before Heading to Madrid, Pope Asks for Prayer

Additional Coverage

Pope Benedict Roundup!

2011-07-25T01:31:00.009-04:00

News

7/28/11 - Pope Benedict has appointed Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan. Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, 77, retired for reasons of age. (Zenit). From Inside the Vatican, an extensive interview with the Cardinal, beginning with the following profile:
A scholar and pastor, Cardinal Angelo Scola, has been a close friend of Pope Benedict XVI for over four decades, and is considered by many in Rome as the Italian front runner to succeed the German Pope, were a conclave to be held in the near future.
This intellectual, son of a Socialist truck driver and a Catholic mother, he was for many years an active member of the Communion and Liberation Movement which he credits with fostering his vocation to the priesthood.

A brilliant student, he gained doctorates in philosophy from the Catholic University of Milan and in theology from Fribourg University, Switzerland, where he also taught. Appointed by John Paul II as Rector of the Lateran University in 1995, he is credited with raising its academic standing during his six years’ tenure there.

In the early 1970s, he collaborated with Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, Jean Danielou and Joseph Ratzinger in the prestigious international Catholic journal “Communio”, of which he was editor for many years. A polyglot and author of many books and countless articles, he is considered the foremost intellectual in the Italian hierarchy.

With 14 years of pastoral experience governing two dioceses, this original, creative pastor and thinker is also a man of dialogue. As Patriarch of Venice he has worked hard to build bridges to the Orthodox Churches and the Muslim world, in the latter case by launching the Oasis project in 2004. This highly articulate religious leader has often spoken out fearlessly in defense of fundamental human rights, the Church, the family and moral values.
and "The Vatican Insider" (La Stampa), on the question: why Scola:
"The main reason is the esteem that Ratzinger has for this theologian who worked with him in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Pope trusts Scola, his capabilities, his preparation. He believes he is the right man for Milan at this moment, even if his episcopate will not be as long as that of his predecessors."

7/28/11 - Pope Benedict launched news.va, a portal providing the Vatican's perspective on world news, with a tweet from the Holy Father himself:Rocco Palmo (Whispers in the Loggia) has further details on the Vatican's latest endeavor in altmedia, and Commonweal has a caption contest.

7/20/11 - The Vatican has announced Pope Benedict XVI's schedule for his apostolic trip to Germany in September (Catholic News Agency).

7/14/11 - To mark Benedict XVI's 60 years of priestly ordination, the Vatican Publishing House has printed two volumes that bring together a number texts from his vast teaching Fabio Mastrofini reports for the "Vatican Insider" (La Stampa):
The first volume is a collection (with commentary) of three of the many speeches made by the Pope, addressing the world of culture: the famous speech at Regensburg on the relationship between intolerance and fanaticism, and the rationality of faith; the one during the trip to France at the College des Bernardins on the role of Christianity in European culture; the one at Westminster Hall on the relationship between state and church and on the secular state.
The second volume is a guide to reading the three encyclicals published by Pope Benedict XVI. The two volumes are aimed at helping readers grasp the main aspects the Pope's thinking. This, on the one hand makes them extremely valuable but on the other shows their limits, in that they lack a critical perspective.

6/15/11 - The new evangelization is the theme of this year's meeting of the "Ratzinger Schulerkreis," a group of the Pope's former students. Benedict XVI will preside at a Mass with the group.. (Zenit).

6/14/11 - The Vatican has announced the first three winners of "The Ratzinger Price" (Catholic News Agency):
The prize was established last year to promote theological study on the writings of Pope Benedict XVI and has been referred to as “the Nobel Prize for Theology.” [...] The two scholars chosen for the prize are Professor Manlio Simonetti, an 85-year-old expert on the Church Fathers who used to teach at Rome’s La Sapienza University, and Professor Olegario González de Cardedal, a 77-year-old specialist in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, Spain.

6/13/11 - Security was considerably increased in the Vatican yesterday after direct threats against the Holy Father were made in a recently-released video by a member of an extreme Islamist group identifying the Pope as an "easy target.".

6/03/11 - U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden met with Pope Benedict XVI in an unannounced visit to the Vatican, June 3. Both sides have been tight-lipped as to what was discussed. (Catholic News Agency).

Commentary

The Pope and the Papal Tiara's symbolic power, by Andrea Tornielli. "Vatican Insider" La Stampa Sunday 24 July 2011. "Although its liturgical use has ceased and Benedict XVI has removed it from his personal coat of arms substituting it with the mitre (despite it too being three tiered), the tiara and crossed keys remain in the Vatican City's coat of arms."

Aidan Nichols: The Ordinariates, the Pope, and the Liturgy (Part I) | (Part II) - Fr. Aidan Nichols' address to the Anglicanorum Coetibus conference in Canada (March 24-26, 2011). Via Rorate Caeli:
Nichols characterizes the Pope's reach-out to four specific groups -- conservative "Catholic" Lutherans, Eastern Orthodox, the Society of St. Pius X, and Anglo-Catholics -- as an invitation to them to board the "Noah's Ark" that is the Catholic Church in the face of the flood of relativism, secularism and militant Islam.
Living Water: Reading Scripture in the Body of Christ with Benedict XVI, by Adrian J. Walker. Communio Fall 2010.

Pope Benedict’s Patristic Perspective by Father David Vincent Meconi, S.J. Catholic World Report April 18, 2010.

The Assisi gathering and “Ratzingarian” fears, by Andrea Tornielli. "Vatican Insider" (La Stampa July 12, 2011):
The convocation of world religious leaders decided by Pope Benedict XVI in Assisi on October 27th, on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the first gathering by Pope John Paul II, must be causing a certain amount of worry for some of the Pope’s collaborators. For days now, the columns of L'Osservatore Romano, are rattling off a series of authoritative interventions all aimed at providing the correct interpretation of the Pope’s gesture. ...
Potpourri of Popery, Corpus Christi Edition - Wheat & Weeds' helpful roundup covers the Holy Father's Corpus Christi homily and journeys to the Republic of San Marino and Croatia.

The Pope told by his brother His childhood, the war, his vocation, his passion for music, his faith: Joseph Ratzinger's life told through the eyes of his brother Georg Ratzinger. "Vatican Insider" (La Stampa).

David Gibson on "the evolutionary Resurrection of Benedict XVI". (Commonweal June 2, 2011).

Benedict XVI: In No One's Shadow (The American Specator May 6, 2011). Dr. Samuel Gregg responds to The Economist's criticism of Benedict's pontificate.

Kris McGregor of DiscerningHearts.com interviewed Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J.Introduction to Christianity, first published in German in 1968 and published in 1990 by Ignatius Press, with a second edition (featuring a new Preface) published in 2004.

On a lighter note

"The Odor of Sanctity" - "Benedictus", a fragrance in honor of the 60th anniversary of the pope's ordination to the priesthood.
"Doctor Frederick Hass, founder of Excelsis, created this fragrance appropriately with linden blossom from Benedict’s native Germany, frankincense from the Holy Land and bergamot from Italy."

Pope Benedict celebrates 60 years as a priest.

