'Benedict XVI is doing well'
German author says after
a visit to Mater Ecclesiae
Adapted and translated from the German service of
June 6, 2013
[I had to tweak the report around, because in the original, one does not learn until the fifth paragraph that Lutz visited eB16 with Cardinal Cordes, which is a strange oversight, considering that the purpose of the visit was to present the Pope with a book co-authored by the two!]
German psychiatrist and best-selling author Manfred Lutz recently had an honor that very few persons today will experience: On Tuesday evening, he and German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, emeritus president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, visited Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
They presented him with a new book that they wrote together entitled
Benedikts Vermächtnis und Franziskus` Auftrag. Entweltlichung – Eine Streitschrift [Benedict's legacy and Francis's task: Detachment from the world - a debate].
Lutz says about Benedict: "it was a very warm and familiar atmosphere, just as we had known him earlier, completely quick-witted. Of course, he is older now, and a bit more stooped. But he was
trigger-ready in his answers. There were times when we would recount something to him, and he would reply. 'Yes, you told me that before'. He continues to be humorous in a way that has always been his style. Above all, he did not give the impression that he was in any way depressed". Lutz said the visit lasted half an hour.
[Mr. Lutz is a psychiatrist, so he should know. But I find it really strange that anyone should speak of B16 as if, just because he is no longer Pope, his mental faculties would have changed drastically overnight - from that peak display during his 45-minute extemporaneous lesson on Vatican II three days before he stepped own as Pope! It's only been three months since he retired!]
Asked whether Pope Francis's line on 'detachment from the world' is continuous with that of Benedict XVI, Lutz said: "Benedict himself observed that, saying that the theology of Pope Francis appears to be very much in tune with his own, and will take it even farther [on the question of worldliness]. I found it very important that the theologian Pope has that impression".
Benedict told Cordes and Lutz that he lives like a monk at Mater Ecclesiae. "I pray and I read". He said he did not feel as if he had 'given up' the Petrine ministry, only that he was "carrying it out in a different form".
"He has not separated himself from Petrine service but he lives it in prayer. I found that a very striking expression. He did say that he prays and he reads. He did not say he has been writing".
After the General Audience on Wednesday, Cordes and Lutz also presented a copy of their book to Pope Francis.
Angela Ambrogetti had a slightly different presentation of the above but she based hers on an interview given by Lutz to the German tabloid BILD. Here is a translation of the BILD article:
Benedict XVI on his life as a hermit:
'I feel fine, I live like a monk'
German author Manfred Lutz belies rumors
about the emeritus Pope's state of health
The photo is from Benedict XVI's last General Audience on February 27, 2013.
by Vatican Correspondent ALBERT LINZ
Translated from BILD
June e5, 2013
Finally we can dispose of the most dubious 'diagnoses from afar' of the state of Benedict XVI's health!
For weeks, rumors have been floating about in the Vatican and in newsrooms around the world that Benedict XVI, in his retirement home at the Vatican's Mater Eccclesiae monastery, can hardly take food anymore.
There had been earlier talk, of course, that he was suffering from some terminal illness, even if Vatican spokesman Fr. Lombardi has repeatedly said there is no truth to such speculation, and that the emeritus Pope has nothing more than "the afflictions of old age that are normal for any 86-year-old".
Benedict XVI himself had said on announcing his renunciation of the Papacy that the reason for his decision was his 'diminishing strength'.
Benedict XVI has now received a visit from a couple of old friends at his retirement home: bestselling author Manfred Lutz and former Curial Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes who have written an attention-getting book over necessary reforms in the Church in Germany.
Lutz's impression after a half-hour visit with Benedict XVI: "He was quick on the draw, witty, very involved and good-humored as he has always been".
He appears to have settled quite well into his retirement, which he has described as 'a humble service to the Church': "I live like a monk. I pray and I read. I feel fine", the emeritus Pope told his visitors.
Lutz, who studied medicine and theology, has known Joseph Ratzinger for more than 30 years, since he was a university student in Rome and lived in the Vatican. For a time, he lived under the same roof with then Cardinal Ratzinger.
[Probably during the months the cardinal lived in a German priests' residence in Rome after his sister's death.]
Lutz said he did not sense - 'not in the least' - any disturbance in Benedict XVI about the enthusiasm of the faithful for his successor and his decisive personal 'style'.
"Benedict XVI has retained all his serenity and Christian cheeerfulness which arise from being secure in his faith -even if he is physically less strong and more stooped than he was than at our last meeting".
The Cordes-Lutz book is based on Benedict XVI's admonition to the Catholics of Germany against 'worldliness' in the now-famous 'Freiburg address' during his last visit in 2011
Asked about the striking frequency with which Francis speaks about the "Church of the poor", Benedict said his impression was that "Theologically, we are entirely in tune".
He was, of course, especially interested in the Cordes-Lutz book which takes up his Freiburg admonition that the Church in Germany should renounce power and influence in order to concentrate on its essential tasks.
The authors say that the Church in Germany must stop employing too many people who do not even identify with the Church, and that
Catholic schools, hospitals, homeless centers and child care centers must be run by convinced and convincing Christians.
Their conclusion: Instead of just the paid staff of social organizat6ions, all German Christians should be encouraged to be more directly involved in helping others in need, to help and to serve them, because charity cannot be delegated.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 07/06/2013 03:09]