Here is an article in praise of Benedict XVI that is rare to find these days... It is far from comprehensive, of course, but it does bring up some quotations from the emeritus Pope that have been key to what he did as Pope but which the collective memory appears to have forgotten, in particular his concept about the role of bishops and the need for them to be decisive, and his lifelong advocacy of the cause of the poor and the little people....
Benedict XVI's legacy
He insisted that all efforts to build up a civilisation
in the absence of a spiritual dimension are doomed to fail
by Klaus Vella Bardon
April 7, 2013
VALLETTA, MALTA - When interviewed by Peter Seewald on August 15, 1996, Joseph Ratzinger said: “The words of the Bible and of the Church Fathers rang in my ears, those sharp condemnations of shepherds who are like mute dogs; in order to avoid conflicts, they let the poison spread.
The Church needs an informed, articulate and well-formed laity.
“Peace is not the first civic duty, and a bishop whose only concern is not to have problems and to gloss over as many conflicts as possible, is an image I find repulsive. I didn’t dodge conflicts because letting things drift is... the worst kind of administration I can imagine.”
On becoming Pope in 2005, as Pope Benedict XVI, always living up to his dictum, Ratzinger did his best to address the scourge of sex-abuse within the ranks of the Catholic clergy and to force the Vatican Bank to subject itself to good banking practice.
His profound sense of self-awareness and soul-searching, coupled with courage and humility, led him to make the dramatic and unexpected decision to resign. Thanks to this unbelievable move, the papacy has captivated worldwide public opinion as never before with the subsequent highly remarkable course of events.
The unforeseen choice of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio has thrilled many of us and confirms for believers their faith in the Holy Spirit.
Before his ascendancy to the papacy, Ratzinger incurred the vilification of the secular media who labelled him ‘God’s Rottweiler’ and the ‘Panzer Cardinal’ due to his role as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known as the Office of the Holy Inquisition.
John Paul II had assigned him this unenviable task in 1982. This post obliged Ratzinger to defend the orthodoxy of the faith and, as can be expected, he did not shirk his responsibilities.
I first came across his writings when I read
Instruction on Christian Freedom and Liberation, published in March 1986, that had followed his controversial
Instruction on Certain Aspects of the Theology of Liberation two years earlier.
Liberation Theology originated in Latin America where crass social injustice traps so many of its people in abject poverty. The Catholic Church there is in the forefront in championing the cause of the downtrodden.
This is reflected in the numerous Catholic martyrs, most notably represented by Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador.
However, there was a grave risk that Liberation Theology would be corrupted by Marxist ideology that pretends that human redemption can only be achieved by an inevitable violent class struggle.
Ratzinger’s ‘instructions’ have been falsely depicted as inimical to Liberation Theology and interpreted as a restraint on those who wanted to respond generously to the ‘preferential option for the poor’.
On the contrary,
these instructions disapproved of an attitude of neutrality and indifference in the face of human misery and injustice. They also insisted that those who take their faith seriously have a duty to become involved in the struggle for justice, freedom, and human dignity out of love for the disinherited, oppressed, and persecuted.
Such documents deserve being revisited and re-read, especially by those who are active in the political and social arenas, as they are a lucid and passionate exposition of our authentic advancement in the face of avoidable inequalities that scar humanity.
On Ratzinger’s ascendancy to the papacy, the world had to reassess the false and derogatory image it had unfairly and dishonestly portrayed. His majestic encyclical
Caritas in Veritate took even his cynical critics by surprise. Pope Benedict, like his predecessors, in the true tradition of our Catholic faith, insisted that all efforts to build up a civilisation in the absence of a spiritual dimension are doomed to fail.
He repeatedly stressed that the Church needs an informed, articulate and well-formed laity that must engage with modern culture and avoid a defeatist and escapist attitude.
This is the legacy of Benedict XVI as expressed in one of his final addresses: “The Catholic Church is convinced that the light for an adequate solution can only come from an encounter with the living Christ, which gives rise to attitudes and ways of acting based on love and truth.”
A post from this time last year...
This is the first tribute I have seen so far in the media for the Pope's double anniversary coming up within the next week. It is complimentary but unfortunately, quite cursory. It reads like something the writer had to to 'whip up' for a deadline much as she would any other news story and it shows because it is quite thin and scant for the vastness of the subject matter, and she has recourse to his most recent statements to fill it up.
