BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

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ANGELUS TODAY



Pope prays for victims
of Japanese earthquake


13 MARCH 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict XVI prayed for the victims of Japan’s tragic earthquake and tsunami during his Sunday Angelus. Speaking from his window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, he said the images of the events in Japan have deeply moved him.

“As I greet you this morning, I ask you to join me in praying for the victims of the recent devastation visited upon Japan. May the bereaved and injured be comforted and may the rescue workers be strengthened in their efforts to assist the courageous Japanese people,” he said.

Before reciting the Angelus, the Pope spoke about the Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent, which tells of the temptation of Jesus in the desert by Satan.

The Holy Father also announced that he will be joining members of the Roman Curia for the annual Lenten spiritual exercises this week at the Vatican's Redemptoris Mater chapel. He asked everyone to remember them in his prayers.

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

---

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This is the First Sunday of Lent, the liturgical Season of 40 days which constitutes a spiritual journey in the Church of preparation for Easter.

Essentially it is a matter of following Jesus who is walking resolutely towards the Cross, the culmination of his mission of salvation. If we ask ourselves: "Why Lent? Why the Cross?", the answer in radical terms is this: because evil exists, indeed sin, which according to the Scriptures is the profound cause of all evil.

However, this affirmation is far from taken for granted, and the very word "sin" is not accepted by many because it implies a religious vision of the world and of the human being.

In fact it is true: if God is eliminated from the world's horizon, one cannot speak of sin. As when the sun is hidden, shadows disappear. Shadows only appear if the sun is out; hence the eclipse of God necessarily entails the eclipse of sin.

Therefore the sense of sin - which is something different from the "sense of guilt" as psychology understands it - is acquired by rediscovering the sense of God.

This is expressed by the Miserere Psalm, attributed to King David on the occasion of his double sin of adultery and homicide: "Against you", David says, addressing God, "against you only have I sinned"(Ps 51[50]:6).

In the face of moral evil God's attitude is to oppose sin and to save the sinner. God does not tolerate evil because he is Love, Justice and Fidelity; and for this very reason he does not desire the death of the sinner but wants the sinner to convert and to live.

To save humanity God intervenes: we see him throughout the history of the Jewish people, beginning with the liberation from Egypt. God is determined to deliver his children from slavery in order to lead them to freedom. And the most serious and profound slavery is precisely that of sin.

For this reason God sent his Son into the world: to set men and women free from the domination of Satan, "the origin and cause of every sin". God sent him in our mortal flesh so that he might become a victim of expiation, dying for us on the Cross.

The Devil opposed this definitive and universal plan of salvation with all his might, as is shown in particular in the Gospel of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness which is proclaimed every year on the First Sunday of Lent.

In fact, entering this liturgical season means continuously taking Christ's side against sin, facing - both as individuals and as Church - the spiritual fight against the spirit of evil each time (Ash Wednesday, Opening Prayer).

Let us therefore invoke the maternal help of Mary Most Holy for the Lenten journey that has just begun, so that it may be rich in fruits of conversion. I ask for special remembrance in prayer for myself and for my co-workers in the Roman Curia, as we shall begin the week of Spiritual Exercises this evening .

After the prayers, the Pope said this:

As I greet you this morning, I ask you to join me in praying for the victims of the recent devastation visited upon Japan. May the bereaved and injured be comforted and may the rescue workers be strengthened in their efforts to assist the courageous Japanese people.

...Entrusting all of you to the care of Mary, Mother of the Church, I invoke upon you and your loved ones the Blessings of Almighty God. I wish everyone a good Sunday and a good Lenten journey. Thank you.

---

Pope's personal contribution
for Japanese aid fund


13 MARCH 2011 (RV) - At the weekend, Pope Benedict XVI sent a charitable donation of $100,000 from the Pope's fund for charity to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan to help victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the Asian nation last Friday.

In addition, Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, an official at the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Vatican office responsible for papal donations to charities, told Vatican Radio’s Tracey McClure that they are working closely with the bishops, Caritas Internationalis and other aid organisations to determine how to respond to the greatest needs of Japan’s people.

Calling it “a major tragedy,” Msgr. Figueiredo cited Japan as the latest in a string of major disasters, including the 2004 tsunami in Asia, a devastating earthquake and flooding in Pakistan and the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti a little more than a year ago.

“The first thing we must do is really to pray… for these people to give them hope.” He said.

“Obviously, material, concrete aid is necessary. The Holy Father has sent through this Pontifical Council the sum of one hundred thousand dollars to the (Japanese) Bishops’ Conference simply because this is the quickest way the funds can get to those dioceses most affected. Also the bishops are the first responsible for charity in the diocese and they know the needs of the people.”

“We are keeping a close monitor on the needs… Often there’s the immediate response which is good. The Holy Father himself asked for this immediate response. But then in time, the tragedy is often forgotten. This is what we experienced in Haiti… so the Church wants to be there not only in the short term but especially in the long term where many of the secular agencies have gone and there’s no one to help.”

Pope begins Lenten retreat,
stresses Lenten battle against evil
By Cindy Wooden


VATICAN CITY, March 13 (CNS) – Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics for their prayers as he began his weeklong Lenten retreat March 13.

Before reciting the Angelus prayer at midday with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, he also prayed that Mary would intercede to help everyone have a Lent that is “rich in the fruits of conversion.”

Carmelite Father Francois-Marie Lethel, a theology professor and the secretary of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, was chosen to preach the retreat March 13-19 for Pope Benedict and top Vatican officials. The French priest’s topic was to be “The Light of Christ in the Heart of the Church: John Paul II and the Theology of Saints.”

In his main Angelus address, Pope Benedict discussed the Gospel story of the temptation of Jesus in the desert.

The Pope said the story is a reminder that evil and sin really do exist.

In modern societies where people pretend that God does not exist, it is logical that they do not think there is such a thing as sin or evil either, he said.

Just as there are only shadows when the sun or another light is shining, “so the eclipse of God necessarily leads to the eclipse of sin,” the Pope said.

God sent his only son to take on human flesh and then to die for the salvation of all, he said, but “the devil, with all his strength, opposes this plan of definitive and universal salvation.”

Setting out on the Lenten journey of conversion, the Pope said, Christians make a commitment “to take Jesus’ side against sin and, as individuals and as a church, to engage in spiritual battle against the spirit of evil.”


Benedict XVI starts retreat


ROME, MARCH 12, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI and the members of the Roman Curia will spend the first week of Lent in prayer and meditation during annual Lenten spiritual exercises, this year focused on John Paul II and the theology of the saints.

Discalced Carmelite Father François-Marie Léthel will preach the March 13-19 retreat. Father Léthel is a professor at the Pontifical Theological Faculty (Teresianum), and prelate-secretary of the Pontifical Academy of Theology.

The exercises were to begin at 6 p.m. Sunday in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace, with Vespers, the introductory meditation, Eucharistic adoration and benediction.

The Holy Father and the Curia will join together for the Divine Office each day of the retreat, and hear three meditations daily. On the last day, which coincides with the Solemnity of St. Joseph, lauds will be celebrated at 9 a.m., followed by the closing meditation.

All papal audiences are suspended during the Pope’s retreat, including the general audience of March 16.

Monday, March 14, First Week of Lent

ST. MAXIMILIAN OF TEBESSA (Numidia [present Algeria], 274-295), Martyr
Son of a Roman commander in North Africa, he refused to join the army as required
when he turned 21, saying he could only be a soldier for Christ. For this he was beheaded.
A 'passion of Maximilian' from late antiquity recounts his purported trial but little else
is known of him. Perhaps he should be the patron saint of conscientious objectors to war.
Readings for Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031411.shtml


No OR on Mondays.


The Holy Father is on retreat until Saturday.


One year ago today, Benedict XVI attended Vespers and preached at the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Rome.


Meanwhile, the MSM were focused on this:



Apropos, the following item today, picked up by very few Anglophone outlets, sounds rather theatrical, if good PR, and in any case,appropriate. But one wonders why they did not think of such gestures last year when, on March 12, the head of the German bishops' conference met with the Holy Father to discuss how the Church in Germany planned to deal with the sudden revelation of hundreds of sex abuse charges committed by German priests and religious over the past few decades.

Germany's Roman Catholic bishops
kneel down, ask for forgiveness
over clergy abuses committed


BERLIN, March 14 (AP) - Germany's Roman Catholic bishops say they are "deeply ashamed" by the abuse of youth by clergy men and the church's failure to hold the perpetrators to account.

The country's bishops kneeled down in a symbolic gesture Monday and asked for God's forgiveness at the beginning of their annual spring meeting in the western city of Paderborn.

The head of the German Bishops Conference Robert Zollitsch said in his prayer that men of the church have abused youth and damaged their lives.

Germany, the homeland of Pope Benedict XVI, was one of several countries hit last year by a wave of allegations of abuse by clerics.

The Bishops Conference said last month it planned to offer up to €5,000 ($6,900) to those abused by clergy or church officials while they were minors.

JON-2 blogsite releases audio and transcript
of scholars' teleconference on the book

March 14, 2011

On the eve of the worldwide release last week of Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week, an unprecedented tele-press conference featured a renowned interfaith group of biblical scholars and theologians discussing the Pope, the book, and its impact on the figure of Jesus.

The panel included
- Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, founder and publisher of Ignatius Press and a former student of then-Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI);
- Dr. Jacob Neusner of Bard College, author of A Rabbi Talks With Jesus;
- Dr. Craig A. Evans of Acadia University's (Canada) Acadia Divinity College and co-author of Jesus, The Last Days;
- Fr. Thomas G. Weinandy, OFMCap, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Doctrine;
- Dr. Brant Pitre of Notre Dame Seminary (Louisiana) and author of Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper;
- Dr. Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary (Kentucky) and author of The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth; and
- Mark Brumley, president and CEO of Ignatius Press and author of the study guides for both of Benedict XVI's volumes on Christ's life.

The entire conference may be heard on
www.ignatius.com/promotions/jesus-of-nazareth/downloads/Tele-PressConferenceJesusOfNazarethHolyWeek2011Mar...
And the entire transcript may be read on
www.ignatius.com/promotions/jesus-of-nazareth/downloads/Tele-PressConferenceTranscriptJesusOfNazarethHolyWeek2011Mar...

Highlights of the teleconference were reported in a ZENIT story after the Vatican presentation of the book:

Pontiff's book marks many 'firsts'
By Anna Maria Basquez


ROME, MARCH 11, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI's latest book marks the first time a Pope has written so extensively on the life of Christ, as well as the first time a Pontiff has engaged modern historical scholarship, says the president of the publisher of the English-language translation of the Holy Father's new book.

Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week -- From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection, was presented Thursday in the Vatican. The Vatican Publishing House published the book in Italian, and Ignatius Press published it in English. It was also released by various publishers in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Polish.

Mark Brumley, president and CEO at Ignatius, said in comments to ZENIT that there are a number of factors that may make the book historic.

"There are a number of 'firsts' here. It's the first time a Pope has written a book with this much depth on Jesus; it's the first time the Pope has engaged modern historical scholarship; and this is the first time the Pope has balanced out the method of historical scholarship with a broader theological approach to the Bible," Brumley said. "Those are three significant firsts."

On Wednesday, Ignatius organized a conference call with leading theologians and clergy to discuss the volume.

Brant Pitre, Catholic theologian and professor of sacred Scripture at Notre Dame Seminary, noted during the discussion that the Holy Father's new book answers the Second Vatican Council's call for biblical renewal.

"One of the other renewals which [...] sometimes gets less press, that the Vatican II, called for was a Biblical renewal to really make sacred Scripture the soul of sacred theology, and to unite history and faith in the interpretation of sacred Scripture," Pitre said. "In the same way that Paul VI was the one who implemented the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, and you can say John Paul II really built upon the social teachings of Vatican II and other writings, so too Benedict XVI is really the Pope of the second Vatican Council when it comes to sacred Scripture.

"He sees himself exclusively as implementing the directives of Vatican II with regard to how Catholics read the Bible, how we interpret Scripture, both with history, language, culture and literature, but uniting those to tradition, to dogma and to the canon and the sacred Scripture."

Father Thomas Weinandy, executive director for the Secretariat of Doctrine at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told ZENIT that Benedict XVI's book is a "new genre" of Pontifical writing.

"This is the first time to my knowledge that a Pope, during his pontificate, has written now two books on Jesus in a scholarly yet contemplative manner and published them," Weinandy said.

He noted that the Pontiff wrote the book as both a pastor and a scholar, "speaking as a theologian, but trying at the same time to address the scholarly community, and also to address the ordinary person so they would come to know the true Gospel, the mystery of faith better."

Protestant biblical scholar Ben Witherington III, a professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky and at St. Andrews University in Scotland, said during the teleconference that he did not think the book could have been written before Vatican II.

"I've spent a lot of time in Jesus scholarship and writing books about Jesus, and one of the things I have seen in the (guild) of biblical scholars worldwide is that Catholic and Protestant (exegy) have come closer and closer together in their understanding of both historical Jesus and the Christ of faith, and then worked together to better understanding," Witherington explained.

"And I think this book is a very significant book that does precisely that, it helps us both with our knowledge and understanding of Jesus from a historical and critical point of view, but also with our faith. You see knowledge and vital piety in this book, and it’s a very welcome sight indeed."

Pitre said in his comments during the discussion that he thought the implications of the book "are broad both for ecumenical directives in terms of unity between the Christians and finding common ground in Scripture, but also in calling for a real return to Scripture in the lives of Catholic faithful."

Brumley added: "Reading this book helps Christians, especially Protestants and Catholics, and Christians and Jews, and believers and unbelievers overcome unnecessary differences, differences that arise from misunderstandings, misreading, and I would say even within our own Christian tradition misreading of the Gospel passages.

"The (Holy Father) did a great job of summarizing one of those misreadings, but also -- our differences will be clearer. And I think that actually serves the cause of unity."

891 adults prepare to become
Catholics at Westminster Cathedral

14 March 2011


Archbishop Nichols outside Westminster Cathedral after the service with RCIA candidates.

891 adults have taken part in ’Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion of Candidates’ ceremonies at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 March 2011 as they prepare to become Catholics.

They included 829 adults from 144 parishes in the Diocese of Westminster.

At the same time, 62 adults who will become Catholics as part of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham celebrated their call to continuing conversion on their journey to being received into the full communion of the Catholic Church.

The ceremonies were presided over by the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols. Auxiliary Bishops of Westminster, Bishop John Arnold, Bishop Alan Hopes and Bishop George Stack assisted, as did, on Saturday 12 March, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Fr Keith Newton.

Anthony Curran, Director of Catechetics for the Diocese of Westminster said:

“I often read in the paper and hear on radio and T.V. that no one believes in religion and God anymore. Yet, each year at the Rite of Election our Cathedral is full of people who want to affirm their belief in God and His Church.

"These are people who have found in the Catholic Church the presence of Christ, who invites them in their daily lives to the fullness of life that only God can bring to their lives. This year was truly a historic celebration of the Rite of Election as we were joined by the first group of candidates for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

"The celebration of the Rite of Election is a real sign to society and the Church that God is moving in the World and inspiring people to seek the face of His Son Jesus and to live by the Gospel, that He came to proclaim two thousand years ago.”

The “Rite of Election” is an ancient ceremony for adults choosing to be baptised as Catholics. The ceremony sees catechumens (those who are preparing to be baptised) ‘elected’ or chosen to receive the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and eucharist.

The Call to Continuing Conversion celebrates the desire of those baptised in other Christian traditions (candidates) to be received into full communion with the Church. All will be “sent forth” by their bishops to prepare to be received into the Church in parish churches across the Diocese of Westminster at Easter.

2011 saw 371 catechumens and 476 candidates taking part in the weekend’s ceremonies.

Two people who took part in the ‘Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion of Candidates’ ceremonies come from the parish of St Michael and St Martin in Hounslow, west London.

Kristina Smith, an accountant said:
“I work as an accountant in the City, but this doesn't define my life. What truly shapes me is the Risen Lord Jesus Christ. I was baptised and confirmed in the Anglican Church, but I went to a Catholic school. I first heard that Jesus loved me at the age of seven and I believed it. I went away from the church for a while, but returned six years ago. I never stopped believing in God but my prayer life dwindled to the occasional emergency prayer! I realised that living in a community was key to growing my faith in God. The Holy Spirit has revealed to me that the ultimate truth of Jesus Christ is to be found in the Catholic Church.”

“I have a passion for evangelism and I long to see all people turn to Christ. I enjoy Mass and I am discovering that it is rich in meaning and significance. We really appreciate all of the prayers you all kindly say for the Catechumens and Candidates. I look forward to the Easter Vigil and to becoming a full member of this community!”

