The Pope's First Year: How He Simplified His Role

While Benedict XVI has drawn the line on doctrine, he has streamlined his job to create a gentler, humbler papacy

By JEFF ISRAELY/ ROME
Posted Tuesday, Apr. 18, 2006

Marking one year since the April 19 election of Pope Benedict XVI can make the two dominant figures from last spring — John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — already seem like ancient history. But it is a testament to both the Catholic church’s durability and continuity and the speed of the modern news cycle that the only man in white on our minds now is Pope Benedict, while images of the same Ratzinger in cardinal red appear almost odd and outdated. For Catholicism, this is a necessary thing. The church counts on the very earthly process of an election — aided by the grandeur of church rituals and the weight of its history — to pass on its highest powers from one man to the next with just a puff of white smoke.

The elevation of Ratzinger, who was probably the best-known cardinal ever to become Pope, has offered a particularly dramatic transformation. Our era of 24-hour information and instant analysis has no doubt helped. Stepping into the papacy, Benedict quickly erased the stereotypes surrounding him from the quarter-century he spent overseeing orthodoxy for John Paul. Even in the first weeks, it was clear that he was not a chilly and unbending bureaucrat, but a basically gentle man with excellent listening skills and a gift with words. He has welcomed his longtime theological nemesis Hans Küng for a long chat at the Pope's Castel Gandolfo. Benedict's first encyclical was not a finger-wagging treatise on doctrine, but a paean to Christian love. The sometimes shy pontiff has even begun to enjoy all the adoration heaped upon him by the piazzas full of faithful. Still, Benedict has drawn the line on doctrine, pushing through a previously languishing document that bars homosexuals from entering the seminary, while encouraging Catholic politicians to condemn abortion-rights laws and gay marriage. One could say that the substance is the same, just the style is different. Those who know him best say the man hasn’t changed; he has only changed jobs.

In fact, the papacy has allowed the once aspiring university star to transmit his ideas with an assured public presence matured over his years in the upper ranks of the Vatican hiearchy. And more than ever the piercing intellect of Professor Ratzinger will hold sway over the entire spectrum of Catholic Church life — its customs, policies, institutions and, naturally, the papacy itself. The changes now on the way were being worked out well before a Benedict papacy was in the cards. In the throes of John Paul’s greatest popularity, Cardinal Ratzinger was looking for ways to rein in the papacy and its Curia, or papal court. In his 2000 book God and the World, Ratzinger declares that the Vatican’s essential purpose is "to ensure that the pope has sufficient freedom to carry out his ministry. Whether this could be simplified further is a question we may ask." With the confluence of Catholic institutions in Rome and the quantity of papal writings and discourses and other responsibilities, he wonders "whether it is not all far too much." Meditating on the contemporary Pope, Ratzinger concludes: "The sheer quantity of personal contacts imposed on him by his relationship with the universal Church; the decisions that have to be made; and the necessity, amidst all this, of not losing his own contemplative footing, being rooted in prayer — all this poses an enormous dilemma."

These very practical (and spiritual) concerns of Cardinal Ratzinger are already being addressed by Pope Benedict. He halted John Paul’s practice of holding morning mass with visitors; there are fewer meetings with Church officials (apostolic nunzios visiting from around the world get a brief chat — on their feet — at the end of Wednesday general audiences); speeches are shorter; lunches tend to be restricted to his personal secretary and perhaps one or two visitors. How far he extends this management policy into the heart of the entire Vatican bureaucracy remains to be seen, though already two Curia offices have been downsized away. It is nonetheless clear that the Pope himself — who already plans fewer encyclicals and fewer trips than his predecessor — is doing things differently, on a smaller scale.

Yet for all the apparent downsizing, we should remember that this master thinker is too smart not to appreciate the singular power of his new office or the importance of John Paul’s legacy. Benedict does not want to toss away the hard-won leap in relevance for the papacy achieved by his predecessor: for unifying and purifying the Church, for preaching to the world, and for inspiring the masses. In this day and age, a strictly cerebral Pope, or administrator Pope, would waste much of what can be accomplished from this unique public perch. At the same time, a merely made-for-media papacy would empty the office of its sacredness.

It is a challenge that the 20th-century philosopher of modern communication theory Marshall McLuhan would comprehend. The Canadian-born writer, who coined the phrase "the medium is the message," was also a devout Catholic. In one conversation recorded by his wife, McLuhan said: "Christ came to demonstrate God's love for man and to call all men to Him through himself as Mediator, as Medium. And in so doing he became the proclamation of his Church, the message of God to man. God's medium became God's message."

