This is one of those 'major articles' that I put aside to translate when I have the time, and I finally finished it. The real title of the article is 'Liturgical reform and the Catholic Church', but since the issue appeared on Good Friday, the Jewish angle was played up. The interview is much more than that - it is mainly an appreciation of Benedict XVI and therefore appropriate for the coming fifth anniversary.
Interestingly, in Italian and Spanish, a five-year period is called a 'lustro', lustrum, after the ancient Roman rite Lustratio which was a period of purification and expiation celebrated with rites that all heads of family were required to attend, or they would lose all their privileges until the next Lustratio. The root word 'lustrare' means both to purify and to brighten. So in many ways, it is a great designation for the Holy Father's papal anniversary.
Martin Mosebach, born 1951, studied law but then became a very suffessful writer, one of the most important names in contemporary German literature. He has written novels, , plays, movie scripts and reportage. In 2007, he won the Georg-Buechner Prize, the most prestigious award given to German-writing authors. In 2002, he published a book that later appeared in English as "Heresy of Formlessness", a collection of his essays on the liturgy. written from the point of view of a Catholic writer, in which he argues for a return to the traditional Mass.
'Benedict XVI is no anti-Semite':
A conversation with Martin Mosebach
by Alexander Goerlach
Translated from the German online journal
April 2, 2010
Martin Mosebach is a great admirer of Pope Benedict XVI, particularly for his fight against relativism and his love for traditional Catholic liturgy. The Buechner Prize winner thinks that the old prayer for the conversion of the Jews is as inoffensive as the Pope's rapprochement with the controversial FSSPX.
Personally, how do you assess the five years in which Benedict XVI has been in office?
Benedict XVI has set for himself the most difficult mission. He wants to heal the evil consequences of the ‘Revolution of 1968’ within the Church in a non-revolutionary manner. This Pope is not a papal dictator. He relies on the strength of the better argument and hopes that the nature of the Church will overcome whatever is inappropriate to her character, if some minimal assistance is provided.
His program is so subtle that it can neither be presented in official form nor understood by an almost unimaginably over-simplifying press. It is a program that will show its effects only in the future – and probably only with clarity after the death of the Pope.
But even now we can recognize his courage in seeking to promote reconciliation, beyond the narrow limits of canon law – in China, through the integration of the Patriotic Church, and between the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches; or by his novel fusion of traditional and enlightened biblical theology that provides a way out of the dead end of rationalistic Biblical criticism.
Should we not think of the cases of sexual abuse in Church institutions, and how do you think the Pope is reacting?
Obviously, the Church must always consider that in her schools and institutions, there may be individual teachers who will take advantage of their pupils. That’s just the way it is. In institutions where children are raised, there are almost always personnel with pedophile inclinations.
But we must ask ourselves why it was that sexual crimes by priests seemed to pile up in the years after Vatican II. We can’t avoid the bitter realization that the experiment of
aggiornamento - the attempt to assimilate the Church into the secular world - was a terrible failure.
After Vatican II, most priests gave up their robes, stopped saying daily Mass, stopped praying the breviary
[Office of the Hours – psalms and prayers said by priests and religious six times a day]. Post-conciliar theologians did all they could so that the traditional image of the priest would be forgotten. All the institutions which had always helped a priest carry on his difficult and solitary life were called into question.
Why should we be surprised that in those years, many priests were no longer able to think of themselves in the traditional way? The priestly discipline that was deliberately discarded was that which had been very carefully formulated by the Council of Trent. At that time, too, the intention was to resist the corruption of the clergy and to revive the sacredness of the priestly ministry.
It is good that Church leaders should now ask all the victims of abuse for forgiveness, but it is more important to tighten the reins on priestly discipline in the sense of the Council of Trent and to return to the tradition of Catholic priesthood.
What will be the Church that Benedict XVI will leave behind?
One would wish that the Pope will be able to see for himself the first proofs of a healing of the Church. But he is so humble and modest that he would not consider any such signs as the result of his own work. I do think that he wants to spare his successor the thankless but necessary tasks which he is now taking on himself. I hope his successor will avail of the great opportunity that Benedict will have created for him.
You say the liturgical reform (after Vatican II) fundamentally changed the Catholic Church – how?
Pope Paul VI’s changes in the Roman Catholic liturgy that had been handed down through 1500 years have been called a ‘reform’ – actually, it was a revolution, which was not what the Second Vatican Council meant when it authorized a ‘careful’ review of the liturgical books.
Instead, the ‘reform’ reoriented the 2000-year-old celebration, intended to be a worship of God, to be centered on man. It undermined the priestly function itself, and largely obscured the teaching of the Church about the Sacraments.
In the late 1960s, there were many upheavals around the world: the Cultural Revolution in China, the Prague Spring in Czechoslovakia; the student unrest here at home; the Vietnam war – and the Second Vatican Council. Can these be considered related?