Karishma Menzies, a Primary school teacher said:
“The process so far has been very inspiring, since I joined the group we’ve shared our experiences and I’ve found this very enriching. I was a protestant, a Methodist, and I was born into a Christian family, then in 2008 I got married. My husband is a practicing Catholic and I started to attend Mass with him, and I found the Catholic faith appealed to me more and more. I felt the sense of community and the spirit of the Church resonated within me. Wherever you go there is the same Mass, that sense of the familiarity and coming home. I love to go to my parish church now; they are so a warm and welcoming.”

“I’m really looking forward to the Rite of Election this weekend, and to Easter when I enter into full communion with the Church. I also feel nervous, as it’s like being born again. I have been to a Rite of Election before and found it a moving experience, so it’ll be strange to be part of it this time. Even the Rite of Signing that we have just had in our parish felt one step closer to being part of the Church, being part of a new family. I look forward to entering into that family completely, and am very excited that it won’t be too long now!”


Largest number of candidates to join Ordinariate
formally welcomed at St. George's Cathedral, Southwark
From the blog
'A RELUCTANT SINNER'

Unfortunately, I cannot find any information about the blogger, who is obviously a UK resident.



March 12 - The largest number of those entering the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham come from from South-East England, within the territory covered by the Archdiocese of Southwark.

This afternoon, the six Ordinariate groups which have been formed in South London and Kent travelled to St George's Cathedral, Southwark, to participate in the Rite of Election.

At the service, the 167 future members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham joined nearly 600 others who were there to formally begin their journey into the Catholic Church - either as catechumens seeking baptism and the sacraments of initiation, or as candidates to be fully received into communion with the Rome.

The six Ordinariate groups that were formally welcomed at the Rite of Election were: the Beckenham & Bromley Ordinariate Group - comprising of former parishioners from St Barnabas’ church, Beckenham, and led by Rev Simon Heans; the Folkestone Ordinariate Group - led by Rev Stephen Bould and including former members of St Peter's church, Folkestone; the East Kent Ordinariate Group - which represents former parishioners from St Andrew’s, Deal, and is led by Rev Christopher Lindlar; the London South Ordinariate Group - from St Agnes', Kennington Park; the Sevenoaks Ordinariate Group - led by Rev Ivan Aquilina and Deacon James Bradley and including former parishioners from St John the Baptist’s church, Sevenoaks; and the Tunbridge Wells Ordinariate Group - which is led by Rev Edward Tomlinson and represents former members of St Barnabas' church, Tunbridge Wells. It is expected that a second wave of groups will seek full communion with the Catholic Church once the Ordinariate of Our Lady is fully operational.

The Cathedral was packed for the Rite of Election, which was celebrated by the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Rev Peter Smith. He was joined by his auxiliary bishops, whilst members of the clergy sat amongst the congregation, with their candidates.

The liturgy, especially the music, was bordering on the Evangelical, and included hymns such as "Let us build a house where love can dwell" - the type of thing that would be welcomed at Eccleston Square! Needless to say, there were no hymns by Newman, and the nearest we got to anything traditional was "Guide me, O thou great Redeemer" by the famous Welsh Calvinist-Methodist, William Williams!

The Rite itself was introduced by another "rite", namely one of "gathering and welcome" - which involved the singing of 1970's type chants and cheesy hymns.

We can only hope and pray that the former Anglicans were not put off by this afternoon's service - which seemed to encompass all that's wrong with post-Conciliar Catholic liturgy!

During the Rite, Archbishop Smith asked us to "Be ready...to be enriched by the gifts" that the members of the Ordinariate will bring to the Church. I can assure him that there are many of us who are more than ready to be enriched by their gifts - especially in matters liturgical!

It was a particular shame that the Archbishop made no reference to the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham during his homily, though what he had to say to the Diocesan candidates for reception into the Church applied as much to the Ordinariate groups.

As always, though, Archbishop Peter Smith's address was down to earth and humorous in a good way. It was also good to be at an event where so many adults were longing for the great sacrament of Baptism!

There seemed to be many Nigerian and Korean names amongst the ones being called out, and there were also quite a few Arabic or Islamic names! Now that is something to celebrate, too!



As you can see from the photos, whole families are joining the Ordinariate, as well as people of all ages. I know that Our Lady of Walsingham has a special place for them in her heart. Let us, too, who are her children, welcome our brothers and sisters with prayers, practical support and Christian charity!
Our Lady of Walsingham: pray for us!
Bl John Henry Newman: pray for us!

Tuesday, March 15, First Week of Lent

Second from left, Louise and St Vincent de Paul; center, Louise enshrined in the Paris church of the Miraculous Medal;
second from right, founder's statue in St. Peter's Basilica.
ST. LOUISE DE MARILLAC (France 1591-1660)
Widow; Founder, Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; Patron of Social Workers
Born out of wedlock to a French aristocrat, she grew up among the elite. She always wanted to be a nun, but at 22, she entered an
arranged marriage with a man who was secretary to Queen Marie de Medicis. She came to love her husband and they had a son. But
her husband fell ill and she nursed him till he died in 1625. Two years earlier, Louise had a mystic experience which convinced
her that she was destined to serve a greater purpose. At this time, her spiritual counselors were the future saint, Francis de Sales,
and her local bishop. Around the time of her husband's death, she came to know the future saint, Vincent de Paul who had already
established his Confraternities of Charity to help the poor. After four years of correspondence, he asked her to work with him.
She was 42. Beginning her work with four aristocrat friends helping out at Paris's main hospital, she eventually learned to recruit
average women whom she instructed in her way of 'ora et labora', balancing activity and prayer, as Vincent de Paul himself
advocated. They would eventually become the Daughters of Charity. She travelled throughout France to propagate their work, and
by the time she died in 1660, the Daughters had at least 40 houses in France, although they were not officially recognized as a
congregation until 1655. Vincent de Paul dies six months later. Louise was canonized in 1934, and in 1960, John XIII declared
her the patron saint of social workers. Her remains are venerated at the Church of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris.
Readings from today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031511.shtml


OR's double issue today for 3/14-3/15/11 has no papal stories. Page 1 news continues to be dominated by the Japan catastrophe,
aggravated by concerns over worst-case scenario effects in case of failure to contain the damage to the Fukushima nuclear
reactors. Also, the end of the anti-Qaddafi revolt appears near.


The Holy Father is on retreat until Saturday.


The Vatican announced a news conference on March 18 at which Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council on Culture, will brief the media on the March 24-25 events in Paris which will mark the international launching of the Church's contemporary 'Courtyard of the Gentiles', Benedict XVI's initiative to provide a platform for continuing dialog with non-believers.

March 15, 2011

For all the constant opprobrium that has been heaped gratuitously and most erroneously on Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI by those progressivists who claim to be the only genuine exponents of Vatican II, he has remained the most consistent upholder in word and deed of Vatican II in its correct hermeneutic - as a renewal of the Church in continuity with its great and rich bimillennial Tradition, and therefore with the same basic message forever as Christ taught.

Almost every important text of his cites Vatican II, and a most striking statement in his Foreword to JON-2 was the fact that his personal exegesis of Jesus from historical and Biblical sources was in line with a directive in Dei Verbum on the need to combine a faith hermeneutic with historico-critical conclusions. The following essay makes many valuable points about the uses, misuses and abuses to which Vatican II has been subjected in the past 45 years. My only objection is to some sweeping generalizations he makes about 'liberals' and 'conservatives', which are terrible labels in themselves.

Years of teaching courses on Vatican II and Ecclesiology have provided me the data of an ongoing survey that continues to produce amazingly consistent results.

The question is simple: "What is the first word that comes to mind when I say, 'Vatican II'?" Invariably the response is "renewal" and "change."

The same answer comes from countless groups of adults with whom I have reflected on the Council that Pope John Paul II described as "the gift of the Holy Spirit" to the Church of our time.

The follow-up question produces similarly consistent results, though it may be difficult to discern at first. To the question, "What kind of change?" people point first to the liturgy: Mass said in English, priest facing the assembly, laity serving as extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, communion received in the hand.

Often mentioned is the adaptation [????Hasn't it been more an 'abolition'?] of the discipline of abstinence from meat on Friday. Others point to participation on parish or diocesan pastoral or finance councils, while some refer to institutional innovations such as the synod of bishops, the International Theological Commission, and the many new pontifical councils.

Seemingly widely diverse, these examples have something in common; they are visible and institutional changes. Observable changes such as these naturally draw our attention; they are the first things we notice.

The Council, however, did not see changes as ends in themselves, but as means to something higher. The challenge is to look beyond them, or through them, to discover that more profound reality. Such a "looking beyond" is natural for Catholic faith, which perceives the Son of God in Jesus of Nazareth, and the bestowal of grace in the visible signs we call sacraments.

What is that more profound reality? It is holiness, as unchanging in its nature as doctrine, the essence of the sacraments, and the hierarchical constitution of the Church.

Holiness, that is, life in communion with God in faith, hope and charity lived in the ongoing conversion that is an unending task for the Church, is fundamentally the same in all ages. The real challenge of Vatican II is the change or renewal of hearts that in the Gospels is called metanoia.

[It is precisely the message that we hear almost day in and day out from Benedict XVI - even as all his critics and the self-proclaimed paladins of 'the spirit of Vatican I' get not get beyond their obsession to undo the entire structure of the Church to suit their ambitions, obviously unaware or uncaring that in doing so, they are forgetting the message of the Church which remains the same before or after any Council, even Vatican II. To open the Church to the modern world, as John XXIII rightly intended in convoking Vatican II did not mean demolishing it and setting up a 'new' one indistinguishable from any run-of-the-mill Protestant demonination, as all the Ameerica/Commonweal/NCReporter types and memo-writing progressivist German theologians would do if they could!!]

It is possible to get distracted, caught up in the liturgical and institutional dimension of renewal, and lose sight of the fact that these are at the service of making the Church's mission more effective.

That mission is identical to Christ's own: the reconciliation of men with God through the forgiveness of sins and justifying grace that makes those who receive it sharers in God's own life.

All the liturgical adaptations are intended to bring about that "fully conscious and active participation" [1] in the liturgy that is fundamentally a matter of the heart.

Similarly, the new expressions of the Church's ages-old faith [2] are intended to arouse faith and to convey the salvific value of what God has revealed so that modern man may discover the "meaning for life" of what the Church teaches.

And the reorganization of institutions and the establishment of new ones have as their goal to facilitate the living out of the Christian life and a more effective realization of the Church's mission [3] in which all share and for which all are responsible.

In other words, the Council's aim is to perfect the inner man, to be the agent of the conversion of the heart that produces the fruit of those immanent activities that are the very essence of religion.

"[T]he exercise of religion, of its very nature, consists before all else in those internal, voluntary and free acts whereby man sets the course of his life directly toward God" (Dignitatis Humanae, no. 3). This is reflected in the very first words of the first text promulgated by the Council:

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This sacred Council has several aims in view: it desires to impart an ever increasing vigor to the Christian life of the faithful; to adapt more suitably to the needs of our own times those institutions which are subject to change; to foster whatever can promote union among all who believe in Christ; to strengthen whatever can help to call the whole of mankind into the household of the Church" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 1).

The immanent acts, which Pope John Paul II calls "consciousness" and "attitudes," [4] are the source of the visible actions of engagement in the Church's life and mission.

Faithful to this vision, Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II have underscored that the call to holiness is the chief teaching of the Council. "This strong invitation to holiness could be regarded as the most characteristic element in the whole Magisterium of the Council, and so to say, its ultimate purpose." [5]
"It is possible to say that this call to holiness is precisely the basic charge entrusted to all the sons and daughters of the Church by a Council which intended to bring a renewal of Christian life based on the Gospel." [6] Yet the message is only now beginning to resound among the faithful.

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The following reflections are an attempt to identify and analyze some of factors that have contributed to muffling the message, and to point out the balance required in order to be faithful to the Council's teaching.

The new ecclesial awareness brought by the Council produced a kind of giddiness of activity. The Council stressed that everyone participates in the Church's mission, and there was no lack of energy for translating that into a whirlwind of activity. Cardinal Ratzinger identified the problem:

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There is a popular idea today, which can also be found among the hierarchy, that a person is only a Christian insofar as he is committed to ecclesiastical activities.

The trend is a type of ecclesiastical therapy of getting up and doing; the idea is to assign a committee to everyone or in any case, at least some commitment within the Church. It is thought that there must always be some sort of ecclesiastical activity, the Church must be spoken about or something must be done for it or within it. But a mirror which only reflects itself is no longer a mirror . . . .

It can happen that a person is continually active in ecclesiastical associations and activities but he may not be a Christian at all.

It can also happen that a person simply lives only by the Word and the Sacrament and puts the love that comes from faith into practice, without ever sitting on an ecclesiastical committee, without ever bothering about the latest in ecclesiastical politics, without ever participating in synods or voting at them. And yet, he is a true Christian.

We do not need a more human Church but a more divine one; only then will it be really human. And for this reason all that is man-made within the Church must reflect its pure character of service and withdraw in the face of what counts, the essential. [7]

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Activity is necessary, but it needs to be seen as the fruit of spiritual renewal. The implementation of the Council will be based on a proper understanding of the relation between being and action, captured in the principle operatio sequitur esse: action follows upon being.

Though the perception has been widely diffused that one must select one or the other, prayer or activism, sacramental worship or being really engaged, in the texts of Vatican II the two stand together and cannot be separated.

There always has been and always will be a priority of contemplation over action, of sacramental worship over mission, because contemplation and the liturgy are the sources of the grace that transforms our being into Christ, and it is from this renewed being that actions flow.

Thus, the priority of contemplation and worship poses no threat to action and mission, but rather assures their integrity. The Council itself offers us the necessary balance:

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It is of the essence of the Church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly equipped, eager to act and yet intent on contemplation, present in this world and yet not at home in it; and she is all these things in such wise that in her the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation, and this present world to that city yet to come, which we seek (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 2).

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It can be tempting to think that all we need in order to make the Church's mission complete is better organization, more efficient institutions, more professional conduct, the latest methods.

Recognizing the validity of a concern for effectiveness, Henri de Lubac sensed a troubling spirit that can accompany it. Is it motivated by "a pure overflowing of charity," or is it based on "this illusion . . . that it is enough to make a change of method . . . to obtain results which primarily suppose a change of heart?" [8]

Without vigilance, even a justifiable concern for efficiency can lead one to regard all elements of the Church as subject to revision based on the criterion of greatest productiveness. Doctrine and sacramental worship are then judged by their power to elicit the active participation that supposedly defines the Council's intention. This produces a new kind of hierarchy of truths that has nothing to do with the Council's understanding of the phrase. [9]

How would this affect the theology of the Eucharist, and its role in the renewal of Vatican II? A renewal in keeping with the conciliar magisterium must recognize the Eucharist as "the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, no. 10).

The Church is not built up without our activity, but that activity is essentially a cooperation with God. For this reason the edification of the Church is not solely proportioned to our labors. The fruits of our labors exceed what we can rightfully expect because the Church is built up by the Eucharist, [10] and this reminds us that its unity and mission are a gift that must be constantly received anew.

This is where the teaching of the Council on Mary takes on great pastoral significance for the Council's implementation. Mary is the model of how we must receive in order actively to take our place in God's plan.

Both the plan itself and the grace that transformed her being are God's. Her being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit in order to bear fruit for salvation, and the overshadowing of the entire Church on Pentecost in order to engage in its saving mission, indicate that all of the Church's activity must be seen as presupposing an epiclesis.

"If there is to be spiritual fruit actualizing the mystery of Christ in our lives, there must be an invocation of the Holy Spirit, epiclesis." [11]

In all these actions and for all these actions, the necessary role of an intervention of the Holy Spirit, of epiclesis, is to assure that neither the 'earthly means' nor the institution produce these actions by themselves. It is a matter of a work which is absolutely supernatural, divine and divinizing. [12]

A major casualty in this enthusiasm of activity has been a genuine apostolate and spirituality of the laity. The risk is real that the model for an active lay man or woman is holding a stable and often salaried position in the Church.

The model can include the highly visible functions of sitting on the parish council and serving as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist or performing the function of lector. The greatly increased numbers of laity involved in such functions is indeed a fruit of the Council.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of the lay faithful engages in those "voluntary and free acts whereby man sets the course of his life directly toward God," and thereby strives for holiness and builds up the kingdom of God, in relative obscurity, amidst the daily activities of family and job, social, political, economic and cultural life.

The implementation of the Council with respect to the renewal of the temporal order through the laity will require a spirituality for the laity that does full justice to the primacy of the immanent activities that animate the lay apostolate. The Council stresses those inner activities in texts such as the following:

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For all their works, prayers and apostolic endeavors, their ordinary married and family life, their daily occupations, their physical and mental relaxation, if carried out in the Spirit, and even the hardships of life, if patiently borne-all these become "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (Lumen Gentium, no. 34).