A subtle clue of Benedict's approach was written last week into the Good Friday script for the Way of the Cross ceremony, an evening event at the Coliseum reintroduced by John Paul and an annual source of powerful television images and photography. The new Pope would certainly not do away with the live coverage of the "Via Crucis," but would make one change: the actors who read the meditations along the stations would not be stars, and would not even have their faces shown on television. Benedict wanted nothing distracting the faithful from the story and meaning of the Passion. One Vatican official who knows Benedict well, and admired John Paul, said soon after his election that Benedict "wants to simplify the papacy. Too many acts have become a simple devotion of the person of the Pope." The new Pope’s challenge is to cut through the static interference of the modern world to connect the faithful directly to the very gospel he is preaching: to be, in other words, both messenger and message.

Germany sees image 'rehabilitated' by homegrown pope

Wed Apr 19, 7:59 AM ET
BERLIN (AFP) - Germany has hailed Bavarian-born Pope Benedict XVI's election one year ago as helping to "rehabilitate" the country's image six decades after World War II.

The Archbishop of Berlin, Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky, said many Catholics -- including many Germans -- had initially been skeptical about the conservative Joseph Ratzinger becoming the first German pope since the 16th century.

But he told Berlin's Inforadio that the year had shown that Benedict had been good for the Church, and for Germany.

"At the time a lot of people said, no, we would rather not have anything to do with the Germans. And now it is a German and the world and the great majority of believers are all in agreement and thrilled," he said.

"With that, Germany has also been rehabilitated. Germany wrought so much disaster but it has come to terms with it. Now someone who grew up in Germany has brought the world great blessings."

He said that Germans themselves had grown proud of the pope, who was known in a deeply secular country as a staunch traditionalist.

"The reaction in Germany was muted, there were also many critics after the election -- that has changed," he said.

"I think German Catholics are all very happy that someone with a German past is there and that is also a kind of rehabilitation for the Germans."

The conservative German daily Die Welt said national pride remained a complex issue for the country in light of the horrors it unleashed on Europe, but said a German pope marked an important milestone on the road to normality.

"Benedict is a pope from Germany and not a German pope. He thinks in world-Church terms and not in national categories," the paper wrote in an editorial.

"At the same time, his election had a liberating power for Germany's role in the world."

Ratzinger was born in the southern town of Marktl am Inn in 1927 and was a member of the Hitler Youth -- an experience that led him to develop a great mistrust of political power and more broadly of the modern world.

He later became the Archbishop of Munich and Freising and Cardinal. At the time of his election as pope, he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican.

Last August he made a triumphant return to Germany to attend the giant World Youth Day gathering in Cologne and used the occasion to make a historic visit to a German synagogue and meet with Jewish leaders.

Even Swiss theologian Hans Kueng, a longtime critic, thinks his former Tuebingen University classmate has pleasantly surprised many naysayers.

"The negative expectations we had at the time have not come about," he told German public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk.

He said even the pope's commentary on world affairs reflected a nuanced approach, most recently in his first Easter message when he called for an "honorable" solution for all sides in the conflict over Iran's nuclear program and fresh dialogue in the Middle East.

"He did not adopt the simplistic positions of the West," Kueng said.

"He warned both sides to seek a fair solution -- and that means the Palestinians as well."

Kueng said he hoped the pope would continue to demonstrate the "courage to surprise", including a willingness to reform the Church from within.

Benefan...I have not stopped crying since I woke up this morning and read the transcript of Papa's words at the audience. The first part of it, recalling the events of a year ago, were obviously spontaneous and unscripted, and so very HIM! After translating it, I went over to the Italian side to see what they had posted from the Italian press, and much of it was almost as moving as papa's words...Result: a fresh spate of tears. I turned immediately to translating the Corriere article on Papa's day to sort of counteract the weepiness, and then had to dress up to go to work.

On my way to the subway, I passed by the news stand that sells Corriere della Sera so I bought a paper, because besides the article on Papa's day, it also had two analytical pieces that were excellent. On the train, I could not wait to read the paper, of course, and it was so embarassing because I started crying again, and the person next to me - it's a good thing I always choose one of those corner seats for two people only - was probably wondering why the fool next to her kept blowing her nose and wiping her eyes from reading a newspaper! ...