2011-06-29T18:55:00.005-04:00

Related

Happy Anniversary, Papa! (Salt + Light)
Also marking his 60th anniversary is Joseph Ratzinger's brother, Georg The two brothers were ordained together on June 29, 1951. Vatican Radio spoke with Monsignor Ratzinger about his own recollections of that sunny day and the celebration in the cathedral of Freising.
Joseph Ratzinger's Happiest Day (Zenit):
Joseph Ratzinger was ordained at age 24, together with his brother Georg, and more than 40 candidates, at the cathedral of Freising, near Munich, by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber.
"Adsum," (here I am), were the words the young Ratzingers pronounced in Latin before God and the people.
As the universal Church relives that day on Wednesday, the Pope has not wished it to be a moment of personal exaltation. Rather, it has been designated a day to promote thanksgiving to God for the gift of the priesthood and to ask him to call forth new vocations.
In his Memoirs of 1927-1977 Ratzinger recalls that "radiant summer day."
"We should not be superstitious," he wrote, "but at the moment when the elderly archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird -- perhaps a lark -- flew up from the high altar in the cathedral and trilled a little joyful song. And I could not but see in this a reassurance from on high, as if I heard the words, 'This is good; you are on the right way.'"
The following four weeks of discovery were like "an unending feast," the memoirs recount.
"Everywhere we were received even by total strangers with a warmth and affection I had not thought possible until that day," he remembered. "In this way I learned firsthand how earnestly people wait for a priest, how much they long for the blessing that flows from the power of the sacrament. The point was not my own or my brothers' person. What could we two young men represent all by ourselves to the many people we were now meeting?
"In us they saw persons who had been touched by Christ's mission and had been empowered to bring his nearness to men."
Benedict XVI: "Sixty Years of Memories, Gratitude and Hope" (Vatican Information Service, July 2, 2011):
At the end of a luncheon today, offered by the College of Cardinals to the Pope to mark the sixtieth anniversary of his ordination as a priest, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College, congratulated the Holy Father and, in the name of all those present, gave him an offering for the poor of Rome, the Pope's own diocese, "in view", he said, "of the urgent needs of so many Romans, as well as of numerous immigrants and refugees".
The Holy Father, having thanked the cardinals for their gift, made some remarks. "This is a moment of gratitude for the Lord's guidance; for everything He has given me and forgiven me over these years", he said. "Yet it is also a moment to remember. In 1951 the world was completely different: there was no television, there was no internet, there were no computers, there were no mobile phones. The world from which we come truly seems prehistoric. Above all, our cities were in ruins, the economy destroyed, there was great material and spiritual poverty. Yet there was also a great energy and a will to rebuild this country and to renew ... the community on the foundation of our faith".
"Then came Vatican Council II where all the hopes we had seemed to come true. This was followed by the cultural revolution of 1968, difficult years during which the ship of the Lord appeared to be taking on water, almost about to sink. Nonetheless the Lord, Who seemed then to be sleeping, was present and He led us forward. Those were the unforgettable years in which I worked alongside Blessed Pope John Paul II. Finally, came the unexpected day of 19 April 2005 when the Lord called me to a new task and, only by virtue of His strength, abandoning myself to Him, was I able at that moment to say 'yes'.
"Over these sixty years nearly everything has changed; but the Lord's faithfulness has remained", the Holy Father added in conclusion. "He is the same, yesterday, today and forever. This is our certainty, which shows us the way to the future. The time to remember, the time of gratitude, is also the time of hope".

Blessed John Paul II

2011-05-01T01:33:00.002-04:00

VATICAN CITY, 1 MAY 2011 (VIS) - At 10:00am this morning, the Second Sunday of Easter of Divine Mercy Sunday, Benedict XVI presided over the Eucharistic celebration during which Servant of God John Paul II, Pope (1920-2005) was proclaimed a Blessed, and whose feastday will be celebrated 22 October every year from now on.
Eighty-seven delegations from various countries, among which were 5 royal houses, 16 heads of state - including the presidents of Poland and Italy - and 7 prime ministers, attended the ceremony.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world filled St. Peter's Square and the streets adjacent. The ceremony could also be followed on the various giant screens installed in Circo Massimo and various squares around the city.

[Excerpt from] Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI - On the occasion of the Beatification of the Servant of God John Paul II. Saint Peter's Square Sunday 1 May 2011.

Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed! [...]
Dear brothers and sisters, today our eyes behold, in the full spiritual light of the risen Christ, the beloved and revered figure of John Paul II. Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost twenty-seven years of his pontificate, thereby forcefully emphasizing the universal vocation to the heights of the Christian life, to holiness, taught by the conciliar Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium. All of us, as members of the people of God – bishops, priests, deacons, laity, men and women religious – are making our pilgrim way to the heavenly homeland where the Virgin Mary has preceded us, associated as she was in a unique and perfect way to the mystery of Christ and the Church. Karol Wojtyła took part in the Second Vatican Council, first as an auxiliary Bishop and then as Archbishop of Kraków. He was fully aware that the Council’s decision to devote the last chapter of its Constitution on the Church to Mary meant that the Mother of the Redeemer is held up as an image and model of holiness for every Christian and for the entire Church. This was the theological vision which Blessed John Paul II discovered as a young man and subsequently maintained and deepened throughout his life. A vision which is expressed in the scriptural image of the crucified Christ with Mary, his Mother, at his side. This icon from the Gospel of John (19:25-27) was taken up in the episcopal and later the papal coat-of-arms of Karol Wojtyła: a golden cross with the letter “M” on the lower right and the motto “Totus tuus”, drawn from the well-known words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort in which Karol Wojtyła found a guiding light for his life: “Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I belong entirely to you, and all that I have is yours. I take you for my all. O Mary, give me your heart” (Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, 266).
Photo Credit: Associated Press

In his Testament, the new Blessed wrote: “When, on 16 October 1978, the Conclave of Cardinals chose John Paul II, the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, said to me: ‘The task of the new Pope will be to lead the Church into the Third Millennium’”. And the Pope added: “I would like once again to express my gratitude to the Holy Spirit for the great gift of the Second Vatican Council, to which, together with the whole Church – and especially with the whole episcopate – I feel indebted. I am convinced that it will long be granted to the new generations to draw from the treasures that this Council of the twentieth century has lavished upon us. As a Bishop who took part in the Council from the first to the last day, I desire to entrust this great patrimony to all who are and will be called in the future to put it into practice. For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate”. And what is this “cause”? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs though all the others.
When Karol Wojtyła ascended to the throne of Peter, he brought with him a deep understanding of the difference between Marxism and Christianity, based on their respective visions of man. This was his message: man is the way of the Church, and Christ is the way of man. With this message, which is the great legacy of the Second Vatican Council and of its “helmsman”, the Servant of God Pope Paul VI, John Paul II led the People of God across the threshold of the Third Millennium, which thanks to Christ he was able to call “the threshold of hope”. Throughout the long journey of preparation for the great Jubilee he directed Christianity once again to the future, the future of God, which transcends history while nonetheless directly affecting it. He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress. He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope, to be lived in history in an “Advent” spirit, in a personal and communitarian existence directed to Christ, the fullness of humanity and the fulfillment of all our longings for justice and peace.
Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a “rock”, as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Church.
Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. You often blessed us in this Square from the Apostolic Palace: Bless us, Holy Father! Amen.

Related

VIGIL PREPARATION FOR BEATIFICATION OF JOHN PAUL II - VATICAN CITY, 30 APR 2011 (VIS)
RITE OF BEATIFICATION - VATICAN CITY, 1 MAY 2011 (VIS)

Easter with Pope Benedict: Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil)

2011-04-23T23:58:00.001-04:00

"Now, one might ask: is it really important to speak also of creation during the Easter Vigil? Could we not begin with the events in which God calls man, forms a people for himself and creates his history with men upon the earth? The answer has to be: no. To omit the creation would be to misunderstand the very history of God with men, to diminish it, to lose sight of its true order of greatness. The sweep of history established by God reaches back to the origins, back to creation. Our profession of faith begins with the words: “We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”. If we omit the beginning of the Credo, the whole history of salvation becomes too limited and too small. The Church is not some kind of association that concerns itself with man’s religious needs but is limited to that objective. No, she brings man into contact with God and thus with the source of all things. Therefore we relate to God as Creator, and so we have a responsibility for creation. Our responsibility extends as far as creation because it comes from the Creator. Only because God created everything can he give us life and direct our lives. Life in the Church’s faith involves more than a set of feelings and sentiments and perhaps moral obligations. It embraces man in his entirety, from his origins to his eternal destiny. Only because creation belongs to God can we place ourselves completely in his hands. And only because he is the Creator can he give us life for ever. Joy over creation, thanksgiving for creation and responsibility for it all belong together."