Finally all Christ's faithful, whatever be the conditions, duties and circumstances of their lives — and indeed through all these, will daily increase in holiness, if they receive all things with faith from the hand of their heavenly Father and if they cooperate with the divine will. In this temporal service, they will manifest to all men the love with which God loved the world (Lumen Gentium, no. 41).

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A distillation of the Council's teaching will provide the necessary balance between contemplation and action, sacraments and mission, and will look to Mary as the model of all ecclesial activity.

Back to word association. Students and audiences attending talks unfailingly associate a strong emphasis on the social gospel and the preferential love for the poor with the word "liberal," and a strong concern for doctrinal integrity with "conservative."

To demonstrate the inadequacy of these categories to embrace the Christian mystery, consider how it would make Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Pope John Paul II simultaneously arch-liberals and arch-conservatives.

In the two arguably most widely recognized Catholics of the last half of the last century, love for the poor and love for the truth coexist in harmony and simplicity.

In them the social gospel and doctrinal integrity do not exist in tension, but as necessary complements, even as truth and love are one in God, and the meaning of Christ's death is captured in terms of both love (Jn 15:13) and truth (Jn 18:37). To choose one at the expense of the other undermines the integrity of the one that is chosen.

Of course no Christian, let us hope, explicitly rejects either truth or love. This renders difficult the following consideration of other dichotomies between the liberal and conservative mindsets or tendencies. [13]

Notwithstanding that aligning various positions with liberal or conservative inclinations has its limitations, my informal surveys lead me to think that the general correlations retain a certain validity.

My main point is to show that both the liberal and conservative dispositions, when allowed to cross certain lines, present obstacles to the interpretation of Vatican II and to the renewal-through-conversion envisioned by it.

Vatican II was an ecclesiological council. Because ecclesiology reflects Christology, errors about Christ recur as errors about the Church.

The most fundamental errors about Christ regard the unity of his divine and human natures. Paralleling this there are two tendencies in ecclesiology. One emphasizes the divine dimension to the point of obscuring the human dimension, while the other obscures the divine dimension by over-emphasizing the human.

Though the Church is both human and divine, the distinction between the two is absolutely necessary as a condition for renewal. An overemphasis on the Church's divine element produces the pre-Vatican II reality known as triumphalism, which aligns with a conservative stance.

How can there be renewal if it is thought that virtually everything is of divine institution? Further, if the four notes of the Church are to serve as signs pointing to this divine dimension, then how can account be made of the sins of its members?

Vatican II met this question head on, always distinguishing between the divine and human aspects of the Church, and between the Church as such and the individuals that she embraces.

This fundamental distinction is also the critical principle for understanding John Paul II's candid recognition, in conjunction with the Jubilee, of the sins of the sons and daughters of the Church. This has consternated some who espouse a kind of hyper-apologia of the Church's divine constitution.

The liberal tendency is to place strong accent on the human element of the Church. In the extreme, it can be difficult to see the presence of God or the fulfillment of his promises, and it can degrade into a hyper-critical attitude toward the Church. This too makes conversion impossible, for there must be hope of a future based on God's promises and grace if conversion is to be genuinely Christian. [14]

The Council was a great examination of conscience for the Church, [15] and thus a call to conversion. Conversion presupposes the identification of sin — a judgment, self-criticism in the light of God's word.

Paul VI's great vision for the Council was that it would engage in this self-criticism in order to embrace the call to conversion. It would deepen its awareness of its own mystery by reflecting on what God has revealed about the Church.

Then it would "compare the ideal image of the Church just as Christ sees it . . . with the actual image which the Church projects today," recognizing that "the actual image of the Church is never as perfect, as lovely, as holy or as brilliant as that formative Divine Idea would wish it to be."

This would prompt conversion, prompted by "an almost impatient need for renewal, for correction of the defects which this conscience denounces and rejects." [16]

And this renewal would yield the fruit of renewed missionary activity through dialogue. As the Church deepens its being in Christ, the result will be Christ-like activity: operatio sequitur esse. Like the Lord, the Church will become more and more the one who comes to serve.

After the Council it became fashionable to criticize the Church and, for some, the process of self-criticism became an end in itself. It drifted beyond criticism of the human dimension alone, [17] and called into question elements long considered pertaining to the divine dimension.

Such criticism removes the very possibility of conversion, since it makes certitude about the truth impossible. There is no longer any measure for judgment or criticism. [18]

Rather than humbly present the Church for remolding according to the divine vision for her, this tendency resulted in remolding the Church to make her conform to the expectations of modern man [represented by themselves alone, in the view of the progressivists], a danger about which Pope Paul VI had given sufficient warning. [19]

Criticism of the Church is a delicate matter. It might be likened to the uncomfortable position in which middle-aged adults find themselves with respect to their parents. How does one balance the respect due to one's parents with the desire to assist them in dealing with their imperfections?

On the one hand, there is the objective norm of human happiness that one desires for his parents. On the other, there is the love they deserve because life itself and much more was their gift.

Unrestrained, the liberal stance stresses the individual and conscience to the point that authority is viewed with suspicion and seen as a threat. This removes the very possibility of conversion. [But conversion is a priori impossible for those who think they alone know best, that they alone are right, for whom sheer ego has become second nature obliterating their better nature!]

By its own inner logic it tends toward a separation between Christ and the Church, holding at least implicitly that it is possible to be faithful to Christ without being faithful to his Church. It is even claimed that one can be a good Catholic without adhering to what the Church teaches.

Because the claim is seldom made outright [Oh yes, it is, too, often enough! Just read all the self-righteous progressivists online and elsewhere in the liberal media!] it might be helpful to see what this stance really is when analyzed.

Let's give the name "ecclesial agnosticism" to the product of the analysis. It is a disincarnate ecclesiology. If agnostics don't deny God, they deny that he can be known, certainly that he became a man and can be identified with Jesus of Nazareth.

Similarly, without denying the existence of the Church, without even denying that the Church possesses apostolic authority to teach, one can deny that this Church can be concretely identified, or that the conditions for infallible teaching are ever realized.

But an unverifiable God cannot make demands on anyone, nor can a Church that possesses a charism of infallibility that can never be verified. The very condition of conversion, knowledge of absolute truth, becomes impossible to ascertain.

On the conservative side is the tendency to see in sound doctrine the answer to all problems. If the liberal spirit greeted the Catechism of the Catholic Church with reticence, reservation and resentment, the conservative spirit saw it as confirmation of its conviction and the perfect instrument for exposing erroneous teaching.

But before it is an instrument for judging others, it is a sure guide for one's own faith. Neither liberals nor conservatives outdo the other when it comes to personal attacks and presumption about motives.

Liberals see conservatives as afraid of change, clinging to old traditions and institutions, while conservatives see liberals as insufficiently grounded in tradition and too ready to compromise with the spirit of the day. Each can express exasperation and intolerance with respect to the other.

But the first form of intolerance should be intolerance of the sin within, which is just another way to describe conversion. The truth is certainly worth fighting for, but the first battle is within oneself.

This is the authentic renewal, and it can be obscured or put off for later when one's energies are directed towards checking the errors of others. Furthermore, Jesus teaches us that those who know the truth are called to suffer for those who do not.

While it is true that the truth is greater than any relationship, it is also a fact that the family divided two against three and three against two is not a goal but only a predictable outcome of bringing truth into a world marked by sin.

If conservatives are to be a real force for renewal in the Church, they must reinvent Christ-like service and suffering precisely for those who are in need of it.

For the liberally minded, obedience is difficult to reconcile with human dignity and can even pose a threat to it, while for the conservatively minded obedience is one of the highest virtues and reasoning can be seen as a threat to it.
[Not the way Benedict XVI explains obedience to God's will, in the various ways he maniests it, not excluding the teaching of his Church!]

Vatican II's teaching on dignity, conscience and obedience transcends these opposing tendencies, and the realization of the Council's teaching in the life of the Church will require a discovery by both parties of its balanced synthesis of these notions.

Liberals and conservatives are mistaken about the dialogue between faith and reason. Liberals tend to side with reason because this is thought to be the province of the individual and guarantee of autonomy, while conservatives side with faith. [Why is the author suddenly making such sweeping statements?]

The contrast between the caricature of the Church before Vatican II and the actual state of affairs today is striking, if not to say lamentable.

If the windows were shut because dialogue with world was a dangerous affair, running the risk of error corrupting the faith, [This generalization, too, I find questionable. In every age and time, there were always prominent Catholics, even men of the Church, from the Fathers and great medieval theologians to the pillars of the Counter-Reformation to more recent century writers like Newman and Chesgteron and contemporary theologians from Guardini to Ratzinger, who have engaged the world in productive dialog - even if much of it was necessarily apologetics] - and doing so, exposed their fellow Catholics to currents of outside thinking, without weakening their faith!] [G}today people are open to dialogue with every religion and philosophy, including those blatantly antithetical to Catholicism, yet they retain a suspicion of just one institution — the hierarchical Church. We have gone from believing that truth exists only in the Church to being disposed to finding it just about anywhere except in the Church.

Conservatives are suspicious of the dialogue. They have seen how it can corrupt the faith, and they tend toward fideism. Henri de Lubac has described this inclination as "an orthodoxy so complete and so easy of decision that it looks rather like indifference . . ." This produces a way of "submitting to dogma . . . in principle and in advance." [20]

But assent and obedience given in advance can only be to what one thinks the Church teaches. In this case, faith cannot be the light for their living. It can be venerated as from a distance, it can serve to distinguish one group from another, but it cannot put down roots in daily life.

This deficient adherence of faith "establishes its own lists of what is suspect — in the fashion of religious authority itself – and is ready to call the authority to order, if need be . . . it brands as 'liberalism' or 'modernism' every effort made to disentangle Christianity in its real purity and its perpetual youth, as if this were an abandonment of doctrine." [21]

People of this mindset can learn from Mary, who is the model of this dialogue. Her assent to the One who spoke through the angel Gabriel did not eliminate questions; rather, it gave rise to them. And she continued to ponder what she experienced.

In Mary, God's word "is not taken up rashly to be locked into a superficial first impression and then forgotten." Rather, it "is given a place of permanent abiding in which it can gradually unfold its depth."

Treasuring all that God said to her, "Mary held a conversation with the Word. She entered interiorly into a dialogue with the Word. She addressed the Word and allowed herself to be addressed by it in order to arrive at its basic meaning." [22]

The dialogue between faith and reason is born of the humility that asks if one has accurately understood what God has revealed. It is not an invitation to question the veracity of what God has revealed.

If there is good reason to be wary of this dialogue because it has produced questionable fruit since the Council, as too often the findings of the human sciences seem to have greater authority than the Church's teachings, [23] the dialogue is no less necessary.

Gaudium et Spes provides the fundamental principles that must guide this dialogue, without which both faith and reason are impoverished.

For liberals the emphasis is on relationships, and tolerance as the formula for unity. For conservatives it is on truth, doctrinal purity and visible unity that is correspondingly pure. The conservative stance disposes people to sacrifice relationships for the sake of purity of truth and unity, while the liberal inclination is toward compromising on the latter for the sake of the former.

Neither measures well against the Gospel, or against Vatican II, where truth, love and unity, as well as patience, forgiveness and reconciliation are recognized as pertaining to the Church's life and mystery.

The Church is indeed one and holy, and her unity and holiness are essentially the same as God's, since they are nothing other than a participation in the unity and holiness of God through Christ.

However, while Christ is totally without sin, the Council considers the Church's holiness "real although imperfect" (Lumen Gentium, no. 48) since "the Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal" (Lumen Gentium, no 8).

The Council's approach to unity is similar. On the one hand it is a gift from God that cannot fail, on the other hand there is a humble acknowledgement of the actual historical situation of division among Christians.

It is the task of theologians to wrestle with this conciliar teaching and do full justice to it. A one-sided emphasis on how the human element in the Church affects the realization of holiness and unity cannot deplete them of content. Nor should a one-sided emphasis on their reality obscure how sin affects their realization in the Church.

The Church is a sign of salvation inseparable but distinct from the sign that is Christ. If the Church's self-testimony is to be accurate and credible, she has no alternative but to speak about her unity and holiness as "real though imperfect." [24]

Full justice to the Council's teaching is also missing in ecclesiologies that place the realization of unity and holiness in the future, as if they are not real attributes and supernatural gifts that are properties of the Church. The reason is that the Church of Christ subsists in the Catholic Church already, and thus so do all her properties. [25]

The relationship between truth and unity brings out tendencies of both liberals and conservatives. For liberals unity is a given, and it can be preserved by being accepting of others. Truth can be the enemy of unity because truth divides. If we are free to hold our own opinions, then we can be one in that freedom that we grant one another, and the purpose of authority is above all to safeguard that freedom.

Liberals tend to see the apostolic teaching office as divisive, as a threat to unity, while conservatives see it as the guarantee of unity, since they see that there can be no unity without truth.

For conservatives, authority serves unity by drawing firm lines that cannot be crossed and by expelling those who cross them, while for liberals silence on issues claimed to be controverted is the wisest use of authority.

Liberal unity is more the absence of hostility [and analogously, peace is reduced to being merely 'the absence of war'] than it is a genuine bond based on commonly held principles. Stressing truth risks melting and dissolving unity. There is no room for conversion because the objective content of unity is so underplayed.

Conservative unity, in contrast, leaves little room for conversion by wanting a perfect unity. [A fallacious and rather unrealistic statement, since not even the staunchest traditionalists publicly advocate 'perfect unity', which is an eschatological and not an actual hope!] But if perfection comes by way of expulsion of all who are not yet perfect, there is no conversion.

These tendencies produce a set of impossible expectations for our bishops and priests. The subject requires an entirely different article, even a book. Here it suffices to observe that for both liberals and conservatives the post-Vatican II experience of pastoral leadership, and of the apostolic teaching office in particular, has been one of frustration.

For liberals, it is the frustration of interference, of close-minded and rigid adherence to an outmoded tradition that stultifies the free-blowing Holy Spirit.
[The preceding words probably deserve quotation marks, since without them, there is implied agreement with the statement. First of all, Vatican II did not do away with the apostolic teachings that came before Vatican II - not the least, the time-honored interpretations of Scripture and the message of Christ elaborated by the Church Fathers. Once again, was the Holy Spirit 'stultified' in any way in the entire legacy of doctrine that has come down us after two centuries?]

For conservatives, it is the frustration of perceived compromises on the truth in favor of not creating hostilities. Liberals would remind the bishops of the compassionate, patient, forgiving Jesus, the Good Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep, while conservatives are impressed by the fact that he boldly admonished those in error and had the courage to watch the rich young man and many followers walk away from him rather than compromise on his teaching. All would do well to remember that Christ is the source of both truth and unity, and so are our bishops.

Since Vatican II, the tendency to elevate unity above the truth is certainly one of the more serious betrayals of the Council, and of the entire Catholic Tradition.

If unity is the highest good and the function of every pastor is to keep as many sheep in the fold as possible, then truth risks being reduced to a means, and subject to manipulation for the sake of unity. In this case, every group and every individual possesses a kind of power of veto over what they consider offensive and unacceptable. [That is precisely the definition of the new tyranny of the minority, a tyranny so ostentatiously handed on to them by some in the 'majority' for whom political correctness - i.e., hypocrisy and lily-livered surrender - has come to be the supreme virtue.]

The resulting unity is no longer the unity for which Christ prayed and for which he died. Only when we see his death in terms of both truth and love do we arrive at the theological depth of the mystery of their unity.

Conclusion

The Council, it has been claimed, was an unresolved juxtaposition of liberal and conservative elements, of old and new ecclesiologies. Consequently, the claim goes, Catholics must choose between the two. But this is a false dilemma.

The Church's tradition is simultaneously conservatizing and progressive. Its law is conversion. That conversion is the underlying gift of Christ to the Church, and it is in its essence irrevocable, both on the part of God, who ceaselessly provides the graces of fidelity, and on the part of the Church, who in Mary is the faithful handmaid of the Lord.

"The same motive that induces one endowed with continuity to cling imperturbably to truth will compel him also to be open to every new truth. The ability to remain constant in the Yes once given requires an unremitting readiness to change." [26] Conversion is a mystery of continuity and growth.

Like the Church itself, the Council falls into the category of mystery, because it is an action of the Church and an expression of its mystery of being both divine and human.

The same tendency to reduce the Church to one element of its mystery has been applied to the Council, with the result of reducing it to a merely human clash between liberal and conservative forces.

The assertion that we must choose one or the other has been one of the most significant weaknesses of post-Vatican II theology, and this has presented a significant obstacle to the renewal that the Council began.

It would be more correct to see the Council in the same light in which the apostles saw their first assembly in Jerusalem after the Lord ascended. "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us . . ." (Acts 15:28).

At this first council, human action and divine agency combined, and new teaching arose out of the old. That new teaching, and the entire body of doctrine of which it was a part, was the fruit of Peter's conversion in understanding the mysterious ways of God.