Then I get to the hospital. The girl who clerks for me phoned in sick, which means I have the room all to myself today, so I could get on the Internet and browse as much as I can in between doing what I am supposed to do!...And everytime I see a new article on Papa, or even just all the brief items plastered all over the news roundup sites of how at least 60000 people came to be with him this morning, my tear glands go into hyperactive mode....

I know I am overly sentimental (I get teary-eyed when I hear the national anthem played), but I think any Benaddict will understand the complex of emotions that overwhelms you when you think about Papa, about everything that he is as a person, as a priest, and as a Pope, when beauty and love become almost too much to bear and one cannot help it - the tears just flow, as if it were a literal overflowing of emotion, and there's an inexhaustible spring inside that just keeps welling up with all these feelings....

I have had experiences similar to this in the past - usually occasioned by music or by a great reading experience, and lately, by liturgical experiences such as the All-Saints Litany chanted during the transfer of JP's body from Sala Clementina to St. Peter's, the funeral Mass, the Inaugural Mass, the Adoration at Marienfeld, Papa's Immaculate Conception Mass and homily, the Maundy Thursday homily) - but nothing as sustained (I suppose because the stimuli today have been unending)....

Then I read the piece by the NBC News guy (I had to look twice to make sure it was NBC! - his colleagues will probably lynch him for being positive about the Pope!) and then by Jeff Israely (who is probably the one MSM writer who has totally come over to the Ratzi side since he became Pope, a la John Allen)...And at this point I want to be able to celebrate a Te Deum myself, to express all my accumulated joy from a year of Papa and the most beautiful Holy Week I have ever had, and now today...If I thought what hit me on April 19, 2005, was earth-shaking in its impact, today I have been thrust into a cosmic maelstrom or something of that order!

And to get back to earth: Yes, I take issue with the Al Gore comparison, of course, but what on earth makes him say Papa's poise is "tightly controlled" - I mean, poise is poise, and connotes inner equilibrium, and to be "tightly controlled" is to be tense...But OK, I'm quibbling.

Now, let me post a translation that I also managed to work on in-between office work and tears today, by an Italian writer who has previously written beautiful little essays about Papa...

Sorry, girls it happened again. More than an hour ago, I thought I had posted this already. Now I am shocked to see it is not... Anyway, this is an essay from the Italian online journal Libero, here in translation.
---------------------------------------------------------------

A year with Ratzinger,
the minimalist Pope
By Renato Farina

A year ago, when white smoke came out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and Joseph Ratzinger became Pope, Libero dared to use this title: “Re-establishing Christianity.” Can we say it now? That’s what happened, and that’s what’s happening.

“Re-establishment” was a term much criticized by the theologians: that is, you can’t re-establish the Church, it was founded by Christ. Period. Well, what a discovery!

But Vittorio Feltri’s intuition was every simple. Humanity in our time is floating on clouds of nothing. Along comes Benedict XVI, with his smiling certainty - and like the monk from Nursia from whom he got his papal name - he has begun to reshape civilization in the face of the barbarians.

We did not know then what kind of civilization Ratzinger had in mind. Now we know. Surprisingly he devoted his first encyclical to the theme of love. Deus caritas est.

But by love he does not mean the sentiment that goes from beween pious works to the stories that fill the magazines one leafs through while waiting one’s turn at the hair salon. It is love as the spirit of the world, the root of all things.

I know: One writes “love” in a newspaper and one is dismissed as a loony spiritualist, or someone who plays at being a priest. But maybe we react that way because we have forgotten the essential, what we feel when we wake up in the morning and think of our children or our parents. Are we ashamed of calling that love? Then, poor us.

But here, Pope Benedict addresses the theme of love at the level of man, precisely at the level of man. Not with sentimental twaddle. He is one of the greatest intellectuals of our time. He offers a rational basis for the Christian premise so that it can answer to every question about the destiny of man and the universe.

And so he has chosen to speak to everyone, really everyone. Not to get headlines or television coverage, but because that is his job. As Peter said: “Give reason for the hope that you bear in you.” So he does that. With Oriana Fallacci, with Hans Kung. With the layman Marcello Pera. With you, the reader.

Papa Ratzinger, after the global and missionary pontificate of John Paul II, has gone to work in the vineyard, as a “humble worker”, without wondering if the world is watching. He is at St. Peter’s, he looks out the window, he speaks. He doesn’t make grand gestures which would lead the powerful on earth – and even the powerless – to expect unpredictable acts.