* * *

"The central message of the creation account can be defined more precisely still. In the opening words of his Gospel, Saint John sums up the essential meaning of that account in this single statement: “In the beginning was the Word”. In effect, the creation account that we listened to earlier is characterized by the regularly recurring phrase: “And God said ...” The world is a product of the Word, of the Logos, as Saint John expresses it, using a key term from the Greek language. “Logos” means “reason”, “sense”, “word”. It is not reason pure and simple, but creative Reason, that speaks and communicates itself. It is Reason that both is and creates sense. The creation account tells us, then, that the world is a product of creative Reason. Hence it tells us that, far from there being an absence of reason and freedom at the origin of all things, the source of everything is creative Reason, love, and freedom. Here we are faced with the ultimate alternative that is at stake in the dispute between faith and unbelief: are irrationality, lack of freedom and pure chance the origin of everything, or are reason, freedom and love at the origin of being? Does the primacy belong to unreason or to reason? This is what everything hinges upon in the final analysis. As believers we answer, with the creation account and with John, that in the beginning is reason. . . . creative, divine Reason."

Pope Benedict XVI holds a candle during the Easter Vigil Papal mass on Holy Saturday on April 23, 2011 at St Peter's basilica at The Vatican. Source: Getty Images

"For Israel, the Sabbath was the day on which all could participate in God’s rest, in which man and animal, master and slave, great and small were united in God’s freedom. Thus the Sabbath was an expression of the Covenant between God and man and creation. In this way, communion between God and man does not appear as something extra, something added later to a world already fully created. The Covenant, communion between God and man, is inbuilt at the deepest level of creation. Yes, the Covenant is the inner ground of creation, just as creation is the external presupposition of the Covenant. God made the world so that there could be a space where he might communicate his love, and from which the response of love might come back to him. From God’s perspective, the heart of the man who responds to him is greater and more important than the whole immense material cosmos, for all that the latter allows us to glimpse something of God’s grandeur."

* * *

"Easter and the paschal experience of Christians, however, now require us to take a further step. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. After six days in which man in some sense participates in God’s work of creation, the Sabbath is the day of rest. But something quite unprecedented happened in the nascent Church: the place of the Sabbath, the seventh day, was taken by the first day. As the day of the liturgical assembly, it is the day for encounter with God through Jesus Christ who as the Risen Lord encountered his followers on the first day, Sunday, after they had found the tomb empty. The structure of the week is overturned. No longer does it point towards the seventh day, as the time to participate in God’s rest. It sets out from the first day as the day of encounter with the Risen Lord. ...
This revolutionary development that occurred at the very the beginning of the Church’s history can be explained only by the fact that something utterly new happened that day. The first day of the week was the third day after Jesus’ death. It was the day when he showed himself to his disciples as the Risen Lord. In truth, this encounter had something unsettling about it. The world had changed. This man who had died was now living with a life that was no longer threatened by any death. A new form of life had been inaugurated, a new dimension of creation. The first day, according to the Genesis account,is the day on which creation begins. Now it was the day of creation in a new way, it had become the day of the new creation. We celebrate the first day. And in so doing we celebrate God the Creator and his creation."

Easter Vigil: Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI
St. Peter's Basilica. 23 April 2011.

Easter with Pope Benedict: Good Friday (Way of the Cross at the Colloseum)

2011-04-22T23:50:00.000-04:00

This evening, in faith, we have accompanied Jesus as he takes the final steps of his earthly journey, the most painful steps, the steps that lead to Calvary. We have heard the cries of the crowd, the words of condemnation, the insults of the soldiers, the lamentation of the Virgin Mary and of the women. Now we are immersed in the silence of this night, in the silence of the cross, the silence of death. It is a silence pregnant with the burden of pain borne by a man rejected, oppressed, downtrodden, the burden of sin which mars his face, the burden of evil. Tonight we have re-lived, deep within our hearts, the drama of Jesus, weighed down by pain, by evil, by human sin.
What remains now before our eyes? It is a crucified man, a cross raised on Golgotha, a cross which seems a sign of the final defeat of the One who brought light to those immersed in darkness, the One who spoke of the power of forgiveness and of mercy, the One who asked us to believe in God’s infinite love for each human person. Despised and rejected by men, there stands before us “a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity, one from whom others hide their faces” (Is 53:3).

Pope Benedict XVI prays as he leads the Way of the Cross on Good Friday
in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Source: Getty Images

But let us look more closely at that man crucified between earth and heaven. Let us contemplate him more intently, and we will realize that the cross is not the banner of the victory of death, sin and evil, but rather the luminous sign of love, of God’s immense love, of something that we could never have asked, imagined or expected: God bent down over us, he lowered himself, even to the darkest corner of our lives, in order to stretch out his hand and draw us to himself, to bring us all the way to himself. The cross speaks to us of the supreme love of God and invites, today, to renew our faith in the power of that love, and to believe that in every situation of our lives, our history and our world, God is able to vanquish death, sin and evil, and to give us new, risen life. In the Son of God’s death on the cross, we find the seed of new hope for life, like the seed which dies within the earth.
This night full of silence, full of hope, echoes God’s call to us as found in the words of Saint Augustine: “Have faith! You will come to me and you will taste the good things of my table, even as I did not disdain to taste the evil things of your table... I have promised you my own life. As a pledge of this, I have given you my death, as if to say: Look! I am inviting you to share in my life. It is a life where no one dies, a life which is truly blessed, which offers an incorruptible food, the food which refreshes and never fails. The goal to which I invite you … is friendship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, it is the eternal supper, it is communion with me … It is a share in my own life (cf. Sermo 231, 5).
Let us gaze on the crucified Jesus, and let us ask in prayer: Enlighten our hearts, Lord, that we may follow you along the way of the cross. Put to death in us the “old man” bound by selfishness, evil and sin. Make us “new men”, men and women of holiness, transformed and enlivened by your love.

Address of the Holy Father after the Stations of the Cross
Palatine Hill. 22 April 2011.

Easter 2011 with Pope Benedict: Holy Thursday (Mass of the Lord's Supper)

2011-04-21T23:50:00.001-04:00

"Jesus desires us, he awaits us. But what about ourselves? Do we really desire him? Are we anxious to meet him? Do we desire to encounter him, to become one with him, to receive the gifts he offers us in the Holy Eucharist? Or are we indifferent, distracted, busy about other things? From Jesus’ banquet parables we realize that he knows all about empty places at table, invitations refused, lack of interest in him and his closeness. For us, the empty places at the table of the Lord’s wedding feast, whether excusable or not, are no longer a parable but a reality, in those very countries to which he had revealed his closeness in a special way. Jesus also knew about guests who come to the banquet without being robed in the wedding garment – they come not to rejoice in his presence but merely out of habit, since their hearts are elsewhere."

