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BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

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See preceding page for earlier posts on 11/29/2010.




I had been waiting for this article... How very gratifying to find someone who is so attuned to Benedict XVI that she is able to present him in a way that is illuminating even to Benaddicts, and, I believe, eye-opening for many who know little of the Pope or have the wrong ideas about him. What a pleasure to read this!


Pope Benedict, the enigma
By Amy Welborn

Nov. 28, 2010


Forbes recently named Pope Benedict XVI the fifth-most-powerful person in the world, right between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and well ahead of any other religious leaders — Iran's top ayatollah (26th) and the dalai lama (39th).

An 83-year-old man, the out-of-touch figurehead of a dying mythological system, is the fifth-most powerful person in the world? How can this be?

The Forbes ranking is certainly subjective, but still revealing. The Top Five finish hints at an understanding of the continuing importance of Catholicism on the world stage and even in the U.S., where almost a quarter of the population — around 69 million people — claim a Catholic identity.

Revealing, too, was the explosion of headlines about and analysis of two sentences — about condoms, no less — uttered by this same 83-year-old man. To garner that sort of worldwide attention without even trying? That's power.

A man out of the box

The remarks were from Light of the World, Pope Benedict's new book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald. The fruit of a week of interviews — their third such book together, but the first since Benedict's election — recorded over the summer at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo outside Rome, this is simply not the kind of thing that Popes do. In fact, no Pope has ever participated in such a conversation before.

The questions cover the high — and low — points of Benedict's papacy: his reaction to being elected Pope, his assessment of the abuse crisis, his reasons for lifting the ex-communication of bishop-leaders of the SSPX (a movement that opposed the changes of the Second Vatican Council), and the explosive reaction to his remarks about Islam at the University of Regensburg. He answers every question, jokes, expresses a few regrets on some matters and stands firm on still more.

One would think that a book full of questions and answers would clarify who a person is. For some it certainly will, but others might find themselves even more perplexed as the responses to the condom remarks from both left and right inside and outside the Church clearly show. Benedict keeps jumping out of the box. A few thoughts to ponder:

•How are we to understand the Pope's mind when he both consistently describes the Catholic Church in the most elevated terms — where Christ dwells and all people are invited to find their fulfillment — but also doesn't hesitate to name and condemn the "filth" within that same church?

•Benedict highlights the destructive nature of modern notions of progress and scientific thinking, but then he insists that it's vital to bring "reason" back into public conversations about human life and faith. How to reconcile the two?

•How about his assertion that the Church is strong because it develops "new ways" of being in the world? How does that match up with his confident explanation that a male-only priesthood is God's will, or his order freeing up celebration of the Mass as it was said before Vatican II?

•What of his affirmation that the Catholic teaching against contraception is "correct," his insistence that "sexuality has an intrinsic meaning and direction, which is not homosexual" alongside his now-infamous suggestion that if an HIV-positive male prostitute uses a condom, it might, in that very particular context, be viewed as a "first assumption of responsibility, on the way to recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed."

How does all of this work together?

There is, it seems, something for everyone in this exhaustive interview — something to annoy everyone on every side of these issues, that is as recent events clearly showed.

The truth is, though, that for anyone who has been following Benedict and read any of his numerous works over many years, none of this is shocking or a surprise, and it's all quite consistent.

It only puzzles us when we insist on filtering the Pope's words through our own expectations and ideologies, our own understanding of what religion and rationality and morality must be all about. We're not starting from the same page, which might explain much of the invective directed at the Pope by a curious, but often oblivious, press.

The thing is, he really believes the stuff. Really. He believes that God exists and we exist because God loves us. We're free to love him back, or not. So the basic job of the Church is to be Christ in the world, inviting human beings to find love and truth. To find themselves. As Benedict puts it in Light of the World, the church "communicates the light of Christ."


The Pope you don't hear about

Now what confuses and even angers some Catholics is that along with this high sense of Church is the acceptance of the reality — very clear throughout this interview — that human beings interact with the Church at different levels of commitment.

Some go to Mass every day, and others once a year. Some are saints, while others are barely hanging on. There certainly have been through history various ways to articulate God's call to humanity, some more forceful and dire, but that is not Pope Benedict's language.

The way he has always expressed it is that it's not the Church's role to force an individual to come closer, but rather to constantly invite. Not to impose, but to "propose" — one of Pope Benedict's favorite turns of phrase.

So in essence, he's saying some will agree, some won't. But what of "everyone else?" Contrary to popular impressions and maybe even the hopes of some Catholics, Pope Benedict doesn't see it as his job to issue blanket condemnations of that "everyone else."

"We are sinners," he says. "We should try to do as much good as we can and to support and put up with each other."

That doesn't sound like "God's Rottweiler," a nickname Benedict earned as a cardinal. Nor does it sound like the words of a man too often condemned as intolerant, rigid and stuck in past centuries.

In short, Pope Benedict is saying: It's not my job to either change the teaching or declare you eternally condemned for your failures in living it. That's God's job. And I'm not God.

This pleases hardly anyone, of course. It doesn't fit with our favored ideologies or our scripts of what it means to be liberal or conservative or even religious.

But to an 83-year-old man convinced of the gift of God's love and truth and who says to his interviewer that when he prays, he really does no more than come as a "simple beggar before God," it does.

You might even call it ... powerful.


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Schuelerkreis will discuss
'new evangelization' in 2011




VATICAN CITY, Nov. 28 (Translated from ASCA) - The ex-students of Prof. Joseph Ratzinger, the so-called Schuelerkreis, who have been meeting every summer since 2005 in Castel Gandolfo, to discuss a theological subject with the Pope, will address 'new evangelization' in 2011.

Papa Ratzinger recently instituted the Pontifical Council for New Evangelization headed by Mons. Rino Fisichella, and in the interview-book Light of the World, he underscores several times the need for a rediscovery of Christian roots in the lands that had been evangelized early but are now secularized, as in Europe.

Fr. Stephan Horn, president of the Schuelerkreis, said at the presentation of the new Fondazione Vaticana Joseph Ratzinger - Benedetto XVI, said that one of the resource persons to address the Schuelerkreis seminar would be a female theologian from East Germany who would speak about the situation in an area that has been profoundly secularized.

The topic for each year's seminar is chosen by the Pope himself from a short list suggested by his ex-students.

30/11/2010 12:51
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Media barriers to truth
An interview by Kathryn Jean Lopez

November 29, 2010

So what exactly did the Pope say in his new book and what does the Catholic Church say about condom use? Father Thomas D. Williams is a Michigan-born Catholic priest, professor at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome [the university run by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi], and author of Knowing Right from Wrong: A Christian Guide to Conscience, Greater Than You Think, and A Heart Like His, among other books. He took some questions about the current papal media frenzy about condoms.

We’ve read in the New York Times that the Pope is sowing confusion on condoms in the new book-length interview with him, Light of the World. What’s the Pope thinking going around confusing people?
The fact is that people, including Catholics and even many priests, are already confused about the Church’s teaching on contraception and natural family planning. They know that the Church opposes contraception [artificial contraception, it must be made clear!] but they don’t know why.

The Pope’s remarks didn’t cause this confusion but they did bring it to the fore. All this attention on the possibility of using condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa actually provides us with a singular “teaching moment.”

People are asking important questions: Why is the Church opposed to [artificial] contraception? What about the use of condoms in homosexual relationships? How about condoms in the case of prostitutes? Unmarried couples? These issues are usually taboo, and now is a great time to discuss them.

So what did he actually say?
Very simply, Pope Benedict, after making it clear that AIDS cannot be defeated just by distributing condoms, noted that the use of condoms in certain cases (he specifically mentioned the case of prostitutes) may constitute “a first step in the direction of a moralization” or “a first assumption of responsibility.”

In other words, while using a condom doesn’t make sex with a prostitute a morally good act, it can represent a better option than the same act without a condom.

Now does that mean that the media got it right? That this is an exception to the Church’s ban on contraception?
Not at all. Some people are saying that the Church considers contraception to be morally evil, but in cases where human life is at stake, it could be a lesser evil. In other words, protection from disease trumps the moral prohibition of contraception. This is incorrect.

Catholic morality never accepts that evil may be done to attain a good end. The end does not justify the means. The Pope’s statement actually underscores a totally different point. Contraception doesn’t add moral evil to sex with a prostitute. If anything, it lessens that evil.

What many fail to realize is that the Church’s opposition to contraception refers specifically to sex between husbands and wives. In his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI placed his condemnation of contraception in the context of married couples, and never intended it to be applied to every conceivable sexual act.

Contraception is wrong because it violates the integrity of marital intercourse by intentionally frustrating the procreative meaning of the act. Marital intercourse has both a unitive and procreative dimension, both of which are essential to the wholeness of the act.

Let’s take an extreme case: that of rape. Would the use of a condom by a rapist add a moral evil to his already heinous act? It is, after all, a sexual act. By no means. There is nothing about the act of rape that merits respect of a supposed “unitive” and “procreative” meaning of the act. These are entirely missing, though the act is undoubtedly sexual.

In the case of rape, or sex with a prostitute, there simply is no procreative meaning to the act. There is no sacredness to be respected, no reason to uphold the “integrity” of the act. Sex with a prostitute has no unitive or procreative meaning, since it is a banal act of sexual commerce.

If we understand clearly why the Church opposes contraception in the case of married couples, it is easier to understand why sex with a prostitute is a different animal altogether and the use of a contraceptive adds no moral evil to an already disordered act.

What about the case of the many unmarried couples that use contraception?
There is no official Church teaching on this case and the jury is still out. Orthodox moral theologians debate this issue, since it isn’t clear.

An act of fornication (the technical term for sex between two unmarried people) is evil in itself. Does contraception add a further evil to this act? The Church hasn’t ruled one way or the other. Even if the Church were to determine that contraception does not add an evil to fornication, since the act is already sinful and a corruption of God’s intention for sexual relations, she still wouldn’t go around trumpeting this, for a number of other good, pastoral reasons.

For one, if a young couple planning to get married engages in sexual activity and practices contraception, though this latter fact may add no more sinfulness to their activity, it still accustoms them to disassociating sexual intercourse from its procreative meaning, and this will make it much harder for them to understand the full meaning of their sexual activity once they are married.

Why the male prostitute example? Was that bad PR? Someone should have known that could turn into the story from the book.
Pope Benedict has always been remarkably candid and never beats around a bush. I think that this comes from his fundamental attitude toward the truth: something to be embraced, never feared.

I don’t think he spends an awful lot of time considering all the possible consequences of his statements. He answers honestly, and lets the chips fall where they will.

Did Benedict realize that his answers would produce this kind of fallout? Perhaps. Perhaps he was willing to accept this, and perhaps he welcomed it as a chance to bear witness to a truth that people often ignore.

You’ve written a book on conscience. Is there a lesson about just that in what the Pope has to say?
The Pope cares deeply about right and wrong. He welcomes any opportunity to bear witness to the truth and to stir up debate about important issues. He understands that as successor to St. Peter, this is part of his mission.

He believes firmly that the Church’s teaching about morality and ,yes, this includes contraception, is a truth that doesn’t shackle human beings but liberates them. God’s law is ultimately a blueprint for the thoroughly good, fulfilling life we are all created for.

Still, is this some kind of first step in the Church changing its position on condoms in some kind of dramatic way? Can it? Even a friendly commentator in the Washington Post called what the Pope said a “trial balloon.”
I think from what we have already said it is clear that the Church is not reconsidering her stance on the evil of contraception. Moreover, the Popes have made it clear that the matter isn’t up for discussion.

Rather, the current debate allows the Church to clarify why she is opposed to the use of contraception in marriage, and why, in cases such as prostitution, it is a moot point.
Since most Catholics don’t understand why contraception is wrong on the first place, this whole debate will furnish an especially helpful opportunity for moral education on a broad scale.

By getting so out of sorts about condoms, is the media missing out on the Pope’s message?
Undoubtedly. The Pope himself said as much in his recent book. Condoms will never be the answer to preventing HIV-AIDS in Africa (or anywhere else), and those countries that have relied most on condoms to stem their aids epidemics have suffered a much higher rate of new cases of aids that countries that have adopted a more thoroughgoing approach to the problem.

Is the “abstinence, be faithful, condoms” approach to AIDS in Africa — which the Bush administration supported – evil?
No, it is not evil. Since the Church is opposed to contraception because she is convinced that it doesn’t help people to live satisfying, moral lives, she will always be uncomfortable with any program that involves this measure.

At the same time, the Church is also realistic, and sometimes accepts less-than-perfect measures if they represent a better option than other programs currently in place.

Since it aims primarily at changing people’s sexual behavior, A-B-C is both a more effective — and a more moral — approach to combatting the scourge of AIDS than programs that rely heavily or exclusively on distributing condoms.

As a member of the Legionaries of Christ, was there anything in particular you were looking for in what he had to say about scandals in the Church?
I found Pope Benedict’s words about the Legionaries immensely consoling. He expressed sentiments that many of us Legionaries share. He said that our founder “remains a mysterious figure. There is, on the one hand, a life that, as we now know, was out of moral bounds — an adventurous, wasted, twisted life. On the other hand, we see the dynamism and the strength with which he built up the congregation of Legionaries.”

He added that, “corrections must be made, but by and large the congregation is sound.” For those of us who have given our lives to the Church within this congregation, such words provide great hope and comfort.

What’s the damage done by this misreporting? How can it be turned around?
Honestly, in my mind the greatest damage done is by Catholics, and even moral theologians, who misrepresent the Church’s position on contraception, and thereby stoke the confusion that already exists.

On the other hand, it also provides the Church with a beautiful opportunity to catechize the faithful regarding sexual ethics. [Only if those who catechize know what they're saying, and are saying the right things! One can't be very hopeful of that, since overall, they have not managed to do it properly since Humanae vitae. And that is why Benedict XVI refers to Catholics who uphold HV as 'minorities'.]

Catholics must realize that far from something to be ashamed of, the Church’s moral teaching on human sexuality is a precious gift for all mankind, and offers an effective antidote against the dehumanizing view of sex that reigns in much of our contemporary world. {Which was the point of the Pope's remarks on condom use in the book.]




THE FSSPX REACTION


The FSSPX yesterday published online two opinions regarding the Pope's statements on condoms. The first one, unsigned, dated Nov. 26 from Menzingen, the FSSPX headquarters, and released in four language versions incuding English, says at the outset:

In a book-length interview entitled Light of the World, which was released in German, Italian and English on November 23, 2010, Benedict XVI admits, for the first time, the use of condoms “in certain cases” “to reduce the risks of infection” by the AIDS virus. These erroneous remarks require clarification and correction, for their disastrous effects — which a media campaign has not failed to exploit — cause scandal and disarray among the faithful.

...and proceeds to cite chapter and verse of what previous Popes have said about contraception, asserting that while Benedict XVI said in the book that the Church "does not regard condoms as a real or moral solution", the Pope "cites an exceptional situation, and he does not recall that the Church is always fundamentally opposed to condom use". [That's splitting hairs! Isn't that the same as 'does not regard iit as a real or moral solution'? The article does recognize that the Pope was not speaking magisterially in the book.]

The other opinion is found in a full-blown book review signed by Abbe Matthias Gaudron, rector of the FSSPX seminary in Zaitkofen near Regensburg, and one of the FSSPX theologians taking part in the doctrinal discussions on Vatican II with Vatican theologians. In his book review, Gaudron first deals with the condom statements:

In fact, the Pope simply said that one can see in the use of a condom by a prostitute to prevent the transmission of AIDS a first step towards his own moralization and assumption of responsibility.

