After being away from the Internet for several hours today, I am pleasantly surprised to find that almost all the major Italian Vaticanistas have immediately taken note and written about the Pope's truly exceptional and unprecedented letter to the seminarians of the world released earlier today. In the Anglophone media, it seems only Edward Pentin, who writes for ZENIT, the National Catholic Register and the Catholic Herald, has taken note so far. But here first, for the record (since it is not necessarily the best nor the most interesting) is the editorial coming out in tomorrow's issue of L'Osservatore Romano.
The presence of God
Editorial
by Giovanni Maria Vian
Translated from the 10/18-10/19/10 issue of
Do we still need saints and priests? Benedict XVI posed this question at the canonization of six new saints on Sunday at St. Peter's Square and in his letter to the seminarians of the world.
The question is radical because it has to do with the presence of God in the world.
The six new saints proclaimed by the Pope - four of them women, including the first Australian native-born saint, Mary of the Cross (MacKillop), a truly exceptional and courageous leader - understood this question, and allowed God's presence to shine forth through what they did.
In the darkness of the Nazi folly, their leaders were convinced that the new Germany would no longer need priests, Benedict XVI reminded the seminarians, from his own personal experience.
In a text, direct and very important, which was addressed not exclusively to those who are preparing for priesthood because the letter speaks of faith, as in the verse from Luke (18,8) which the Pope reflected on in his homily at the canonization Mass: "When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"
Seminarians then and now: Left photo, Joseph Ratzinger (extreme left) with fellow seminarians in Freising in the schoolyear 1946-1947.
The tone of Benedict XVI's letter is once again almost confidential, reflecting his profound personal experience. To the thinking that priests belong to the past, the Pope replies that on the contrary, there is need for them today, that is, for "men who live for God and bring him to others".
And that indeed, if God is no longer perceived by man, then "life becomes empty". And that is why it is worthwhile to become a priest. It is a way of life that one does not do by oneself - and here is the wisdom of the seminary: priesthood is lived in community.
Benedict XVI describes the priest as essentially a 'man of God', of God who is not an unknown who withdrew from the world after the Big Bang, but who showed himself in Jesus, God near us. And the priest, who is not just any administrator, is his messenger.
That is why the priest "must never lose his interior contact with God", because then he will understand, the Pope explains, the Lord's exhortation to pray 'all the time'.
How to do this concretely?
- By starting and ending the day with a prayer, reading and listening to Scripture;
- Becoming aware to one's own errors but also of the beautiful and the good:
- Celebrating the Eucharist and understanding how the liturgy of the Church has grown over time, the product of countless generations in uninterrupted continuity; and
- Humbly approaching the sacrament of penance in order 'to oppose the brutalization of the spirit'.
What Benedict describes in the letter is really an agenda for priests
- which is useful for every believer - with recommendations that are striking for their simplicity and wisdom.
Urging sensitivity to popular piety while emphasizing the importance of study - which is nothing other that "to know and understand the internal structure of the faith". Through knowledge of Scripture in its unity, of the Fathers and the great Councils, studying in depth the various articulations of theology, an orientation on the major religions, the study of philosophy and canon law - all in a 'condition of love' and with the courage to go against the current.
One can expect that media attention will once more focus on what the Pope writes about the sexual abuse of minors by some priests. But Benedict XVI aims higher, underscoring that the dimension of sexuality should be matured and integrated into the priest's personality, because otherwise "it becomes banal and destructive".
As demonstrated by the countless examples of authentic priests and saints who are convincing precisely because of their example, allowing above all the light of God to shine forth, the light wjhch illumines every man.
On his blog today, Sandro Magister quotes three excerpts from the Pope's letter and introduces them with the following comments:
Translated from
Benedict XVI's letter to seminarians, after the conclusion of teh year for Priests, begins with an autobiographical anecdote.
This was an unexpected letter. but clearly written Benedict's own hand - his rhythm, his style, with his recurrent themes, with his usual profundity.
Benedict XVI calls on all young priest aspirants to pray, to say Mass, to confess, to appreciate popular piety, to study all they can, to achieve full human maturity even in their sexuality.
[He then quotes the pertinent portions of the Letter.]
The other commentaries resort similarly to quoting chunks from the Pope's letter, As you know, my preference for any text by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI is to post it in full to get its full effect - besides, his thought flow is always as interesting as the substance of the text.