It constituted a call to conversion on the part of those who would see the Church as a radical break with Judaism, as well as those who saw it as simply reduced to Judaism. No less a conversion is required today of those who see Vatican II as a departure from the Tradition or as a completely new beginning.

ENDNOTES:

[1] This is the well-known phrase of Sacrosanctum Concilium, 14.
[2] On the new formulae of faith, see Pope Paul VI, Ecclesiam Suam, nos. 41, 83, 85.
[3] This is essentially the reason given by Pope John Paul II for the revision of the Code of Canon Law in Sacrae Disciplinae Leges (January 25, 1983).
[4] See Sources of Renewal. On the Implementation of Vatican II (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1980).
[5] Motu proprio, Sanctitatis Clarior, March 19, 1969; AAS 61(1969), p.149.
[6] Christifideles Laici, no. 16.
[7] "Reform from the Beginnings," article in 30 Days, November 1990, pp. 66-67. The same theme is taken up in The Ratzinger Report (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985), pp. 45-53.
[8] The Splendor of the Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), pp. 293-294.
[9] On the hierarchy of truths, see the article, "The Hierarchy of Truths" in The Catholic Faith, Vol. 6, No. 1 (January/ February, 2000).
[10] On this see Dominicae Cenae, no. 4.
[11] Je Crois en l'Esprit Saint, III. Le Fleuve de Vie coule en Orient et en Occident (Paris: Cerf, 1980), p. 348.
[12] Je Crois en l'Esprit Saint, III, p. 350.
[13] Some of what follows agrees with and was inspired by the article of Cardinal Francis George, "How Liberalism Fails the Church," in Commonweal, November 19, 1999.
[14] Cardinal Ratzinger gives a profound analysis of this in his book, Principles of Catholic Theology. Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987), pp. 372-373.
[15] Ibid., p.
[16] Ecclesiam Suam, nos. 10-11.
[17] See the judicious discussion of the limits of criticism by Pope John Paul II in Redemptor Hominis, no. 4.
[18] Cardinal Ratzinger made a similar remark in his Intervention on the Occasion of the Presentation of the Declaration, Dominus Iesus: "missing the question of truth, the essence of religion does not differ from its 'non-essence,' faith is not distinguished from superstition, experience from illusion. Finally, without a serious apprehension of the truth, the appreciation of other religions becomes absurd and contradictory, since there are no criteria for ascertaining what is positive in a religion."
[19] In Ecclesiam Suam, nos. 48-49.
[20] The Splendor of the Church (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1986), pp. 100-101.
[21] Ibid., p. 283. All of chapter 8 of this remarkable book could be read with great profit with respect to our subject.
[22] Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, "'You are Full of Grace': Elements of Biblical Devotion to Mary," in Communio, XVI (1989), N. 1, p. 61.
[23] See Pope John Paul II's remarks on the uncritical acceptance of the findings of the human sciences as an obstacle to conversion in Reconciliatio et Paenitentia, no. 18.
[24] The best treatment of this subject of which I know is by Rene Latourelle in Christ and the Church, Signs of Salvation (Staten Island, New York: Alba House, 1972).
[25] This is one of the assertions of the Declaration, Mysterium Ecclesiae, of June 24, 1973.
[26] From Transformation in Christ by Dietrich von Hildebrand, as quoted by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in Principles of Catholic Theology. Building Stones for a Fundamental Theology (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987), pp. 63-64.
This article was originally published in a slightly different form in the November/December 2000 issue of Catholic Dossier.


Douglas Bushman holds a licentiate in sacred theology from the University of Friebourg. He is Director of the Institute for Pastoral Theology at Ave Maria University, and author of the adult faith enrichment program, In His Image, published by Ignatius Press. Professor Bushman and his wife, JoAnn, home school their six children in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 15/03/2011 18:56]

Quite serendipitously, Lella on her blog cites a reprint by the Catholic magazine La Vie of some excerpts from a new book coming out in France tomorrow that puts together various writings Joseph Ratzinger published between 1962-1966 about the Second Vatican Council - i.e., his earliest impressions and judgments about this event about which he finds himself the third and last Pope to have participated in it and have been its custodians for the Church... Here first because it is shorter and provides an overview is a summary from La Vie.



The Pope and his immediate
recollections of Vatican II
by Jean Mercier
Translated from

3/15/11

Exclusively, we publish today some pages from Mon Concile Vatican II by Joseph Ratzinger (Artège), a collection of texts published between 1962-1966, which had previously never been published in French, in which the future Pope gives exceptional testimony.

Who was Benedict XVI really? Was he a progressive who became ultra-conservative, following the events of 1968, as the legend depicts him?

The book just published by Artege finally lifts a veil on the truth. This work picks up a number of addresses and texts written between 1962 and 1966 about the Council, in which he had participated as a theological expert advising Cardinal Frings of Cologne.

The book includes four major narratives, corresponding to each session of the Council, written in a way that the future Pope makes us live through the event almost in real time.

The editors had the wisdom to add the address that Joseph Ratzinger gave to the Katholiken tag (Catholic Day) in Bamberg in jULY 1966. The collection shows that Ratzinger began to have serious doubts between March and July about the possible wrong drifts that the Council could take.

Doubtless it had to do with what he observed in German soil on how the local Church was appropriating and interpreting the Council.

These pages reflect a nuanced point of view. Ratzinger seems to have considered himself from the start as part of the enlightened theologians who, for instance, firmly expected liturgical reform, an evolution in ecumenical outlook or in relations with the Jews. [Not unexpected since he favored all these issues in his teaching, including liturgical reform in the spirit of the 20th century 'new liturgical movement' promoted by his master Guardini, among others.]

One can classify him without hesitation among the reformers who looked ahead to a Church that was primarily sacramental and not as a hierarchically structured body. [???? The apostolic succession by its very nature imposes a hierarchy, and there was never any doubt of his respect for the Petrine ministry!]

Nor does he hesitate to decribe how the Council managed to subvert "the hegemonical tendency of Curial services" and calls for a seriious reform in this respect. And in any case, he does not have enough firm words against those who opposed the decree on religious freedom [e.g., the traditionalists, exemplified today by the Lefebvrians.]

And yet, Ratzinger was already following the 'conservative' line that would be his thereon. If he is in favor of dialog with our separated Christian brethren, he does not minimize the fact that for him, there is only one Church of Christ (a concept he would reaffirm in 2000 with Dominus Iesus), and does not consider the 'ecclesial communities' that resulted from the Reformation as full-fledged churches [not equal to the Orthodox churches, for instance].

Elsewhere, Ratzinger is critical of Gaudium et spes, underscoring its naivete in the face of societal and scientific progress. He notably does not mention Karol Wojtyla with respect to G&S, and yet historians cite the Polish Pope as having been one of the major architects of the text.

In reading Ratzinger, one realizes that the Council decided to restore the permanent diaconate in some sort of theological fuzziness. He presents it as a concession made to the South Americna bishops, but does not discuss the subject further. He also points out the weaknesses the Council had in defining the ecclesial status of laymen.

Elsewhere, his well-developed analysis of the collegiality among bishops - a novelty introduced by Vatican II - is passionate, although difficult.

The book offers much material for reflection from the historical point of view. The Theologian analyzes with finesse the 'doctrinal crisis of 1964', namely Paul VI's barely concealed decisiont o take the Council reins in hand starting with the third session.

He describes how the Constitution on the liturgy [the very first document approved by the Council, since much of it had been previously drafted) hardly earned any notice afterwards, although eventually, the change in the celebration of the Mass would become the principal point of rupture with the traditionalist world.

In contrast, he notes that the decree on communications media - which appears to us very crucial today - was voted upon appropriately.

His opinion of the two Conciliar Popes is not without humor. Describing John XXIII, for instance, he writes: "In this Council, so man impossible things have become possible that one can, fully confident, allow oneself to be touched by the Pope's optimism that was often frankly a bit annoying, and remain full of hope".

He adds elsewhere: "Despite their different temperaments, Paul VI remained along the line of John XXIII, who said of himself that he was the Pope as much of those who wished to press down on the accelerator as those who are pushing on the brakes".

Here is a translation of the excerpts published by La Vie:


Excerpts from 'Mon Concile Vatican II'
by Joseph Ratzinger
Ed. Artege, 2011

---

The Council begins
Upon our arrival in Rome, there reigned a certain exaltation: this mysterious sentiment of new beginnings which excites and gives wings to men as nothing else can, a sentiment further enlarged by the awareness that one is witnessing an event of great historical importance.

The multiplicity of languages which echoed even more than usual in the city, the wealth of the encounters offered, the expectation of what should result from the event - all this could make everyone forget for a moment any secret fears that one may have brought along, so to speak, with his baggage to Rome.

An example of the conflict characteristic of the sentiments it aroused was produced at the opening ceremony in St. Peter's. The immense basilica, the grandeur of the ancient liturgy, the motley multitude of visitors who had come from around the world - all this was impressive.

But on the other hand, it produced a certain malaise of which by far the most evident sign was the displeasure caused by the interminable length of the ceremonies.

It could well have been a totally subjective criterion but nonetheless, it unveiled something more profound: the opening ceremony lacked an integrating element as well as an internal unity.

Was it normal that 2,500 bishops, not to mention a number of lay faithful, were condemned to be silent spectators of a liturgy in which, apart from the official celebrants, the Sistine Chapel choirs were the only other voices heard?

Was it not a sign of the 'triumph' of an indigent situation that the ceremony did not provide for the active participation of the faithful?

Why was it that the Credo was carefully executed after the Mass liturgy when it has place within the Mass itself? Why was there a separate Liturgy of the World when the Mass itself already has a Reading adn the Gospel?

Why did they have to chant two litanies in place of what was usually sreserved for the prayers of intercession within the liturgy of the Mass?

They had juxtaposed two liturgies without establishing a link between them, thus demonstrating quite clearly the dangerous archaelogism that tended to overwhelm the liturgy of the Mass since the Council of Trent, an archeologism which makes the Massgoer fail to perceive the real sense of the different parts of the Mass, including such steps as the enthronement of the Gospel, the profession of faith, the prayers of intercession.

Liturgical reform
The controversy over the language of liturgy curiously occupied a considerable place in the discussions.

If one remembers that the constitution Veterum sapientia, promulgated not long before then, had taken a decisive position in favor of Latin, one could doubt, from the bitterness of the discussions, what weight a tradition of more than 15 centuries would carry.

There was no lack of the picturesque in the debates. More than once, passionate praises of Latin were delivered in painful kitchen Latin, whereas some advocates of using the native lagnuage were able to express themselves in the most classical Latin!

One of the most singular proposals came from Cardinal Spellman [of New York] who would not make any concession to using the native language for the liturgy of the Mass but who in exchange proposed that priests could say their Daily Office in the vernacular.

The discussions could also reach an authentic depth. A discourse by te Melchite Patriarch Maximos is an example:

"It seems to me that the almost absolute value that the Church wishes to give Latin for liturgy, teaching and administration, is something totally abnormal for the Oriental churches. After all, Christ himself spoke the language of his contemporaries. He celebrated the first eucharistic sacrifice in a language that all his hearers could understand, namely, Aramaic. The apostles and other disciples did the same. It would never have come to them, in a Christian assembly, to read Scriptural passages, sing psalms, preach or break the bread using any other language than that which the assembled community could understand.

"St. Paul himself tells us expressly: 'if you pronounce a blessing (with) the spirit, how shall one who holds the place of the uninstructed say the Amen to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks very well, but the other is not built up. I give thanks to God that I speak in tongues more than any of you, but in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind, so as to instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.' (1 Cor 14, 16-19).

"All the reasons that have been raised in favor of an intangible Latin - certainly a liturgical language, but also a dead language - must yield to the clear, unequivocal and precise arguments made by the Apostle... Latin is dead, but the Church is living, so much so that language, vector of grace and the Holy Spirit, should be a living language because it is made for men not angels. There should be no language that is intangible..."

For profound reform
What the Pope said in his opening address and which we earlier reported - namely, that the Church no longer must condemn, but dispense the medicine of mercy, that the Council must not pronounce condemnations but present the faith in a new way which is positive, and that, moreover, according to his express instructions, the Council should abstain from fulminating with anathemas. In short, everything that had always been considered earlier as an expression of his personal temperament, and which many did not care about, now made sense, and became reasonable and revealing.

And so it happened that without having arranged it among themselves, Cardinals Liénart, Frings, Léger, König, Alfrink, Suenens, Ritter and Béa, each in his own way, raised against the schemas [position papers prepared by the Curia] incisive criticisms which until then had never been heard in Rome, and which neither their exponents nor their adversaries had expected at all.

What was it all about? Certainly, a series of serious theological questions: from the relationship between Scripture and Tradition, and therefore the way that faith is linked to history, to understanding the inspiration and historicity contained in Sacred Scripture.

In other words, all the problems posed by present historical science and which had, in modernism, been postponed rather than resolved, came to the surface in new form. On the fundamental questions regarding the expression and explanation of the faith, and which we cannot discuss here in detail, it was not so much a confrontation of opposing theories as of basic intellectual attitudes.

One could therefore formulate the fundamental question which was the background for all these discussions: Should the Church keep an anti-modernist mental attitude, follow a line of isolation, condemnation, and being on the defensive to the point of an almost anguished rejection of novelty, or should she, after having set the necessary limits, open a new page and face positively her own origins, her brothers, the world of today?

The fact that a very important majority voted in favor of the second alternative gave the Council a new starting point. Thus it became more than a simple continuation of the First Vatican Council. Trent and Vatican I had served the movement aimed at isolating, making safe and delimiting, whereas the present Council, on the basis of what it had done so far, had turned to a new task.


A pastoral Council?
It is from this fundamental decision which was constantly in the background of everything, that one must understand the two principal arguments which were continually recurring and in which the intentions of the Pope prevailed: The texts should have a pastoral aim and their theology must be ecumenical.

Granted that one could abuse these two arguments which constituted the principal weapons of the progressive forces, and that they could be improper, and even granted that they are ambiguous and equivocal - the objectivity they possessed in the circumstances, and the unequivocal sense that came from what had been said above, became quite evident.

'Pastoral': a term which is not necessarily vague, devoid of substance, or purely edifying, as it might be considered here and there. A term which must on the contrary mean to start with a positive attention to contemporary man - who has never been helped by condemnations that he has heard for too long about everything that is false, everything he should not do - in order that he may arrive at that which he never understood but would like to understand, namely, what is true, what the message of faith can bring to our time, the pisitive things it can teach him.

'Pastoral' - a term which should no longer be adulterated and vague, but free of quarrels among different schools of thought, of disputes that are good only for specialists, of endless refinements of controversy at a time when new tasks have come to light which require open discussion.

'Pastoral' means, finally, to be exempt from scholastic jargon (which has its legitimacy and perhaps, even its necessity, but precisely, in the faculties, not in preacing or in the explanation of the faith) but on the contrary, to be rooted in the language of Scripture, of the Fathers, of men today, in the living language of men in all times.

In the same way, 'ecumenical' should not mean to pass in silence over the truths that others do not agree with. What is true must be proclaimed openly, without dissimulation. Integral truth is a part of integral love.

'Ecumenical' must rather mean: to stop seeing others [non-Catholic Christians] purely as adversaries against whom we must be on the defense (especially since the separation has been so long and has become doctrinally solidified), but rather to recognize them as brothers to whom one must speak and from whom one can also learn.

'Ecumenical' should also mean: to aim for the whole and not just a partial aspect that calls for condemnation or correction, but rather, to perceive the internal totality of the faith, and thus, to call the attention of our separated brothers to the fact that everything authentically Christian is found in Catholicism.

One must remember that these two words - ecumenical and catholic - etymologically mean the same thing. To be Catholic means less about enclosing oneself in all kinds of particular traditions but to be open to the fullness of what is authentically Christian.

It is precisely this intention that should be clearly favored in the proposed texts of the Council. But in their perpetration of the fight against modernism, the Curial schemas relied almost exclusively on the Latin [Roman] theology of the preceding one hundred years, which had visibly acquired a narrow perspective which could hardly perceive the amplitude that is proper to Catholicism.

True hopes and false ones
In all that we are allowed to expect from the Council, it must be clear that there are things which it can never do. Let us mention two things:

1. The Council cannot suppress the human nature of the Church. Even after the Council, this humanity will need renewal, and it will endure until the return of the Lord.

Is it not one of the meanings of the Council, of which we are witnesses, to confess the need for a strict renewal of the Church, and for us to reach out to the Lord so that he may grant this renewal?

2. The Council cannot immediately result in a reunification of divided Christianity. The historical weight of separation is too much to be suppressed in the space of years.

One must add that this is even more true between Catholics and Protestants, than between the Latin church and the Greek Churches, because the shock of the Reformation was far deeper than that of the mutual excommunications in 1054 which separated the eastern and western Churches.

(With the Orthodox), the common foundation of the first Christian millennium remains. With the Protestants, the rupture extended to the very threshold of the Bible itself, and sometimes beyond it.