But he says further:

To be polite, the statement is weak. That sexuality cannot be lived in conformity with the will of God and worthy of human dignity other than within marriage, and that in marriage, the condom or any other means of artificial contraception must be rejected morally, is clearly not denied by the Pope, but neither does he state it clearly, which is very necessary in our day.

Because of this, and in his desire to go as far as he can to confront the secularized world without offending anyone, he shares with the media a certain responsibility for the confusion and the disappointment that his statements have provoked these days among the faithful
.


Both FSSPX statements contribute with facts to the discussion, even if one may not agres with all or some of the conclusions drawn. I have posted the first one, restricted to the condom issue, in the ISSUES thread. After I translate Abbe Gaudron's full book review, I will post it on this thread.

BTW, the FSSPX reaction, even the more hardline one, is not as vehement as some of the outraged (and outrageous) more-Popish-than-the-Pope commentary that has been written by 'normal' convservative Catholics. It's a hopeful sign for the ongoing doctrinal discussions.

The 'hardliners' would do well to read Amy Welborn's USA Today commentary, in which she condenses what the Holy Father's attitude is about proposing and instilling the faith: 'It's not my job to either change the teaching or declare you eternally condemned for your failures in living it. That's God's job. And I'm not God.'

In the book, he says:

The Church is not here to place burdens on the shoulders of mankind, and she does not offer some sort of moral system. The really crucial thing is that the Church offers Him (Christ). That she opens wide the doors to God and so gives people what they are most waiting for and what can most help them.

It is analogous and consistent with what he wrote in JESUS OF NAZARETH:

But what has Jesus really brought, then, if he has not brought world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? What has he brought? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God!

As he says, early in LOTW, when talking about what a Pope can actually do: "Only the Lord himself has the power to keep people in the faith."

He often says, as he does in a variety of ways in this new book, that when you start with God, then everything else follows. But you have to start with God. And that is and has been the consistent message of his Pontificate.




When I posted Russell Shaw's book review of LOTW last Saturday (see preceding page) - which is supposed to be in the 12/5/10 print issue of Our Sunday Visitor, I was not aware he had written an earlier commentary in the OSV daily post, which I am posting here for the record. And you can't say it's dated' by now, because any review of online headlines concerning the Pope and the Church still has more than half proclaiming 'Pope confirms his approval of condom use', though some now add 'against disease'...

Once again, Vatican flubbed
its media relations

By Russell Shaw

Nov. 26, 2010

The first and perhaps most important thing to say about Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on the subject of condoms and AIDS is that they in no way change the Church’s teaching that contraception is wrong. If the Pope’s comments were a “game changer,” as Jesuit Father James Martin of America magazine says, this wasn’t the game.

Nor did Pope Benedict depart from his previously stated position — the position of the Church — that abstinence is the morally correct course of action for someone infected with HIV. Sexual abstinence may not be popular today, but morality is about what’s right, not what’s popular.

So what did the Pope say about these matters that was new in his book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald, published in English as "Light of the World" (Ignatius Press)? Just this.

If someone infected with HIV nevertheless persists in sexual activity despite its wrongness, at least it should be in a way that involves the least potential harm to the other party — by using a condom, that is. This is a minimal step in the direction of responsibility. It was here that Pope Benedict offered his now-famous example of a male prostitute.

I don’t mean to dismiss the newness of this papal statement. It will be discussed for a long time to come. But to call it a “seismic shift” in Church teaching, as an AP story did, was over the edge. What the Church has long taught remains fully intact.

Contrary to some of the commentary, Pope Benedict was not advocating the choice of the “lesser evil.” Evil, whether lesser or greater, may never be chosen.

If it’s necessary to lift a phrase out of the moral theology manuals, try “double effect.” In a double effect situation, the same action produces two results, one good and one bad, and in certain circumstances it can be allowable to perform the action for the sake of the good, though never the bad. Condom use to prevent HIV transmission could be something like that.

The Pope’s remarks do not apply to the situation of a married couple who believe that pregnancy would threaten the woman’s life. Preventing conception (something good in itself) and preventing the transmission of a deadly disease (something bad in itself) are radically different in a moral perspective. The only right — and responsible — course of action for a couple like this is abstinence.
[Hurray for another 'orthodox realist'!]

A lot of people have blamed the media for the confusion that has surrounded this incident. In some instances, the media did indeed blow it, but that was hardly their fault.

Seewald’s book carried a Nov. 23 embargo. On Nov. 20, L’Osservatore Romano published excerpts — reportedly with 'authorization' from the Vatican publishing house — and thereby broke the embargo. This in turn led to an eminently predictable media frenzy.

As far as I can tell, moreover, the Vatican had no plan in place to provide journalists with an authoritative background briefing by experts in order supply explanation and interpretation of what the pope had said.

Instead, the director of the press office issued a statement and then went ahead with a previously scheduled Nov. 23 news conference to plug the book. The result of that was to keep the story alive and give some newcomers a well publicized opportunity to get their oars in and add to the confusion that already existed.

In sum, nothing fundamental has changed. Pope Benedict shed some new light on a relatively new question. The Vatican flubbed its media relations one more time. That’s about all.


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Tuesday, November 30, First Week of Advent

ST. ANDREW, Apostle and Martyr
Benedict XVI's catechesis on June 14, 2006, was dedicated to St. Andrew:
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20060614...
Called the 'Protoklitos' (first-called) in Greek because he and his brother Simon Peter were the first disciples to follow Jesus, he is considered to have established the See of Byzantium in AD 38, which later became the Patriarchate of Constantinople, of which he is the patron saint. After Pentecost, he is said to have preached in Asia Minor, parts of present-day Ukraine and Russia, and Greece where he was martyred in Patras by crucifixion on an X-shaped cross, now called St. Andrew's Cross (it appears in the flags of Scotland and the United Kingdom). He is a patron saint of Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Scotland, and Sicily.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/113010.shtml



OR today.

At the Sunday Angelus, Benedict XVI speaks about Advent:
'Mankind is in waiting'
At the First Vespers on Saturday, he asked that unborn life be welcomed and respected
The other papal news in this issue is the Pope's address to Philippine bishops on ad limina visit. Other Page 1 news: A UN follow-through conference on climate change opens in Cancun; North Korea aims missiles at the Yellow Sea area where the US and South Korea are holding war games. And a long article on the archives of Vienna's late Cardinal Franz Koenig who collected some 2,000 accounts of persecutions undergone by Christians under the Communist regimes of Eastern Europe.


No events announced for the Holy Father today.


The Vatican released various papal texts:

- The Holy Father's eulogy for Manuela Camagni, read by his secretary, Mons. Gaenswein, at the funeral Mass
yesterday for the late Memores Domini member of the papal household, in her hometown of San Piero in Bagno.

- The Pope's message to His Holiness Bartholomew I of Constantinople, on the Feast Day of St. Andrew today.
The message, written in English, was delivered personally by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting Christian Unity, who heads the Vatican delegation to the feast day observance in Istanbul.

- Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone's homily today at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan,
where he is making a four-day official visit, on the occasion of which he delivered a relic of St. Andrew from
the saint's remains venerated in Amalfi, as a gift from Benedict XVI to the Orthodox Church in Kazakhstan.




La Stampa's Vaticanista Marco Tosatti, commenting on the Wikileaks revelation that the US State Department had discounted Joseph Ratzinger as the possible successor to John Paul II, 'confesses' wrily in his blog that he was the 'Deep Throat' who pushed the name of Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos as one of two leading papabile in a April 16,2005, article. And that 'a major Roman newspaper' [he means La Repubblica] had pushed the candidacy of Milan Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi ['and it turns out he got very few votes even on the first ballot']. While it was his colleague Luigi Accattoli, then writing for Corriere della Sera, who advanced the hypothesis that Cardinal Ratzinger would get a lot of votes on the first ballot but would subsequently lose support, as Accattoli also recounts in his own blog. Tosatti's final line: 'If I were a US taxpayer, I would worry how my tax dollars are being spent if this were the level of 'inside' information that my government has'.

Probably the only humor that can be derived from the disastrous, maliciously massive and massively malicious dump of confidential US government documents by hackers untroubled by any scruple.

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The Holy Father's tender affection for 'la mia Manuela' has been a very touching demonstration of his warm humanity, shown yet again in this very personal eulogy that he sent his secretary to deliver at her funeral Mass yesterday afternoon in San Piero in Bagno. Here is a translation:

The Pope's eulogy for Manuela
Translated from

Nov. 30, 2010


Left, the Holy Father at the wake for Manuela on Friday at the Vatican church of Santo Stefano degli Abissini; right, a photograph from Avvenire of yesterday's funeral Mass. Below, Mons. Gaenswein reads the Pope's eulogy. Photos from Romagna Noi, thanks to Beatrice who found the site through a friend.



Dear brothers and sisters,

I would gladly have presided at the final rites of our dear Manuela Camagni, but, as you can imagine, it is not possible for me. Nonetheless, communion in Christ allows us Christians a real spiritual closeness, in which we share prayers and affection for her soul.

In this profound bond, I greet you all, especially the family of Manuela, the diocesan bishop, the priests, the Memores Domini, and her friends.

I wish to offer here very briefly my own testimonial about our sister, who has left us for heaven. Many of us have known Manuela for a long time. I have been able to benefit from her presence and her service in the pontifical apartment these last five years, in a familial dimension.

For this, I wish to thank the Lord for the gift of Manuela's life, for her faith, for her generous response to vocation. Divine Providence led her to discreet but valuable service in the Pope's home.

She was happy for this, and participated joyfully in our family moments: at the Holy Mass in the morning, at Vespers, at the meals we had in common, and the many different occasions we celebrated within the family.

This separation from her, which is so unexpected, and even the way she was taken from us, has given us great sorrow that only faith can comfort. I find much support in thinking of the words that constitute the name of her community: Memores Domine.

Meditating on these words and their meaning, I find a sense of peace because they remind us of a profound relationship that is stronger than death.

Memores Domini means "those who remember the Lord", therefore, persons who live in remembrance of God and Jesus, and in this daily remembrance, full of faith and love, they find the sense of every thing, of small acts as well as major decisions, of work, of study, of brotherhood.

Remembrance of the Lord fills the heart with a profound joy, as an ancient hymn of the Church says: "Jesu dulcis memoria, dans vera cordis gaudia" [Jesus, sweet memory, who gives true joy to the heart).

And that is why it gives me peace to think that Manuela was a Memores Domini, a person who lived in the remembrance of the Lord. This relationship with him is more profound than the abyss of death. It is a bond that nothing and no one can break, as St. Paul says: "(Nothing) will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8,39).

Yes, if we remember the Lord, it is because He first remembers us. We are memores Domini because he is Memor nostri, he remembers us with the love of a parent, a brother, a friend, even at the moment of death.

Although at times it may seem that he is absent, that he has forgotten us, in fact we are always present in him - we are in his heart. Wherever we may fall, we fall into his hands. And precisely there, where no one can accompany us, God awaits us - our Life.

Dear brothers and sisters, in this faith that is full of hope, which is the faith of Mary at the foot of the Cross, I celebrated a Holy Mass for Manuela on the morning of her death. Even as I accompany with prayer the Christian rite of her burial, I impart my blessing affectionately to her family, her sisters in the community, and to all of you
.




I owe Benevolens at the PRF for the photo on the left, which she shot in Castel Gandolfo last Assumption Day. The other photo is from Romagna Noi.

'Mietek' came from the Ukraine
to concelebrate the funeral Mass

by Francesco Zanotti
Translated from

Nov. 30, 2010

Another proof of the special bond that unites the papal family is that Archbishop 'Mietek' came from the Ukraine to concelebrate Manuela's funeral Mass, as the Avvenire correspondent recounts in his report. He fails to mention that 'Mietek' was a part of that household until the Pope named him coadjutor archbishop of Lviv, since when he has become the Archbishop himself. I will omit the first part of the Avvenire report which quotes from the Pope's eulogy:


FORLI-CESENA - ...After Mons. Gaenswein read the Pope's words, Mons. Antonio Lanfranchi, Archbishop of Modena- Nonantola and apostolic administrator of the diocese of Cesena-Sarsina, recalled Manuela's biography.

Mons. Lanfranchi presided at the Eucharistic celebration with three concelebrants: Lino Garavaglia, emeritus Bishop of Cesena-Sarcina; Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins in the Ukraine; and Archbishop Luciano Suriani, Pontifical Delegate.

Also present, besides Manuela's three Memores Domini sisters in the papal household (Cristina, Loredana and Carmela), were 30 priests led by the parish priest Don Rudy Tonelli, and don Julian Carron, president of Comunione e Liberazione, of which Memores Domini is the lay arm for men and women.

Carron, in his eulogy, also cited St. Paul from the Letter to the Romans, who said "no one lives for himself nor dies for himself." He said St. Paul helps us to find a meaning in every death.

"She radiated life," he said of Manuela, "and this is the memory we will keep of her. It was her image of her vocation. If we live for the Lord, he brings us a joy that surpasses our imagination, and this we saw in Manuela".

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The Holy Father's message
to Patriarch Bartholomew
on the Feast of St. Andrew








To His Holiness Bartholomaios I
Archbishop of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch

It is with great joy that I write this letter to you, to be delivered by my Venerable Brother Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, on the occasion of the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, brother of Saint Peter and Patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, in order to wish Your Holiness and the Members of the Holy Synod, the clergy, the monks and all the faithful an abundance of heavenly gifts and divine blessings.

On this joyful feast-day, in union with all my Catholic brothers and sisters, I join you in giving thanks to God for the wonders he has worked, in his infinite mercy, through the mission and martyrdom of Saint Andrew.

By generously offering their lives in sacrifice for the Lord and for their brethren, the Apostles proved the credibility of the Good News that they proclaimed to the ends of the known world.

The Feast of the Apostle, which falls on this day in the liturgical calendars of both East and West, issues a strong summons to all those who by God’s grace and through the gift of Baptism have accepted that message of salvation to renew their fidelity to the Apostolic teaching and to become tireless heralds of faith in Christ through their words and the witness of their lives.

In modern times, this summons is as urgent as ever and it applies to all Christians. In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity, we are called to proclaim with renewed conviction the truth of the Gospel and to present the Risen Lord as the answer to the deepest questions and spiritual aspirations of the men and women of our day.

If we are to succeed in this great task, we need to continue our progress along the path towards full communion, demonstrating that we have already united our efforts for a common witness to the Gospel before the people of our day.

For this reason I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Your Holiness and to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the generous hospitality offered last October on the island of Rhodes to the Delegates of the Catholic Episcopal Conferences of Europe who came together with representatives of the Orthodox Churches in Europe for the Second Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme "Church-State Relations: Theological and Historical Perspectives".

Your Holiness, I am following attentively your wise efforts for the good of Orthodoxy and for the promotion of Christian values in many international contexts. Assuring you of a remembrance in my prayers on this Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle, I renew my good wishes for peace, well-being and abundant spiritual blessings to you and to all the faithful.

With sentiments of esteem and spiritual closeness, I gladly extend to you a fraternal embrace in the name of our one Lord Jesus Christ.

From the Vatican, 30 November 2010






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Jewish sources regarding Pius XII
confirm Benedict XVI's judgment

Translated from the Italian service of


30 NOV 2010 (RV) - The most recent historical evidence brought to light confirm the positions expressed by Benedict XV in Light of the World about Pius XII and his support for persecuted Jews in World War II.

The Pope points out in the book that it is important to overcome ideological conjectures about what Pius XII could have done more.

"The decisive thing is what he did and what he tried to do, and on that score, we really must acknowledge, I believe, that he was one of the great righteous men, and that he saved more Jews than anyone else".