Confronted with the invasion of Islam and its spiritual force, and the self-indulgence of the West which does not love itself but only its declining fortunes, we expected Benedict XVI ot rephrase the cold and sober truths of doctrine. After all, he had been called the reincarnation of the Gand Inquisitors.

Instead, he has filled the world with gentle music, he has proclaimed the Gospel simply – yes is yes, no is no; and he has returned the word ”truth” to the vocabulary, often used with another ord that has not been much used, “joy.”

But above all, he has preached resoundingly about “friendship with Christ, the Christian friendship.” I am reminded of a sentence he once said that remained impressed in my memory. “To fall in love with beauty – that is our love story with Christ.”

In a world prey to the “dictatorship of relativism” and where “clear faith is called fundamentalism”, what a magnificent adventure to discover “the centality of Christ and that “the limit to evil is divine mercy”.

Yes, the “small boat of faith is tossing about”, but once it has “crossed the darkest depths,” it will be possible “to return to where we came from.” And the origin is the look of Christ, as he looked at the rich man’s son.

That look – it must have been like the look of ineffable courtesy that he, Benedict, cast on his flock one year ago from that high balcony. He took his place in front of the heavy red curtains and seemed like a child. He was candid. He said the simplest words that ever came out of the heart. He seemed overwhelmed by the occasion, but his eyes were wide with wonder, captivated by the crowd below.

I was down there. The hope of the world at that moment lay in the man who wore garments that were a bit too large, and one could see his black sweater sleeves under the white tunic.

“Long live the Pope!” He extended his arms, he tried for one moment to make a gesture he had never done before, as a shy victor who wants to embrace the crowd. Impossible, it wasn’t him! So, he clasped his hands and opened his arms once more, but barely.

This was not Wojtyla the Great, who stormed destiny and, even in the enforced mutism of his final years, spared no effort to push his world-encompassing mission.

No, this was Joseph the Servant, the laborer coming in after the conquerer of continents.

John Paul II had brought down walls. He would repair the vineyards, he would bring back to life the vines that had withered. The perfect contiunuity with the “trusted and beloved friend.” But a different style.

He insists on referring to his predecessor as the great John Paul II. It is a eulogy of Wojtyla. But inevitably it marks out their difference. In this way Ratzinger is saying about himself: I am a small man, a small Pope.

But a cardinal dared tell him, “You have never looked so well. You were really born to be a Pope.” Ratzinger blushed like a boy.

He still sits lightly on any chair, like a student. He is frugal at table. There was a time he served wine with metal caps on the bottles (instead of cork) and he only had Marsala to offer to his rare guests.

He is not ashamed to be a fragile vessel. He once told an interviewer: “Perhaps we should abandon the idea of national churches or a church of the masses.” We are moving towards “a new age when Christianity will find itself like a mustard seed, in small groups of no apparent influence.”

He identifies himself with this mustard seed. A tenacious seed which cannot help throwing down its roots. Even in the laws, that they may be more human. He talks about this to political leaders. He lists the non-negotiable principles: life, family, educating children. But without raising his voice. Without giving the impression that his success or failure would depend on a yes or a no to his proposal.

And now Christ is risen. This brings joy to Benedict: faith as peace of mind. But an inquiet peace. The Benedictine defense of our continent, as the decisive battleground for the whole planet, is explained in the book co-authored with Marcello Pera, “Without Roots.” We must find these roots again. Return to the origin - not as reactionary or conservative, but simply to go back to the source. Thus re-establishing Christianity both as an existential response for every individual and as an irreplaceable resource so that freedom may become permament in this world.

Of all the words said and written by him, I choose those thay he said from the loggia at St. Peter’s one year ago. They constitute an evangelical document:

“Dear brothers and sisters: After the great Pope John Paul II, the lord cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord. I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even through inadequat instruments. And above all, I count on your prayers!” At this point, he looked at the crowd, he looked down at me under that balcony. The frightened look was pacified.

Ratzinger knew very well what it would mean to be Pope, to be Peter’s successor. No one has studied this more than he has. It is a tremendous matter. He has been asked to be the rock on which the faith of more than a billion people would rest. But also to offer this rock to all of mankind.

And he – on whom could he lean for support? On friends. On friends who guarantee that there is no deception or illusion in saying to the very ends of the earth “Christ is risen.” Not only that “God exists” – because even philosophers admit that. And also, there are so many religions out there.

But no, one guarantees with one’s own life, to the last breath and beyond, when you will be nothing but a dead body photographed and bombarded by flashes, carried around on a bier in the midst of a loving crowd – that all this is true, that it is true that we will rise from the dead, and that I, Pope Benedict, am infallible in this. Not because I am the most accomplished and intelligent, but because this people of God, this Church, is the place of truth and the home of civilization.