* * *

"From all four Gospels we know that Jesus’ final meal before his passion was also a teaching moment. Once again, Jesus urgently set forth the heart of his message. Word and sacrament, message and gift are inseparably linked. Yet at his final meal, more than anything else, Jesus prayed. Matthew, Mark and Luke use two words in describing Jesus’ prayer at the culmination of the meal: “eucharístesas” and “eulógesas” – the verbs “to give thanks” and “to bless”. The upward movement of thanking and the downward movement of blessing go together. The words of transubstantiation are part of this prayer of Jesus. They are themselves words of prayer. Jesus turns his suffering into prayer, into an offering to the Father for the sake of mankind. This transformation of his suffering into love has the power to transform the gifts in which he now gives himself. He gives those gifts to us, so that we, and our world, may be transformed. The ultimate purpose of Eucharistic transformation is our own transformation in communion with Christ. The Eucharist is directed to the new man, the new world, which can only come about from God, through the ministry of God’s Servant."

Pope Benedict XVI, right, washes the foot of an unidentified priest, during the Holy Thursday rite
of the washing of feet, in St. John in Lateran Basilica in Rome. Source: Associated Press

"Christian unity can exist only if Christians are deeply united to him, to Jesus. Faith and love for Jesus, faith in his being one with the Father and openness to becoming one with him, are essential. This unity, then, is not something purely interior or mystical. It must become visible, so visible as to prove before the world that Jesus was sent by the Father. Consequently, Jesus’ prayer has an underlying Eucharistic meaning which Paul clearly brings out in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:16ff.). With the Eucharist, the Church is born."

* * *

"The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. It reaches the very mystery of the Trinity and thus creates visible unity. Let me say it again: it is an extremely personal encounter with the Lord and yet never simply an act of individual piety. Of necessity, we celebrate it together. In each community the Lord is totally present. Yet in all the communities he is but one. Hence the words “una cum Papa nostro et cum episcopo nostro” are a requisite part of the Church’s Eucharistic Prayer. These words are not an addendum of sorts, but a necessary expression of what the Eucharist really is. Furthermore, we mention the Pope and the Bishop by name: unity is something utterly concrete, it has names. In this way unity becomes visible; it becomes a sign for the world and a concrete criterion for ourselves."

* * *

"Saint Luke has preserved for us one concrete element of Jesus’ prayer for unity: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, strengthen your brethren” (Lk 22:31). Today we are once more painfully aware that Satan has been permitted to sift the disciples before the whole world. And we know that Jesus prays for the faith of Peter and his successors. We know that Peter, who walks towards the Lord upon the stormy waters of history and is in danger of sinking, is sustained ever anew by the Lord’s hand and guided over the waves. But Jesus continues with a prediction and a mandate. “When you have turned again…”. Every human being, save Mary, has constant need of conversion. ... All of us need the conversion which enables us to accept Jesus in his reality as God and man. We need the humility of the disciple who follows the will of his Master. Tonight we want to ask Jesus to look to us, as with kindly eyes he looked to Peter when the time was right, and to convert us."

Mass of the Lord's Supper: Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI
Basilica of St John Lateran. 21 April 2011.

Easter 2011 with Pope Benedict: Holy Thursday (Chrismal Mass)

2011-04-21T23:45:00.001-04:00

"The more we are united to Christ, the more we are filled with his Spirit, with the Holy Spirit. We are called “Christians”: “anointed ones” – people who belong to Christ and hence have a share in his anointing, being touched by his Spirit. I wish not merely to be called Christian, but also to be Christian, said Saint Ignatius of Antioch. Let us allow these holy oils, which are consecrated at this time, to remind us of the task that is implicit in the word “Christian”, let us pray that, increasingly, we may not only be called Christian but may actually be such."

* * *

"God is searching for me. Do I want to recognize him? Do I want to be known by him, found by him? God loves us. He comes to meet the unrest of our hearts, the unrest of our questioning and seeking, with the unrest of his own heart, which leads him to accomplish the ultimate for us. That restlessness for God, that journeying towards him, so as to know and love him better, must not be extinguished in us. In this sense we should always remain catechumens. “Constantly seek his face”, says one of the Psalms (105:4)."

Pope Benedict XVI (C) celebrates the Holy Thursday Chrismal Mass. Source: Getty Images

"The proclamation of God’s Kingdom, of God’s unlimited goodness, must first of all bring healing to broken hearts. By nature, man is a being in relation. But if the fundamental relationship, the relationship with God, is disturbed, then all the rest is disturbed as well. If our relationship with God is disturbed, if the fundamental orientation of our being is awry, we cannot truly be healed in body and soul. For this reason, the first and fundamental healing takes place in our encounter with Christ who reconciles us to God and mends our broken hearts. But over and above this central task, the Church’s essential mission also includes the specific healing of sickness and suffering. ... For this we thank the Lord at this moment. For this we thank all those who, by virtue of their faith and love, place themselves alongside the suffering, thereby bearing definitive witness to the goodness of God himself."

* * *

"Christians are a priestly people for the world. Christians should make the living God visible to the world, they should bear witness to him and lead people towards him. When we speak of this task in which we share by virtue of our baptism, it is no reason to boast. It poses a question to us that makes us both joyful and anxious: are we truly God’s shrine in and for the world? Do we open up the pathway to God for others or do we rather conceal it? Have not we – the people of God – become to a large extent a people of unbelief and distance from God? Is it perhaps the case that the West, the heartlands of Christianity, are tired of their faith, bored by their history and culture, and no longer wish to know faith in Jesus Christ? We have reason to cry out at this time to God: “Do not allow us to become a ‘non-people’! Make us recognize you again!"

Chrismal Mass: Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI
Saint Peter's Basilica. 21 April 2011.

"This is the ascent that matters. This is the journey which Jesus invites us to make."

2011-04-17T23:33:00.002-04:00

Our procession today is meant, then, to be an image of something deeper, to reflect the fact that, together with Jesus, we are setting out on pilgrimage along the high road that leads to the living God. This is the ascent that matters. This is the journey which Jesus invites us to make. ...
Psalm 24, which the Church proposes as the “song of ascent” to accompany our procession in today’s liturgy, indicates some concrete elements which are part of our ascent and without which we cannot be lifted upwards: clean hands, a pure heart, the rejection of falsehood, the quest for God’s face. The great achievements of technology are liberating and contribute to the progress of mankind only if they are joined to these attitudes – if our hands become clean and our hearts pure, if we seek truth, if we seek God and let ourselves be touched and challenged by his love. All these means of “ascent” are effective only if we humbly acknowledge that we need to be lifted up; if we abandon the pride of wanting to become God. We need God: he draws us upwards; letting ourselves be upheld by his hands – by faith, in other words – sets us aright and gives us the inner strength that raises us on high. We need the humility of a faith which seeks the face of God and trusts in the truth of his love.

The question of how man can attain the heights, becoming completely himself and completely like God, has always engaged mankind. It was passionately disputed by the Platonic philosophers of the third and fourth centuries. For them, the central issue was finding the means of purification which could free man from the heavy load weighing him down and thus enable him to ascend to the heights of his true being, to the heights of divinity. Saint Augustine, in his search for the right path, long sought guidance from those philosophies. But in the end he had to acknowledge that their answers were insufficient, their methods would not truly lead him to God. To those philosophers he said: recognize that human power and all these purifications are not enough to bring man in truth to the heights of the divine, to his own heights. And he added that he should have despaired of himself and human existence had he not found the One who accomplishes what we of ourselves cannot accomplish; the One who raises us up to the heights of God in spite of our wretchedness: Jesus Christ who from God came down to us and, in his crucified love, takes us by the hand and lifts us on high.

Celebration of Palm Sunday of the Passion of Our Lord Pope Benedict XVI. April 17, 2011.

Happy 84th Birthday, Pope Benedict XVI!

2011-04-16T18:30:00.001-04:00

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf reminds us that "A partial indulgence is granted to the Christian faithful who, in a spirit of filial devotion, devoutly recite any duly approved prayer for the Supreme Pontiff (e.g., the Oremus pro Pontifice)":

V. Let us pray for our Pontiff, Pope Benedict.
R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and bless him upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
Let us pray.
O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Related

Happy Birthday Pope Benedict, 84 years old this Saturday Vatican Radio.