In his conversations with Peter Seewald, the Pope points out that he ordered 'an inspection of the unpublished archival records', and that "it was possible to reconfirm our original impression, to see that the records confirm the positive things we know but not the negative things that are alleged".

Last November 17, the Pope received from the founder of the Pave the Way Foundation, Gary Krupp, an American Jew, records showing new historical confirmation of the Church position about Papa Pacelli and the Jews.

Krupp said at the time that "The book [Pius XII and the Second World War: the Documented Truth] and documents we presented to the Pope resulted from efforts by the Foundation to publicly post on the site www.ptwf.org original documents and eyewitness accounts about Pius XII's wartime activities in aid of the Jews to encourage the international community of historians to study them."
www.ptwf.org/projects/education/PPXII%20Document%20Pag...

It is hoped, he said, "that by making these materials available on the Web, the controversy that has clouded the pontificate of Pius XII for almost half a century may finally be resolved".

So far, he says, the Foundation has posted "more than 40,000 pages of documents, articles, interviews and eyewitness accounts, much of it original material, on that historical period".

The new book on Pius XII's record has just been published in Hebrew. The material presented, which is easy reading, allows the reader to come to his own conclusions.

It is the first book in Hebrew on Pius XII that is based on documentary evidence, not on speculation.

Krupp also gave the Pope the book Hitler, the war and the Pope, written by Prof. Ronald Rychlak with Migai Ion Pacepa, the Romanian general who became the highest-ranking ex-KGB agent ever to defect.

The book describes the operations of the KGB disinformation network and their plan called 'Seat 12' intended to destroy the reputation of Pius XII and to open up the division between the Catholic Church and the Jewish world.

It was ordered by then Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to discredit the Catholic Church and to isolate the Jewish world from Christians.




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German visit scheduled
for Sept 22-25, 2011,
says Mons. Zollitsch

Translated from the German service of


30 NOV 2010 (RV) - A day in Berlin, a day in Erfurt, one-and-a-half days in Freiburg - so far, this is how the tentative plan is for Pope Benedict's visit to Germany on Sept. 22-25.

The chairman of the German bishop's conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg, told the German broadcasting station ARD that the events have yet to be finalized, but there are obvious considerations.

For example, the political aspect of the trip is expected, of course, to be the emphasis in Berlin, as this is an official visit on the invitation of the German President Norbert Lemmer as well as the German bishops' conference.

But he said it is not yet clear if the Pope will make a special stop at the Brandenburg Gate as his predecessor did, or whether he will meet with some victims of sex abuse by priests in the German capital.

"We haven't gone far with details yet. For example, perhaps a visit to the Maria Regina Martyrum [Mary Queen of Martyrs] memorial for the victims of National Socialism, of Communism and the Second World War. We have to try to see what we can fit into these barely four-day visit," Zollitsch said.

Whether the Pope will address the German Bundestag (Parliament) is something that has to be discussed between Berlin adn the Vatican, he said.

The second stage of the visit would be to the Diocese of Erfurt, with its famous Wartburg Castle, a Martin Luther memorial place but also the longtime residence of St. Elizabeth of Thuringia.

"Erfurt is a key location - the Pope will be in the 'new' German states [formerly Communist East Germany). And we are considering whether he will visit Catholic Eichsfeld. The Martin Luther factor has not been very central so far. In any case, there is an importaht Luther anniversary in 2017 [the 500th anniversary of his 95 Theses]. But, of course, he will have meetings with the representatives of the evangelical Christian communities, the Jews and the Muslims. Even these will depend on the program in Berlin".

The last stage of the visit will be in Freiburg, Zollitsch's own archdiocese. He said he told the Pope that just one day in southwest Germany would not be enough for the strictly pastoral aspect of the visit.

"The visit would end in Freiburg on a weekend, so it means we can have a large Sunday Mass in the open. And we plan to use Freiburg Cathedral for Vespers, for his meeting with the clergy and/or with young people".

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Here are a couple of informal reviews of the book from the blogging world - by two people who like it primarily because it is a good read all throughout, and heartily ask of everyone, as every sensible person would, to stop already with the condoms! There's so much more in the book.... Brandon Vogt is a 24-year-old Catholic engineer from Florida; and B16 followers know all about the Curt Jester...


The Pope is always charitable
and articulates his answers well

by Brandon Vogt

Nov. 29, 2010

By now, whether through secular or religious outlets, you’ve likely heard about a recent book-length interview with Pope Benedict XVI titled Light of the World (Ignatius Press, 256 pages, hardback). This book presents the third extensive interview between the Pope and journalist Peter Seewald, the first two coming before Benedict was Pope.

Light of the World has generated some serious controversy over a few obscure paragraphs in the middle of its 256 pages. In these paragraphs, the Pope is asked about the Church’s position on condoms. He answers by re-articulating the Church’s traditional position that contraception is inherently counter to true sexuality, but in some cases condoms may be a step toward a deeper morality.

The travesty is that this book will now be known only for these couple of paragraphs when the book provides so many other fascinating insights.

Light of the World really is a monumental effort, and anyone who reads it cover-to-cover will appreciate how much of a gift it really is. Never before has a Pope granted such an in-depth interview, nor directly answered so many challenging questions in rapid succession.

Seewald — whom The Irish Times nicknamed the “pope whisperer” —is great at formulating these inquiries, pulling no punches along the way. He poses questions that are straight-forward, even borderline accusatory at times, such as:
•What caused the sexual-abuse scandal in the Church?
•Have you considered resigning?
•What do you think about the global climate crisis?
•Can there be dialogue with Islam?
•Is Christianity the only truth?
•Should there be a Third Vatican Council?

Pope Benedict’s answers are characteristically charitable, intelligent, and well-articulated, even including a little humor here and there. He speaks here as a wise sage whose wisdom has been built and refined over many years.

But even with the clarity shared between both men, Light of the World has its difficulties. The book was compiled, translated, and published in such a short amount of time — the interview took place in July 2010 — that it does lack some finish. At times, clunky punctuation choices, like periods instead of commas and sentences lacking subjects, make the reading slightly awkward.

Also, while the material is organized into eighteen distinct chapters, the questions within each chapter are fairly haphazard. For instance, a question about ‘communion on the tongue’ is followed by a question on ‘women’s liberation’, then a discussion on ‘church attendance’ statistics. However, this disordered structure does create lively, fast-paced reading as the topics jump quickly from one to another.

One of the most helpful parts of the book is the Appendix, which features snippets from some of Benedict’s most contentious statements: his letter to Irish Catholics regarding the abuse scandal, his Regensburg address which riled many Muslims, and his earlier statements regarding the Church’s position towards condoms and AIDs (which Light of the World embellishes, not contradicts).

Following these excerpts, there is also a lengthy chronicle of important events from Benedict’s life and pontificate. Both the excerpts and the timeline provide good background to the statements and events referenced during the interview.

Overall, Light of the World is truly a special book, and deserves a better fate than to be known as “the condom book”. Seewald draws some intriguing answers from Pope Benedict on many of the most controversial topics of our time.

This book should be welcomed as a rare look into the typically secluded halls of the Vatican. For a bird's-eye view of the Church and a peek into Pope Benedict’s thought, pick up a copy of Light of the World.


I took the liberty of abridging the following post slightly and have placed ellipsis points wherever I did so:

'Now there is even more
I love about the Pope'

by Jeff Miller

splendoroftruth.com/curtjester/
Nov. 25, 2010

I have sometimes wondered as a convert what it would be like to have been a cradle Catholic and to have studied and lived the faith throughout my life. To have fully interiorized the faith.

If I were a lot more intelligent, I would get an idea of this what this would be like from the Pope’s latest book, by the answers he gives to journalist Petere Seewald.

This is the third interview book he has done with Seewald who talked with the Pope for an hour each time over six days… There has been much controversy over the Pope’s answer to one question… Catholic convert Marshall McLuhan once wrote, “The medium is the message” to which I have often added that “Media misses the message.”

Having read the previous two Seevald books along with the most of Cardinal Ratzinger’s writings, one gets a sense of the man who has not changed in any important way as Pope.

His honesty and humility are shown throughout the book, and he does not allow the interviewer to maker larger claims on what he has achieved than is warranted.

Seewald would make factual claims about the size of the Church numerically, and of the power of the Pope, but Benedict XVI reminds him that while membership is numerically large, the number of people living the Catholic faith is much smaller. Of course, he also dismisses any claim to power. While Pope Benedict XVI has great gifts, he realizes who those gifts are from.

Throughout the book the Pope’s replies are very direct and at the same time fully eloquent. While reading it, I often wished that others would imitate the Pope’s honesty in replying to question without the slightest hint of spin or building himself up.

There are also very human and funny moments in the book. His reply to why he wore the camauro once is hilarious, and a warning to those who would over-interpret what the Pope wears….

Some of his feelings upon becoming Pope have been expressed before, but this book brings out more… He really was surprised to be elected Pope, and like so many times in his life, he once again turned himself over fully to Christ…

He talks about his relationship with Pope John Paul II - it was his book Introduction to Christianity that led the Pope to seek out Joseph Ratzinger to head the CDF.

Like much of Catholicism, his answers are are of the ‘both/and’ type [et-et]…. About the Church and secularism, for instance, he says we must know what we could learn from secularism and what we must oppose.

Peter Seewald as interviewer is also a major part of what makes the book enjoyable... Seewald as always has done his homework, having been a close watcher of the Pope and what he has written and said for more than decade.

This brings out a range of topics and important questions that a less skilled interviewer could not even approach. The only negative would be that Seewald has a view of global warming almost apocalyptic… But the Pope in answering them does not take the same tone… even if it is clear the Pope is concerned about manmade global warming.

While the interview considers several controversies, this is a book mostly about Jesus and his Church - of following Christ closely and seeing Jesus as the one who comes. These sections of the book won’t generate any headlines, but they are meant to generate saints.

The Pope is, first of all, a disciple of Jesus, and one who sees his very life as bringing Jesus to others in his role as Pope to the world.

When he does address various controversies, his discipleship is evident… In the sexual abuse crisis… he sees the evil directly… There is an empathy in his tone that cannot be faked.

On the argument that Jesus couldn’t ordain women only because of the culture of his time, the Pope says “Nonsense!” – that in fact, the religions of the time all had priestesses.

He gives a fuller answer to the reasons for lifting the excommunication of the four FSSPX bishops than I have seen before, and he reitrrates that somebody should have checked the internet…

Oh and the Pope said something about condoms!

This book was a wonderful read which I admit to binge-reading the moment it came in the mail. I thought I could hardly love the Pope more, but now there is even more I love about him.

It is almost silly to review a book from our Pope. Really the review should be: Just go out and buy it or obtain a copy immediately from a library, etc. Those with ebook readers can buy a DRM-free version of the book from Ignatius Press, download the audio version, and, of course, get the book itself.
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Ignacio Ingrao has been quite combative where Benedict XVI is concerned, so I was surprised by this piece in which he acknowledges the virtues of the man and the Pope. And without ulterior motives, it appears. But for obvious reasons, I do dispute his hypothesis that the Pope has emerged strong after five years as a result of an 'profound interior transformation'. To echo the Pope's words in a different context, "It isn't the Pope who has changed - it's Ingrao!"


The theologian Pope who humbles himself
to change the Church quietly

by Ignacio Ingrao
Translated from

Issue of 12/2/2010


Liberation theologist Leonardo Boff recounte that when he was called to the Vatican by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to be questioned about his writings, the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had him in for coffee and conversed with him quite cordially as if they were old friends. So much so that, leaving the CDF that day, Boff was convinced that he would be upheld. Instead, he shortly received the CDF statement severely condemning the theology of liberation.

That was Cardinal Ratzinger, the 'German shepherd' guardian of the faith - the Panzerkardinal, the nickname given him even after he became Pope. There was something true in that appellation, for a man who is kind and shy but also vigilant and inflexible.

Today, after five years as Pope, Benedict XVI appears to have changed profoundly: [I will say it once and not have to raise it everytime Ingrao mentions it: What profound transformation? The focus and style may have changed, by virtue of the change in office, but the change is 'superficial' because circumstantial - the core is unchanged.]

"This is a Pontiff who proceeds by subtraction bot by addition", as Fr. Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, has neatly summarized. [Does he mean because Benedict XVI strips down everything to the essentials?]

Under the pitiless glare of mass media from around the world, Benedict XVI has in the past five years sought to have the Church focus on her essential problems - loss of faith by the West, moral degradation even within the Church, the superficiality of Liturgy, divisions among Christians.

Little by little, he has let go of all other concerns, delegating them to his co-workers in the Curia - government, power, diplomacy, finances.

"It is a teaching Pontificate," says Fr. Lombardi, "to show the Church the way of renewal".

The interview-book Light of the World reveals the intimate character of Benedict XVI, laying bare the Pope's own interior transformation.

A few months away from his 84th birthday, Papa Ratzinger is clear about the priorities of his mission. If you compare this book with the two other interview books he did with Peter Seewald (Salt of the Earth in 1996, and God and the World in 2000), there is the same steeliness of the intellectual cardinal who is always able to surprise and to catch the reader off guard with his direct but never banal answers. [There you are! If there is the same steeliness, etc., how can you then speak of an interior transformation????]

But one will also catch some subtle but profound differences now that he is the leader of the Church. Now he can expose all the complexities, the lights and shadows, the contradictions, the difficulties.

Perhaps some previously granitic certainties have given way to doubts. Moral inflexibility is tempered by a more pastoral attitude. The abstraction of the theologian must measure itself against political reality.

But what emerges above all is the Pope's extraordinary humility. It is the paradox of Benedict XVI: the unwanted accession to the Chair of Peter, instead of feeding his self-esteem in being the Vicar of Christ, has made him cultivate a humility which is even more profound - and rare for an intellectual of his fame and stature.

It is a humility that cannot be compared to any of his predecessors in the 20th century - not Paul VI, much less John Paul II. Or perhaps, but only in part, John XXIII.

"...There must be, besides the great Popes, little ones also, who give that they can", he says in Light of the World, thinking of his predecessor Karol Wojtyla. [The context of this reply was that he was explaining why he called himself a 'simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord' in his first message to the world as Pope.]

He is sincere: he admits errors and distractions, he apologizes, he shows himself to be well aware of his limitations. In short, this is a king who can step down from his throne.

But it is not just this book that demonstrates the development of 'the humble Pope'. Benedict XVI's annus horribilis that is now behind him has accelerated his interior change. The scandal of pedophilia in the Church, with the unjust accusations that he smothered investigations and procedures were for him 'a shock' as he says in the book. [And he uses the English word.]

He was also greatly perturbed by the violent polemics provoked by his Regensburg lecture in 2006 and the Williamson case in 2009.

But the 'shock' that followed upon these episodes did not paralyze him into inaction. The 'fragile Pope' reacted with firmness and found the strength to indicate to the Church the essential points it needed to change for a new course. [Which he was able to do because all that strength was there all the time!]

And here is the other Ratzinger paradox. The Pope of continuity with Tradition has shown himself to be one who is working for a profound renewal of the Church. A pastor determined to create a turnaround that will enable Christian communities to measure up to the challenges of the contemporary world.

Therefore, not at all a Pope who escapes to the gold and lace of liturgical tradition [as if that were all liturgy was!], but a Pontiff resolved to face modernity directly and without prejudices.

In this way, he has also caught the so-called Ratzingerians off guard - those 'men of modest means' but vociferous epigones of his, who would reduce his message of reform to nothing but a 'reassuring' doctrine aimed only at consolidating the little that remains of the powers and privileges of the clergy and the Church. [If one mentally passes in review the few 'Ratzingerians' there are, that accusation seems unfair, unless, for instance. someone like Cardinal Bertone is seen to be a power-grabber! I think he is well-meaning, but his main problem is his style, or lack of it, and an institutional inertia despite his physical bulk and athletic persona. But Amato, Bagnasco, Burke, Canizares, Koch, Ouellet, Piacenza, Ruini, to name the most prominent???? Their record and their reputation have been as honest (often brilliant) work in the Lord's vineyard.]

