BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Benedict XVI talks to Peter Seewald:
The labors of the Papacy
and the challenges to the faith -
but also a passion for
Peppone and don Camillo
Translated from

Nov. 21, 2010

As a preview of Peter Seewald's book-length interview with the Pope, which comes out on Tuesday, we print here a few pages from the book...

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Holy Father, on April 16, 2005, on your 78th birthday, you told your co-workers how much you were looking forward to your retirement. Three days later, you found yourself the head of the Universal Church with its 1.2 billion members. It's not exactly a task one takes on in old age.
I truly looked forward to finding peace and tranquillity. Instead, finding myself suddenly in front of this immense task was for me, as everyone knows, a real shock. The responsibility is, in fact, enormous.

You later said you had the impression that a cleaver had fallen on you...
Yes, in fact, the thought of a guillotine came to mind: Look, now it is falling, and it will hit you! I was so very certain that this responsibility would never be destined for me, that God, after so many long and hard-working years, would have granted me some peace and tranquillity.

The only thing I could tell myself, to clear up my head, was: "Obviously, God's will is otherwise. So for me, it was the start of something completely different, a new thing altogether. But he will always be with me...

In the so-called Room of Tears, what were you thinking?
Actually, at that time, I was occupied by very practical questions, external ones. Above all, how to adjust the garments, and the like.

I knew that shortly after this, from the central Loggia, I would have to say some words, and I started to think, "What could I say?"

For everything else, from the moment that the choice fell on me, I was capable only of thinking, "Lord, what are you doing to me? Now it's your responsibility. You must lead me! I am not capable of this. If you wished me for this, then now you must help me!"

In this sense, I found myself, so to speak, in a very close dialog with God, to tell him that it he did one thing, then he must also do the other.

Did John Paul II want you to be his successor?
I don't know. I think he left everything in the hands of God.

What were the last words he said to you before he died?
He was suffering a lot, but he was very lucid, though he could no longer say anything. I asked for his blessing which he gave me. Then we were left holding each other's hand with affection, knowing that this would be our last meeting.
...

Can you truly speak in the name of Jesus?
In announcing the faith and in administering the Sacraments, every priest speaks and acts on the mandate of Jesus Christ, for Jesus Christ. He entrusted his Word to the Church. This Word lives in the Church. And if, in my innermost being, I accept and live the faith of the Church, then when I announce him, I speak for him, even if it is clear that in the details there will always be inadequacies and weaknesses.

What counts is that I am not proposing my own ideas but that I seek to think and live the faith of the Church, to act on his mandate in an obedient way.

Is the Pope truly 'infallible'? And therefore an absolute monarch whose thought and will are sovereign?
No, that's wrong. The concept of infallibility had been developing in the course of centuries. It was born from the question of whether there existed somewhere an ultimate organism, an ultimate level which could decide [about dogma].

The First Vatican Council, following a long tradition that dated back to primitive Christianity - decided that an ultimate level did exist... That in specific circumstances and conditions, the Pope can take decisions that would be binding in terms of making clear what is the faith of the Church, and what is not.

This does not mean that the Pope can continually produce 'infallibilities'. Normally, the Bishop of Rome acts like any other bishop who professes his faith, announces it, and is faithful to the Church. Only in specific conditions, when tradition is clear about a question, and he knows that he is not acting arbitrarily, can the Pope say: "This specific thing is the faith of the Church, and to reject it is not the faith of the Church".

In this sense, Vatican-I defined the faculty of making this ultimate decision - in order that the faith can preserve its binding character... Obviously, the Pope can have mistaken personal opinions.... Being Pope does not mean setting oneself up like a sovereign filled with glory, but rather bearing witness to him who was crucified.

Of course, there have been Popes who said, "The Lord has given me this ministry. Now, let me enjoy it!" But that, too, is part of the mystery behind the history of the Popes!

Christian willingness to be a sign of contradiction appears to be the thread that runs through your biography...
Long experience shapes character, it forges your thoughts and actions. Naturally, I was not always 'against', out of principle. There have been many beautiful instances of sharing...

All my life has had a guiding principle which is that Christianity brings joy, it widens our horizons. A life that is lived always and only being 'against' something would be unbearable. But at the same time, I have always kept in mind, even if in varying degrees, that the Gospel finds itself opposed by powerful constellations.