But if one tries to say that with the eastern Churches, we have the first mlillennium in common, and with the Protstants, 'only' the Bible, one must immediately make this correction: even those who have 'only' the Bible in common have something infinitely more in common: the one Father, the one Spirit, the one Lord who is a brother to us all - Jesus Christ.

The Council cannot in itself bring about the reunification of all Christians, but it can look at everything that we already have in common, and therefore, basically, at what point we are already united, even if it is difficult to see. Instead of looking at all the gaps that separate us, we must pay more attention to the essentials that unite us.

The mystery of the Church
Let us remember that this question is not new and that it has had for some time a certain claim. Up to our century, it received a decisive imprint from St. Robert Bellarmine following some controversies with the Reformation. To start with a position 'against' anything is always a bad premise for getting to a positive status on the question.

To oppose the Reformation idea of the invisibility of the Church, Bellarmine had insisted on the institutional dimension, what is visibly of reference to her, but to the point where he was led to say the Church should be as visible as, say, the Republic of Venice.

The encyclical Mystici corporis of 1943, certainly led to a great step forward, but in the face of the strongly underlined character of a visible Church, the positive dimension of Christians separated from Rome was hardly visible, especially since the elaboration of the Church as the mystical Body of Christ had led many, particularly in Germany, to the simplification that the Church is nothing other than Christ continued, which could well lead to the false equivalence of Christ with the Church.

Even if there was no such danger in the encyclical, it was nonetheless true that its point of departure - perfectly legitimate at the time it was written - was somewhat limited.

If one looks, however, at the new schema presented to the Council, one sees evidence of the intense recourse it takes to the totality of Biblical witness. To the idea of the Body of Christ is added that of the People of God; to the Christologic dimension, the pneumatic (of the Holy Spirit) one; to the sacramental structure, the charismatic.

In other words, the schema clearly shows the multipolarity of Biblical testimony regarding the Church. Thus it becomes possible to point out the nuances in the question of belonging to the Church, which opens the door to a new formulation of the ecumenical question. All this will require further specific discussion with more detail.

The question which concerned theologians - and indeed, all Christians, as well - from the beginning of the Council was this: What emphases would the Council place in the discussions on this question (the nature of the Church), and how would it develop the text?

To account for the Council's response is almost impossible because it would mean, evidently, summarizing the entire range of opinions that had been espressed, the variegated multiplicity of the theological possibilities which assailed the Council from the 'right' to the
'left', if this political metaphor can be applied in this case.

The Church and salvation
This all goes to say that the Church is not a reality closed in itself, defined once and for all, transcending time and space, so to speak, but that, by its nature, it remains a way, that it represents the history of God with men. Of this God which since Adam and Abel has walked alongside man, which in the Covenant walks with men within history.

One can thereore sketch a living view of the Church, never achieved, but providing the way for men towards and with the God who calls them to him.

If the Church is understood in this way, as the continually renewed story of what happens between God and men, what results is what one might call an 'eschatological view' of the Church. Because, if by her very nature, the Church is a pilgrim Church, it also means that it is concerned not only with the past, even if it remains centered on the unique and definitive event which Christ is.

She should know, at the same time, that it is precisely this same Christ towards which she turns, the Christ from whom she came, the Christ who is to come, and that in looking to him, she is walking to the future.

A Church that is resolutely Christ-centered is not just focused on the saving event that took place in the past - it is always also the Church that acts in the sign of hope.

---

My personal observation: Some of the statements above may seem to reflect an opposition to the Tridentine liturgy and to the use of Latin in the liturgy, which could conceivably be what Fr. Ratzinger thought at the time, but they may also have been presented out of context in the excerpts. One must remember that Prof. Ratzinger was always an exponent of the so-called 'new liturgical movement' of the early 20th century as represented by his master, Romano Guardini, which was aimed at removing the incrustations - the archaeologism he refers to - made over the centuries since the Council of Trent on the fresco of the liturgy it had cleaned up and codified. In fact, the objections Fr. Ratzinger presents above to the apparently indiscriminate piling up of liturgies for the opening rites of the Council do demonstrate the ritual incrustations that might have overwhelmed the true 'spirit of the liturgy', as both Guardini and Ratzinger would entitle their books on liturgical reform.

As for Latin, its use was not banned from the liturgy by Vatican II but was recommended for certain occasions [today, for Vatican liturgies where the audience is predominantly international rather than mostly Italian], but it remains the language of the so-called typical editions of the Roman Nissal, which is the basis for all translations made into other languages.

Priest finds JON-2 illuminating,
but differs on some points
with his ex-professor
A review by Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, OP


Reverend Dr Jerome Murphy-O’Connor O.P. is Professor of New Testament at the École Biblique in Jerusalem.

When I was a student at the University of Tübingen in 1966-67 I took a class from a young professor, Father Joseph Ratzinger. The course was on the Creed, and in a whole semester he covered only the first words ‘I believe in one . . .’.

I could not have believed that there was so much to be said about the perpendicular pronoun! His career as a professor did not last long because he was recruited to Rome. There he may have no longer taught, but he continued to publish even after he had become a Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Faith. Some 40 books bear his name.

No Pope had ever published a work of scholarship that was not a formal message to the whole church. Benedict XVI inaugurated a new era with Part 1 of his Jesus of Nazareth, which was published in 2007.

He insisted that it was to be judged as any other theological publication. With extraordinary speed, given his responsibilities, the second part of his project has just appeared, and is to be welcomed as a significant contribution to the contemporary debate.

Benedict XVI’s task is facilitated by the fact that the historical framework of Passion Week is certain. The key events appear in the same order in all four gospels; only in peripheral episodes do they diverge.

This combination of identity in essentials and flexibility in accidentals shows the passion story to be a foundational narrative rooted in a solidly established oral tradition.

I would be more critical of the Gethsemane story than the Pope is. If the disciples were asleep, how did they know what Jesus was doing or saying? He believes that they repeatedly woke up!

I also see a much greater opposition between Jesus’s two prayers (‘If it is possible’ and ‘All things are possible’) than he will admit. To me they reflect entirely different situations.

The Pope rightly exculpates the Jewish people for responsibility in the death of Jesus. He could have done so more easily, however, had he emphasized that no formal session of the Sanhedrin could take place at night.

Nor would it have take place in the ‘house’ of the High Priest; the location is emphasized by all four evangelists. The decision was taken by the High Priest and his cronies, who feared for their positions if the situation got out of hand.

As regards the resurrection, the Pope correctly insists that unless it is an historical fact, it is meaningless, and the emptiness of the tomb is a necessary condition.

His interweaving of Old Testament passages is most illuminating, and his personal insights are stimulating.

I cannot believe, however, that any evangelist had the remotest idea that the two wills of Jesus in the Gethsemane episode was a problem. I doubt that a high Christology is to be found in the early gospels.

The Pope reaches his real comfort zone in answering Pilate’s question ‘What is truth’. His gift for refined speculation expressed in simple clear language is remarkable. I must also say that he is well served by his translator. The English text reads smoothly and easily, which is not always true of works that originate in German.

I decided to make this a separate post, since Fr. Ratzinger's Vatican-II 'memoir' deserves a postbox by itself. This is the editorial in the March 10, 2011 issue of La Vie which is a special issue on 'The writer Pope'. Unfortunately, only the editorial is available online. I am puzzled, however, by how the editorial writer turned his piece on 'the writer Pope' to a consideration of the unjust charges of anti-Semitism against Benedict XVI:

'The writer in the Vatican'
Editorial
by Jean-Pierre Denis
Translated from


Some good souls will say with some irony that it is most likely that part of him that loves the past. And that at his age, nothing will change him. Basically, he seems to love nothing more than a silent maturation of reason. [I've tried but cannot see sense in these three sentences that appear non sequitur. But that's how Denis wrote it!]

An intellectual by nature, he thinks for himself. An experienced writer, he does not write his books on the basis of index cards provided to him by his staff but by doing his own research.

In short - and how original in the 'people era'! - the Pope does not need attendants. Despite the reputation he has of a certain dryness in his thinking [Not his thinking, surely, but perhaps his style - which is austere, but not dry, because he is so capable of investing so much passion by stringing together the simplest of words], publishers vie for rights to his books because the public follows him.

Meanwhile, ideological suspicions and theological misunderstandings continue to hover about the Ratzinger work - you would think they had never read him! [Maybe they really haven't!]

Remember the polemicists who immediately Nazified the German Pope, all because he was forced to enlist in the Hitler Youth as a boy. Remember all that public outcry linking him with Holocaust negationism on account of Bishop Williamson.

And the scandal raised by his 'rehabilitation' of the pre-1970 Mass because of the Good Friday prayer for the Jews that had, before 1962, been offered for the 'perfidious Jews'.

[A rather unfortunate summary statement about the prayer, which needs a few more sentences to tell its history between 1962, when John XIII softened the prayer, dropping 'perfidious' and taking out a reference to the 'blindness' of the Jews), Paul VI's bland and unexceptionable revision of it for the Novus Ordo, John Paul II's retention of the John XXIII version in the traditional Mass during his 26 years as Pope, and Benedict XVI's 2007 revision of the traditional prayer, after the Jews - who had said not a peep about the prayer as retained by John Paul II, suddenly raised holy hell about it. As it was explained to those who were interested at all shortly after Summorum Pontificum, 'perfidious' or its equivalent words in the Romance languages, is the wrong translation for the original Latin term, which simply meant, 'those who do not have the faith', and not traitorous.]

But the accusation of complicity with anti-Semitism, of which the Pope has often been the object, was and remains unfounded, and is, in fact, abject.

One thus notes with interest what has been happening lately, with the emergence, it would seem, of 'a new Benedict XVI'. His Jesus of Nazareth, Vol. II, is focused specifically on Holy Week and the Passion of Christ. This in turn involves a central point in the history of anti-Semitism.

For centuries, and even at the highest levels of the Church - the accusation of 'deicide' had been used to 'justify' anti-Semitism. The Pope's new book clarifies the issue, clearly exonerating the Jews from every form of collective responsibility for the death of Jesus.

Beyond that, it is evident that for Benedict XVI, who thinks in terms of continuity not rupture, Christianity cannot be understood if it is cut off from its relationship to Judaism. And with Benedict XVI, the Church has definitely left behind all thought of malediction towards the Jews.

So even before its publications, the Pope's Jesus quickly earned praise from the Jews. All the political and theological reactions were
joyful, as if the Pope had said something new, as if he had said something that should surprise them.

But the process of clarification had started half a century ago with the Vatican II revolution and the declaration Nostra aetate, which has since been brought to full term.

Twenty-five years ago, a Pope entered a synagogue for the first time since Peter. For his part, Benedict XVI has not failed to follow in the footsteps of John Paul II, for whom he had been the principal collaborator.

[Apropos, I finally found the relevant part of John Paul II's apology to the Jews in 2000, in which he implicitly rejects demands for the Catholic Church to 'apologize' for the Holocaust:

---

Indeed, in the Christian world -—I am not saying on the part of the Church as such -—erroneous and unjust interpretations of the New Testament relative to the Jewish people and their presumed guilt (for the Crucifixion) circulated for too long, engendering sentiments of hostility toward this people.

That contributed to a lulling of many consciences, so that—when Europe was swept by the wave of persecutions inspired by a pagan anti-Semitism that in its essence was equally anti-Christian—alongside those Christians who did everything to save those who were
persecuted, even to the point of risking their own lives, the spiritual resistance of many was not what humanity expected of Christ's disciples.

---

Among Jews and Christians of good faith, the memory will remain sharp, and the unconscious will continue to bear witness. In short, the crux of the question has been definitely laid to rest.

But there are those who would want to dig further into what the writer at the Vatican really thinks. And what he says anew. Does one have to rummage through his previous writings to find what we already know or what we have wrongly ignored? Does not one mistake the time and the issue in wishing to verify that the pen of this Pope has not hidden some mischief or some warmed over resentments?

In short, isn't it much better to finally read Ratzinger the writer?

Wednesday, March 16, First Week of Lent

ST. CLEMENS MARIA HOFBAUER (b Moravia, 1751, d Austria, 1820)
Redemptorist, Missionary and Social Worker, Confessor
Born the ninth of 12 children to a poor family in Vienna, John Hofbauer started as a baker, working in
a monastery, where he was allowed to attend classes at the Latin school. When the abbot died, he wanted to
become a hermit but the Emperor banned hermitages at the time, and he went back to being a baker. One day
after serving Mass, he and his friend Thaddeus met two ladies who learned that they wanted to be priests
but had no funds to join a seminary. The ladies offered to send them to Rome, where they entered the Redemptorist
order and were ordained in 1785. He took the name Clemens Maria. The order sent the two back to Vienna, but
religious persecution forced them to go to Warsaw instead, where they tended to German-speaking Catholics.
They said daily Masses, preaching in both German and Polish, eventually starting a boys' school and an orphanage.
They also attracted new priests for the order whom they would later send as missionaries throughout Poland,
Germany and Switzerland. After 20 years, Hofbauer was imprisoned and then exiled. he was to spend the last
12 years of his life in Vienna, where he became known as 'the apostle of Vienna' for hearing confessions,
visiting the sick, counseling the powerful and sharing his holiness with his beloved city. He even established
a Catholic college in Vienna. He died in 1820 and was canonized in 1909. he is often called the 'second founder'
of the Redemptorist order because he brought and propagated the order, founded by St. Alphonsus Liguori in
Italy, north of the Alps.
Readings for today's Mass: www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031610.shtml

OR today.
No papal stories or photos in this issue. Page 1 News: Japan relives the ordeal of a nuclear nightmare, and
the economic aftershocks of the earhquake; Qaddaffi's forces in Libya close to taking back all rebel-held territory
as the G8 became the latest international organization unwilling to take concrete action; and a major exhibit
of the art of the late 19th-century English pre-Raphaelites at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome.
In the inside pages: China overtakes the United States as the world's leader in factory production; a tribute
by Cardinal Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, to the 4th century Lebanese saint
Maron on the 1600th anniversayr of his death; and a pre-retreat interview with Fr. Lethel, the Carmelite who
is leading the Lenten spiritual retreat of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia. he discusses the chosen theme
on 'John Paul II and the theology of sainthood'.

AT THE VATICAN TODAY

Day 4 of the Holy Father's Lenten retreat.

The Press Office released the text of Benedict XVI's letter to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano
on the occasion of the celebration today of the 150th anniversary of the reunification of Italy.
The message was handcarried to the President by Cardinal Bertone in a call at the Quirinale Palace today.


A sidelight to the continuing emergency in earthquake-damaged Japan:[/DIM}

Bishop of Sendai
on radiation threat


16 MARCH 2011 (RV) - “We, living in Sendai, have no idea of the real situation yet. You living in other countries have a much better idea of the tragedy”, says Bishop Martin Tetsuo Hiraga of Sendai diocese, one of the worst affected areas in Japan by the recent earthquake and tsunami.

Cut off without electricity since Saturday and with phone communications only restored Tuesday, Bishop Hiraga reveals that the people of Sendai are also unaware of the current situation regarding the Fukushima nuclear plant, situated a little over 100 km from the city and its residents.

The plant is under round the clock surveillance after a third powerful explosion Tuesday morning, from reactor No. 2. Experts from the UN’s atomic energy agency and from the US are on their way to help Japanese teams find ways to establish the cooling system, damaged during the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and stave off a possible fusion.

“We are terrified”, reveals bishop Hiraga. “We only have the government announcements, we have no other source of information. We don’t even know what has happened to our parishes in the towns and villages along the coast. We have no way of contacting them. I can only hope that the people of my diocese can stand together and be strong enough to overcome this disaster”.


NB: I have now posted in its original postbox on this page, my translation of the excerpts from
Fr. Joseph Ratzinger's contemporaneous accounts of Vatican II published between 1962-1966 and
collected in a new French edition that is being released today.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/03/2011 17:22]

Benedict hails 150 years
of Italian statehood


16 MARCH 2011 (RV) - Pope Benedict has sent a message to the President of the Italian Republic, marking the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy, Thursday 17 March.



In the Message, which Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. delivered to President Napolitano during a visit to the Quirinal Palace Wednesday morning, Pope Benedict writes of Christianity's contribution to building Italian identity "through the efforts of the Church and of her educational and care institutions, which established rules of behaviour, institutional structures and social relationships; but also through her vast artistic activity". In this context he also mentions the influence of saints such as Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena.

"For complex historical, cultural and political reasons, the Italian 'Risorgimento' has been seen as a movement against the Church, against Catholicism and sometimes, even against religion in general", the Holy Father writes. However he also mentions the contribution to the formation of the unified State made by Catholic figures such as Gioberti, Rosmini and Manzoni.