Here are the seven key reform points of the Ratzinger Pontificate:

Morality - After a life spent defending the principles of Catholic morality, the words of Benedict XVI on condom use represent his 'pastoral' face. He does not renounce the conviction that abstinence and faithfulness are the better arms to combat AIDS, as he said on his way to Africa in 2009.

But he acknowledges that use of a condom by an infected man is the start of taking responsibility for avoiding the transmission of the virus. It could be a helping hand to missionaries trying to fight the pandemic in the frontiers of the world. Perhaps those of them who have been distributing condoms will no longer feel as if they are on trial. [Obviously Ingrao is of the persuasion that the Pope has made a blanket statement, instead of what he clearly cited 'in this case or that'!]

Power - Benedict XVI has made it clear that power should be understood as service, and asks his co-workers to have this attitude, especially bishops. However, not all the nominations he has made in the past five years have been bishops who understand their appointment as a mandate for service. He rejects ordination of women, but he knows that women can and should play a leading role in the Church. [Just not in the way the militant feminists think, but in the footsteps of the great medieval women saints who have been the subject of his current catechetical cycle, none of whom needed to be a priest!]

Authority - Collegiality and moderation are the two words of order that the Pope wishes to apply to the exercise of authority in the Church. It means participation of bishops and their communities in making decisions. And a reform of the Curia so that it is streamlined and can act faster. But it is precisely this reform that raises fear among his co-workers who seek to place obstacles in his way. [Again, which co-workers exactly are being obstructionist? From what I read in the Vaticanistas' blogs, the main obstacles are the entrenched middle-level bureaucrats of the Secretariat of State whose loyalties are to their role models in the past decades, and who are insubordinate to Cardinal Bertone whom they resent because he is 'not one of them'. Benedict XVI has now appointed most of the dicastery heads and secretaries so the Curia is his Curia now, but not the Secretariat of State!]

But Papa Ratzinger is not yielding, especially since he is convinced that the pedophile scandal was the result of the wrongful exercise of authority aimed at protecting the reputation of the Church rather than the victims.

Money - The recent IOR scandal, in which the Vatican bank is accused of violating anti-money laundering regulations, has troubled Benedict XVI in recent months. The Pope proclaims that the Church is not interested in money except as it can use it to do its missionary and social work, and certainly not in being entangled in any power play. He appears to be unheeded even by his closest collaborators, but one hopes that in the next few months, concrete actions will prove there is financial morality in the Vatican. [Yet another wild generalization! Does anyone really think Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is anything less than upright? There has been nothing said about the IOR 'scandal' for several weeks now. Perhaps Gotti was right that he simply needs time to work out arrangements with the European Union and with the Italian government over special requirements demanded of IOR because it is not a regular bank.]

Dialog - For months after he became Pope, Papa Ratzinger had never even mentioned the Muslims. The aftermath of the Regensburg lecture opened the Pope's eyes to the importance and difficulty of dialog with Islam. [Excuse me! In how many essays in how many books before he became Pope did he foresee this confrontation with Islam? One might consider that he said what he said in Regensburg precisely because he was aware that the orientation of inter-religious dialog which developed under John Paul II was not substantive - it was mostly for show, and the person who led the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialog was bending over backwards too much to 'humor' the Muslims. So he sent him to the Arab League in Cairo, and named Jean Louis Tauran, a veteran diplomat who has his head on right, and would not simply sing Kumbaya with Islam.]

It was the first 'shock' to this Pontificate. But Benedict XVI turned the page with his visit to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul However, the dialog with the Jews has been just as acerbic because of Pius XII and the Williamson case. Dialog with other religions is now at the top of Benedict's agenda. [For some reason, Ingrao is increasingly losing his grip as he proceeds. Benedict XVI clearly stated from his first homily as Pope that the cause of Christian unity - i.e., ecumenical dialog - would be one of his priorities. Ingrao fails to mention the progress achieved with the Orthodox Churches, with a theological dialog now focused on the role of the Pope in a reunified Christianity! Nor does he mention Anglicanorum coetibus, which is a historic and unprecedented initiative.]

Politics - For three years, Benedict XVI seemed uninterested in Italian politics. [Not as a partisan exercise, no, but certainly he has always upheld the need and the right of the Catholic voice to be heard in public discourse. Has Ingrao forgotten the decennial convention of the Italian Church in Verona where he urged Italian Catholics to make themselves heard? Or the 2006 referendum where a Catholic boycott defeated the proposed liberalization of Italy's reproductive health laws? Or the Family Day rally in 2009 and the Italian bishops' opposition to the Prodi government's plan to introduce a bill that would give equal rights and privileges to common-law partners and same-sex unions as normal families have?] But in 2008, in Cagliari, the Pope launched an appeal for a new Catholic political class to emerge, a call that has been taken up by the Italian bishops.

Science - Before he became Pope. the frontiers of bioethics were already a primary concern for Joseph Ratzinger. Last November 20, he made a cardinal of Elio Sgreccia, who had founded the Institute of Bioethics at the Catholic University of Milan and later became president for many years of the Pontifical Academy for Life. It is a signal that he is not letting his guard down in this respect.

In short, Light of the World is not just an extraordinary work with great 'image' potential. It reveals the true character of the Pope.

Now, he can look forward to the next year with confidence: The second volume of JESUS OF NAZARETH, will be released on March 13; He has four trips abroad on the program [Croatia, Spain, Germany and Benin), and very likely, the beatification of John Paul II. For Papa Ratzinger, it is an indispensable tribute to his predecessor.

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Cardinal Maradiaga says
condom debate is a chance
for priests to explain teaching

ny Anthony Barich


Wednesday, 01 December 2010

THE public debate on the Church’s teaching on condoms, triggered by Pope Benedict XVI’s comments in a new book, is an ideal opportunity for parish priests to clarify it for the faithful from the pulpit, the Caritas Internationalis president said.



Salesian Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, told The Record Catholic newspaper of the Archdiocese of Perth that many Catholics do not know what the Church teaches in this regard. [I doubt that many parish priests do either. The generations born since the 1960s grew up in the post-Vatican-II, post-1968 world of laissez-faire sex, to whom Humanae Vitae was an Ice Age curio, so even seminarians and priests did not think it worthwhile to study whatever the Church taught about sexuality and its consequences. Qhat could they say now, much less teach?]

The controversy started when the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano published on 20 November excerpts of a book-length interview with German journalist Peter Seewald called Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times.

In it, when the Pope was asked whether it was “madness to forbid a high-risk population to use condoms”, he replied: “There may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a first step in the direction of a moralisation, a first assumption of responsibility, on the way toward discovering an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants.” [This is, of course, only part of his answer.]

“But it is not really the way to deal with the evil of HIV infection. That can really lie only in a humanisation of sexuality.”

Cardinal Maradiaga laughed off claims made in secular media that the Pope has changed the Church’s teaching on the use of condoms, saying “of course not”!

“It has been the doctrine of the Church all the time that when there are emergency cases the principle of double effect (applies),” he told The Record by phone during a four-day trip to Australia. “The Pope was only quoting the extreme cases, so I believe it is coherent (with existing Catholic teaching).”

[This 'double effect' was first brought up by Russell Shaw in the OSV Daily Take commentary I posted earlier on this page. Apparently, it is a principle of moral theology, and being rather 'black and white' about my moral beliefs, I have never been inclined to read moral theology, so I was ignorant of it.]

The Church teaches that the principle of double effect may be employed when one is considering an action that is morally good, yet the action involves one or more unintended bad consequences. As these consequences are side effects, and not directly willed, the choice that brings them about is morally acceptable.

“This could be a good opportunity for us in the parishes to clarify and to teach, as very many Catholics do not know what the Church teaches (in this regard),” said the Cardinal, who has completed three separate doctorates in philosophy, theology and moral theology and holds a diploma in clinical psychology and psychotherapy.

“It is the chance for the priest to speak about it, who in our modern Church is also teacher. We, as disciples of Christ, have a lot to learn; we cannot pretend that in special matters all the baptised know everything, as we are always learning and trying to implement what the Mother Church is teaching us.”

Melbourne Archdiocesan Office for Evangelisation director, Marist Brother Mark O’Connor, brought the Cardinal to Australia with Franciscan Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Archbishop of Durban, South Africa for the 25th anniversary of the Dom Helder Camara lecture series which focuses on the Social Doctrine of the Church.

Cardinal Maradiaga said that the Social Doctrine of the Church is “the most well kept secret, as many people have never heard about it, yet it’s so important”.

“It’s important as it changes the mentality of many people who think that working for the social doctrine in the Church is mixing in politics; (but) it’s just doing our duty to evangelise the culture of politics and economy,” he said.

“Many people think that Christian life is only in the temple, but you cannot divide the human person - we live in society, so social life has to be illuminated by the Gospel, and this is the role of the Social doctrine of the Church, founded in the dignity of the human person.

“This is the first principle of the Social Doctrine of the Church.”


I've tended to keep an eye on Maradiaga because in the run-up to the 2005 Conclave, the hype about him was considerable, given a background so unusual and formidable. Besides his academic preparation and a Church record of long pastoral and teaching experience, his CV says he was trained as a classical pianist and plays the saxophone, he is a licensed pilot and he speaks six or seven languages. Since 2007, he has been president of Caritas International and has been the Vatican spokesperson with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

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In checking out the previous article, I came across this one from Dr. Rowland, who is arguably one of the leading scholars of Ratzingerian thought today. She wrote this for the diocesan newspaper of Perth not too long ago.


Ratzinger the rift healer
by Tracey Rowland


29 October 2010


Since his election to the papacy, Ratzinger has published three encyclicals, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope) and Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), and one apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis (the Sacrament of Charity). [Since this article was written, another Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, which has been sidelined, alas and alack, by the Second Condom Controversy as a topical issue before it had been adequately ventilated and commented upon!]

Derided by critics as a divisive figure, Benedict XVI has spent the best part of his pontificate trying to bring outsiders back into the fold, reaching out to traditional Catholics and the Orthodox Churches. He has also published the first of a several volume series on the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

A recurring theme in these publications is the idea that Christianity is primarily about a person’s participation in the life and love of the Trinity, mediated through Sacraments, particularly the Eucharist.

For Benedict, the reduction of Christianity to the status of an ethical code is an impoverished representation of true Christianity.
He also emphasises the significance of the virtues of faith, hope and love, and argues that these virtues have become mutated by various secularist ideologies.

For example, he believes that faith is coming to mean trust in technology or scientific reason, hope is becoming hope in material progress, and love has become truncated to eros (sexual desire) without a telos (higher end).

He is concerned that for many people these virtues no longer have anything to do with Christ.

In Caritas in Veritate, Benedict engages with various modern philosophies, pointing out the limitations of the secularist notion of development.

Benedict argues that when cultures no longer serve the deepest human needs and actually narrow the spiritual horizons of people, the result is a loss of strong self-identity and even depression.

The remedy, the Pope believes, is to grasp the fact that truth is something which is given as a divine gift, and that it is not something self-constructed. Benedict also observes that truth is not determined by majority opinion.

This papacy has also put a lot of energy into mending historical rifts. Foremost among these have been the rift with the traditionalist Catholics who regard Vatican II as the work of the devil, and the rift with sections of the Catholic Church in England which started in 1533 when Pope Clement VII excommunicated King Henry VIII for purporting to divorce Queen Catherine of Aragon.

In part to heal the rift with the traditionalists, but also because of his own liturgical concerns which are evident in Sacramentum Caritatis, Benedict has lifted all the barriers to priests saying the traditional Latin Mass.

Diplomatic channels are opening with leaders of the traditionalist movement and attention is now focused on the doctrinal aspects of the documents of the Second Vatican Council.

In order to prepare the diplomatic ground for these negotiations, Pope Benedict lifted the decrees of ex-communication against four Bishops who had been illicitly consecrated without the permission of John Paul II.

After the event, Benedict discovered that one of the men denied the holocaust and the Pope was forced to write a deeply apologetic letter to the Bishops of the world. [The letter was not so much about the Williamson case itself, nor even an explanation of why the excommunications were lifted - which was a straightforward canonical move that should not have to be explained to a bishop - but an opportune wake-up call to the bishops of the world that they are losing sight of their priority which must be to keep God and his presence ever present among men and keep the flame of faith burning.]

On the Anglican front, he has responded to requests from groups such as the Traditional Anglican Communion to be received into full communion with the Catholic Church by establishing an Anglican Ordinariate.

This is a canonical framework by which Anglicans can join the Catholic Church in whole parish communities, rather than on a person by person basis, and can retain their own liturgy and be served by their own clergy. Energy has also been expended improving relations with the various Eastern Orthodox communities, especially the Greek and the Russian.

These initiatives are generally regarded as successful and the Russians have established the Gregory Nazianzen Foundation to help all Christians, Eastern and Western, to defend the faith from attacks within Europe.

Nonetheless, there is a general sense that Benedict XVI’s papacy is encountering wave after wave of opposition.

In a book recently published in Italy called Attacco a Ratzinger, the authors argued that the attacks are coming from three separate sources: from social elites across the Western world who are in favour of secularism and see Benedict XVI as a significant source of intelligent opposition; from elites within the Catholic Church who support the ‘hermeneutic of rupture’ reading of Vatican II; and from the incompetence of the Vatican’s own officials, many of whom, it seems, don’t even know how to Google. [It's hard to imagine that the Curial heads do not have any auxiliary staff who are computer-savvy. The irony of this 'failing to Google' fallback excuse is that Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who was for almost 20 years the Vatican's pointman-liaison with the Lefebvrians, prided himself in and had always been hailed by Vaticanistas, before the Williamson fracas, for his hi-tech skills. And yet, no one, to my knowledge, brought it up after the snafu! Computer or not, after 20 years of dealing with the Lefebvrians, one might have thought Castrillon whould at least have had an inkling of Williamson' unacceptably eccentric views about the Holocaust! This - and the fact that no Vaticanista looked into these obvious questions at all - is one riddle I cannot explain!]

In the medium term, his papacy is likely to be judged by how well it contends with these forces of opposition and incompetence rather than by reference to the solid intellectual framework he has steadily built to support Christianity into the 21st century.

Nevertheless, Benedict’s holiness and desire to preach the gospel of the God of Love shine through in his writings as Pope and through these he is able to reach many millions of his faithful. [As it shines through in LOTW, and Peter Seewald put it best: "He has seen the Light of the world and he reflects it".]



The question of 'curial incompetence really bothers me, because I think our perception of it is mostly due to journalistic incompetence and neglect. And of course, unfortunately, to the repeated clumsy and embarassing communications fiascos that seem to reflect an underlying substantive flaw in decision-making by the officials concerned.

And yet, the academic credentials and pastoral-administrative experience of curial #1 and #2 men are quite obvious - they would not have been appointed to their positions otherwise. Just read their individual biodata. Why then does a collection of eminently qualified individuals seem to turn into bureaucratic jelly in the general opinion as articulated and shaped by the media? These are no ninnies but they are widely portrayed and perceived as such! Intellectually, most of them tower above the journalists who presume to judge them.

I suspect much of the media portrayal of the Curia is a reflex expression of long-standing prejudice expressed in cliches like 'the creaky Vatican bureaucracy' or 'the proverbially snail-footed Vatican' which 'thinks in centuries, not in the here and now'... But why has no Vatican reporter taken the initiative to do a dicastery-by-dicastery study of the Curia to see how fit they are for their tasks in the contemporary world? It is a task that cries out to be done, starting with the Secretariat of State. Such a study, by simply exposing facts, might do more to 'revolutionize' the Curia - and public perception of it - than any moves or maneuvers originating from the Pontifical Apartment.