I am infallible, he says with his enchanting smile, when I say God is love. And that is the re-establishment of Christianity. If Wojtyla tossed aside protocol to impose something appropriate to his great powers, Ratzinger lives like a monk on a diet. His preaching is at once minimal and sublime. He conceives himself as a minor Pope, perhaps even minimal, and because of that, he is great.



Libero 19-4-06

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/04/2006 2.17]

VATICAN CITY, 19 April 2006 (AP)- Pope Benedict XVI marked his first year as Pontiff Wednesday by asking for prayers to carry on as God's "gentle and firm" pastor - an appeal underscoring his efforts to unify the faithful while keeping to core church teaching.

A visibly moved Benedict told an estimated 60,000 people gathered for his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square that his election had come as a "complete surprise" and that he couldn't do the job without their support.

"Thank you from the heart to all those who in various ways are near me or follow me spiritually with affection and prayers from afar," Benedict said to applause. "To each one of you, I ask you to continue to support me by praying to God to let me be his gentle and firm pastor of his church."

The comments were in many ways classic Benedict: humble yet clear in showing his priorities. That combination, as well as some surprising choices in his first year as pope, has confounded Roman Catholics on the right and left.

Benedict was the oldest pope elected in 275 years and the first German one in nearly 1,000 years when he was chosen, at age 78, to succeed John Paul II on April 19, 2005.

As John Paul's right-hand man, he had been a favorite going into the vote and was selected in the briefest conclave in a century: About 24 hours after voting began, white smoke curled from the Sistine Chapel chimney to announce a new pope had been found.

Benedict's election immediately posed questions about the future of the church, since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was such a polarizing figure. As prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger had been known as the Vatican's strict orthodoxy watchdog who disciplined theologians and tolerated little dissent.

While conservatives hailed the election, liberals worried that Benedict might drive away more Catholics who had hoped for a change from the hard-line John Paul.

Yet many of Ratzinger's harshest liberal critics have been pleasantly surprised - particularly by what they say is his clear effort to be a unifying leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics, and his willingness to listen to contrary views.

"Can a leopard change his spots?" dissident theologian Hans Kueng asked in an article last week. "I remain a realist, but I don't want to give up hope."

Many point to Benedict's September meeting with Kueng as evidence of his willingness to listen, as well as his first encyclical "God is Love," which focused on what Benedict has said is the core of Christian faith: love.

That's not to say that Benedict has strayed from church teaching. On the contrary, in many ways he has reinforced it. He approved a document that effectively bans gays from the priesthood, and he has repeated the need for Catholic politicians - and the faithful who elect them - to abide by church teaching on issues like abortion and the sanctity of marriage in their political choices.

Yet he has softened his image by showing a pastoral side that Benedict's longtime admirers say was always there but was hidden by his ill-deserved reputation as "God's Rottweiler."

"He's a man who wants to listen and not impose his will," Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who was Ratzinger's deputy for several years, told the Rome newspaper Il Messagero this week.

Yet some conservatives say Benedict hasn't gone far enough, particularly in enforcing the document on gays in the priesthood.

The Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the conservative magazine First Things, wrote last month that Benedict faced a "defining test" in how he chose to deal with the dissent that emerged from the text.

Regardless of such controversies, Benedict draws a crowd.

The Vatican this week reported that more than 4 million people had attended Benedict's Masses, audiences and prayer appearances in the past year.

"In a year he has grown on the people, which was completely unexpected," said Peter Nolan of Skibbereen, Ireland, who attended Wednesday's audience.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the AsiaNews report:

Benedict XVI:
Becoming pope one year ago -
“absolutely unexpected and surprising”



Vatican City, 19 Apil 2006 (AsiaNews) – A year has passed since the conclave of cardinals “decided to choose my poor person to succeed the lamented and loved great pope John Paul II”, something “absolutely unexpected and surprising for me”, Benedict XVI said today.

The memory of 19 April 2005 was the first thing he spoke about at the general audience, on the first anniversary of his election.

Interrupted no less than seven times by applause from the 60,000 pilgrims present, the pope said: “I recall with emotion the first impression I had as I looked down from the central balcony of the basilica, of pilgrims gathered in this very square; it has stayed in my mind and heart.”