Going on then to refer to the so-called "Roman Question" and "the divisive effects it had on the individual and collective conscience of Italian Catholics", Pope Benedict nonetheless notes that "no conflict took place in society, which was marked by a profound friendship between the civil and ecclesial communities. The national identity of the Italians, so strongly rooted in Catholic traditions, constituted, in effect, the most solid foundation for the political unity that had been achieved".

"The fundamental contribution of Italian Catholics to the republican Constitution of 1947 is well known", Pope Benedict writes. "This was the starting point for the highly significant involvement of Italian Catholics in politics, ... and in civil society, offering their fundamental contribution to the growth of the country, demonstrating their absolute faithfulness to the State and dedication to the common good, and projecting Italy towards Europe".

"For her part the Church, thanks also to the broad-ranging freedom she was guaranteed by the Lateran Pacts of 1929, has continued to make an effective contribution to the common good through her institutions and activities. ... The conclusion of an agreement revising the Lateran Pacts, signed on 18 February 1984, marked the move to a new stage in relations between the Church and the State of Italy. ... The agreement, which contributed greatly to defining the healthy secularism that characterises the Italian State and its juridical system, highlighted two overriding principles which must regulate relations between the Church and the political community: the separation of spheres and collaboration. ... The Church is aware not only of the contribution she makes to civil society for the common good, but also of what she herself receives from civil society".

"Contemplating the long course of history", the Pope concludes his Letter, "we must recognise that the Italian nation has always had a sense of the duty, but at the same time the unique privilege, arising from the fact that the See of Peter's Successor, and therefore the centre of Catholicism, is in Italy, in Rome. And the national community has always responded to this awareness by expressing is affectionate closeness, solidarity and assistance towards the Apostolic See, so as to foster its freedom and help create the conditions favourable for the exercise of spiritual ministry in the world by Peter's Successor, who is Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy".

A history lesson from the Pope

Here is a full translation of the Pope's letter - which is a history lesson for us who may not be too familiar with Italian history...

---

The Most Illustrious
Honorable Giorgio Napolitano
President of the Republic of Italy

The 150th anniversary of the political unification of Italy offers me a happy occasion to reflect on the history of this beloved country, whose capital is Rome, the city where Divine Providence has placed the Seat of the Successor to the Apostle Peter.

Thus, in formulating for you and the entire nation my most fervent congratulatory wishes, I am happy to share with you, as a sign of the profound ties of friendship and collaboration that bind Italy and the Holy See, the following considerations.

The process of unification that took place in Italy during the 19th century which has passed into history as the Risorgimento [resurgence] constituted the natural outcome of the development of a national identity which had started a long time earlier.

In effect, the Italian nation, as a community of persons united by language, culture, and the sentiments of a common belonging, in spite of the plurality of political communities found in the peninsula, began to form itself in the Middle Ages.

Christianity contributed in a fundamental way to the construction of the Italian identity through the work of the Church, and its educational and assistential institutions, setting up models of behavior, institutional configurations, and social relationships.

But this was also done through a very rich artistic activity - in literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, and music. Dante, Giotto, Petrarch, Michelangelo, Raphael, Pierluigi of Palestrina,
Caravaggio, Scarlatti, Bernini and Borromini are just some names in a whole range of great artists who, through the centuries, brought a fundamental contribution to the formation of the Italian identity.

Even the experiences of sainthood, of whom a great number has constellated Italian history, contributed strongly to construct that identity, not only under the profile of a special realization of the evangelical message which has marked over time the religious experience and the spirituality of Italians (think of the great and multiple expressions of popular piety), but even in the cultural and political profiles.

St. Francis of Assisi, for example, was distinguished even for contributing to forge the national language. St. Catherine of Siena offered, even if she was a simple woman of the people, a formidable stimulus to elaborating Italian political and juridical thought.

The contribution of the Church and believers to the process of formation and consolidation of the national identity has continued in the modern and contemporary era.

Even when parts of the peninsula were subjugated by foreign powers, it was thanks to an identity that was already clear and strong that, despite the prolongation in time of geopolitical fragmentation, the Italian nation could continue to subsist and be self-aware.

Therefore, Italian unity which was realized in the second half of the 19th century could take place not as an artificial political construct from diverse identities, but as the natural political outlet of a strong and well-rooted national identity that had subsisted for some time.

The nascent unitarian political community at the end of the cycle of resurgence, definitely had, as the adhesive holding together the subsisting local diversities, the pre-existent national identity to whose shaping Christianity and the Church had given a fundamental contribution.

For complex historical, cultural and political reasons, the Risorgimento has come to be considered as a movement that was against the Church, against Catholicism, even against religion in general.

Without denying the role of traditions with diverse thinking, some marked by jurisdictional and secular strains, one cannot be silent about the contribution of Catholics in thought - and sometimes in action - to the formation of the unitarian state.

From the point of view of political thought, one only has to recall the entire episode of neo-Guelfism which saw in Vincenzo Gioberti an illustrious representative. Or think of the Catholic-liberal orientations of Cesare Balbo, Massimo d’Azeglio, and Raffaele Lambruschini.

In philosophical, political and even juridical thought, the great figure of Antonio Rosmini stands out, whose influence has become more apparent with time, to the point of informing significant points of the current Italian Constitution.

And in the literature that has contributed so much to 'make the Italians', that is, to give them the sense of belonging to the new political communities that the Risorgimento process was shaping, how can we not remember Alessandro Manzoni, faithful interpreter of Catholic faith and morals, or Silvio Pellico, whose autobiographical work on the sorrowful vicissitudes of a patriot bore able witness to the reconcilability of love for the Fatherland with adamantine faith.

New saints line John Bosco, urged on by educational concerns to compose manuals of patriotic history, modelled membership in the institute he sounded on a paradigm consistent with a healthy liberal concept, "Citizens for the State and religious for the Church".

The politico-institutional construction of the unitarian State involved diverse personalities of the political, diplomatic and military world, among them, representatives of the Catholic world. This process, insofar as it must inevitably be measured against the problem of the temporal sovereignty of the Popes (but also because it led to extending to the territories acquired gradually a legislation on church matters which was strongly secular), had lacerating effects on the individual and collective consciences of Italian Catholics, divided between the opposing sentiments of nascent citizenship on the one hand and their Church membership on the other.

But it must be recognized that if it was the process of politico-institutional unification that produced the conflict between Church and State which has gone into history as 'the Roman question', consequently raising the expectation of a formal 'conciliation', no conflict was apparent in society, which was marked by profound friendship between the civilian and ecclesial communities.

The national identity of the Italians, so strongly rooted in Catholic traditions, constituted the most solid basic truth of the political unity that had been achieved.

Ultimately, conciliation had to take place among institutions, though not in the social body, where faith and citizenship were not in conflict. Even during the years of delaceration, Catholics worked for the unity of the nation.

Abstention from political life, following the 'non expedit' [meaning "It is not expedient' - a Church decree urging Catholics to abstain from voting in the elections that followed unification] , the Catholic world turned its attention to greater assumption of responsibility in society: education, instruction, social assistance, cooperatives, and the social economy were the fields of commitment which helped develop a society that was mutually supportive and strongly cohesive.

The dispute that opened up between Church and State after Rome was proclaimed the capital of Italy and the end of the papal states, was particularly complicated. It was undoubtedly a most Italian case in that only Italy has the singularity of being the territorial host to the seat of the Papacy.

On the other hand, the question had an undoubted international relevance. It must be noted that, with the loss of temporal power, the Holy See, though claiming the full freedom and sovereignty that correspond to her functions, had always rejected a solution of the Roman question through impositions from the outside, trusting in the sentiments of the Italian people, and in the Italian state's sense of responsibility and justice.

The signing of the Lateran Pacts on February 11, 1929, marked the final resolution of the problem. Regarding the end of the Papal States, in the memory of Blessed Pope Pius IX and his Successors, I cite the words of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, in his address at the Campidoglio [City Hall of Rome] on October 10, 1962: "The Papacy has resumed with unusual vigor its functions as teacher of life and witness to the Gospel, in order to ascend to heights of spiritual governance of the Church and radiating it to the world as never before".

The fundamental contribution of Italian Catholics to the elaboration of the Republican Constitution of 1947 is well known. If the constitutional text was the positive fruit of an encounter and collaboration among diverse traditions of thought, there is no doubt that only Catholic constituents showed up at the historic appointment with a precise plan for the fundamental law of the new Italian State - a plan that had been matured between Catholic Action, particularly its movements in the Italian universities and among Italian college graduates, and the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore. It was also the object of study and elaboration in the Codice di Camaldoli in 1945, and in the 19th Settimana Sociale of Italian Catholics that same year, which was dedicated to the theme 'Constitution and Constituents'.

That paved the way for a very significant commitment of Italian Catholics in politics, in union activity, in public institutions, in economic companies, in expressions of civilian society, thus offering a relevant contribution to the growth of the nation, demonstrating absolute loyalty to the State and dedication to the common good, while projecting Italy onto the European scene.

In the painful and dark years of [domestic] terrorism, Catholics gave their testimony in blood: How can we not remember, among the various victims, that of the Hon. Aldo Moro [Prime Minister of Italy in the 1960s] and of Prof. Vittorio Bachelet [a professor at Rome's La Sapienza University]?

For her part, the Church, thanks to the broad freedom assured to her by the Lateran Concordat of 1929, has continued, with her own institutions and activities, to provide concrete contributions to the common good, intervening particularly to support the most marginalized and suffering persons, and above all, by continuing to nourish the social body with those moral values which are essential for the life of a society that is democratic, just and orderly.

The good of the nation, understood integrally, has always been pursued and expressed, especially in moments of great significance such as in the 'great prayer for Italy' decreeed by the Venerable John Paul II on January 10, 1994.

The conclusion of the agreement on revising the Lateran Concordat, which was signed on February 18, 1984, marked the passage to a new phase in relationships between Church and State in Italy. Its passage was clearly noted by my predecessor, who in an address on June 3, 1985m during the exchange of the instruments of ratification of the Agreement, noted that as "an instrument of concord and collaboration, the Concordat finds its place in a society characterized by the free competition of ideas and a pluralistic articulation of various social components: it could and should constitute a factor of promotion and growth, favoring the profound unity of ideals and sentiments, for which all Italians should feel as brothers in the same country".

He added that in the exercise of her diaconate for man, "the Church intends to operate with full respect for the autonomy of the political order and the sovereignty of the State. In the same way, it will be attentive about safeguarding freedom for all, the indispensable condition to construct a world worthy of man, who only in freedom, can search for the truth fully and adhere to it sincerely, finding in it reason and inspiration for a supportive and unitary commitment to the common good".

The Agreement, which has contributed greatly to delineate that healthy secularity which denotes the Italian state and its juridical order, has demonstrated the two supreme principles called on to preside over relations between the Church and the political community: that of having distinct areas of jurisdiction, and that of collaboration.

A collaboration motivated by the fact that, as the Second Vatican
Council taught, both - the Church and the political community - "even if in different ways, are in the service of the personal and social vocations of the same human beings" (Dogmatic Const. Gaudium et spes, 76).

The experience that has matured in the years since the new dispositions came into force has once more seen the Church and Catholics involved in various ways towards that 'promotion of man and the good of the nation' which, with due respect for reciprocal independence and sovereignty, constitutes the principal and orientative inspiration of the Concordat now in effect (Art. 1).

The Church is aware not only of the contribution that she offers to civilian society for the common good, but also of what she receives from civilian society, as the Second Vatican Council affirmed: "Whoever promotes the human community in the field of the family, of culture, of economic and social life, as well as in politics, whether national or international, also brings help that is by no means small, according to the will of God, to the ecclesial community, in those things where she must depend on external factors" (Dogmatic Const. Gaudium et spes, 44).

In looking at the long course of history, one must recognize that the Italian nation has always been aware of the burden but also the singular privilege given her by the peculiar situation that the seat of Peter's Successor and therefore the center of Catholicism is in Rome.

And the national community has always responded to this awareness by expressing its affectionate closeness, solidarity and assistance to the Apostolic See for its freedom and for realizing the conditions that are favorable to the exercise of his spiritual ministry to the world on the part of Peter's Successor, who is Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy.

Past the turbulences caused by the Roman question, having arrived at the desired conciliation, the Italian State has offered and continues to offer a precious collaboration which is fruitful for the Holy See and for which it is consciously thankful.

In presenting to you, Mr. President, these reflections, I invoke from the heart for the Italian people the abundance of heavenly gifts, so that they always be guided by the light of faith, the source of hope and of persevering commitment to freedom, justice and peace.

From the Vatican
March 16, 2011

---

From the professor-Pope.
a lengthy paper trail
by Francis X. Rocca


VATICAN CITY, March 16 (RNS) - Any book with an initial printing of 1.2 million copies in eight languages qualifies as a global publishing event, regardless of its author. But the release last week (March 10) of Pope Benedict XVI's latest tome was especially remarkable.

More to the point, Jesus of Nazareth - Holy Week, is the latest work of Joseph Ratzinger. For it is the Pope's secular name that appears atop the cover and title page of this book, the second in a projected trilogy on the life and teachings of Jesus.

The name is there to make clear that the work is not an official decree from the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, but an expression of one scholar's ideas.

That distinction is one that makes Benedict's reign unique.

"Pope Benedict XVI is the first full-fledged theologian to occupy the papacy, and he is the first to write in his own name in addition to (issuing) encyclicals and other papal decrees," said the Rev. Richard P. McBrien, a theologian at the University of Notre Dame and author of Lives of the Popes.

Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, came to office with a distinguished background as a philosopher, but the four books he published during his 26-year papacy were memoirs and interviews, not theological studies.

The man who was to become Pope Benedict XVI was already an internationally renowned scholar, with 23 books to his name, before his election. He decided to continue his theological writing with the "Jesus of Nazareth" project, which he had begun two years earlier.

Benedict-Ratzinger's double identity as a pontiff and private theologian has raised questions over its impact on his papacy and the Church.

Opinion differs over whether a Pope should publish works outside of the papacy's traditional teaching authority, said Tracey Rowland, dean of the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and author of Ratzinger's Faith.

"Some people argue that it confuses the lay faithful who don't know what they have to believe and what is a matter over which they might be free to disagree," Rowland said. Nonetheless, most Catholics are intelligent enough to tell the difference, she added.

[I don't think it confuses the 'lay faithful' in this case because what he writes in the book is nothing that he could not say about the faith and about Christ in general, nor does anything in it contradict Catholic teaching in any way. He makes the distinction that this is his private view as a matter of elementary decency, but also, I believe, insofar as it concerns the methods he used for arriving at his conclusions, amd some historical deductions and conclusions which are not necessarily part of the formal Magisterium but which do not necessarily contradict it either.]]

In the first volume of Jesus of Nazareth, published in 2007, Benedict emphasized that "this book is in no way an exercise of the magisterium" but merely an expression of his personal views, and that "everyone is free, then, to contradict me."

Benedict's accomplishments as a writer and thinker are an asset in that they make him a "capable apologist" for his faith in a secular age, said Rupert Shortt, the religion editor of the Times Literary Supplement and author of Benedict XVI: Commander of the Faith..

"It's good that there's someone in the Vatican to make Christianity credible and intellectually respectable," Shortt said.

On the other hand, Shortt said, Ratzinger's long academic background and relative paucity of pastoral experience isolated him from a wider range of opinion within the Church, helping to explain the future Pope's "hard-line" positions on such issues as ecumenism and sexual ethics during his two decades as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office. [That's a surprising line to take! It was his unconditional duty as CDF Prefect to defend the so-called 'hard-line' positions of the faith - that has nothing to do with their pastoral applications, which sometimes have to be taken in consideration of specific cases, in which the persons involved take full responsibility for the informed decision that they must make after adequate pastoral counseling.]

Today, Benedict's hefty intellectual reputation helps shield him from criticism by dissident theologians, said the Rev. Joseph Fessio, head of Ignatius Press, the Pope's English-language publisher.

The dissidents cannot say, "'Oh, the Pope doesn't understand theology, and we know the truth here,"' Fessio said. "It's pretty hard to have a second magisterium when the first magisterium is also a theologian."

Yet Benedict's background as an academic who expresses complex ideas in a condensed style of writing makes him less than perfectly suited to the 21st-century world of sound-bite communications.

The drawbacks to Benedict's approach became evident after his 2006 speech in Germany, in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor describing the teachings of Islam's Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman" and "spread by the sword."

Benedict later confessed that he gave the speech, which provoked the first crisis of his reign, "without realizing that people don't read papal lectures as academic presentations, but as political statements."

In a book-length interview with a German journalist last year, Benedict made a subtle statement about the morality of condom use that would have been unremarkable from a professor at a seminar table, but which coming from the Pope provoked widespread confusion over possible changes to Catholic teaching on the subject.

Fessio, who studied under Ratzinger at the University of Regensburg in the 1970s, says that such misunderstandings are an inevitable but justified side effect of his former teacher's determination to engage in "serious reflection."