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This is an excellent commentary - the first one I have read that 'explains', in effect, why the book is called 'Light of the World':
The title is the message: Christ - conveyed by his Vicar on earth.


Benedict XVI: Christian Radical
by Samuel Gregg

November 30, 2010


As the condom-wars ignited by Benedict XVI’s Light of the World abate, some attention might finally be paid to the book’s broader themes and what they indicate about Benedict’s pontificate.

In this regard, perhaps the interview’s most revealing aspect is the picture that emerges of Pope Benedict as nothing more and nothing less than a Christian radical.

Those accustomed to cartoon-like depictions of Joseph Ratzinger as a “reactionary” might be surprised by this description. But by “radical,” I don’t mean the type of priest or minister who only wears clerical garb when attending left-wing rallies or publically disputing particular church doctrines.

The word “radical” comes from the Latin radix, meaning “root.” It’s in this sense Benedict is radical. His pontificate is about going back to Christianity’s roots to make, as Benedict says, “visible again the center of Christian life” and then shining that light upon the world so that we might see the truth about ourselves.

At Christianity’s center, Benedict states, is the person of Jesus Christ. But this person, the {ope insists, is not whoever we want him to be. Christ is not the self-help guru proclaimed by the charlatans of the Prosperity Gospel. Nor is he the proto-Marxist beloved by devotees of the now-defunct liberation theologies. Still less is Christ a “compassionate, super-intelligent gay man”, as once opined by that noted biblical scholar, Elton John.

According to Benedict, Christ is who Christ says he is: the Son of God. Hence, there is no contradiction between what some call “the Christ of faith” and “the Christ of history.”

In Light of the World, Benedict confirms that underscoring this point was why he wrote his best-selling Jesus of Nazareth (2007). “The Jesus in whom we believe,” Benedict claims, “is really also the historical Jesus.”

Such observations hardly seem revolutionary for a Christian. But the context of Benedict’s remarks is a world of biblical studies dominated by what’s known as the historical-critical method. Among other things, this involves placing scripture in its historical conditions and exploring the different literary genres used by biblical authors.

In itself, such analysis can help illuminate scripture’s meaning. But from the beginning, many of its practitioners have imposed readings upon biblical texts that explicitly sever the Christian scriptures from the Christian faith from which they emerged.

It has also facilitated the piling-up of tenuous-hypotheses upon tenuous-hypotheses about Christ which are then masqueraded as “facts” that, in Benedict’s words, “eventually lead to absurdity”: Christ-the-guru, Christ-the-revolutionary, Christ-the name-your-fashionable-cause.

Yet, Benedict argues, these “alternative portraits” can’t “explain how within such a short time something could suddenly appear that completely transcends ordinary expectations.”

In short, Benedict states, “the only real, historical personage is the Christ in whom the Gospels believe, and not the figure who has been reconstituted from numerous exegetical studies.”

Before dismissing this as fundamentalism, let’s note that Benedict maintains that the picture of Jesus as one who was really crucified, really died, and really rose from the dead accords not only with faith, but also with reason.

For all their variations, the Gospel accounts are reasonable because they provide the only coherent explanation of what happened. These texts, Benedict notes, provide “direct access to the events.” Some of these writings, he reminds us, “originate literally from the 30s of the first century.”

But why, we might ask, does Benedict belabor the point? One reason is surely the damage done to Christian faith by scholars parading various pet theories as “facts.”

Another reason, however, may be Benedict’s sense that even many faithful Christians have forgotten the radical implications of accepting Christ as whom he says he is.

First, such an acceptance rescues Christianity from becoming what the German philosopher Rüdiger Safranski calls “a cold religious project”: a “mix of social ethics, institutional power thinking, psychotherapy, techniques of meditation, museum curation, cultural project management, and social work.”

That’s a concise description of the “liberal Christianity” that’s helped empty Western Europe’s churches, particularly in Benedict’s German homeland.

Second, it forces us to take seriously aspects of Christianity that have disappeared from public view over the past forty years.

In recent decades, Benedict claims, Christian preaching has stopped mentioning the Last Things revealed by Christ: i.e., heaven, hell, and the fact that all of us will be judged. Instead, preaching has become “one-sided, in that it is largely directed toward the creation of a better world, while hardly anyone talks any more about the other, truly better world.”

For confirmation, just look at the websites of those religious orders which talk endlessly about social justice without relating it to Christian belief in the limits of earthly justice and the reality of divine justice.

This diminishes Christianity to either what Benedict calls “political moralism, as happened in liberation theology” or “psychotherapy and wellness.” It also, some might interject, encourages us to conjure up secular messiahs who, not being God, cannot possibly fulfill religious-like expectations of hope and change.

In the end, it results in the same thing: practical atheism, at the heart of which is a teddy-bear Christ who, as Benedict wrote years ago, “demands nothing, never scolds, who accepts everyone and everything, who no longer does anything but affirm us.”

And therein may be the essence of Benedict’s Light of the World. Yes, Christ always offers us forgiveness. Nonetheless, Benedict adds, Christ also “takes us seriously.” Having stated who he is, Christ leaves us free either to accept him as he really is and order our lives accordingly, or to construct what another Christian scholar, Thomas More, called “worldly fantasies” of our own making.

More radically different paths are hard to imagine.

Dr. Samuel Gregg is Research Director at the Acton Institute. He has authored several books including On Ordered Liberty, his prize-winning The Commercial Society, and Wilhelm Röpke’s Political Economy.





John Thavis has written a second 'overview' of LOTW...For the Pope's followers and admirers, none of these overviews and reviews are really important nor do they convey the conversation as it is, much less the Pope's thought flow - JUST READ THE BOOK!!!!... And just now, I don't have the energy to replace the silly headline that this story comes with....Nonetheless, Thavis properly underscores the central God message of the book and of this Pontificate, except he relegates it to somewhere in the middle of the article.


Pope stunned by Church’s wretchedness
by JOHN THAVIS



VATICAN CITY, Nov. 29 (CNS) - Pope Benedict's book-length interview is certain to spark global attention, and not only for his comments suggesting that condom use might be acceptable in some circumstances.

In the 219-page book, Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times, the German pontiff spoke candidly on the clerical sex abuse scandal, relations with Islam, papal resignation and the "threatening catastrophe" facing humanity.

The wide-ranging interview was conducted by German writer Peter Seewald, who posed questions in six one-hour sessions last summer. The book was released Nov. 23 at the Vatican.

The book reveals a less formal side of the Pope, as he responds simply and directly on topics as diverse as the joy of sex and the ban on burqas. Much of the conversation focuses on the Pope's call for a global "examination of conscience" in the face of economic disparity, environmental disasters and moral slippage.

The Pope repeatedly emphasized that the Church's role in a largely broken world is not to impose a "burden" of moral rules but to open the doors to God.

Even before the book's release, media attention centred on the pope's remarks on condoms in AIDS prevention.

While repeating his view that condoms cannot be the only answer to the AIDS epidemic, the Pope allowed that in some specific cases - for example, that of male prostitutes - use of a condom could be a step toward taking moral responsibility for one's actions.

An entire chapter and parts of others were dedicated to the clerical sex abuse scandal. The Pope called it "a great crisis" that left him "stunned by how wretched the Church is, by how much her members fail to follow Christ."

"It was really almost like the crater of a volcano, out of which suddenly a tremendous cloud of filth came, darkening and soiling everything, so that above all the priesthood suddenly seemed to be a place of shame," he said.

He expressed optimism about the Church's recovery from the scandal, saying God continues to raise up Catholic saints. But he also said he understands why some Catholics, particularly victims, have responded by leaving the Church in protest.

"It is difficult for them to keep believing that the Church is a source of good, that she communicates the light of Christ, that she helps people in life - I can understand that," he said.

The Pope said media coverage of the abuse scandal was partly motivated by a desire to discredit the Church. But he added that the Church must be "grateful for every disclosure" and said the media could not have reported in this way "had there not been evil in the Church."

The Pope pointed to the Church's new rules and policies on sex abuse, but he appeared to acknowledge that more might have been done.

"Would it have been Rome's duty, then, to say to all the countries expressly: Find out whether you are in the same situation? Maybe we should have done that," he said. [He's being charitable, of course, and bending over backwards to take the blame. Because, after all, seeing the bloody debacle arising out of such scandals in the USA, weren't bishops intelligent enough to do this on their own without having to be told?]

The Pope said that in responding to sex abuse allegations against the founder of the Legionaries of Christ, the late Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, "unfortunately we addressed these things very slowly and late." [Again, he assumes the collective responsibility for a very special case that, to say the least, was not totally under his control!] The allegations were eventually substantiated and the order has been placed under Vatican leadership for a period of reform.

Pope Benedict said Maciel remains for him "a mysterious figure," one who lived an immoral and twisted life but who built up his religious order with dynamism - a "false prophet" who nevertheless had a "positive effect." [I really found the Pope's balanced look at the Maciel-LC situation very admirable.]

As for the future of the Legionaries, the pope said it was basically sound but needed corrections that do not destroy the enthusiasm of its members.

The {ope was asked if he considered resigning in the face of such burdens as the sex abuse crisis. He responded: "When the danger is great one must not run away. For that reason, now is certainly not the time to resign."

But he added that if a Pope is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of handling the duties of the papacy, he has a right and perhaps an obligation to resign.

The Pope spoke candidly of his age and health, saying his schedule of meetings and trips "really overtaxes an 83-year-old man."

"I trust that our dear Lord will give me as much strength as I need to be able to do what is necessary. But I also notice that my forces are diminishing," he said.

The Pope laughed when Seewald suggested that he looked good enough to be a fitness trainer, and said he has to conserve energy during his busy days. Asked whether he uses an exercise bicycle a doctor had given him, the pope replied: "No, I don't get to it at all - and don't need it at the moment, thank God."

He said he spends his free time reading, praying and sometimes watching DVDs - typically with religious themes - with members of the papal household.

Much of the book dealt with the Pope's strategy for presenting the Church's message in a largely skeptical world. The essential problem today, he said, is that the prevailing model of economic and social progress leaves out God and thus omits the ethical aspect.

Impending climactic disaster actually provides an opportunity to evangelize and promote moral decisions, he said. The problem, though, is that populations and countries seem unwilling to make sacrifices - which is where the Church can make a difference, he said.

It is urgent to "bring the question about God back into the centre," he said. "The important thing today is to see that God exists, that God matters to us and that he answers us."

The Church can do this, he said, only if its own members live the faith in their daily lives. That simple task should be the priority today, rather than embarking on major initiatives like a third Vatican Council.


The Pope said the Church's task is threatened by a "new intolerance" that would limit religious expression in the name of non-discrimination, for example in banning the display of crucifixes in public schools, or in condemning specific Church teachings.

"When, for example, in the name of non-discrimination, people try to force the Catholic Church to change her position on homosexuality or the ordination of women, then that means she is no longer allowed to live out her own identity," he said.

In that regard, the Pope said other religions face similar pressures. He said, for example, that he saw no reason for Western countries to ban the burqa, the Islamic veil, as long as it is worn voluntarily.

On other topics, Pope Benedict had this to say:

He defended the 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae (HV), which taught that artificial contraception in marriage is morally wrong, but said the Church needs to find ways to help people live the teaching and show tolerance to those who have problems with it. [I believe that has always been the problem with HV - so many priests found it so contrary to the prevailing mentality that they simply avoided the subject, instead of reading it cum Ecclesiae and devising pastoral approaches to help the faithful deal with its precepts. A pastoral approach recognizes that one size does not necessarily fit all and helps the faithful make informed decisions for which each one must take responsibility.]

The Pope noted the Church accepts natural regulation of conception. That method presupposes that couples take time for each other, and is far different from taking a pill "so that I can jump into bed with a random acquaintance."

In general, he said, the Church has to return to the "genuinely Christian attitude" of joy, as well as discipline and responsibility, in sexuality.

He said dialogue with Muslims has improved during his pontificate, in part because Muslim scholars accept that Islam needs to clarify its relation to violence and its relation to reason.

The Pope took issue with critics of the wartime policies of Pope Pius XII, saying that he "saved more Jews than anyone else" by quietly opening doors to Church institutions.

He said he began distributing Communion on the tongue during papal Masses not because he was opposed to Communion in the hand, but to "send a signal" about respect for the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. [Here, too, I felt he was being charitable about 'communion in the hand'. But it is obvious that if he needs to send a signal about respect for the Eucharist, then 'communion in the hand' is not the best way to show such respect.]





The following was one of the earliest pubished reviews of LOTW, which I missed. Fr. Sweeney does an excellent job of picking out keynotes from the book for this short but beautiful introduction. The Rev. Michael Sweeney is president of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

New book reflects on
Pope's role in the world

by Michael Sweeney

November 24, 2010

"The Pope is, on the one hand, a completely powerless man. On the other hand, he bears a great responsibility. ... The important thing is that I do not present my ideas, but rather try to think and to live the Church's faith, to act in obedience to his [Christ's] mandate."

With these words Pope Benedict XVI reflects upon his role in the Roman Catholic Church and world in a series of conversations with Peter Seewald, newly published in the book Light of the World (Ignatius Press, 2010).

Incisive, candid and occasionally playful, Pope Benedict addresses a wide range of issues, from the scandal of clerical abuse of minors - "Suddenly so much filth. ... It is a particularly serious sin when someone who is actually supposed to help young people toward God ... abuses him instead" - to the crisis in the world economy - "We are living at the expense of future generations. In this respect it is plain that we are living in untruth."

What emerges in the interviews is a man who in his own words is "a simple beggar before God - even more than all other people" who, nonetheless, is deeply confident in the future of the Church and of Christianity.

Questioned about the AIDS crisis, the Pope does not approve the use of condoms, despite what has been widely reported in the world news. In fact, "the sheer fixation on the condom" is itself part of the problem; it "implies a banalization of sexuality, which, after all, is precisely the dangerous source of the attitude of no longer seeing sexuality as the expression of love, but only as a sort of drug that people administer to themselves."

It is possible that in the case of some individuals the use of a condom might indicate "a first assumption of responsibility on the way toward recovering an awareness that not everything is allowed," but nowhere does he suggest that the use of condoms is objectively effective or morally acceptable.

On the world stage, Benedict speaks of "the clash of two spiritual worlds, the world of faith and the world of secularism." Secularism represents "an abstract negative religion" that is "being made into a tyrannical standard that everyone must follow."

As a consequence, "In the name of tolerance, tolerance is being abolished. ... No one is forced to be a Christian. But no one should be forced to live according to the 'new religion' as though it alone were definitive and obligatory for all mankind."

The Pope is well aware that many Catholics now live "a divided existence," and he poses the question, "to what extent do people still belong to the Church? On the one hand, they want to belong to her and do not wish to lose this foundation. On the other hand, they are of course also shaped and formed interiorly by the modern way of thinking. It is the unfermented coexistence, with and alongside each other, of the basic Christian intention and a new world view, which leaves its mark on all of life. To that extent what remains is a sort of schizophrenia."

Therefore he challenges the Church to meditate with him the way in which Christianity is to be proposed to the modern world: "The question is, Where is secularism right? Where can and must the faith adopt the forms and figures of modernity - and where must it offer resistance?"

The decisive sign of hope for him lies in "the joy of young people. ... In this regard, thanks to what I myself am able to see and experience, I am quite optimistic that Christianity is on the verge of a new dynamic."