I think that 1968 is a phenomenon that is still not understood enough. Here in Germany, we love to indulge in happy memories of communes and disputes over the correct reading of Marx. In fact, 1968 was a pivotal year in history, with seemingly independent anti-traditionalist movements around the world. But I am convinced that one day, when we are detached enough, the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the liturgical overturn in the Roman Catholic Church will be seen to be closely related.
Pope Benedict XVI, as a council theologian, took part in the Council. What do you think now of his commitment to revive some liturgical elements of the ‘pre-conciliar’ Church?
Benedict XVI sees it as one of his main tasks to make the essence of the Church once again clearly visible – for Catholics, and also for non-Catholics. He knows that the Church is indissolubly bound to her Tradition. Church and Revolution are irreconcilable contradictions. Therefore, he is trying to intervene in those areas where the image of the Church has been distorted by a radical break with the past.
The Church, like its founder, has two natures – one is historical the other timeless. She must not forget where she came from, nor where she is going. That is why the Church in the West finds itself in particular difficulty today: she does not have a sense of her historical evolution nor of her eternal life.
The [Good Friday] prayer for the conversion of the Jews which was in use until Vatican II has been revived with the liberalization of the traditional Mass. Was that a right step?
The re-authorization of the liturgy which was suppressed – often rather forcibly - under Paul VI also brought back to the liturgy of Good Friday the prayer for the conversion of the Jews which dates to early Christianity. This prayer, which was based on a formulation by the Apostle Paul, included the expression that God might free the Jews from their ‘blindness’ and “lift the veil from their hearts”.
Because of recent history with the Jews, the Pope thought that the ancient formulation could be misunderstood as an expression of condescension to the Jews, and so when the traditional Mass was re-authorized, he made a new formulation that still asks God to lead the Jews to Jesus Christ, but without any sense of dis-esteem. The Pope has been attacked because the prayer still implies that the Jews need to be converted – but how can such an intention be banned from the Church of Petere and Paul, who were both Jews?
How do you assess the relationship of Benedict XVI to the Jews and to Israel?
Benedict XVI is probably the first Pope since Peter to understand how closely Christianity derived from Judaism. His book on Jesus shows in many ample stretches his attempt to read the New Testament through the eyes of the Old Testatment.
This Pope’s relationship to Judaism is not superficial or political, much less is it mere sympathy because of a modern philo-Semitism, but it is theological and deeply rooted in faith. Sometimes, one has the impression that if Benedict were not a Christian, he would be Jewish. To accuse this Pope of anti-Semitism betrays ignorance and incompetence that should not be allowed in public discourse.
The controversy surrounding the Fraternity of St. Pius X has so far not brought the Vatican any visible results. What do you think this group can bring to the Church besides their love for the traditional liturgy?
'Other than the traditional liturgy'? What is more important for the Church than the liturgy? It is the body of the Church – it is the faith made visible.
When the liturgy goes wrong, so does the entire Church. And that is not just a mere hypothesis – it is a description of what is happening. One cannot present it strongly enough: The crisis in the Church made it possible for her greatest treasure, her Arcanum, to be swept aside.
[Cardinal Ratzinger saw it otherwise: it was downgrading the liturgy that led to the crisis in the Church.]
The FSSPX, above all their founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, deserve the historical merit of having preserved this most important asset for decades and to keep it alive. That is why the Church owes the FSSPX gratitude, and because of this, she must also concern herself with leading them out of all sorts of confusion and radicalization.
But the FSSPX do not really seem to be ‘Rome-bound’…
The discussions with the FSSPX require the patient work of persuasion, which is necessary in all spiritual work. The discussions appear to be taking place in a very good atmosphere. And if one day the FSSPX will return to full communion with the Church, then it will be a success for the Pontificate of Benedict XVI, one whose significance will go far beyond the number of that community.
Christianity is one of the foundation pillars of Europe. Will it still be relevant to the continent in the future?
Christianity is the foundation of Europe – I don’t see anything else. All the intellectual movements of modern times, even when they are against Christianity, owe their origins to it. Europe also received ancient philosophy and art through Christianity.
If European society turns away completely from Christianity, then it only means that she is rejecting herself. Whether you acknowledge it or not, it is there. Repressing it is not a foundation for a hopeful future.
You were in Turkey for some time. If it becomes a full member of the European Union, would Turkey enrich it, or will it be difficult to integrate a Muslim country into the system of Western values?
Surely you understand that I cannot give you a politically or popularly correct answer. All I can see is that in the 20th century, Turkey had enormous difficulties with its Christian European minorities - and this was anti-Islamic moderniszing Turkey. Until the 1950s, there was still a Greek-dominated Constantinople (Istanbul), but living together with Christians became insupportable for the modern Turks – and so they put an end to that.
Now, however, they seem to think that for economic reasons, it is worth the effort to draw close to Europe, without revising their internal policy of hostility to Christians. I think we are very far from what you call "integration into the value system of the West”.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/04/2010 20:30]