In my childhood and adolescence, up to the end of the [Second World] war, this was particularly obvious. Then since 1968, the Christian faith has found itself opposed by a new plan for society and it has had to face ideas that have been trumpeted arrogantly.

Thus, to bear attacks while resisting them is part of the game. But Christian resistance is meant to highlight what is positive about Christianity...

Karol Wojtyla was, so to speak, given by God to the Church in a very specific and critical situation, in which the Marxist generation, that of 1968, questioned everything about the West, but also, a situation in which later, the reality of socialism collapsed.

For him to open the threshold to faith in this situation, to indicate faith as the center and the way, represented a historical moment that stands out significantly.

You are now 83. Where do you get your strength?
Actually, this is an effort that is almost excessive for a man of 83. Thank God, there are so many good collaborators. Everything is thought and carried out in a common effort. I trust that the good God will give me the strength that I need to do what is necessary. But I realize that my strength is waning.

What does a Pope do in his free time?
Even in his free time, the Pope must examine documents and read official acts. There is always so much that needs to be done.

But with the papal family - the four ladies of Memores Domini and my two secretaries - we always have meals together, and that is a time for relaxation.

Do you watch TV together?
I watch the news with my secretaries, and sometimes, a DVD.

What films do you enjoy?
There's a very beautiful film on St. Josephine Bakhita, who was African, that we recently saw. [It was produced by the same company that produced the film on St. Augustine. One might think they are inspired by the Holy Father's preferences. Bakhita was one of the emblematic saints he cites in the encyclical Spe salvi .] And I like the films on don Camillo and Peppone.

The Pope is always dressed in white. Have you ever worn something else instead of a cassock?
No. It's because of something said to me by John Paul II's second secretary, Mons. Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki: "the Pope always wore his cassock. You should do the same".
...

To use a secular term, is there some sort of a 'direct line' to heaven?
Yes, I sometimes have that impression. In the sense that I think: "OK, I was able to do something that wasn't of my own doing! Now, I trust you, so I realize that yes, I had help: something happened that did not come from me". In this sense, there is an experience of grace in one's ministry.

Should we question whether the new direction the world has taken has something to do with the return of Christ?
We should see in the present time the need for a turnabout, to announce it, and to announce that it cannot take place without interior conversion.

What do you mean, concretely?
Part of this conversion is to place God in the first place - then everything will change - men will start anew to seek the word of God to make it shine as reality in their own lives.

We should, so to speak, dare anew to experience God so he can function in our society.... This was one of the things that John Paul II held very dearly: to make it clearly understood that we must look to Christ who is with us, to Christ who has come, and to Christ who will come. In this perspective, we live the faith looking to the future.


Will Benedict XVI do as John XXIII?
[This question, which apparently refers to Vatican II, obviously needs some context, which the Corriere editor does not provide...]
To bring to life what has been said, while remaining in profound continuity with the faith, is a process that is so much more difficult than the Council itself was. Especially if one considers that Vatican II was received by the world through the interpretation of the mass media, and through its own documents, which almost no one has read!
[I think the question probably had to do with whether B16 thinks it is necessary to call a Third Vatican Council as many have been advocating, especially in view of the next question.]

Do you think that the Church can really avoid having a Vatican III?
We have had more than 20 ecumenical councils, so sooner or later, there will be another. At the moment, I do not see conditions that call for it.

I think that at this time, the Synodal assemblies are the correct instrument, because they have the representation of the entire episcopate which is 'in search', who actually hold the Church together while at the same time, bringing her forward.

The future will tell is if and when it is time to do this by calling a grand Council.

Does the Pope still believe in what be believed in as a child?
I would say that what is simple is true, and what is true is simple. Our problem is that with so many trees, we can no longer see the forest. With all the knowledge we have gained, we can no longer find wisdom.

In this sense, even [Antoine] St. Exupery's The Little Prince - who did not understand anything of all those intelligent things - saw much more and better, after all was said and done...

In the Resurrection, God created a new form of existence. Beyond the biosphere and the noosphere, he created a new sphere in which man and the world arrive at unity with God.

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WOW!... His answer alone to what he felt when he was in the Room of Tears are well worth the wait so far.... How naturally and simply he tells us of his 'conversations' with God... How easily he speaks of weighty things and light in such a conversational and colloquial way without in any way dumbing down anything!!!.... THANK YOU, CORRIERE DELLA SERA, FOR THE BEST PREVIEW SO FAR...