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Wednesday, December 1, First Week of Advent

BLESSED GIOVANNI (John) DA VERCELLI (Italy, 1205-1283), Dominican, Teacher, Preacher, Papal legate
A man of towering achievement who lived in an age of saints and Worked with many of them (e.g., Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Bonaventure, Dominic,
St. Louis of France, Bernardine of Siena), he came close to being elected Pope at one time in his long career, and served two Popes but was not beatified
until 1903. A secular priest, he taught at the University of Paris and became a Dominican after his best students all joined the order. He went on to be the
sixth Dominican master-general, an office he held until his death. Gregory IX sent him to make peace among warring papal states and to settle a dispute
between France and Castile. He wrote the Schema for the second Council of Lyons in 1274, which was called to fight the Albigensian heresy, among other
things. He attended the Council with Bonaventure (Aquinas died on his way to the Council), and founded the Holy Name Society against blasphemy, perjury
and immorality. The male sodality continues to be active throughout the world today.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/120110.shtml



OR today.


In an editorial decision that does not surprise me, the OR chose to play up today
the news that starting in January, the weekly Italian edition of OR will come with
theSunday edition of the newspaper TEMPI. The two legitimate papal stories of the
day are mentioned in Page 1 teasers but found inside - the Pope's St. Andrew's Day
message to patriarch Bartholomew I, and his eulogy for Manuela Camagni. Other
Page 1 news: Growing alarm over Euro bailouts for debt-ridden countries; Germany
continues to take a dim view of the bailouts; North Korea presses on with its nuclear
arms program; and a 73-year-old French electrician reveals to the world that
before he died in 1973, Pablo Picasso left him 271 never-before known works done
between 1900-1932 (initial estimate is that they are now worth at least 60-million
euros). In the inside pages, two essays on the 40th anniversary of the successful
introduction into the Italian Parliament of a law to institutionalize divorce, and
Paul VI's prophetic reactions.



THE POPE'S DAY

General Audience - The Holy Father's catechesis was on St. Juliana of Norwich, a 15th century English mystic.
He also made a special appeal to the faithful of the world to pray for the Catholics of China, especially
their bishops.

After the audience, the Pope met with
- H.E. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea,
at the formal Reception Room of the Aula Paolo V.




The Holy Father has accepted the canonical resignation for age of the Bishop of Trenton, New Jersey, and
has named Mons. David O'Connell to succeed him. O'Connell resigned a few months ago as president of the
Catholic University of America, and the Holy Father named him coadjutor bishop of Trenton.


The Vatican released the text of the address delivered by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone today at the two-day-summit
in Astana, Kazakhstan, of the European Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE).


THE POPE'S PRAYER INTENTIONS
FOR DECEMBER 2010


General Intention
That our personal experience of suffering may be an occasion for better understanding the situation of unease and pain
which is the lot of many people who are alone, sick or aged, and stir us all to give them generous help.

Missionary Intention
That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to His Gospel of peace, brotherhood and justice.



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GENERAL AUDIENCE TODAY
Catechesis on St. Juliana of Norwich




NB: In left photo above, the giant copper statue of Our Lady of Loreto, patron of aviation, was later blessed by the Holy Father.
It will be installed at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci international airport.





Bringing good out of evil:
Prayer for China



1 DEC 2010 (RV) - Pope Benedict launched an appeal at the end of the General Audience today in a sign of support and solidarity with the Church in China.

This came a week after the Holy See’s condemnation of an illicit ordination in Chengde and the abuse of bishops by authorities who forced them to participate in the illegal ceremony.

Speaking to an estimated 8,000 pilgrims in the Aula Paolo VI, the Pope said:

I commend to your prayers and to those of Catholics throughout the world the Church in China, which, as you know, is going through a particularly difficult time.

We ask the Blessed Virgin Mary, Help of Christians, to sustain all the Chinese Bishops, who are so dear to me, so that they may courageously bear witness to their faith, placing all their hope in the Saviour whom we are awaiting.

We also entrust to the Virgin Mary all the Catholics of that beloved country, that, through her intercession, they may be able to live an authentic Christian life in communion with the universal Church, contributing in this way also to the harmony and common good of their noble people.

His appeal followed a catechesis centered on having faith in Divine Providence even when it seems that evil prevails.

This week, in his series on great female figures from the Church in the Middle Ages, the Holy Father presented a very English saint, revered by Catholic and Anglicans alike: Julian of Norwich.

Considered one of the greatest English mystics, little is known of her life aside from her writings. She was known to have lived during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, a time of great turbulence for the Church, rocked by schism following the return of the Popes from Avignon, and for her country, which was at war with France.

Even her name is uncertain, the name "Julian" coming from the Church of St Julian in Norwich, where she was an anchoress (a type of hermit living in a cell attached to the church, engaged in contemplative prayer).

Pope Benedict said “Julian is best known for her book, Revelations of Divine Love, which recounts sixteen visions or “showings” which she received during a grave illness. The Revelations are centred on the love of Christ; in Julian’s own words: “love is our Lord’s meaning”.”

Pope Benedict continued: “They exude an optimism grounded in the certainty that we are loved by God and protected by his providence. As Julian says, in speaking of God’s power to bring good out of evil: “all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well”.

Julian’s mysticism, he added “echoes the prophet Isaiah in using the imagery of a mother’s love to describe the affectionate care which God shows for his children, culminating in the incarnation of his Son and the fulfilment of his promises. Like so many holy women in every age, in spite of her withdrawal from the world Julian became a much-sought spiritual guide. In our own lives, may we draw profit from her teaching that God is the love which transforms our lives, bringing joy and peace to our hearts and, through us, to those all around us”.

Finally the Holy Father greeted all those present at the audience: “I extend a warm welcome to the many student groups present at today’s Audience. Upon all the English-speaking visitors, especially those from Malaysia, Australia and the United States of America, I cordially invoke an abundance of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ”.


NB: The female saint introduced to us today by the Holy Father has a masculine name, Julian. As he explains in the catechesis, she adopted the name of the bishop-saint who was the patron of the church where she lived as an anchoress.



Here is a full translation of the Holy Father's catechesis:



Second and third from left: Statue of Julian flanking the entrance to the Cathedral of Norwich; and the door to her cell in the Church.

Dear brothers and sisters:

I still remember with great joy the apostolic visit that I made to the United Kingdom last September. England is a land that has given birth to so many illustrious figures who, with their witness and teaching, adorn the history of the Church.

One of them, venerated by both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, is the mystic Julian of Norwich, about whom I wish to speak today.

What we know about her life - not very much - is deduced principally from the book entitled Revelations of divine love, in which this pious noblewoman wrote down the content of her visions.

We know that she lived from 1342 to about 1430, years of torment for the Church, which was lacerated by the schism that followed the return of the Pope from Avignon to Rome, and by the life of the people who were suffering the consequences of a long war between the kingdoms of England and France.

God, however, even in times of tribulation, does not cease to raise figures like Julian of Norwich to recall mankind to peace, love, and joy.

As she herself tells us, in May 1373, probably on the 13th of the month, she was struck suddenly by a very grave illness which brought her close to death after three days. After the priest, who had come to her bedside, showed her the Crucifix, Julian not only recovered instantaneously but subsequently received the 16 revelations that she wrote down and commented upon in her book.

And it was the Lord himself who, 15 years after those extraordinary events, revealed to her the meaning of those visions.

"Do you want to know what your Lord intended and the meaning of these revelations? Then know it well: Love is what he intended. Who reveals this to you? Love. Why do I reveal it to you? For love... Thus you will learn that our Lord means love"
(Julian of Norwich, The book of revelations, chap 86, Milan, 1997, p 320).

Inspired by divine love, Julian made a radical decision. Like an ancient anchoress, she chose to live inside a cell next to the church named for St. Julian in the city of Norwich, at that time an important urban center, located near London.

Her decision to live as a recluse, as they said in her day, may surprise and even perplex us. But she was not the only one who made such a choice: In those centuries, a considerable number of women chose this style of life, following rules which had been appositely elaborated for them, such as the Rule composed by St. Aelred of Rievaulx.

Anchoresses, or recluses, dedicated themselves within their cells to prayer, meditation and study. This way, they ripened a most refined human and religious sensibility which made them venerated by the people.

Men and women of every age and condition, who were in need of advice and comfort, sought them out with devotion. And so, it was not an individualistic choice - Julian's very nearness to the Lord also matured her capacity to be an adviser to so many people and to help those who lived in difficult conditions.

We know that she received frequent visits, because we are toldo so in the autobiography of another fervent Christian of her time, Margery Kempe, who went to Norwich in 1413 to obtain her counsel on spiritual life. And that is why when Julian was still alive, she was called Mother Julian, as written on her funeral monument. She had become a mother to many.

Men and women who retreat from ordinary life to live in the company of God - precisely because of this decision - acquire a great sense of compassion for the sorrows and weaknesses of others. Friends of God, they dispose of a wisdom that the world - from which they have distanced themselves - does not possess, and which they amiably share with those who knock on their door.

Therefore, it is with admiration and gratitude that I think of the cloistered monasteries for men and women which, now more than ever, are oases of peace and hope, a precious treasure for the Church, especially in evoking the primacy of God and the importance of constant and intense prayer for the journey of faith.

It was in such a solitude inhabited by God that Julian of Norwich composed the Revelations of divine love, of which two editions have come down to us. A shorter and probably older one, and a longer version.

This book contains a message of optimism based on the certainty of being loved by God and protected by his Providence. We read in this book the following magnificent words: "I see with absolute certainty... that God loved us even before he created us, with a love that has never grown less, nor will ever vanish. In this love, he did all his work in a way that all things may be useful for us. And in this love, our life will last forever... In this love we have our beginning, and and all this we will see in God without end"
(Ibid., chap 86, p. 320).

The subject of divine love recurs often in the visions of Julian of Norwich who, with a certain daring, does not hesitate to liken it to maternal love. This is one of the most characteristic messages of her mystical theology.

The tenderness, solicitude, and kindness of God's goodness towards us are so great that, to us who are pilgrims on earth, they evoke the love of a mother for her own children.

Actually, even the Biblical prophets had at times used this language which evokes the tenderness, the intensity and the totality of God's love which is manifested in Creation and the whole history of salvation, and culminates in the Incarnation of the Son.

But God always surpasses every human love, as the prophet Isaiah says: "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you"
(Is 49,15).

Julian of Norwich understood the central message for spiritual life: God is love, and only when we open up to his love, totally and with total trust, and we allow it to be the entity that guides our existence, then everything becomes transfigured, we find true peace and joy, and we are able to spread it around us.

I wish to underscore another point. The Catechism of the Catholic Church cites the words of Julian of Norwich when it presents the viewpoint of the Catholic faith on a subject that has not ceased to be a provocation for all believers
(cfr Nos. 304-314).

If God is supremely good and wise, why does evil exist and why do the innocent suffer? Even the saints - especially the saints - have asked this question. Illuminated by faith, they give us an answer which opens our heart to trust and hope: in the mysterious designs of Providence, God can bring good even from evil, as Julian of Norwich wrote: "I learned from God's grace that I must remain firmly in the faith, and that therefore I must believe firmly and perfectly that everything will end well..." (The book of revelations, chap 32, p 173).

Yes, dear brothers and sisters, the promises of God are always much greater than our expectations. If we entrust to God, to his immense love, the most pure and profound desires of our heart, we shall never be disappointed.

"And all shall be well", "all manner of things shall be well" - this is the final message that Julian of Norwich sends us and that I, too, propose to you today. Thank you.









Pope meets with victims
of Baghdad church bombing
who are in Italy for treatment





VATICAN CITY, Dec. 1 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI has met with 26 victims of a militant bombing on a Baghdad church who were airlifted to Italy last month for medical treatment.

Vatican officials said Benedict greeted the injured and their relatives — some 50 people in all — in a private audience following his general audience Wednesday. No details were released.

Sixty-eight people were killed when militants stormed Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation Church on Oct. 31 during Sunday Mass. The Vatican denounced the attack and others that have targeted Iraq's besieged Christian community.

At the Vatican's request, Italy airlifted 26 injured to Rome for treatment. All but two have been released from the hospital. Vatican officials said they too attended the audience.

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Wikileaks and the papal lottery:
How the US misread the 2005 Conclave

by Filippo Di Giacomo
Translated from

Dec. 1, 2010

In mid-April 2005, while the Church was mourning the death of John Paul II, the staff at the American Embassy was taking the easy way out.

Marco Tosatti, La Stampa's Vatican correspondent, poked fun at the embassy's apparent 'sources' in his blog yesterday, saying he was one of those whose information the embassy sent on to Washington as diplomatic information.

The Americans didn't have to look far, since Marco had published an article on his picks as the leading papabile to succeed the Polish Pope, and Luigi Accattoli, who was chief Vaticanista for Corriere della Sera at the time, contributed to the US 'intelligence' by writing that Cardinal Ratzinger was unlikely to get beyond the first ballot. "I wrote it," he said on his blog yesterday, 'but with better prose".

In fact, from what has been released of the diplomatic cables from Rome to Washington, it is easy to see passages and summaries, often distorted, from the writings of Giancarlo Zizola and Marco Politi for Il Sole 24 Ore and La Repubblica, respectively.

One concludes that when preparing their daily reports to Washington, the embassy staff simply depended on the best-known Vaticanistas.

'Prudent' perhaps, but obviously incomplete. [And weighted down with all the ideological and political baggage of the individual reporters!]

In fact, it is possible to find online articles by observers without name recognition, but no less sharp, who analyzed the Conclave prospects quite clearly.

I will give just one example. Arnaldo Casali, writing for Adesso online, a Catholic site that is an offshoot of Reteblu, the radio network of the Italian bishops' conference, observed:

As I start to write this, Joseph Ratzinger has just finished giving his homily at the Mass pro eligendo Pontefice which on this Monday morning, April 18, opens the work of the Conclave.

Joseph Ratzinger is the only one who, if elected Pope, would not spring any surprises. Because we know everything there is to know about his agenda: Rejection of the dominant relativism in the contemporary world - and therefore, a more profound reliance on doctrine and on the Tradition of the Church.

It would not be a conservative Pontificate in the strictest sense - but it would be a reforming Papacy, along the lines of Gregory VII.

His will be a Church that is less powerful from the politico-economic viewpoint, but more 'pure' in moral and doctrinal terms.

The motto for the Pontificate might well be 'Less is better'.... Ratzinger's Church would be much 'smaller' but also stronger. It will be 'another' in the context of the century it belongs to, and it will set itself as the pole star for those who reject the dominant system of values in the world today
.

[WOW! Who is Arnaldo Casali, and what is he doing these days? Perhaps the Vatican Press Office should hire him!]

Anyone engaged in religion information knows that in the Vatican, there are at least a couple of things regarding papal succession that are done but never talked about

The first is the 'Totopapa' [in effect, betting in the papal lottery) which in the Wojtyla era had been rampant in the Apostolic Palace since 1993 [aided and abetted by the speculation of the media, of course] - but the American embassy staff should have known that this has never brought good to anyone!

Rereading now the predictions in the media, including the foreign media - all dutifully echoed in the US embassy cables - they included quite a number of candidates who had so many qualities except good health! Names like the English Cardinal Hume, the American Bernardin, the Brazilian Neves Moreira, the French Bille. [OOOPS! Di Giacomo cannot be referring to the 2005 Conclave here! Cardinal Bernardin died in 1996, Cardinal Hume in 1999, Cardinal Neves in 2002!]

The second thing that one is permitted to think about in the Vatican is how the various voting blocs in the Conclave might look like. If you ask a cardinal which 'party' he belongs to, you might as well cross yourself off from his list of media contacts.