Nonetheless, she obviously appreciates the man and his work, and - a rarity in MSM - correctly minimizes the relevance of the daily reporting on the Vatican in the overall context of this Pope's mission and objectives. And for that, I thank and commend her most sincerely. And ANSA, the premier Italian news agency, for running the story. I just hope they will eventually run something substantial to match the subject.
Benedict XVI at 85:
Theologian and reformer, he is resolute in governing the Church
with transparency and vigilant over the legacy of Vatican-II
by Giovanna Chirri
VATICAN CITY, April 12 (Translated from ANSA) - A theologian who, upon becoming Pope, assumed with determination the task of being a reformer.
But who, in his daily governance of the Church, never loses sight of the objective: to return faith in Christ to the center of Church life and to the life of secularized man.
The 85th birthday of Joseph Ratzinger on April 16, quite near the seventh anniversary of his election as Pope on April 19, comes at a time when the German Pope, having reinforced the Church with his firm fight against priestly pedophilia and financial reforms which are starting to bear fruit, is focused on a new and great adventure: a reflection on the Second Vatican Council which will animate the Year of Faith he has decreed from October 2012 to November 2013, in order to usher in a new season for Christianity and the Catholic Church in the world.
That Council which the Lefebvrian traditionalists - to whom Benedict XVI had extended a hand shortly after becoming Pope in an attempt to heal the rupture they caused in 1988 - persist in rejecting. Such that last March, the the Vatican sent them a letter that seemed to be an ultimatum for a definitive answer
[to the formula for reconciliation proposed by the Vatican].
For the 85-year-old Pope - who in recent weeks has been described in some media as frail and perhaps even ready to resign - this is the direction to keep, independent of the often negative reporting about the Church, like Vatileaks and other 'scandals', financial or otherwise, suggested now and again by the media.
Even as the reporting on the Vatican reaches new lows, the Ratzingerian line remains that of transparency - ready, if need be, to order an internal investigation as the Vatican did to investigate charges of corruptiona nd financial wrongdoing made by the former Secretary of the Governatorate, now the apostolic nuncio to the United States.
[Indeed, as we would learn in June 2012, that internal investigation was entrusted by Benedict XVI to a commission of three cardinals to uncover not so much the culprits of Vatileaks, as much as the culture within the Roman Curia - or is it just the Secretariat of State - that allowed Vatileaks to happen at all.]
The intentions and determination of Benedict XVI emerge clearly in his most recent consistory and most recent public discourses. especially during his trip to Latin America and his various homilies during Holy Week.
The 'crisis of the faith',along with the need for a 'joyous' witness to Christianity, animated the cardinals' pre-consistory meeting with the Pope for reflection and prayer last February.
On his apostolic visit to Mexico and Cuba last month, he underscored the theme of religious freedom and the public role of the Church.
Then there were the great discourses during Holy Week, especially on Maundy Thursday, when the Pope called on all priests to be fulltime priests, renouncing so-called 'self-realization' goals in order to fully serve the Church and the faithful by bearing witness to the faith with their own lives. Significantly, he condemned acts of disobedience for the sake of reform, saying that "obedience is the premise for every true renewal".
"Anyone who considers the history of the post-conciliar era," the Pope said at the Chrismal Mass, "can recognize the process of true renewal, which often took unexpected forms in living movements and made almost tangible the inexhaustible vitality of holy Church, the presence and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit" and from which "fresh currents of life burst forth".
During the Easter Vigil, he reflected on modern man who is tempted by the great potential of his own abilities to remain within his own small personal horizon, inviting him to illuminate his life with the light of God.
The Pope's Holy Week reflections summarize the perspectives for the eighth year of his Pontificate beyond the narrow context of petty reporting on the Vatican.
They explain the strength of this 85-year-old who, as a cardinal, was never concerned with participating in palace intrigue nor building a power base, nor even of influencing any groups within the Church and outside it.
As Pope, he has had to deal with counter-offensives from those whose attitudes he never shared, but they have not made him change course - to live Christianity as it is meant to be and to communicate it to others.
Who knows what surprises are forthcoming from the ex-theological consultant to Vatican-II in his revisitation of the Council's legacy in the context of the Year of Faith?
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/04/2013 04:28]