Pope Benedict Roundup!

2011-04-02T09:00:00.002-04:00

March 12 will mark the debut of a new television series combining the words of Pope Benedict XVI with the Church's traditional sacred art and music - Catholic News Agency reports:
“Sunday with Benedict XVI,” broadcast on the Italian bishops' TV 2000 network, will draw upon six years of the Pope's homilies, Angelus commentaries, and Gospel reflections, supplemented by portions of his writings and the works of the Church Fathers.
The regular Saturday evening program will incorporate selections that are based on the Mass readings for every Sunday of the liturgical year, taken from the audio and video archives of Pope Benedict's pontificate.
The Catholic News Agency also reports that "Pope Benedict XVI will participate in a first-ever question and answer session that will be televised Italy on Good Friday":
The program is one of several new initiatives aimed at bringing the image and words of the Pope into households around the world.
On March 13, Italy's national RaiUno Television station will officially launch promotions for a program to be aired on the anniversary of Jesus' death—Good Friday.
The special is set to begin at 2:10 p.m. so that it is playing at 3:00 p.m., when Jesus is traditionally believed to have taken his last breath. The show will feature the Pope, who will answer three questions posed by viewers.
People will be able to write to RaiUno's “In His Image” ("A Sua Immagine") program with suggestions for the three questions. All will focus on the life of Jesus.
How quickly we forget. In 2005, Catholic News Agency published the transcript of the actual "first ever" televised interview with Pope Benedict XVI, with Polish State Television (TVP) on October 16.
With early-bird registration still running through this month, more than 16,500 youth and 60 bishops are signed up for World Youth Day in Madrid this August. (Zenit News Agency March 4, 2011).
On March 2, the Roman Catholic Federal Pakistani Minister for Minorities, Shahbaz Bhatti, was assassinated by a Radical Muslim group in Islamabad. Pope Benedict XVI remembered Bhatti in his March 6th Angelus:
"I ask the Lord Jesus that the moving sacrifice of the life of the Pakistani minister, Shahbaz Bhatti, will awaken in people's consciences courage and a commitment to safeguarding the religious freedom of all men and women and, in that way, promote their equal dignity."
According to Catholic News Service, Bhatti was the second Pakistani official to be assassinated for opposing the anti-blasphemy laws. Salman Taseer, a Muslim and governor of Punjab province, was killed Jan. 4.
"God Created Men and Women for Resurrection and Life" - Here is Benedict XVI annual Lenten message, which was released today with a theme from Colossians: "You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him." The message offers a reflection for each of the Sunday Gospel readings of the liturgical season. (Zenit News. February 22, 2011).
The Schoenstatt Movement is preparing for Benedict XVI's visit to his home country of Germany in September with a campaign to show support for the Pope (Zenit News, February 16, 2011):
Members are organizing a crusade of love and support of the Pontiff called "Postcard Action," gathering prayers for the upcoming event.
Some 30,000 postcards have already been distributed for the campaign, which the faithful are encouraged to send to the Pope with their personal messages. Another 20,000 cards have been printed for distribution.
The main objective is to be "totally open to him [Benedict XVI] and to the message he wants to bring us," said Father Michael Marmann, who belongs to the circle of former students of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, during the official launching of this initiative.
Benedict XVI will enjoy the sites and sounds of Venice as many visitors before him -- on a gondola ride through the canals of the ancient city., reports Zenit News (February 15, 2011). "The Pontiff will do so on May 8, as part of his pastoral visit to the northern Italian cities of Aquileia, Venice and Mestre, whose program was published today by the Holy See."
A third volume of Pope Benedict's work, Jesus of Nazareth, is to be expected, says Edward Pentin (National Catholic Register:
Benedict had hoped the Jesus of Nazareth project was something he would complete once he had retired as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. After he had reached the age of 75 — the usual retirement age for bishops — he asked Pope John Paul II if he could be relieved of his duties so that he could focus on the book. John Paul said No, preferring to have him by his side until the end of his pontificate.
Yet, despite his heavy schedule as John Paul II’s successor, Benedict has said he has used his free time to make progress with the book. He decided to publish it in instalments as “I do not know how much more time or strength I am still to be given.”
The Holy Father works meticulously, writing in long hand rather than using a computer, and drawing on a large variety of books in his much cherished library.
Last summer, papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi revealed that the Pope was writing the third volume of Jesus of Nazareth. The third and final volume will seek to shed light on the story of Jesus’ childhood from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Commentary

Fr. John Zuhlsdorf on Pope Benedict XVI and Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week (March 4, 2011):
In my look at this book, I mentioned that Pope’s can’t simply say what they think, or what they are thinking through. People like Joseph Ratzinger continue to think about things. Their thought evolves. The Holy Father is not afraid to show to the world how his thoughts have changed over the years, how he has learned, how his faith has sought understanding (cf. St. Anselm, Proslogion). This continuous, relentless pursuit of deeper understanding, and the eager use of the relentless pursuit recounted by other scholars, even of an different faith, shows that in his life, whether as priest, or professor or Pope of Rome, he has tried to live authentically what he encapsulated as the motto of his episcopal coat-of arms: Cooperatores veritatis… co-workers of the Truth (cf. 3 John 8).
That motto has been in front of my eyes for a long time, since he wrote it on a photo I have framed and hung in a hallway I walk by through the time. I used to meet the former Cardinal in another hallway, some years ago, not daily, but very often. I had many conversations with the man and he was always not only happy to answer questions, but always to hear and seriously consider other opinions and points of view. One of these exchanges lead to the topic of my thesis on St. Augustine.
Benedict XVI is a coworker of the Truth.
(Bookmark our previous post for an ongoing compilation of news, reviews and commentary on the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth).
In anticipation of Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to his homeland, more than two hundred German theologians issued a manifesto, "The Church in 2011: A Necessary Departure". Here is papal biographer George Weigel on "The Chutzpa of the German Theologians" ("The Catholic Difference" March 2, 2011):
The manifesto itself does not identify the destination for which the Church is to depart, but the terminus ad quem seems reasonably clear from a careful reading of the document: Catholicism is to transform itself into another liberal Protestant sect by conceding virtually every point at issue between classic Christianity and the ambient culture of the post-modern West.
It is, perhaps, no surprise to find German Catholic theologians publicly supporting the ordination of married men and women to the ministerial priesthood (overtly), same-sex "marriage" (slyly), and full communion within the Church for those in irregular marriages (subtly but unmistakably). These causes have been espoused for years. German theologians dissented en masse from the 1993 teaching of Veritatis Splendor on the nature of moral acts and from the 1994 teaching of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the Church's inability to admit women to Holy Orders. What was particularly striking about this new manifesto was its attempt to address serious problems with tried-and-failed solutions. That bespeaks a remarkable lack of intellectual creativity and historical sense.
Benedict XVI's Call to "Intellectual Charity": Will Catholic Universities Respond?, by Kevin M. Clarke. (Zenit News, February 11, 2010):
During his apostolic visit to the United States, Benedict XVI issued a strong call to the heads of Catholic institutions in America. In his diagnosis of the crises facing Catholic religious education in America, the Pope made it abundantly clear that failing to orient the whole curriculum toward Christ, and indeed the whole life of the university, "weakens Catholic identity" and "inevitably leads to confusion." He spoke compassionately, kindly; he spoke with authority.
His words certainly will be reexamined this fall by America's Catholic colleges and universities as they question the place of Catholic mission and identity on their campuses this year. What is worth noting here is how well these two words -- "intellectual charity" -- encapsulate the fullness of the Pontiff's teaching on the nature of Catholic education, especially considering charity's intrinsic link with truth in the Holy Father's magisterium. ...
Diagnosing the 'implosion' of Benedict's Vatican, by John Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter February 28, 2011):
Perhaps the most telling index of the severity of the various PR and managerial catastrophes which have beset the papacy of Benedict XVI is that there’s now a budding literary genre attempting to explain them. It’s also a measure of the reduced global profile of the papacy these days that, to date, the Italians basically have a monopoly on it.
CDF - SSPX: Does Anyone Care?, by Dr. Philip Blosser. (Musings of a Pertinacious Papist March 1, 2011):
The question is not meant to be obnoxious, though doubtless some will read it that way. This response would be understandable, given the minute profile cut by the tiny fraternity largely written off as 'renegade' since the laetae sententiae excommunications of the late Abp Lefebvre and his illicit ordinations of four bishops in 1988, even after these excommunications were lifted for the surviving four in 2009. SSPX clerics lack proper faculties and continue to operate under suspension. ...
The most common sentiment in the secular media toward the fraternity, since SSPX Bp. Richard Williamson's denial of the historicity of the Nazi holocaust, has been contemptuous dismissal. Most mainstream Catholics, if they have an opinion at all, seem to wonder how anybody who loves the Church could possibly have a problem with the Second Vatican Council and persist in stubborn schism. That's the sort of language one hears.
The upshot is this: almost nobody seems to really care about this small, inconsequential group of traditionalists or the talks they are having with representatives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican -- almost nobody, that is, but the Holy Father.