"If people don't have ears to hear, that's a problem," Fessio said. "But you can't express Christology on Twitter." [Nor in the run-of-the-mill media, either!]-/DIM]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 16/03/2011 18:04]

Pope Benedict's German visit
to focus on faith's future


BERLIN, March 16 (AP) - German bishops say Pope Benedict XVI's upcoming visit to his homeland will focus on the future of faith in a country that saw record numbers of Roman Catholics leave the church in 2010.

The German Bishops Conference (DBK) said Tuesday that Benedict will start his Sept. 22-25 tour, his first state visit here since becoming Pope, with official meetings and an address to parliament in Berlin. Meetings with Jewish and Muslim leaders are also expected.

The Pontiff will celebrate Mass in Erfurt, in the former eastern German state that was home to Martin Luther's Reformation, and visit a chapel along Germany's former east-west border to honour the Church's role in ending the Cold War.

Freiburg diocese will be his final stop, with a youth meeting and a Mass at the airport.


I'm not sure why AP said nothing about the DBK's news release about the logo and motto for the September visit - but then, even the German service of Vatican Radio online doesn't say anything about it either. This report is from SIR, the news agency of the Italian bishops' conference:

German bishops present logo
and slogan for the Pope's visit



Right photo: Mons. Zollitsch at a Herder presentation of JON-2.

16 MARCH 2011 (RV) - The logo, motto and proposed program for Benedict XVI's visit to Germany in September were presented at a news conference yesterday by the German bishops' conference (DBK) in Paderborn, where the bishops are holding their annual meeting.

The president of the DBK, Mgr. Robert Zollitsch, bishop of Freiburg; Mgr. Joachim Wanke, bishop of Erfurt; the diocesan administrator of the archdiocese of Berlin Mgr. Matthias Heinrich: and the DBK secretary general Fr. Hans Langendörfer, presented different aspects of the Papal visit.

“The German Catholic Church, rather, Germany, rejoices at the Pope’s visit”, said Mgr. Zollitsch, reporting that many people in the country have positively welcomed the Papal visit. “I am convinced, and we hope as bishops, that this visit will strengthen us in our faith. A very difficult time is behind us. Now we are looking ahead with courage”.

Mgr. Zollitsch announced that the Papal visit will also include meetings with Jewish and Muslim leaders, as well as with Orthodox Christians and Protestant representatives.

Mgr. Wanke stressed the ecumenical aspect of the trip: “We are grateful to the Pope for the fact that during his trip he will give significant importance to ecumenism”, he remarked, adding that “this meeting is expected to bear spiritual fruits which will make us progress in our ecumenical journey".

Today, Cardinal Lehmann, Archbishop of Mainz, took up the ecumenical theme at the Paderborn conference, saying the Church should not forget the 'important steps' that have been taken along the ecumenical path in the past 50 years.

“We must go on” precisely because of the existing challenges, trying not to “overcome the obstacles of separation through questionable compromises”.

“We cannot delude ourselves that consensus must be achieved at all costs”, and warned against “exhaustion and capitulation when faced with endless efforts to look for a shared truth” and settling for whatever success has been achieved.

“We have not reached the goal yet”, noticed the cardinal, who mentioned the “many shared proofs” of successful ecumenism in German “social life”, despite some “loss of consensus” in bioethics, notably about pre-implantation diagnostics, which Catholics and Protestants disagree about.

Finally, Lehmann said Christian unity “is God’s gift” and asked to regard “prayer for unity as the first job in any ecumenical effort”.


The website of the German bishops' conference has more material about the logo and the slogan but it is all in German, and I will see if I can translate what is important. The site also says that by April 11, the DBK will launch a special website on the Pope's visit.


German Catholics count down
to Pope's first state visit


BERLIN, March 15 (dpa) -German bishops on Tuesday outlined the programme for Pope Benedict XVI's first state visit to Germany, during a bishop's conference in western Germany.

Benedict is set to visit Germany September 22-25, visiting Berlin, Erfurt and Freiburg, among other German cities.

'We bishops truly hope and believe that we will gain strength from this visit. We have a very hard time behind us,' said Robert Zollitsch, head of the German Bishop's Conference, tacitly referring to a year of scandals revolving around child abuse at church facilities.

Although the native German has visited his home country since his ascension as Pope in 2005, this will be his first visit as a head of state, as opposed to just as a religious figure.

As such, the Pope is set to speak before the Parliament, or Bundestag, and meet multiple politicians during his stay.

However, there will also be a religious component to the visit. Aside from visits with church leaders, Benedict is also set to meet with leaders of the Jewish, Muslim and Orthodox Christian faiths.

The Pope is also set to celebrate a ass in Berlin.

Church leaders in the eastern city of Erfurt said the visit there would be especially significant because so many Catholics there called upon their faith in God during the existence of Communist East Germany, when many people were repressed due to their faith.

Organizers said many details of the visit would be filled in during the months leading up to the visit. Updates will be available at the website (www.papst-in-deutschland.de). Tickets for various events will be available starting May 16.

Church leaders also presented the logo and motto for the visit: Wherever God is, there is the future.

The announcement came on the same day that a February study released by the research group Forsa in Hamburg showed that 29 per cent of Germans have 'great faith' in the pope, while only 21 per cent trust the Catholic church as an institution.

Of Catholics polled, 52 per cent trusted the pope while only 45 per cent trusted the church. The data was released in the Christ & Welt section of the newspaper Die Zeit.


In this connection, let me post a couple of articles that came out in Frankfuerter Allgemeine Zeitung on March 9, along with that lengthy interview with Hans Kueng that I referred to in BULLETIN BOARD at the time. There is more information about the Pope's program than in the above items.

The Pope wants more time
with German Protestants
Translated from

March 9, 2011

Pope Benedict XVI would like greater emphasis on ecumenism than currently planned for is visit to Germany in September.

"I will do everything I can to ensure that my meeting with evangelical Christians will have the appropriate space," the Pope wrote in a letter to the Chairman of the Advisory Council of the EKD, Nikolaus Schneider, who heads the Lutherans in the Rhineland.

The letter, whose text was made available to FAZ, was a reply to Schneider's letter to the Pope on February 8 expressing his desire for a meeting with the Pope that will allow an in-depth conversation.

In the provisional program drawn up last month by the German bishops' conference, the Apostolic Nunciature in Berlin, the Vatican Secretariat of State, and the office of the German President, the Pope's ecumenical meeting is limited to an hour in Erfurt.

The Pope expressed his dissatisfaction. "Meanwhile, the competent authorities have drawn up a preliminary program in which, unfortunately, the meeting with the EKD has a relatively limited space," Benedict wrote in the February 28 letter addressed to his 'dear brother in Christ".

"I have since informed the competent authorities that a stronger ecumenical emphasis is necessary in the land where the Reformation began".

The Pope does not say how and where the emphasis shall be made. But he also asked for understanding that "in a program that is already overcrowded, not everything that I would like and that is appropriate to the measure of things, will be realizable".

There was agreement with the Pope in both the Evangelical and Catholic Churches in Germany.

Schneider expressed to this newspaper his "joy at the positive signal from the Pope". He said he was "very confident that the Pope intends his visit to Germany to result in a good and fruitful exchange" with the Protestants.

The spokesman of the German bishops' conference, Matthias Kopp, also said he was pleased and gave assurances that the Pope's wishes would be heeded.

THE PROGRAM FOR THE VISIT

Pope Benedict's official visit to Germany will take place Sept. 22-25.

After arriving in Berlin's Tegel airport, he will meet with Federal President Wulff at his residence Schloss Bellevue; meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel and other members of the federal government; and address the German Bundestag (Parliament). Because of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, a meeting with Jewish representatives would also have to take place on Day 1.

Mass in Berlin is now planned to be celebrated on the grounds of Charlottenburg Palace [17th century palace dating back to the Hohenzollerns, now a museum and cultural venue].]
An early suggestion to hold the Mass at the Maria Regina church built to honor the victims of Nazism was discarded because the available space around the church was too small.

Two other historic places were ruled out because of scheduled construction work at the time of the visit. And the Berlin Olympic Stadium, where John Paul II said Mass in 1996, was considered by planners to be inappropriate because they felt "they would not be anywhere close to filling the stands".

On Friday, the second day of the visit, the Pope will travel to Erfurt, in what was once Communist East Germany, where he will say Mass in Cathedral Square, which will be the first Papal Mass in Erfurt since the Reformation.

He will meet with representatives of the EKD either at the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, or at the Wartburg Palace in neighboring Eisenach, where Martin Luther had lived and worked.

In the afternoon, the Pope will visit Eichsfeld, which was once the home of the largest Catholic community in eastern Germany. After decades of Communist atheism, the place has once again become a pilgrim destination.

He will meet with Eichsfeld Catholics in the small Marian shrine of Etzelbach before returning to Berlin.

On Saturday, he will most probably meet with Muslim representatives. And if he does meet with some victims of sex abuse by priests, this meeting will not be announced beforehand.

He will then leave for Freiburg where his first activity will be an encounter with diocesan youth on Saturday evening.

He will celebrate an open-air Mass on Sunday morning, and then have meetings with the German bishops, the Central Committee of German Catholics, and with the clergy, religious and seminarians of the diocese.

He will fly back to Rome Sunday evening.


The following article is loaded with the author's prejudices. If this is the kind of journalism practised at FAZ, which is yearly chosen as the world's best newspaper in terms of quality, then journalism is really at a nadir.

The Pope and ecumenism
by Daniel Decker
Translated from

March 9, 2011

Whether it was meeting his eternal critic Hans Kueng in the summer of 2005, his Regensburg lecture one year later, lifting the excommunication of the Lefebvrian bishops, his puzzling remarks about condoms, or in his books about Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI has been full of surprises since he became Pope.

A recent one is his letter to the chairman of the Evangelical Church of Germany (EKD), Nikolaus Schneider, in which the Pope seeks to break the ecumenical ice. [There is no ice to be broken. The Pope's personal relations with the German evangelicals have always been excellent, since he played a major role in breaking the impasse over the eventual joint declaration on Justification made by the Catholic Church and the Lutherans in 1999.]

Because as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, more than anyone, knew how to rub salt into Protestant wounds. [Decker makes it sound as if the Cardinal had been in the habit of 'rubbing salt on Protestant wounds'. But apart from the statement of fact in defining 'church' that the Protestants objected to in Dominus Iesus], what instances can Decker possibly hold to the Pope's account?][DIM]

As Benedict XVI, the German theologian on the papal throne has been more concerned with rapprochement between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches than with substantial steps forward in the evangelical-Catholic dialog.

[That is, of course, unfounded, even if it is true that differences between the Catholic and the Orthodox are far less in both number and significance than differences with Protestants. Also, every year, the presidents and/or general secretaries of the World Council of (Protestant) Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, and the Lutheran Church of America have visited Benedict XVI at the Vatican, with the most glowing of words afterwards.

And last year, the Pope visited the Lutheran Church in Rome for a joint Vespers service. At the January 2011 visit of a delegation from the EKD during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, they even asked the Pope = strangely and undiplomatically, I thought - to help Protestants mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Why should the leader of the Catholic Church celebrate the second of the two major and so far enduring schisms in the one Church of Christ?]

And now, in supreme disregard of diplomatic practice, Benedict XVI has criticized a central point of the program that had been carefully designed for his September visit to Germany.

At the same time, the Pope has raised great expectations. His expressed desire in the letter to Schneider for greater emphasis on ecumenism during his visit can hardly be accomplished by prolonging the time now assigned for his meeting with other Christian leaders.

The head of the Catholic Church will be travelling to the heartland of the Reformation at a time when both Catholics and Protestants must ask what ecumenical steps they can and must take forward in view of the 2017 jubilee of the Reformation.

[This writer seems to forget that Benedict XVI has been to Germany twice before as Pope. Both times, his ecumenical meetings took place without any controversy. How hostile can the German Lutheran leadership be to the man who broke the impasse on Justification in 1999, and who probably knows more about Martin Luther and his writings than any of them?]

Where can one seek better answers to this question than in the places where Martin Luther lived and worked, and who can have more experienced words to say about him than the theologian on Peter's Chair?

In any case, the Catholic Church will have an 'exciting' autumn. Just four weeks after Erfurt [the Lutheran city that the Pope will visit], Benedict XVI will be hosting an inter-religious peace gathering in Assisi. More surprises may be in store.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/03/2011 14:55]

2011 Lenten retreat at the Vatican also
a preparation for JPII beatification




VATICAN CITY, March 16 - On the evening of the first Sunday of Lent, Benedict XVI began his annual Lenten retreat with the cardinals of the Roman curia, in preparation for Easter.

Fr. François-Marie Lethel, the Carmelite priest chosen by the Pope this year to preach the spiritual exercises, said: "The spiritual retreat is for all Christians, for religious, priests, and to all the faithful. It's usually a week of silence, of reflection and conversion. Each year the Pope and the Roman Curia hold it during the first week of Lent, because it is a special time of conversion”, an appropriate preparation for the late Pope's beatification on May 1.

Fr.Lethel said: “We had to present these spiritual exercises as a preparation for the big event of the year, the beatification of John Paul II. Then I thought of this picture of Blessed Fra Angelico who is on the cover of the book used in the exercises.”



He said the painting symbolizes the universal call to holiness, adding: “John Paul II will lead this circle in which everyone is called to holiness. Everyone from the pope, the Cardinals, me, and to all the faithful. The saints in this painting are friends that come together and help each other on the road to sainthood. John Paul II, with the grace of his beatification, will guide everyone during the retreat.”

The Carmelite priest has dedicated the meditations to the saints and blesseds related to John Paul II, such as St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, from whom John Paul II took the motto “Totus Tuus” and St. Thérèse of Lisieux, who was named a Doctor of the Church for being an expert in the “Science of Love.”

As examples of experts in the “Science of faith,” two other Doctors of the Church - St. Anselm and St. Thomas Aquinas - arere proposed, while St. Catherine of Siena and St. Joan of Arc will be models of reform and fidelity to the Church.

Among the lay saints, Fr. Lethel has included the French writer Charles Péguy, the Mexican Concepción Cabrera, who was the mother of nine children, and the Roman teenager Chiara Luce Badano, the first blessed of the Focolare Movement.

During the retreat, the Pope doesn't hold official meetings, or make public appearances. However, he does commit about an hour at the end of each day to take care of any pressing matters with the Church. The retreat ends on Saturday norning.

A million youths expected
at Madrid WYD


MADRID, March 16 (AFP) - More than a million young people are expected to attend the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day (WYD) celebrations in Spain in August, a senior church official said Tuesday.

By Monday "about 300,000 pilgrims" had enrolled for the event, which will take place in Madrid between August 16 and 21, Santiago de la Cierva, executive director of the gathering, said at the Vatican.

Of these 50,000 were Spanish and about the same number French and Italian. More than 17,000 of the faithful were expected to come from the United States and 10,000 from Poland, he told a news conference.

Pope Benedict XVI will attend from August 18 to 21, making the third visit of his papacy to Spain. He will meet King Juan Carlos, Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, opposition leader Mariano Rajoy and the Madrid authorities.

Because of Spain's delicate economic situation, the budget for the event, the 26th in the series, will be 20 percent lower that for the last WYD, in Sydney in July 2008.

The WYD, instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1986, was held in 1989 in the northwestern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela.

Religion is on the retreat in Spain, which under the regime of dictator Francisco Franco was a Roman Catholic stronghold. While in 2002 80 percent of Spaniards identified themselves as Catholics the figure is now 73 percent.

Spanish society has become more liberal since 2005 with legislation making divorce easier, legalising homosexual marriage (20,000 unions have been celebrated since 2005) and making abortion more available.

Thursday, March 17, First Week of Lent

ST. PATRICK (PADRAIGH) (b Britain 387?, d N. Ireland, 493), Bishop, Missionary, Apostle of Ireland
Few saints have as many legends about him as Patrick. But the only facts known about his life before he came to Ireland as bishop
and missionary come from one of only two existing letters from him. He called himself a Roman and a Briton. At 16, he and several
others were captured by Irish raiders and sold as slaves in Ireland. He was put to work as a shepherd but escaped back to Britain
after six years. He may have studied in France, but the next known event is that he was consecrated bishop at age 43. A dream
about Irish children convinced him it was his mission to Christianize what was then pagan Ireland. Once sent there, he made friends
with local chieftains and began converting many Irish, to the point that soon he was creating dioceses, calling councils, founding
monasteries, constantly preaching 'greater holiness in Christ' - and eventually able to send Irish missionaries to help Christianize
Europe in a matter of decades. If the dates currently 'established' for his birth and death are approximately right - they have been
changing over the centuries - he would have been about 106 when he died, and would have spent at least 60 years Christianizing
Ireland. The Irish have celebrated him on the anniversary day of his death for over a thousand years, and he has become very
much part of Irish culture and tradition.
Readings for today's Mass:
www.usccb.org/nab/readings/031711.shtml


OR today.