But sometimes their eminences themselves come up with a public manifesto. The most famous would be that of John Quinn, then Archbishop of San Francisco, who in 1996 gave a lecture at Oxford in which he argued for less curial authority.

His thesis was this: Vatican II had not yet taken hold enough to allow a redefinition of the Curia in a new form. Therefore, it remained an inappropriate filter between the bishops and the Pope, and it was a situation which had further worsened because of the physical condition of John Paul II.

The media have always considered the Vatican II progressives among the cardinals as left of the mainstream,only because their nominal leader was the charismatic and well-known progressive Cardinal Martini of Milan.

In fact, in 2005, one could not speak of anything leftist nor sinister [in Italian, it reads better, 'Ne sinistra ne sinistro'] in the College of Cardinals, since already by the 2001 consistory (sixth in the Wojtyla era), sthe progressives, including the four presumably most formidable 'Pope-makers' of their time - the Italians Silvestrini and Laghi, Danneels of Belgium and Lorschneider of Brazil - were unable to get any significant traction among the 156 cardinals for their proposal to revitalize the government of the Church along more collegial lines.

The only colleague of theirs who quietly gave their proposal the close consideration it deserved was Joseph Ratzinger. It was no accident that he was elected Pope four years later.

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An excellent companion piece to LOTW is the USCCB's beautifully-conceived book on the first five years of Benedict XVI's Papacy, which offers a generous revealing sampler of how others see him in essays and word portraits, as well as in photographs. The new site dedicated to it facilitates ordering it at a pre-Christmas price.


U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
launches website for new book

www.popebenedictbook.com

Dec. 1, 2010

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launched today an extensive new website dedicated to the new book Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on His Papacy, which was published this fall by the USCCB in conjunction with Sheed & Ward, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

The new website offers a full-color tour of the new book, with a photo gallery, excerpts from the essays and a selection of the personal reflections featured in the book, and Q&As with several of the contributors.

Video clips of Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York add lively reflections from three of the book's contributors. Visitors to the site can click to purchase the book from a variety of retailers.

The website gives a sense of the unprecedented look into the first five years of Benedict’s reign. The book, edited by Sister Mary Ann Walsh, RSM, features forewords by King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Shimon Peres of Israel, and includes introductory material from Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Cardinal Francis George, OMI, and John Thavis, Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service.

“With brief essays on various themes of this papacy, the book serves as ‘Cliff Notes’ for understanding Pope Benedict XVI,” says Sister Walsh.

The book has been praised by reviewers, including Michael Sean Winters of National Catholic Reporter Online, who called it “a splendid book...brings the human face of our faith, in the person of the Pope, closer to us.” Library Journal called the book
“ beautifully illustrated and skillfully edited work.”

Elegantly designed and produced, the book includes more than 100 full-color photographs. Images range from formal public appearances and meetings with leaders and lay Catholics around the globe, to quiet moments of personal study or contemplation.




Meanwhile, let me post five of the brief essays online that come under the heading UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. These are anecdotes we have not heard before. All of them will bring you to tears.


Still witnessing at the empty tomb
by Cardinal John Foley
Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem

After he appointed me Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, Pope Benedict XVI kindly invited me to accompany him during his visit to the Holy Land.

For me, a very memorable moment was when he faced the entrance to the Holy Sepulchre and he said that, like St. Peter, he was looking at the empty tomb and giving witness to the Resurrection of Jesus.

He also thanked our Order of the Holy Sepulchre for all that the members have done for the Christians in the Holy Land.

The most touching moment of the trip, however, was — in the quiet of Mount Calvary — seeing the Holy Father kneeling in silent prayer for almost 15 minutes at the spot where Jesus died and from which he was taken to his tomb just a few yards away.

It is said that one of the most powerful arguments for religion is a strong man on his knees — and the Pope kneeling in silent prayer at the place of the Crucifixion of Jesus is in itself a powerful sermon.


He wanted to be there
by Helen Osman
Secretary for Communications, USCCB

I could not sit or stand still on the grandstands at Andrews Air Force Base on April 15, 2008. The Pope was due to arrive at any minute. I probably hadn’t slept more than three hours a night for weeks, as we crammed what was usually 18 months of preparation for a papal visit into less than six months.

Now the plane was on the ground, and we were waiting for the door to open. The buzz and anticipation among the crowd were palpable. Then someone appeared at the doorway.

A somewhat small, white-robed figure literally bounded down the steps. He was obviously delighted, excited, waving at the crowds, who were wildly cheering.

It’s like a grandfather coming to see his family, I thought. Forget the “Rottweiler” image, folks.

And I knew, no matter what snags we might have in the days ahead, the rest of the visit would be wonderful.

He wanted to be here. We wanted him to be here. It would be a great family reunion.


A father with his children
by Cardinal Francis George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

During Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States, every moment was programmed, every event scheduled, every person instructed so that everything came together as planned and as necessary.

Watching the visit unfold hour by hour within the net of security and the prescriptions of the Pope’s staff was fascinating; but even more fascinating was watching the Pope as he broke out, at odd moments, to respond to those who had come to see him.

He responded with unexpected spontaneity to the seminarians and young religious at Dunwoodie Seminary in New York.

He responded with quiet tenderness to the disabled children and their parents and caregivers in the seminary chapel, taking time to be personally present to each person in ways that he or she might be able to grasp.

Early on in his visit, he responded with good humor to the children who had come to greet him as he left the Apostolic Nunciature to begin the day’s program.

Children from the Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of Washington had gathered outside the Nunciature to greet the Pope as he began his visit. He would not have time to come to any school, so they came to him. It was his birthday, and they sang “Happy Birthday” in German!

The Pope stopped as he came down the stairs and looked at the children, mostly African American and Hispanic. Then he went to them and greeted them, telling them how exact their German pronunciation was.

He left his entourage waiting until he had greeted them all, a father with his children, each going out of his or her way to honor the other.


Healing compassion
by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley
Archbishop of Boston

Prior to Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States in 2008, much discussion took place about whether or not the Holy Father would address the clergy sexual abuse crisis. Once the Pope arrived, his words and actions made clear that he would not avoid this painful reality.

In the midst of Pope Benedict’s second day in Washington, two of my colleagues from the Archdiocese of Boston and five survivors of clergy sexual abuse gathered in the chapel at the Vatican embassy for what turned out to be a historic and pivotal meeting with the Pope.

We spoke with the Holy Father about the impact of the abuse crisis and heard his message of hope and reconciliation. For many Catholics in the United States, and members of the wider community, this meeting was the high point of the papal visit and one of the Holy Father’s most important actions.

During our very prayerful and emotional encounter with the Holy Father, we were blessed with an extraordinary opportunity to witness Pope Benedict not only as the leader of our Church, but as our pastor.

The Holy Father took care to address each person individually and provided the survivors the time to speak freely. It was evident that at times they shared their painful experiences in a whisper. The Holy Father listened intently, often clasping the survivors’ hands, and responded tenderly and reassuringly.

One of the survivors, unable to find words, conveyed her heartache through tears that spoke volumes with her sounds of sorrow. Though we would not hear the Pope’s private conversation with the woman, by observing her moving from tears to a calmed, smiling expression, we knew that the Pope had gently comforted her.

Later that day, she shared with us that the Holy Father had offered his congratulations on learning that she would soon be married. In doing so, the Holy Father helped her to experience a healing moment and to see a future that would hold the promise of renewed hope and joy.


Concern for the flock
by Mons. Gregory M. Aymond
Archbishop of New Orleans

Each time I have met Pope Benedict I find him most personable, and he has extremely effective eye contact. His humility has impressed me as he always asks for prayers in order that he may carry out his ministry effectively.

Most recently, I had the opportunity to meet him the day after receiving the pallium for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. I went up to him and said, “Holy Father, I bring you the affection and the respect of the people of the Archdiocese of New Orleans.”

Quickly, he said, “What is the situation there? Is the rebuilding continuing?” I answered his question and then he said, “Please assure them of my prayers.”

Obviously, he is a man of compassion and humility. As the Successor of Peter, he remembers many things that happen in various local churches and expresses that concern.


Bringing him a piece of home
by Mons. Robert J. Carlson
Archbishop of St. Louis

I have had the privilege of meeting His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on three different occasions — at the Pallium Mass in 2009, a general audience in October 2008, and a private meeting in the spring of 2006.

It was then that I had just finished a pilgrimage from Germany to Poland, and among the places visited was the birthplace of Pope Benedict XVI in Marktl Am Inn, Germany.

Stopping in Rome on the way back to the United States, I had the opportunity to meet with the Holy Father; but, because the meeting was not planned, I had nothing to give him.

Looking through my luggage, I noticed a small booklet, bearing an official stamp, from the parish where he was baptized.

It was immediately obvious he was not familiar with some of the pictures, and a tender moment occurred as his eyes captured that precious time in his life.

It is that same joy and tenderness that he shares with you each time he meets you in crowds large and small.


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Damian Thompson has written one of the best commentaries I have read so far on LOTW, despite some initial statements that I disagree with.
One truly welcomes and appreciates what he is capable of whenever he sets aside his usual 'ferret'approach.



Benedict XVI has put the Church's penance
for sex abuse at the heart of his pontificate


December 1st, 2010

The controversy over condoms has overshadowed many extraordinary things Benedict XVI says in Light of the World. Earlier this week I read the book from cover to cover and it didn’t change my view that the Pope is prepared to tolerate – let’s put it no stronger than that – the use of condoms to prevent the spread of disease. If I’d encountered the relevant passage without warning but in context, my jaw would still have dropped open. But enough on that subject. There are other surprises.

Let me offer a specific observation about Light of the World and a general one. No doubt I’ll get my throat ripped out again, especially by traditionalists, but perhaps that’s inevitable. Pope Benedict’s interview with Peter Seewald is an unsettling document, and not just because the concept of the Supreme Pontiff “in conversation with…” is intrinsically strange. [Why? That's part of Benedict XVI's personal daring, which rests on his quiet confidence that to the best of his ability, he can answer anyone, from a six-year-old kid puzzled about how Jesus can be present in the Eucharist, to Germany's leading contemporary philosopher, on his interlocutor's terms.]

First, the specific point. The Holy Father has done more than take to heart the horrified outrage created by Catholic child abuse scandals, much of it directed at him. He has placed this crisis at the heart of his pontificate.

He is aware, of course, of the malice of commentators who tried to frame him for other people’s crimes, but doesn’t dwell on it. He is more robust in defending Church authorities who did institute effective guidelines against abuse; he also speaks up for innocent priests and faithful burdened with collective guilt.

But when Seewald throws a bunch of statistics at him demonstrating that paedophilia is statistically rare among Catholic clergy, he says: “If you look at the real statistics, that does not authorise us to look away from the problem or to minimise it.”

Far from looking away from the problem, Benedict takes Light of the World as an opportunity to stare it in the face. He realises that his pontificate has been damaged by the scandals and takes a step back to survey that damage unflinchingly.

He observes that “evil will always be part of the mystery of the Church” – a statement so disturbing that, if a parish priest were to drop it into the middle of his Sunday sermon, folk in the pews might think he had gone mad or was playing with heresy. [Why? The Church has always taught that we are all sinners, and that is why we must continually try to avoid sin or atone for it and try to 'sin no more'.]

The Pope doesn’t promise to solve this mystery for us, but he outlines a possible interpretation of a sickening coincidence: that the revelations of “filth” reached their peak during the Year for Priests. He wants to help Catholics understand God’s purpose in allowing the Church to appear contemptible even in the eyes of well-meaning people. Here’s the key quote:

One might think that the devil could not stand the Year for Priests and therefore threw this filth in our faces. As it wanted to show the world how much filth there was, even and precisely among priests.

On the other hand, one could say that the Lord wanted to test us and to call us to a deeper purification, so that we would not celebrate the Year for Priests in a triumphalist way, as self-glorification, but rather as a year of purification, of interior renewal, transformation, and above all penance.

This isn’t a self-exculpatory message. Rightly, Benedict does not accept responsibility – personally, or on behalf of the Church – for imaginary crimes of omission: the fact that the media ignored the Church’s condemnations of sex abuse, publication of guidelines and legal proceedings against errant clergy does not mean that these measures were never taken.

What he does acknowledge is responsibility for failures to act against crimes that occurred on his watch, as it were, when his remit at the CDF had been expanded to cover these cases.

“Unfortunately we addressed these things very slowly and too late,” he says of Marcial Maciel, the abusive and sexually incontinent founder of the Legionaries of Christ.

There’s a wider point, though, which is that the exposure of disgusting acts, most of which took place decades ago, is a humiliation that God is inflicting on the Church in order to purify it.

And here we do glimpse the uncompromising toughness of Joseph Ratzinger’s earlier writings, and indeed his earlier conversations with Seewald. For one of the things that God is purifying the Church from, he suggests, is the moral relativism that encouraged priests with abusive urges to express them – and persuaded the Church authorities that the “loving” response to outrages was to hush things up.

This liberal mindset led to “an odd darkening of the mind, even in very good people”. (Intriguingly, Pope Benedict implies that this explanation for what went wrong was offered to him by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, who is notably more liberal than many of his episcopal colleagues.)

There’s a certain bravery, I think, in presenting the exposure of “filth” as a heaven-sent opportunity to reform the Church: the message could easily be misinterpreted by the secular world.

Also, are Catholic liberals – who still dominate the bishops’ conferences of Europe – really prepared to implement the precise “purification” that Benedict envisages?

The Pope uses Light of the World to reiterate the ruling that homosexual orientation should be a bar to ordination: he doesn’t say so, but the very high proportion of scandals involving gay clergy seems to have confirmed his belief that the risk of ordaining even the most patently holy homosexual is too great.

That is not the view of most European bishops or seminary directors, who may be persuaded to tighten screening but aren’t prepared to act as thought police (as they might put it); also, they won’t like the depiction of homosexuality as a “contrary to the essence of what God originally willed”.

Viewed as a whole, Light of the World is a dazzling synthesis of the Pope’s own thought, that of his beloved predecessor John Paul II, and of course the Magisterium.

This is an 83-year-old man troubled by some of the failures of his pontificate but as intellectually and spiritually confident as he has ever been. There are startling moments of aggiornamento, such as the apparent clarification of the morality of using condoms to prevent disease; but the changes to Catholic teaching on birth control, homosexuality and women’s ordination that were so plausible to liberals in the 1970s now seem unthinkable.

Also, this Pope understands that he doesn’t have the authority to change his own authority, as it were – the papal claims aren’t bargaining chips. Nor can he turn Anglicanism into a Church as Rome understands the concept: as he points out, the phrase “ecclesial community” comes from Vatican II.

Yet, if the Pope isn’t willing to gloss over hard truths in order to win liberal approval, he’s also careful not to throw bouquets in the direction of his long-standing admirers.

And that’s my more general observation about Light of the World: that, in a number of places, Benedict XVI distances himself from the Papa Ratzinger of traditionalist legend. Scattered throughout the book are phrases that will make certain conservatives wince while they applaud its overall message.

Summorum Pontificum is affirmed, but there’s no sense of it as a foundation for wider liturgical reform: when the Pope talks about why he changed the “offensive” Good Friday prayer for the Jews, he reminds us that it only affected “the small circle of people who use the old missal”.

And, on the subject of Richard Williamson, the Pope points out that because he was “an Anglican and then went over directly to Lefebvre” this means that he had “never lived in the great Church” – indeed, was “never Catholic in the proper sense”.

Traditionalists who admire the SSPX won’t like that choice of words at all. Nor will they appreciate the inspiration Benedict XVI clearly derives from the figure of Paul VI.