Jesus of Nazareth: "Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection" by Pope Benedict XVI

2011-03-26T23:37:00.005-04:00

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance Into Jerusalem To The Resurrection
Pope Benedict XVI. Ignatius Press (March 10, 2011).

For Christians, Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and who rose from the dead in triumph over sin and death. For non-Christians, he is almost anything else-myth, a political revolutionary, a prophet whose teaching was misunderstood or distorted by his followers.

Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, and no myth, revolutionary, or misunderstood prophet, insists Benedict XVI. He thinks that the best of historical scholarship, while it can't "prove" Jesus is the Son of God, certainly doesn't disprove it. Indeed, Benedict maintains that the evidence, fairly considered, brings us face-to-face with the challenge of Jesus-a real man who taught and acted in ways that were tantamount to claims of divine authority, claims not easily dismissed as lunacy or deception.

Benedict XVI presents this challenge in his new book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, the sequel volume to Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration.

Why was Jesus rejected by the religious leaders of his day? Who was responsible for his death? Did he establish a Church to carry on his work? How did Jesus view his suffering and death? How should we? And, most importantly, did Jesus really rise from the dead and what does his resurrection mean? The story of Jesus raises these and other crucial questions.

Benedict brings to his study the vast learning of a brilliant scholar, the passionate searching of a great mind, and the deep compassion of a pastor's heart. In the end, he dares readers to grapple with the meaning of Jesus' life, teaching, death, and resurrection. Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection challenges both believers and unbelievers to decide who Jesus of Nazareth is and what he means for them.

From the Publishers

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week Publisher's Website Ignatius Press (US).
Presentation of Volume II, "Jesus of Nazareth" presented by Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and by Claudio Magris, a writer and German scholar. Vatican News Service.
Jesus of Nazareth Facebook Page.

Excerpts

Table of Contents
Excerpts from the Foreword to Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week.
Excerpts from Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week. Entire sections lifted from the chapters of the full book. The excerpts are: "The Mysery of the Betrayer", "The Dating of the Last Supper", and "Jesus Before Pilate".

Reviews

Ratzinger’s Gift: Faith-Filled Exegesis, by Dr. Jeff Mirus. Catholic Culture. March 29, 2011.
From professorial pope, a lengthy paper trail, by Francis X. Rocca. Religion News Service. March 15, 2011.
Jesus of Nazareth: First Impressions of a Scripture Scholar by Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB. CEO, Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation. March 10, 2011.
New book confirms: Benedict XVI is his own best spokesperson, by John Allen Jr. National Catholic Reporter March 10, 2011.
"An historic book, which inaugurates a new era of theological exegesis" by Cardinal Marc Oullet. Translation by L'Osservatore Romano. Rome, March 10, 2011
Pope Benedict and How to Read The Bible, by Fr. Robert Barron. The Word on Fire March 4, 2011.
Some thoughts about the Pope’s new book Part I | Part II, by Fr. John Zuhisdorf. What Does the Prayer Really Say? March 2/4, 2011.
Finding Christ in Pope's "Jesus of Nazareth": Book Speaks of Second Coming, Eating Salt, Space-Traveling Hearts, by Kevin M. Clarke. St. Joseph Academy in San Marcos, California.

Audio

Mark Brumley & Carl Olson Discuss Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week March 10, 2011 | Ignatius Insight.
Fr. Fessio SJ on Jesus of Nazareth Volume II Interview with Emer McCarthy, Vatican Radio. March 10, 2011.

News, Commentary, Discussion

Was Jesus a Political Activist?, by Kathryn Jean Lopez. Jesus of Nazareth Publisher's Blog. March 24, 2011.
"Present and Active Within World History": On Jesus of Nazareth, Part Two, by Fr. James V. Schall, S.J. | March 10, 2011 | Ignatius Insight.
In book, pope presents Jesus as reconciler, not political revolutionary, by John Thavis. Catholic News Agency. March 11, 2011.
Pontiff's Book on Christ Marks Many Firsts: Scholars Discuss Novelties of "Jesus of Nazareth", by Anna Maria Basquez. (Zenit. March 11, 2011).
Pope Addresses 5 Disputed Questions in New Book: Cardinal Ouellet Presents Pontiff's "Jesus of Nazareth" (Zenit. March 11, 2011).
Cardinal Marc Ouellet affirms ecumenical nature of Pope's book (Zenit. March 11, 2011).
What Benedict XVI has written about the Jews is news—but not new news, by Carl Olson. Insight Scoop March 4, 2011.
Pope's New Book Notes Judas' 2nd Tragedy: Gospel Says Betrayer's Experience "Is Beyond Psychological Explanation" Zenit News Agency. March 3, 2011.
In book, pope says Jesus' death cannot be blamed on Jewish people, by John Thavis. Catholic News Agency. March 2, 2011.
Scholars see benefits for all faiths in pope's second 'Jesus' book, by Nancy Frazier O'Brien. Catholic News Service March 2, 2011.

Gained Horizons: Regensburg and the Enlargement of Reason

2011-02-24T01:34:00.002-05:00

Gained Horizons: Regensburg and the Enlargement of Reason
Edited by Bainard Cowan.
St. Augustines Press; 1 edition (February 10, 2011)

Gained Horizons takes up Pope Benedict XVI’s invitation, issued in his lecture at the University of Regensburg, to enter into the dialogue of cultures by “broadening our concept of reason” to “once more disclose its vast horizons.” Benedict placed in the foreground the notion of God as acting with reason, and said of “this great logos, this breadth of reason,” that “to rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.”The contributors to Gained Horizons conduct their inquiries down the paths of their disciplines of thought – philosophy, theology, political thought and literary criticism – examining the broader nature of reason and the forces that oppose it today in politics, culture, and education.