The first MSM Anglophone report predictably focuses almost exclusively on the celibacy and priest abuse issues... and comes to a conclusion that I find incorrect...
Pope takes on celibacy debate
in letter to seminarians
By STACY MEICHTRY
Oct. 18, 2010
ROME — Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday that the Vatican's recent sexual-abuse crisis might prompt aspiring priests to question the Catholic Church's requirement that clergy be celibate,
as he publicly waded for the first time into a debate over whether priestly celibacy is partly to blame for the abuse.
In a letter to seminarians world-wide, the Pontiff defended the church's celibacy prerequisite as a way for priests to attain "an authentic, pure and mature humanity."
Yet as he addressed the sexual-abuse scandal that has shaken the Church over the past year, the Pontiff said abusive priests had "disfigured their ministry by sexually abusing children."
"As a result of all this," he continued, "many people, perhaps even some of you, might ask whether it is good to become a priest — whether the choice of celibacy makes any sense as a truly human way of life."
The comments marked the first time Pope Benedict has directly spoken about the Church's celibacy policy in the context of the sexual-abuse scandals.
[That is not true! He did it in a lengthy and original answer to a priest from Slovenia at the prayer vigil last June on the eve of the conclusion of the Year for Priests!... Reproduced below this article, for convenience.]]
As
thousands of cases [Not thousands - hundreds!] of children sexually abused by priests have been documented in Ireland over the past year — and other cases reported in Belgium and Germany — Catholic officials in Europe have questioned whether priestly celibacy is partly to blame for the abuse. Some say the two are linked because the celibacy requirement limits the pool of candidates for the priesthood by excluding married men.
Sandro Magister, a longtime Vatican watcher who writes for Italy's
L'Espresso magazine, said he couldn't remember Pope Benedict ever mentioning sexual abuse and celibacy in the same breath.
[What's with Magister??? He wrote a piece about the Pope's answer on celibacy at that prayer vigil!
benedettoxviforum.freeforumzone.leonardo.it/discussione.aspx?idd=85272... ]
With the move, the Pope appeared willing to engage in a discussion that previous Popes have considered off-limits, he said.
"It's the first time I've seen [the issues] placed together" by the Pope, Mr. Magister said, adding that he believes Pope Benedict ultimately aims to "reinforce" the Church's celibacy rule by engaging in debate, not to question it.
[And yet, Magister did not say any of this in his own blog commentary today on the Pope's letter!]
Since the sexual-abuse crisis exploded in the U.S. a decade ago and resurfaced in Europe this year, the Pope has toughened Vatican rules on disciplining abusive priests, met with victims, and accepted the resignation of bishops who covered up abuse.
The Vatican, however, has steered clear of any suggestion that the celibacy rule was up for discussion, treating abuse as a separate issue.
[Various Vatican officials, including the present CDF head and the CDF's top prosecutor have cited studies by psychologists saying that there is no statistical association between celibacy and the commission of sex offenses by priests.]
In March, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna called on the church to seriously examine potential causes of sexual abuse, including how the Church trains new priests.
"That includes the issue of celibacy," he wrote in a newsletter. Cardinal Schönborn, a former student of the Pope, later clarified that he wasn't placing a question mark over the celibacy requirement.
The debate was rekindled in September when two bishops in Belgium, which has recently been rocked by hundreds of allegations of clerical sexual abuse, questioned whether married men should be excluded from the priesthood.
Pope Benedict has repeatedly described the celibacy requirement as a "gift" from God.
Here is the Q&A on celibacy from the prayer vigil:
Holy Father, I am Fr. Karol Miklosko, from Europe, Slovakia in particular, and I am a missionary in Russia.... The sacrifice of the Cross shows me the Good Shepherd who gives everything for his flock, for every sheep, and when I say, "This is my Body... This is my Blood" given and spilled in sacrifice for you, then I understand the beauty of celibacy and obedience which I freely promised at the moment of ordination.
Even with its natural difficulties, celibacy seems obvious to me, looking at Christ, but I am bewildered by reading so much worldly criticism for this gift. I ask you humbly, Holy Father, to enlighten us on the profundity and authentic meaning of ecclesiastical celibacy.
Thank you for both parts of your question - the first which shows the permanent and vital foundation of our celibacy; the second, about all the difficulties in which we find ourselves in our time.
