As he approaches his 92nd birthday - First photo we have seen so far of the Emeritus Pope in 2019. Thanks to a regional Swiss newspaper and Beatrice's resourcefulness
It's not unexpected that as he advances in age and infirmity - he turns 92 in April - we shall see less and less of Benedict XVI in photographs with persons he receives privately
at Mater Ecclesiae. God willing, we hope to see him at a public event for the canonization of John Henry Newman, one of his early teachers in the faith.
Benedict XVI meets head of
Swiss 'Aid to Church in Need'
February 7, 2019
A personal audience with the pope is a unique experience. In January 2019, Jan Probst, director of the Swiss branch of Aid to the Church in Need based in Lucerne had this honor [meeting wth emeritus Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican].
Probst said that during their meeting,
it was clear that the Emeritus considers the Church today 'a great family that finds itself in increasingly more difficult straits'. Which is why the former pope thinks it is even more important today for Catholics to live their faith in a consistent manner.
According to Probst, Benedict XVI who, despite his physical infirmities, takes an obvious spiritual interest in the affairs of the world, is astonishingly informed and frank on a huge spectrum of subjects. The situation of persecuted Christians is of special concern to this 91-year-old man, who asks Europe not to forget them.
Thus, he expressed a tribute to the worldwide work of Aid to the Church in Need which, he said, was ‘essential’ to the survival of persecuted Christians in today’s world. He sent his thanks to all who, together with Aid to the Church in Need, work in the interests of all Chritians who are oppressed and suffering.
The Emeritus Pope spent 25 minutes with Probst, who spoke of him as a ‘a man of silent prayer - truly a great sign given to us by God”. Benedict XVI asked Probst not to fail to convey his greetings to the people of
der schoenen Schweiz, ‘beautiful Switzerland'.
As Benedict XVI approaches 92 - just one year younger than Leo XIII was when he died (the oldest pope) - expect his critics to become even more vicious about why it was so 'wrong' for him to step down as pope when he did, implying (or more likely, saying so outright) that he could have 'poped' on, despite his age-related infirmities, and perhaps, the Church would have been spared its current ordeal under his successor.
Six years since he stepped down as pope, there is fresh fodder for the futile debate of whether he really resigned - all of which is really and literally, academic, because whether you believe he did or not does not change the fact that a new pope was elected who has gone on to exercise his power and authority as pope to gut out the Church he was elected to lead. All that is undeniable reality - and the unexpected consequence of Benedict XVI's resignation, for which the Emeritus Pope now bears the onus of responsibility, as far as his critics are concerned.
Lifesite News has a lengthy article on this today:
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/did-benedict-really-resign-gaenswein-burke-and-brandmueller-weigh-in
Did Benedict really resign?
Gänswein, Burke and Brandmüller weigh in
by Diane Montagna
ROME, February 14, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Georg Gänswein has reaffirmed the validity of Benedict’s resignation, insisting that he did resign the Petrine office.
“There is only one legitimately elected and incumbent [gewählten und amtierenden] Pope, and that is Francis,” Benedict’s longtime private secretary said, adding simply: “Amen.”
His definitive affirmation, communicated to LifeSiteNews on Feb. 11, 2019 — the six-year anniversary of Pope Benedict’s abdication — comes at a time when increasing numbers of bishops, canonists, theologians and lay faithful are questioning its juridical validity.
Clergy and laity alike are concerned that Benedict’s remarks about the “forever” of the papacy — and those of Archbishop Gänswein about an “expanded petrine ministry” — indicate that Benedict intended to bifurcate the papacy, as if he intended only to resign the
ministerium (active ministry) of the papacy and not the
munus (office) itself. If this were the case, the argument goes, his resignation would be invalid, for Christ intended for there to be only one successor to Peter, one Vicar of Christ on earth.
[All of this is ABSURD, because
if he did not resign the office, why would he call himself EMERITUS POPE? The whole trouble is that his critics object to his even referring to himself as 'pope' of any kind after he resigned, so they even say he is not entitled to calling himself Emeritus Pope.
Since his renunciation and its circumstances were really sui generis in the history of the Church, he had every right to spell out the conditions for what he would be called and what he would wear, for that matter,
after he was no longer pope. In the USA, standard journalistic practice is refer to public officials and to address them - even dead or long since retired - by the title of the last office they held. Why is that wrong for the first pope to resign of his own will?
This, along with objecting to Benedict still wearing a white papal cassock - even if minus the sash and cape that only the reigning pope can wear - are petty cavils I had not thought intelligent people would even bring up. But even cardinals supposedly close to him have made an issue of this. Why don't they ask themselves:
- Do what he calls himself and what he wears detract in any way from the position and authority of his successor? NOT AT ALL OBVIOUSLY.
- Do what he calls himself and what he wears confuse the Catholic faithful - or the rest of the world, for that matter - in any way? APPARENTLY NOT. Nobody except the cavilling critics had any problem accepting both the title, Emeritus Pope; the address "His Holiness"' nor the garments he wears.]
Presenting these concerns to Archbishop Gänswein, we asked him: “Did Pope Benedict intend to resign the Petrine munus as named in canon law (canon 332.2), or just the public actions that pertain to that munus?”
LifeSite investigated the arguments and claims surrounding this aspect of the debate over the validity of Benedict’s resignation. We then sat down with Cardinals Burke and Brandmüller to hear their views.