Several of the most distinguished and most stimulating commentators on the public scene come together in Gained Horizons to focus on the challenges and hopes of reason. Jean Bethke Elshtain finds in the conception of a God Who is approachable by reason the root of the subjection of rulers to law, even laws that they themselves have made. To Peter Lawler, Pope Benedict articulates a science adequate to the achievement of the American Founders and thus urgent to recover, since American public opinion tends both to deny reason in the name of freedom and to rigidify reason in the name of democratic science. R. R. Reno looks at the contemporary university and finds not so much a relativism as a loss of intellectual ambition, of the confidence that the disciplines can help us understand how we can live our lives. As Reno points out the dangers of relying on theory without traditional wisdom to solve human problems, Glenn Arbery describes Dostoevsky’s vision of modern man imprisoned in theory and his rescue by reason and grace in the action of Crime and Punishment. Nalin Ranasinghe then sketches out some of the implications of the Regensburg Address for philosophers in particular and the university in general; Pope Benedict challenges the academy to recove the full richness of the gift of reason. These and other contributors combine to launch not only a critique of the contemporary scene but an envisioning of the ever-present sources of logos that stand ready to be regenerated in our time.

Bainard Cowan is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. He is the author of Exiled Waters: Moby Dick and the Crisis of Allegory and editor of Poetics of the Americas and Uniting the Liberal Arts: Core and Context.

Pope Benedict Roundup!

2011-02-05T23:19:00.003-05:00

NEWS

12/28/10 - On the 100th anniversary of Mother Theresa's birth, Pope invited hundreds of homeless to the Vatican for lunch. [Video, courtesy of Rome Reports].
01/12/11 - According to the mainstream media, the Pope warned parents against giving children celebrity-inspired names and urged them to turn to the Bible for inspiration ... or perhaps not. David Schütz (Sentire Cum Ecclesia) does some investigating and finds some evidence lacking.
01/12/11 - In the first North American airing of footage originally captured for Italian television some years back, CatholicTV ran a special edition of its "House + Home" program, featuring a behind-the-scenes look at life in the Papal Apartment. (HT: Whispers in the Loggia).
01/14/11 - The Vatican announced that the much-anticipated beatification of Pope John Paul II will take place on May 1, the Sunday after Easter. Responding to criticisms about the rapidity of the elevition, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf registers some observations about the speed of some causes for beatification.

Figurines of late pope John Paul II (C) and Benedict XVI are on display at a Vatican shop on January 14, 2011. John Paul II is to be beatified on May 1, 2011, the Vatican announced, after Pope Benedict XVI signed an official decree. Source: Getty | Hat tip: Carlos Echevarria

01/19/11 - Pope Benedict XVI was presented with a copy of the swiftly produced but handsome and comprehensive official record of his state visit to Britain by Peter Jennings, its author and editor.
01/21/11 - It is reported that An upcoming art exhibit in Toronto could raise eyebrows with its use of violent images ... [including] a painting of the Pope, in which the portrait is riddled with bullet holes." [HT: Deacon Greg Kandra].
01/21/11 - On the Feast of Saint Agnes, Pope Benedict took part in the annual tradition of blessing two lambs. The wool of the lambs blessed on the feast day is woven by a different community of nuns and becomes the fabric for the "pallium," a circular stole, which the pope gives each June to new archbishops from around the world. (Catholic News Agency).
01/24/11 - Appropos of this website (and blogging in general), here is Pope Benedict's message for the 45th World Day of Social Communications, which will be observed June 5. The letter is titled "Truth, Proclamation and Authenticity of Life in the Digital Age".
02/02/11 - On February 2nd, Pope Benedict initiated a series of catecheses on the doctors of the Church, beginning with St. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) | "On St. Teresa of Avila" [Full Text].

COMMENTARY

A Book in the Backpack. With the Pope's Autograph 02/05/11 - It is the catechism for the very young. It will be launched at the worldwide gathering in Madrid. Benedict XVI is betting on it heavily, and recommending it. "Because it speaks to us of our own destiny," more compelling than a crime novel. Sandro Magister reports on a third edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "aimed at young people between the ages of 14 and 20, in a language expected to be more suited to them."

Pope Benedict XVI's push toward unity. L'Osservatore Romano interviews Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, on the ecumenical goals of the Holy Father.
In December, in celebration of Pope Benedict's new book Light of the World, Ignatius Press published four interviews with Fr. Joseph Fessio -- former student of the Pope's and founder of the publishing house:

Honeymoon with the Pope

2011-01-15T20:24:00.002-05:00

If you are planning a trip to Rome within a year of your wedding, you are eligible to receive a special blessing from the Holy Father:

Hello! We are JonMarc and Teresa Grodi, just married in June 2010. We found out about the possibility of meeting the Pope at a general audience few months before our wedding and did everything we could to honeymoon in Europe. We attended the June 30th general audience with Holy Father Benedict XVI and received a special blessing over our marriage. We wore our wedding attire and received special tickets to sit in a section right near the Pope’s platform. At times, the Holy Father will walk over an greet with the Sposi Novelli (newlyweds)with a handshake and a blessing. We were so blessed to be able to attend that we would like to help other couples have the same opportunity.

Pope Benedict's 2010 Christmas Address to the Roman Curia

2011-01-01T19:06:00.011-05:00

On December 20, 2010, Pope Benedict gave his traditional annual speech and exchange of Christmas greetings to the Roman Curia in the Regia Hall of the Vatican. Here is the full text of the address. To assist in my own belated reading of the document, I found it helpful to break down his talk into various bulleted thoughts/subjects (which might prove helpful for others):

Photo Credit: Reuters December 20, 2010

Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni. ["Awaken your power, Lord, and come"] - Pope Benedict calls to mind the Advent prayer, "probably formulated as the Roman Empire was in decline" and is parallel in contemporary times:
The disintegration of the key principles of law and of the fundamental moral attitudes underpinning them burst open the dams which until that time had protected peaceful coexistence among peoples. The sun was setting over an entire world. ...
For all its new hopes and possibilities, our world is at the same time troubled by the sense that moral consensus is collapsing, consensus without which juridical and political structures cannot function. Consequently the forces mobilized for the defence of such structures seem doomed to failure.
Benedict turns to one of the "great tribulations" plaguing the Church in the past year:
... when in this year of all years [The Year for Priests] and to a degree we could not have imagined, we came to know of abuse of minors committed by priests who twist the sacrament into its antithesis, and under the mantle of the sacred profoundly wound human persons in their childhood, damaging them for a whole lifetime.
The scandal of clergy abuse calls to Benedict's mind Saint Hildegard of Bingen's vision of the Church - "a woman of such beauty that the human mind is unable to comprehend", face shining "with exceeding brightness" and gaze fixed on heaven -- but also "stained with dust, her robe was ripped down the right side, her cloak had lost its sheen of beauty and her shoes had been blackened":
And she continued: ‘I lay hidden in the heart of the Father until the Son of Man, who was conceived and born in virginity, poured out his blood. With that same blood as his dowry, he made me his betrothed.
For my Bridegroom’s wounds remain fresh and open as long as the wounds of men’s sins continue to gape. And Christ’s wounds remain open because of the sins of priests. They tear my robe, since they are violators of the Law, the Gospel and their own priesthood; they darken my cloak by neglecting, in every way, the precepts which they are meant to uphold; my shoes too are blackened, since priests do not keep to the straight paths of justice, which are hard and rugged, or set good examples to those beneath them. Nevertheless, in some of them I find the splendour of truth.’
The Church's humiliation in this scandal is nothing if not a call to renewal, to rediscover the truth of the gospel and to reaffirm the priestly vocation:
Only the truth saves. We must ask ourselves what we can do to repair as much as possible the injustice that has occurred. We must ask ourselves what was wrong in our proclamation, in our whole way of living the Christian life, to allow such a thing to happen. We must discover a new resoluteness in faith and in doing good. We must be capable of doing penance. We must be determined to make every possible effort in priestly formation to prevent anything of the kind from happening again. This is also the moment to offer heartfelt thanks to all those who work to help victims and to restore their trust in the Church, their capacity to believe her message. In my meetings with victims of this sin, I have also always found people who, with great dedication, stand alongside those who suffer and have been damaged. This is also the occasion to thank the many good priests who act as channels of the Lord’s goodness in humility and fidelity and, amid the devastations, bear witness to the unforfeited beauty of the priesthood.
According to Benedict, the abuse scandal must be placed within the greater context: the "tyranny of mammon", the enthronement of pleasure above all else -- as evidenced by the increase (and acceptance of) the markets of child pornogoraphy, sexual tourism and the drug trade. "No pleasure is ever enough, and the excess of deceiving intoxication becomes a violence that tears whole regions apart – and all this in the name of a fatal misunderstanding of freedom which actually undermines man’s freedom and ultimately destroys it."

