Thanks to Lella and her blog
for this item, which is notable for the quotation from Cardinal Cafarra at the end of the article. I have not succeeded in finding the original source for this quotation. Avanti is the daily newspaper set up in 1896 as the voice of the Italian Socialist Party. It is still associated with the Party but is now autonomous of it and speaks independently.
Ratzinger, the teacher Pope
by FRANCESCO ANTONIO GRANA
Translated from
Sept. 28, 2009
Benedict XVI has his spade well in hand. As a humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord, he knows well that before one can sow the seeds and make them bear fruit, the land must first be tilled. And there are patches, within and outside the Church, whose hardness does not permit prompt sowing.
Nonetheless, Papa Ratzinger is not giving up. With that gentleness that is characteristic of him, he is working incessantly and meticulously so that the terrain, once it is ready for sowing, will be fruitful.
In the fifth year of his Pontificate, Benedict XBI continues to work with alacrity for ecumenical and inter-religious dialog, which is among his priorities.
The historical announcement of a special assembly on the Midddle East of the Bishops' Synod On Oct. 10-24 next year, came after four years of listening and dialog with all the religious leaders of the world.
Above all, it follows his intense journey to the land of Jesus where he called again and again for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, urging that the two-state soultion become reality instead of remaining a dream.
The theme that the Pope has chosen for the Synodal assembly is significant: "The Catholic Church in the Middle East: Communion and testimony", with the Biblical epigram, "Many who became believers were of one heart".
He certainly will not fail to invite contributions from outside the Catholic world, as he did with the Synodal assembly on the Word of God last year, in which the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople gave an unprecedented intervention.
[As did the Chief Rabbi of Haifa, Israel. And Benedict XVI has already invited at least one Muslim, the African director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, to address next year's assembly.]
One may almost be certain that the Pope will visit Vietnam next year - and it now seems possible that Beijing and Moscow cannot be that remote.
The letter that Benedict XVI sent in 1977 to the Catholics in China and the beginning, though still minimal, of dialog with the Beijing government, on the one hand, and increasingly profitable relations with the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate and its new leader, Kirill, on the other hand, are seeming to start bearing fruit, making the idea of a papal trip to Beijing and Moscow less utopic.
Equally important - especially in the light of the controversy over the lifting of the Lefebvrian bishops' excommunication because of Bishop Williamson's foolish statements on the Shoah - is the Pope's coming visit to the Synagogue of Rome which will take place this autumn.
"Benedict XVI," wrote Cardinal Cafarra of Bologna recently, "is the Pope of faith and liturgy. He is a teacher Pope. If the Church canonizes him eventually, he deserves the title of Doctor of the Church, for simply teaching us the faith of the Church".
That faith which needs witnesses and peacemakers and is capable of nothing without charity.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/11/2009 19:00]