Still, at least Light of the World is untouched by the despair verging on self-pity that coloured many of Pope Paul’s later utterances. He famously watched the “smoke of Satan” drifting into the sanctuary and wondered what he’d done wrong.

Benedict sees “filth” but decides to approach it as a challenge sent by God rather than as a trick of the Devil’s. Such optimism in the face of horrible crimes will offend some people; I think it’s evidence of courage and spiritual greatness.


The fact of Joseph Ratzinger's spirituality and personal holiness is hardly ever acknowledged or even factored in by most Vatican reporters and commentators. And yet, if one reads through the testimonials of the cardinals who took part in the 2005 Conclave and voted for him, his 'unquestionale personal holiness' was one of the main factors they thought qualified him to be Pope.

Even his students from his early days as a professor recall that unlike other theology professors who seem to have stopped being priests, he said daily Mass and performed his priestly office 'religiously'.... And of course, he can speak so well about Jesus and relating to him because he speaks from experience. Or as Peter Seewald put it, "he has seen the Light of the world, and he reflects his light".



Here is another commentary I appreciate - because the priest-writer sees clearly the distinction between, on the one hand, the pastoral content and intent of the Holy Father's remarks on condom use, and, on the other, Church teaching against artificial contraception. Seen this way, there is no way you could interpret what the Pope said as a 'maybe'... Most of the various explanations and clarifications so far, supposedly based on moral theology, and are so convoluted they end up being more confusing than clarifying.


The Pope’s condom comment
was pastoral insight, not permission

By Rev. Michael P. Orsi

Dec. 1, 2010

Pope Benedict’s comment in Light of the World - that “there may be a basis in the case of some individuals, as perhaps when a male prostitute uses a condom, where this can be a step in the direction of a moralization, a first assumption of responsibility, or the way toward recognizing an awareness that not everything is allowed and that one cannot do whatever one wants” - has caused some to perceive an opening in the Catholic Church’s long standing condemnation of condoms as a prophylactic against the spread of HIV AIDS.

It is, however, a pastoral insight into possible awareness on the part of a hypothetical “male prostitute,” or by extension, anyone involved in illicit sexual activity, that how the human body is employed has both personal and social consequences.

The use of a condom is judged by the Church to be evil because the intention of the persons sexually involved violates the natural law. In conjugal relations between a husband and wife it prevents conception which is the primary purpose of the marriage act.

In extra-marital sex, both heterosexual and homosexual, the use of a condom is in effect superfluous to the evil for which it is used.

Therefore, under no circumstances can the Church or the Pope give permission for their usage since it would implicitly condone the immoral act for which the condom is being used. And, to be sure, the Pope did not do so in his interview for the book.

Then, what did Benedict say?

As pastor of souls, the Pope realizes that a serious component in assessing a human action is the intention of the person. He also knows that personal righteousness is a process. Like any moral teacher, he looks for signs indicative of a growing awareness of an individual’s responsibility for their behavior. Sin, by its very nature, is self-centered.

Thus, while there is no doubt that the objective action of using a condom is always wrong, the use of a condom by a male prostitute to protect a client from a deadly disease may signal the beginning of a moral sense that goes beyond the self.

The Pope says that this may be “a first step on the road towards a more human sexuality.” The sought after end of this process in Benedict’s mind is fully moral behavior within marriage and abstaining from illicit sexual relations outside of marriage.

Some groups are touting the Pope’s remarks as a revolutionary shift in the Church’s approach to AIDS prevention. This is either wishful thinking or downright manipulation of his words to promote an agenda which advances a belief that human sexual activity is amoral or simply mechanistic and designed for pleasure.

The Pope has continually reiterated that the Church is opposed to widespread use of condoms [dependence on condoms, in fact] to fight AIDS, because, as he says in the book, condoms imply "a banalization of sexuality.” Government and extra-governmental organizations such as UNAIDS, the United Nations’ AIDS relief agency that distribute condoms, do just this.

Further, the Pope’s words cannot be taken as a concession to those who believe that the spread of AIDS can be reduced by condom usage. Those who make these claims are using data which is at best tenuous if not wishful since they presume ideal conditions for effectiveness.

Reasonable people, like the Pope, recognize that all sex outside of marriage is irresponsible. It is often dangerous physically, harmful emotionally, and always deadly spiritually.

This being so, the Pope could never give permission for condom usage in any circumstance. Pope Benedict’s words, if anything, reflect the hope that a person’s concern for another human being may eventually develop into a fully moral way of living.


Sandro Magister has a chiesa article today that I will simply link to,
chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1345793?eng=y
as I have absolutely no desire nor energy to interpose multiple objections to the premise for the article and all the specific examples it cites. I do not think it serves any purpose to stoke the intramurals that have developed among the Catholic chatterati who have diametrically opposed interpretations of the Pope's remarks. And I particularly find it distasteful to purvey the disrespectful statements against Benedict XVI by some who are more Popish than the sternest Pope you could think of. They ought to learn decorum from the FSSPX in the way the latter have chosen to comment on this issue.


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I was girding myself to do a difficult translation of a very significant article coming out in tomorrow's issue of the OR, but thank God I did a search first if it had already been reported even in abbreviated form in English. Because sure enough, John Allen has an instant piece on it, having been given an English translation of the texts by Fr. Lombardi. So read on, to begin with and for now, while I check whether all the points in the OR article have been properly reported. I doubt this is a story that the New York Times or AP will pick up because it is soooooo not according to their script!

Allen's title is "Vatican offers ‘smoking gun’ to defend Pope’s record on sex abuse" - which is an editorial conclusion, not a statement of the objective facts. Of course, it could be he is bending over backwards for the benefit of his bosses at NCRep, or it may be his own special brand of malice masquerading as 'objectivity'... So I am replacing it with something that is more faithful to what it is about...


Ratzinger pressed for canon law changes in 1988
that would facilitate punishing miscreant priests

by John L Allen Jr

Dec. 01, 2010


Amid ongoing debate over Pope Benedict XVI’s role in the sexual abuse crisis, the Vatican today claimed [Claimed??? The whole point is the existence of documentary proof!] that a newly unearthed piece of correspondence shows that as far back as 1988, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger pressed Rome to adopt “swifter and more simplified procedures” for punishing priests guilty of “grave and scandalous” conduct.

The conduct Ratzinger had in mind, the Vatican implied, included the sexual abuse of minors.

Ratzinger's recommendation was not adopted at the time, a senior Vatican official said, because of stalled debates over the penal section of the church’s Code of Canon Law. Yet Ratzinger kept at it, the official asserted, and today his suggested reforms have largely become binding Church law.

The revelation came in an essay authored by Spanish Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the number two official at the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, which was published today in slightly abbreviated form by the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, and is scheduled for full publication tomorrow in the semi-official journal La Civiltà Cattolica.

Such high-profile play suggests that the Vatican regards Ratzinger’s 1988 letter as a sort of positive “smoking gun,” demonstrating that the future Pope grasped the seriousness of the sex abuse crisis far earlier than previously believed. [And what is wrong with that? What a cheap, gratuitous and completely unwarranted dig! By the way, there was more than one letter from Cardinal Ratzinger. In fact, the title of the OR art5icle is "Cardinal Ratzinger on the revision of the canonical penal system in three previously unpublished letters from 1988".]

English language versions of the essays were given to NCR by the Vatican spokesperson, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi.

Arrieta wrote that the Council for Legislative Texts has been working on a revision to the penal section of the Code of Canon Law since 2007, at the request of Benedict XVI.

In the course of research, Arrieta wrote, a February 1998 letter from then-Cardinal Ratzinger came to light. The letter was addressed to another Cardinal, José Rosalío Castillo Lara, who at the time was in charge of the Vatican office which eventually became the Council for Legislative Texts.

In the letter, Ratzinger argues that in practice, changes to the Code of Canon Law adopted in 1983 meant that bishops around the world “are likely to experience considerable difficulty” in imposing penalties on priests who commit grave crimes.

Ratzinger does not specifically cite the sexual abuse of minors, but Arrieta implies it was understood.

For “the good of the faithful,” Ratzinger writes, Castillo should consider adopting “a more rapid and simplified penal process.”

By way of background, Arrieta explains that the 1983 revision of the Code of Canon Law was intended to implement in concrete legal terms the theological vision of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

When it came to the penal section of the law, Arrieta wrote, the accent was on subsidiarity and decentralization, meaning that responsibility for imposing punishment fell largely on local bishops and religious superiors.

Moreover, Arrieta wrote, the new code contained strong due process measures to protect the rights of the accused – so much so, he said, that in hindsight, they did not always “allow the collective interest to be effectively safeguarded.”

Though Arrieta does not spell it out, one key reason that bishops around the world typically did not try to formally laicize abuser priests during the 1980s and 1990s was because the legal procedures for doing so were perceived as lengthy, cumbersome, and uncertain.

It was against that backdrop, Arrieta suggests, that Ratzinger wrote the 1988 letter.

At the time, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was responsible for handling petitions for dispensation from the obligations of priesthood. Ratzinger expressed frustration to Castillo that Church law at the time considered such a step a “grace” granted to the priest, as opposed to a penalty.

Arrieta reports that Castillo wrote back to say that changing the penal section of the law would not only “endanger the fundamental right of defense,” but it might encourage bishops to rely on “pastoral” rather than judicial solutions.

Arrieta says that just a month later, in June 1998, Pope John Paul II issued a new constitution for the Roman Curia, Pastor Bonus, which gave the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responsibility for “more serious offenses against morals.”

Arrieta implies that Ratzinger prompted that move, and wrote that “it is quite unlikely a choice of this kind ... would have been implemented if the overall system had been working well.”

Arrieta concedes that the reform was imperfect, since it was never clear exactly what these “serious offenses against morals” were, or the circumstances under which bishops were obliged to turn them over to Rome. That gap was not filled until 2001, with another document from John Paul II titled Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela.

Arrieta notes that after that document appeared, Ratzinger pressed for “special faculties” from John Paul II, essentially exceptions to his own rules, allowing abusers to be removed from the priesthood without a Church trial in especially serious cases.

Finally, Arrieta points to one additional sign of Ratzinger’s concern: His role in 1997 as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican department that oversees mission territories.

According to Arrieta, Ratzinger backed granting the congregation “special faculties” to handle crimes by priests administratively rather than through formal canonical procedures, reflecting the “scarcity of resources of every kind” in many parts of the developing world.

In sum, Arrieta wrote, the “decisive action” of the former Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in attempting to streamline the Church’s penal procedures, at least in part as a response to the scandal of sex abuse by priests, is “one of the ‘constant elements’ that have characterized his Roman years from the very first.”


For now, here is a translation of Cardinal Ratzinger's first letter to Cardinal Castillo and the latter's reply, because other correspondence and Curial branches are involved before Cardinal Ratzinger's next letter. (Translation is more difficult for me when it involves technical matters - of law, in this case - because I first have to make sure I really understand what is being said!]

The point is that Cardinal Ratzinger was aware from personal knowledge that bishops were not exercising their judicial authority with regard to priests accused of serious offenses even if found guilty - the very same failure of administrative will by bishops that he cites in LOTW, quoting Archbishop Martin of Dublin who said that this failure to apply existing provisions of canon law became prevalent in Ireland since the 1960s out of a mistaken idea of 'pastoral loving'.


February 18, 1998

Eminence, this Dicastery, in examining the petitions for dispensation from priestly responsibilities, comes across cases of priests who, during the exercise of their ministry, are found guilty of grave and scandalous behaviors, for which the appropriate procedure according to the Code of Canon Law is the application of certain penalties, not excluding reduction to the lay state.

Such provisions, in the judgment of this Dicastery, should, in certain cases, for the good of the faithful, precede the eventual concession of the dispensation from the priesthood which, by its nature, is configured as a 'grace' in favor of the requester.

But given the complexity of the procedures provided for in the Codex, it is foreseeable that some bishops will meet not a few difficulties in carrying them out.


Therefore, I would be grateful to Your Most REverend Eminence if you couldlet me know your valuable opinion on the eventual possibility of providing, in certain cases, a more rapid and simplified procedure
.


The answer came back within three weeks:

I understand the concern of Your Eminence over the fact that the bishops concerned have not exercised their judicial powers to adequately punish such crimes, in order to protect the common good of the faithful.

However, the problem does not seem to be the juridical procedure but the responsible exercise of the function of government.
In the current Code the crimes which can lead to the loss of the priestly state are clearly defined: They are configured to Canons
1364 1, 1367, 1370, 1387, 1394 and 1395.

At the same time, the procedure has been simplified compared to the previous norm of the 1917 Code, thus making it faster and more streamlined, so as to encourage bishops in the exercise of their authority by granting the necessary justice to the guilty and applying the prescribed sanctions.

To seek to further simplify the judicial procedure for inflicting or declaring sanctions as serious as dismissal from the clerical state, or to change the actual norm of 1342-2 which prohibits proceeding in these cases with an extra-judicial administrative decree (cfr can, 1720), does not seem convenient.

In fact, on the one hand, one would imperil the fundamental right of defense - in cases that concern the status of the accused; while on the other hand, it would favor the tendency - probably for lack of due knowledge or respect for the law - to an equivocal governance that is so-called 'pastoral', but which is basically not pastoral because it leads to neglecting the due exercise of authority, with resulting damage to the common good of the faithful.

Even in other difficult periods in the life of the Church, of confused consciences and relaxation of ecclesiastical discipline, pasotrs have not failed to exercise their judicial authority in order to protect the supreme good of salus animarum
[the salvation of souls]. Apparently not in the period from the 1960s 0n (i.e., post Vatican II, post 1968 'anything goes' mentality)!




12/2/10
Sandro Magister comments on the letters in his blog today. I will translate later.
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Wednesday, Dec. 2
First Week of Advent


BLESSED RAFAL CHYLINSKI (Poland, 1694-1741)
Franciscan
Jesuit-educated, Rafal became a cavalry officer before joining
the conventual Franciscans in 1715. After being assigned to
nine different cities, he ended up in Lageniewski where he
served to the end of his life. He was known for his simple
and candid sermons and for his holy ministry. After his death,
the church he served immediately became a place for pilgrimage.
He was beatified in 1991.



OR today.

At the General Audience dedicated to St. Julian of Norwich:
The Pope asks the faithful to pray for the bishops and Catholics of China
He meets a group of victims from the terrorist attack on a Baghdad church last month (left photo below)

Right photo, the Holy Father met the President of Equatorial Guinea after the GA.
Other Page 1 stories: A lengthy essay on forthcoming additional revisions to streamline canon law for dealing with priest offenders includes three letters written by Cardinal Ratzinger in 1988 urging specific changes (see preceding post); Cardinal Bertone's address calling on the international community to fight anti-Christian discrimination around the world, at the current summit of the European Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) meeting in Kazakhstan; unknown snipers kill a young Christian and wound his brother in a street shooting in Mosul; and South Korea fears new artillery attacks from North Korea.


THE POPE'S DAY

At 7:30 a.m., the Holy Father celebrated a commemorative Mass for Manuela Camagni of the pontifical family
at the Pauline Chapel.* Homily in Italian.

Later, he met with

- H.E. Gábor Győriványi, Ambassador from Hungary, who presented his credentials. Address in German.

- Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, Archbishop of Paris and President of the French bishops' conference,
with his two vice presidents Mons. Laurent Ulrich, Archbishop of Lille, and Mons. Hippolyte Simon,
Archbishop of Clermont; and the secretary general, Mons. Antoine Hérouard;

- Eight Philippine bishops on ad-limina visit (Group 3). Individual meetings.


*Words cannot express enough one's appreciation of the Holy Father's gestures and words of affection and grief for the loss of a member of his papal family. It really is the best 'objective correlative' to the warm humanity that emerges so radiantly in Light of the World.



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