The first part is important, namely, that the center of our life should really be the daily celebration of the Holy Eucharist, in which the words of the Consecration are central: "This is my Body... This is my Blood" - when we speak 'in persona Christi'.
Christ allows us to use his "I", we speak of the "I" of Christ, Christ draws us into himself and allows us to unite with him, he unites with us in his 'I". Thus this action, the fact that he 'draws' us into himself so that our "I" is united to his, realizes the permanence and uniqueness of our priesthood - he is truly the only Priest, and yet he is very much present in the world becaus he draws us into himself and thus makes his priestly mission ever present.
This means we are drawn to God in Christ: this union with his "I" is realized in the words of the Consecration. It is also in the words "I absolve you" - because none of us can absolve sins. Only Christ's "I", the "I" of God, can absolve.
This unification of his "I" with us implies that we are also drawn into the reality of the Resurrected One, that we are going forward in the full life of Resurrection about which Jesus speaks to the Sadducees in Matthew, Chapter 22: It is a new life, in which already, we are beyond matrimony (cfr Mt 22,23-32).
It is important that we allow ourselves to be penetrated ever anew by this identification of Christ's "I" with ourselves, of being drawn forth towards the world of the resurrection. In this sense, celibacy is an ancticipation: We transcend our time and go forward, we draw ourselves and our time towards the world of the resurrection, towards the newness of Christ, towards the new and true life.
Celibacy is thus an anticipation made possible by the grace of the Lord who draws us to himself towards the world of the resurrection - he invites us ever anew to transcend ourselves, to transcend the present, towards the 'true present' of the future which becomes present today.
Here we come to a very important point. A great problem of Christianity today is that people no longer think of the future with God - when only the present of this world seems to suffice, when we mean to have only this world, to live only in this world. And so, we close the doors to the true grandeur of existence.
The sense of celibacy as an anticipation of the future serves to open these doors which make the world much greater, which shows the reality of the future which we can live as if it were already present.
To live this way in witness to our faith: truly believing that there is a God, that God has everything to do with my life, that I can base my life on Christ, and therefore on the life of the future.
We know the worldly criticisms you referred to. It is true that for the agnostica, who say God has nothing to do with their world, celibacy is a great scandal - precisely because (it shows that) God is considered and lived as a reality.
In the eschatological [oriented towards the end of time] life of the celibate, the future world of God enters the reality of our time. But this, the critics say, must not be! It must disappear!
In a sense, this continuing criticism of celibacy is surprising in a world where it is becoming more fashionable not to marry! But not marrying is totally and fundamentally different from celibacy, because it is based on the desire to live only for oneself, not to accept any definitive bond, to have a life that is fully autonomous at all times, that can decide freely at every moment what to to do and what to take from life. It is a No to any ties, No to any definitiveness, simply having life for oneself alone.
While celibacy is the exact opposite: It is a definitive Yes, allowing oneself to be taken in hand by God, giving ourselves over to God, to his "I" - therefore, it is an act of faithfulness and trust, an act which is like the faithfulness of matrimony. It is the precise opposite of the No that characterizes the autonomy that refuses to be obliged, which refuses to be bound by any ties.
Celibacy is the definitive Yes that presupposes and confirms the definitive Yes of matrimony - the matrimony that is the Biblical kind, the natural form of matirmony between a man and a woman, the foundation of Christianity's great culture, of the great cultures of the world. If it disappears, then the root of our culture would be destroyed.
Celibacy thus confirms the Yes of matrimony with its Yes to the world of the future. That is why we wish to go forward and keep present this scandal of a faith in which everything rests on the existence of God.
We know that besides this great scandal which the world does not want to see, there are also the secondary scandals of our own insufficiencies, of our sins, which obscure the true and great scandal, and make others think, "But their life is not really based on God!"
But there is much faithfulness to God otherwise! Priestly celibacy, as its critics demonstrate, is a great sign of the faith, of the presence of God in the world.
Let us pray to the Lord that he may keep us free of the secondary scandals in order to make visible the great scandal of our faith - fidelity, the strength of our life, which is based on God and Jesus Christ.]
Obviously, the Holy Father was careful about the language he used: He was not about to 'politicize' the concluding rites of the Year for Priests by an open discussion of the 'sex scandals' - to an audience that, one imagines, came to Rome for the event, representing the majority of priests who heroically do their tasks daily against great odds, without criminal or even venial offenses against their vow of celibacy!
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/10/2010 02:12]