Benedict XVI to President Napolitano on the 150th anniversary of Italy's statehood:
'The natural expression of national identity'
He underscores fundamental contribution of Christianity and the Church
The Pope's message was delivered to Napolitano by Cardinal Bertone yesterday. Other Page 1 stories: Fukushima
nuclear reactor damage now 'terrorizes' Japan - Emperor Akihito addresses the nation; and Qaddafi's forces lay siege
to Benghazi, the only Libyan city still held by rebels as of yesterday.


The Holy Father is on the 5th day of his Lenten retreat.

The Vatican released the text of an address today on religious freedom by the permanent representative
of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva to the 26th session of the UN Council for Human Rights.




There's an overwhelmingly laudatory reaction from Italian Vaticanistas and other secular media for Benedict XVI's extraordinary and unorthodox message to the Italian President on the 150th anniversary of Italian statehood. I hope I can translate at least a couple of commentaries.


Japan's nuclear litany:
Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima
Now Fukushima is destined to go down along with Hiroshima and Nagasaki as tragic milestones in the modern history of Japan.
The last two were horrors inflicted from outside in World War II as the ultimate unprecedented measure to force Japan to end
a futile war. In an ironic twist, Japan would then decide to harness the peaceful potential of nuclear energy to become the
world's third largest user of nuclear power. The current emergency - though nowhere near the horror of the first two - is
the unintended consequence of modern technology failing to resist the superior force of natural catastrophe. For now,
the world can only watch, hope and pray.

March 17, 2011

---

"This is the labor for the harvest in the field of God, in the field of human history: to bring to men and women the light of truth, to set them free from the lack of truth, which is the true sorrow, the true impoverishment of man."
— Pope Benedict XVI, "In God's Field", February 5, 2011 (Episcopal Ordination Mass in St. Peter's)

---

I.

On the occasion of five curial officials being raised to the arch-episcopacy, Pope Benedict XVI's sermon was about the need of truth and the centrality of making it known through the Church.

He spoke of the Lord sending laborers into the harvest and, drawing from Isaiah, of the Lord's anointing to bring good tidings to the afflicted and to sooth the brokenhearted. The Pope reminded the bishops to stand as living witnesses, as it says in the first letter of John, to those who saw and touched the Lord.

From the beginning, the Church has seen itself as sent to all the nations, however difficult it often is to be received in many of them. The office of Peter exists to assure the unity of witness to what is handed down.

The field of God is spread throughout human history to all the nations. We need to be set free from "a lack of truth." This lack is rightly called a "sorrow" and an "impoverishment." Contrasted to this sorrow are the "glad tidings," which, as the Pope carefully says, are not just words but include "an event."

What is this event? Here Benedict echoes the core of his book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week. The unique event is this: "God himself has come among us." This coming is the central truth that the followers of Christ are called upon to make known among the nations.

The Pope is aware of those who reject this truth. "Large parts of the modern world, large numbers of our contemporaries, turn their backs on God and consider faith something of the past."

But when we look at what they implicitly want to put in the place of faith, we still find that "a yearning that justice, love and peace will be established at last, that poverty and suffering will be surmounted and that human beings will find joy."

So the rejection of faith does not necessarily mean that what the faith promises is rejected or that the fulfillment of this yearning is simply some this-worldly political kingdom.

"The longing for all these things is present in the contemporary world, the longing for what is great and what is good. It is yearning for the Redeemer, for God himself, even when he is denied."

Such is the great paradox. Even the denial of God is associated with a divinely established longing in our souls. The modern world is filled with all sorts of schemes to achieve these things. But it is careful not to consider or admit the truth of the Christian understanding of our longing.

It is precisely a yearning for "a Redeemer," as the Pope puts it, not just for a sort of perfect order that exists somewhere down the eons in the future beyond any of us.

Moreover, our yearning cannot be met only by ourselves. It is one of the tenets of humanism that we want to rid ourselves of God in order that only man remains to decide what he is.

The fact is that man is something more than himself. "The Lord makes us realize that it cannot be merely we ourselves who send laborers into the harvest; that it is not a question of management or of our own organizational ability."

It often seems that even Church bureaucracy gets in the way of what we are about. As the Pope noted in Deus Caritas Est, all bureaucracies need personal contact with actual people. However useful, organizations can be cold, as their members often rarely meet actual people.

To expand his thoughts on these topics, Benedict took up the four points mentioned by St. Luke in the Acts of the Apostles. He indicates "what the fundamental elements of Christian life are in the communion of the Church of Jesus Christ."

The four points are found in the following passage from Acts (2:42): "They devoted themselves to the Apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread and to prayers." These four elements are what bishops are about—perseverance, truth, Eucharist, and prayer.

The first element is the "devoting of themselves." It is surprising that this devoting or preserving is separated out as "of the essence of being a Christian."

But the Pope is talking to bishops. They are not only selected to serve but they themselves must will to devote themselves. The Christian wills to be a Christian. And he also wills that others know accurately what this faith is about. This requires something more than fulfilling a bureaucratic office.

The Pope tells the bishops that they are not to be wishy-washy. "The Pastor is not to be a marsh reed that bends in the wind, a servant of the spirit of the times." He is rather to be like a tree with deep roots, to be a place where there is "stability and growth."

It is often easier to be servants of "the spirit of the times" rather than proper readers of the "signs of the times." The latter is of God, the former is not.

II.
Bishops, "as priests of Jesus Christ," are to be "laborers in the harvest of the world's history with the duty of healing by opening the doors to the world to the lordship of God."

Such a mission is to participate "in the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to him as the Messiah, as the Son anointed by God." All these things fit together.

"The fundamental elements of Christian life are in the communion of the Church of Jesus Christ." The truths hold us together. The Pope recalls Blessed John Henry Newman's journeys: "the journey of obedience to the truth, to God; the journey of true continuity which in this very way brings progress."

Our communion is not just with the people of our time or place. If we read the canon of the Mass carefully we see we are present before all times and places in our worship.

The book of Acts tells us to "devote ourselves to the Apostles' teaching." Often, it seems, we do not speak clearly what we hold. What we hold to be true "is not a vague spirituality, an undefinable sensation of transcendence. God has acted and he himself has spoken."

Catholicism strives for clarity, not obscurity or vagueness. Our understanding of mystery is not that it is unintelligible but that it is more intelligible than our minds have power to grasp.

We set down creeds so that we can understand accurately what we hold. The Pope adds of God that "He has really done something and he really said something." In faith we entrust ourselves to God Yet, this commitment is not an abstraction.

"God to whom we entrust ourselves has a face and has given us his Word. We may count on the permanence of His Word." Historical and philosophical studies in the Church are precisely directed to the reality of this "he (God) really done something and he really said something."

"The ancient Church summed up the essential core of the Apostles' teaching in the so-called Regula fidei, which is fundamentally identical to the Profession of Faith."

This is the rule that is still valid. We are not rigid, but we are accurate. Any slight error can undermine the whole order. This Creed is what pastors proclaim.

In addition to teaching and holding what Christ was and taught, we (Christians) form a communion with one another. We are not alone. In what does this communion consist? "God made himself close to us."

Our initiative was not what made this possible. It was God's. "This is the essence of the Apostolic Succession: to preserve communion with those who have encountered the Lord in a visible and tangible way and thus to keep Heaven open, the presence of God in our midst." It is though our contact with this succession that we touch God.

The third element in this teaching or guidance is "the breaking of bread," the sacrifice on the Cross, prefigured at the Last Supper whose form we use. "The blessed Eucharist is the center of the Church and must be the center of our being as Christian and of our priestly life."

The risen Lord comes to us through the Eucharist, and this Eucharist opens us to others. The Eucharist forms the community. The community does not concoct the Eucharist. This un-bloody sacrifice handed down to us is the true way that man can worship God, a way taught to us by God, not by man.

Still, we can attend to things about this worship: "Let us be careful that faith is always expressed in love and justice for one another and our social conduct are inspired by faith; that faith is lived in love."

The final element is prayer. Prayer is "never something private of my individual 'ego' that does not concern others. Praying is essentially and also always praying in the 'we' of God's children." We say "we" in our prayer, but "I" in our creeds.

Unless we affirm the truths in our minds and hearts, we cannot be together in a unity that addresses the same God. Prayer is "raising my life toward God's height." Each of us longs for the Lord.

Finally, Benedict tells the bishops: "You are called to undertake tasks that concern the universal Church." We are servants of the truth that has been handed down to us. We are not gods who make up our own world as if what we think we want is better than what we are offered in Creation and Redemption.

Pope names ex-Anglican
bishops 'monsignors'
By Anna Arco

Thursday, 17 March 2011

The Pope has honoured three former Anglican bishops, the first members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, with the title of monsignor.


Monsignors Newton, Broadhurst and Burnham at their ordination s Catholic priests in Westminster Cathedral on Jan. 1, 2011.

Fr Keith Newton, the leader of the Ordinariate who has most of the functions of a bishop, and Fr John Broadhurst, the former Bishop of Fulham, have been granted the papal award of Apostolic Pronotary, the highest ecclesial title for non-bishops. Fr Andrew Burnham, the former Bishop of Ebbsfleet, has been granted the papal award of Prelate of Honour, and is therefore also a monsignor.

[In the case of two monsignors familiar to us: Mons. Georg Ratzinger is an Apostolic Proto-Notary named by John Paul II in 1994, and Mons. Georg Gaenswein became a monsignor when he was named Chaplain to the Holy Father by John Paul II in 2000, elevated to Prelate of Honor by Benedict XVi in 2006.]

The three men became the first clergy of the world’s first personal ordinariate set up for groups of former Anglicans as a result of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in January.

Groups of former Anglicans will be received into the Church in Holy Week and the priests for the ordinariate will be ordained around Pentecost.

The ordinary expects that about 900 people will become members of the ordinariate in Holy Week, including 61 members of the clergy. A majority of the laity entering the ordinariate took part in Rite of Election ceremonies across the country last weekend.

Fr Newton said: “I am really delighted by the numbers of Anglican laity who have begun the journey into the full Communion with the Catholic Church in Holy Week. It has not been an easy journey for many but I know they will be greatly blessed. The Rites of Election (or Enrolment for ordinariate members) around the dioceses marked a very moving and important part of the journey so far.”

A related earlier story that I missed:

Record number of new Catholics
to be received into the Church at Easter
By Anna Arco

15 March 2011


Newly-named Mons. Keith Newton, who leads the ordinariate, at Westminster Cathedral during last Sunday's the Rite of Election.

A record number of people in England and Wales will be received into the Catholic Church in Holy Week and Easter.

Over 4,700 people took part in Rite of Election ceremonies in dioceses around England and Wales last weekend, marking a bumper year of new faithful, both catechumens and candidates for reception.

The number was unusually high thanks to the number of groups of Anglicans being received into the Church in Holy Week for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham – about 800 lay people and 61 clergy.

The Archdiocese of Westminster had the largest numbers of candidates and catechumens come forward with almost 900, 62 of whom will join the ordinariate in Holy Week, while 829 people will be received or baptised at Easter.

It marks a slight drop from 2009’s record of 850 people being received into the Church at Easter. Southwark Archdiocese had a record 684, of whom 167 people were joining the ordinariate.

Meanwhile, according to the figures released by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Brentwood diocese has the highest number of former Anglicans joining the Ordinariate of all the English and Welsh dioceses, with 240 people.

The south of England had the largest number of people joining the ordinariate while 11 dioceses, located predominantly in the north of England and Wales, did not have any people joining the ordinariate at the Rite of Election. Attendance to the Rite of Election was optional for former Anglicans joining the ordinariate.

The Diocese of Portsmouth experienced a record number of candidates and catechumens, without even counting the 61 former Anglicans joining the ordinariate.

Speaking at the Rite of Election, Bishop Crispian Hollis said: “This is my 23rd celebration of the Rite of Election in this Cathedral and in the diocese, and this year we are seeing the largest numbers I have known coming forward for the final stage of the journey to the Easter sacraments.”

During his homily he specially greeted those joining the ordinariate, and added: “Wherever you are coming from and whatever has been the character of your journey of faith, we are blessed by your presence. You bring a huge variety and experience of Christian life and your own personal journeys of faith to this celebration, to your parishes and communities, to the diocese and to the Church. You all have much to offer.”

Speaking about those joining the ordinariate, Bishop Kieran Conry, who is in charge of the Bishops’ Department for Evangelisation and Catechesis, said: “The witness of so many people taking this life-changing step is so very encouraging. Each year people freely choose to come forward from all walks of life, bringing with them unique experiences and talents. The Catholic community welcomes them with love and the assurance of prayer. If you’re considering taking a similar step or are not sure yet, come and see. Give your local Catholic church a ring or ask a Catholic friend for help.”

Peter Jennings, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, said there were significantly more people coming forward for reception into the Church this year than last year. In the past the archdiocese has had one ceremony for the Rite of Election but this year they had two, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. This included four ordinariate groups, two coming forward for the Rite of Election on each day.

'Lectio divina':
The Pope explains Scripture
and sets an example for
priests and seminarians
But his lesson is for all. His two books on Jesus
are, in effect, a 'lectio divina' for the world.



ROME, March 17, 2011 – In the second volume of Jesus of Nazareth, just as in the first, Benedict XVI proposes an interpretation of the Gospels that is not only historical-critical, nor only spiritual, but simultaneously historical and theological: the only interpretation that, in his judgment, is capable of leading to an encounter with the "real" Jesus.

"It is a matter of finally recovering," he writes in the preface to the book, "the methodological principles for exegesis formulated by Vatican Council II in Dei Verbum 12. A task that, unfortunately, has hardly been faced at all."

Benedict XVI recalled these principles forcefully in an address at the General Assembly of the Bishops' Synod in 2008, dedicated precisely to the interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. And he reiterated them in the post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, released last year as the conclusion of that synod.

This kind of interpretation is so near to Benedict XVI's heart that he is also taking it up more and more often in his encounters with priests and seminarians.

In recent days, he has done so twice: on March 4 with the students of the Pontifical Roman Seminary, and on March 10 with the priests of the diocese of Rome. [Actually, he first gave a 'lectio divina' to the seminarians in 2009 - this year was his third to them. And he first gave a 'lectio divina' to the priests last year.]

Papa Ratzinger has made a practice of gathering the priests of Rome around him at the beginning of each Lent. In past years he had responded to their questions. This year, instead, he gave them a 'lectio divina,' in commentary on a passage from the Acts of the Apostles.

In Verbum Domini, the Pope explained that 'lectio divina' is "prayerful reading" of Sacred Scriptures that unfolds in four basic steps:

- lectio: what the biblical text itself says;

- meditatio: what the biblical text is saying to us;

- oratio: what we say to God in response to his Word;

- contemplatio: reflection on the conversion of mind, heart, and life that God is asking of us.

With the students of the Pontifical Roman Seminary, the future priests of the diocese of Rome, Benedict XVI gave a 'lectio divina'
on a passage from chapter 4 of the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.

The Pope lingered over some key words, in their original language: call (which in Greek, he said, has the same root as "Paraclete," the Holy Spirit, humility (the same Greek word that Saint Paul uses to indicate the self-abasement of the Son of God to the point of becoming man and dying on the cross), sweetness (the same Greek word that is found in the Beatitudes).

The complete text of this 'lectio divina' is now available on the Vatican website, translated into various languages:
www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2011/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20110304_seminario-romano-mag...

With the priests of Rome on March 10 - the day Jesus of Nazareth - Vol. 2 was released - the Pope's reflections focused on what is called the "pastoral testament" of Saint Paul, his moving farewell address to the Christians of Ephesus and Miletus, related in chapter 20 of the Acts of the Apostles.

As usual, when he is meeting the clergy of Rome, the lectio was held in the Hall of Benedictions, behind the central loggia of the basilica of Saint Peter, where Popes appear after they are elected, and to give their Urbi et Orbi blessings.

Benedict XVI spoke for more than an hour, off the cuff, with just a page of notes in front of him. [This has been his practice since he gave the first 'lectio divina' to Roman seminarians in 2009.]

The transcription, with the necessary scrutiny, therefore took some time. And so when it was made public, it was by then seen by the media as too "old" for coverage. As a result almost no one, except for the priests present, heard anything about it.

And yet the 'lectio divina' held on that occasion by the Pope is among those that deserve to be read and savored in their entirety. It is a prime example of adherence both to the letter and to the spirit of the Sacred Scriptures, in the footsteps of Origen, Ambrose, Augustine, Gregory, the Fathers of the Church, and the great medieval theologians. With lively attention to the challenges of the present time and to the impact of the Word of God on our lives.


[My note: So far, the Vatican site only has the original Italian transcript and a French translation online - curiously classified under Benedict XVI "Speeches'. I was getting ready to translate it when my PC was disabled last week, and, mea culpa, I have not gotten round to doing it. I hope to post a translation later today.[/C[

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/03/2011 20:11]