In addressing these evils, Benedict reminds us that we must look to their ideological foundation, a "fundamental perversion of the concept of ethos":
... It was maintained – even within the realm of Catholic theology – that there is no such thing as evil in itself or good in itself. There is only a “better than” and a “worse than”. Nothing is good or bad in itself. Everything depends on the circumstances and on the end in view. Anything can be good or also bad, depending upon purposes and circumstances. Morality is replaced by a calculus of consequences, and in the process it ceases to exist.
Supplementary Note: Benedict's remarks here are illustrated by the following report: The Sexual Revolution and Children: How the Left Took Things Too Far, by Jan Fleischhauer and Wiebke Hollersen. (Der Spiegel July 2, 2010), which acknowledges:
In the debate on sexual abuse, one of the elements is confusion as to where the line should be drawn in interactions with children. It is a confusion not limited to the Catholic Church. Indeed, it was precisely in so-called progressive circles that an eroticization of childhood and a gradual lowering of taboos began. It was a shift that even allowed for the possibility of sex with children.
The latter part of Benedict's address turns to other matters -- the Synod for the Churches of the Middle East and relations with the Orthodox Church:
... Even if full communion is not yet granted to us, we have nevertheless established with joy that the basic form of the ancient Church unites us profoundly with one another: the sacramental office of Bishops as the bearer of apostolic tradition, the reading of Scripture according to the hermeneutic of the Regula fidei, the understanding of Scripture in its manifold unity centred on Christ, developed under divine inspiration, and finally, our faith in the central place of the Eucharist in the Church’s life.
Benedict laments the turmoil of recent years, where "the tradition of peaceful coexistence" between Christians of various rites, and with other religions as well, has been shattered by increasing tension and violence. "We witness with increasing alarm acts of violence in which there is no longer any respect for what the other holds sacred, in which on the contrary the most elementary rules of humanity collapse." In response, the Synod developed "a grand concept of dialogue, forgiveness and mutual acceptance":
The human being is one, and humanity is one. Whatever damage is done to another in any one place, ends up by damaging everyone. Thus the words and ideas of the Synod must be a clarion call, addressed to all people with political or religious responsibility, to put a stop to Christianophobia; to rise up in defence of refugees and all who are suffering, and to revitalize the spirit of reconciliation. In the final analysis, healing can only come from deep faith in God’s reconciling love.
Benedict turns briefly to his momentous visit to the United Kingdom, and to his meeting with representatives of culture at Westminster Hall -- where the figure of Saint Thomas More provided opportunity to address "the perennial question of the relationship between what is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God, [and] the proper place of religious belief within the political process."

According to Benedict,
Each generation, as it seeks to advance the common good, must ask anew: what are the requirements that governments may reasonably impose upon citizens, and how far do they extend? By appeal to what authority can moral dilemmas be resolved? These questions take us directly to the ethical foundations of civil discourse. If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident - herein lies the real challenge for democracy. [...]
The central question at issue, then, is this: where is the ethical foundation for political choices to be found?

Benedict directs the Curia's attention to the observation of the French Catholic political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville:
that democracy in America had become possible and had worked because there existed a fundamental moral consensus which, transcending individual denominations, united everyone. Only if there is such a consensus on the essentials can constitutions and law function. This fundamental consensus derived from the Christian heritage is at risk wherever its place, the place of moral reasoning, is taken by the purely instrumental rationality of which I spoke earlier. In reality, this makes reason blind to what is essential. To resist this eclipse of reason and to preserve its capacity for seeing the essential, for seeing God and man, for seeing what is good and what is true, is the common interest that must unite all people of good will. The very future of the world is at stake.
Tangential note: Benedict has cited Tocqueville on a number of occasions. Upon being inducted into the Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques of the Institut de France in 1992, then-Cardinal Ratzinger remarked that Tocqueville's "Democracy in America has always made a strong impression on me." Tocqueville was also referenced in Without Roots his published correspondence with Marcello Pera on the question of religion and the state in America and Europe.

See also Dr. Samuel Gregg's A Tocquevillian in the Vatican (Acton Institute, February 8, 2006) and Pope Benedict's appreciation for America's religious liberty (Roundup: Benedict in America April 9, 2008).

Benedict last turns his attention to the spiritual example and "three conversions" of Cardinal John Henry Newman, whom he beatified in September. He focuses on Newman's first conversion, from a materialism which reduced "reality" to the merely empirical ("graspable") to faith in the living God:
In his conversion, Newman recognized that it is exactly the other way round: that God and the soul, man’s spiritual identity, constitute what is genuinely real, what counts. These are much more real than objects that can be grasped. This conversion was a Copernican revolution. What had previously seemed unreal and secondary was now revealed to be the genuinely decisive element. Where such a conversion takes place, it is not just a person’s theory that changes: the fundamental shape of life changes. We are all in constant need of such conversion: then we are on the right path.
Newman's second conversion involved the matter of conscience and its obligations. Benedict contrasts the modern world's understanding of "conscience" (locating the final authority for moral and religious questions in the individual subject, and the subjective realm) with Newman's own understanding:
[In the subjective realm], it is said, there are in the final analysis no objective criteria. The ultimate instance that can decide here is therefore the subject alone, and precisely this is what the word “conscience” expresses: in this realm only the individual, with his intuitions and experiences, can decide. Newman’s understanding of conscience is diametrically opposed to this. For him, “conscience” means man’s capacity for truth: the capacity to recognize precisely in the decision-making areas of his life – religion and morals – a truth, the truth. At the same time, conscience – man’s capacity to recognize truth – thereby imposes on him the obligation to set out along the path towards truth, to seek it and to submit to it wherever he finds it. Conscience is both capacity for truth and obedience to the truth which manifests itself to anyone who seeks it with an open heart. The path of Newman’s conversions is a path of conscience – not a path of self-asserting subjectivity but, on the contrary, a path of obedience to the truth that was gradually opening up to him.
Newman's third conversion, of course, is his passage from the Anglican church to Rome. (Do pick up Newman's chronicle of his conversion and defense of his decision, Apologia pro vita Sua). Much is made by liberal Catholics of Newman's toast, "first to conscience and then to the Pope," which seemingly pits one's conscience against the Church -- and identifies Newman's personal understanding of conscience with the modern, subjective one. Benedict disagrees:
[I]n this statement, “conscience” does not signify the ultimately binding quality of subjective intuition. It is an expression of the accessibility and the binding force of truth: on this its primacy is based. The second toast can be dedicated to the Pope because it is his task to demand obedience to the truth.
Benedict concludes with a reiteration of the Advent prayer, Excita, Domine, potentiam tuam, et veni. We - "plea for the presence of God’s power in our time and from the experience of his apparent absence." Even in the midst of the present darkness and trying times, "God's power and goodness are present today in many different ways."
I entrust these prayerful sentiments to the intercession of the Holy Virgin, Mother of the Redeemer, and I impart to all of you and to the great family of the Roman Curia a heartfelt Apostolic Blessing. Happy Christmas!