This encounter and others recalled today by Benedict XVI have given him the opportunity to experience the truth of what he would say in the inauguration mass of his pontificate. He had said: “I have the strong awareness that I must not carry alone what I would not actually be able to bear”. That is, the burden of the pontificate, in which “the Lord nas not stopped short of assisting me with his indispensable help”.

The pope added: “The support of God and the saints cannot be substituted by anything, and your closeness, dear friends, comforts me, you who never cease to offer me the gift of your indulgence and your love. I thank from my heart all those are by my side in various ways, from near and also from far, spiritually, with their affection and their prayers: to each of you, I ask that you continue to sustain me and to pray to God to allow me to be a gentle and firm pastor of his Church.”

A festive atmosphere reigned at the 47th general audience of Benedict XVI. Yellow and white flowers decked the church square, together with flags, banners and more than 50,000 people who wanted to be there today, bringing the number of people who met Benedict XVI at the Vatican to more than four million in 12 months.

According to statistics of the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, many people came to Rome to attend general or special audiences, the Sunday Angelus or liturgical celebrations presided over by Benedict XVI. Specifically, 1,121,500 took part in 47 general audiences, 384,900 in special audiences, 697,200 in liturgical celebrations and 1,875,000 in the Sunday Angelus.

Benedict XVI chose to place today’s festive feeling in the context of the joy of Easter. He reminded the faithful of the first moments of the Risen Lord with the women and the apostles. The Gospel message, “the nucleus of which is the Easter mystery”, was spread “with courage” to the ends of the earth, by them and their successors.

And still today, he added, “each Christian is called to proclaim the Gospel”. When greeting youth he sad: “Christ exhorts and invites you too to be his witnesses.”

At the end of the audience, greeting Italian pilgrims, he said: “Thank you for your affection and friendship.”

For the anniversary of his election, the newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published a 12-page special with the front and back pages in colour, which trace the journey of the pope’s first year through images and extracts of his teachings.

----------------------------------------------------------------
And from the English service of ANSA, the Italian news agency:


The pope's 'mild' first year
Analysts see signs of change
but no will for revolution
by Martin Penner

(ANSA) - Rome, April 19 - Exactly a year after he became pope, Benedict XVI stood in a sunny St Peter's Square on Wednesday and spoke about his desire to be a "mild and firm" leader of the Catholic Church .

A year ago, when the Vatican's doctrinal 'enforcer' was chosen to take over from John Paul II, many observers expected to see a lot of firmness and not much mildness in his approach .

But most now admit that in Benedict's first 12 months the reverse has been true. His first encyclical letter, far from being a strong statement on doctrine, was a discussion of love, including erotic love .

There has been no sweeping reform of the Vatican administration, no hard line with liberal-minded wings of the Church and a clear commitment to dialogue with Judaism and Orthodox Christians .

The first German pope in 950 years has also been at pains to show continuity with his predecessor on several points and never fails to express reverence when John Paul is mentioned .

The 79-year-old pontiff told the 50,000 people gathered for his general audience on Wednesday about how inadequate he felt when chosen to succeed the "beloved, great pope John Paul II". One of Benedict's first acts was to put his predecessor on a fast-track to sainthood .

But analysts say a number of small steps, quietly taken and without huge consequences, have shown over the last year that Benedict does have his own specific agenda. "In spite of the rhetoric of continuity, he is pursuing a line which is different to that of his predecessor," said Alberto Melloni, a Catholic Church historian and veteran pope-watcher .

One key difference, Melloni said, was that Benedict appears to be looking more inwards than outwards, thinking deeply about the Church's internal life and less about its action in the world .

The first thing that many observers note is that Benedict has still only been abroad once. His globe-trotting predecessor visited six countries in his first year as pontiff .

Even when at home in the Vatican, he has sharply reduced meetings with foreign ambassadors, politicians and even his own nuncios, the Holy See's ambassadors abroad .

Meanwhile, his line where the Church is concerned appears to be built around the concept 'less is more': a slimmer Vatican, fewer official pronouncements and a smaller role for himself .

In his first year, he has given only 291 speeches compared to 569 in the first year of John Paul's. Unlike John Paul, Benedict has decided against presiding at beatification ceremonies, reserving the papal presence for canonisations .

He also appears to be more restrained when it comes to naming new cardinals. The last two consistories called by John Paul raised the number of cardinal electors to 135. Benedict's earlier this year made sure their number stuck at the 120 limit introduced by Paul VI .

The Curia, the Rome-based headquarters of the global Catholic Church, could be moving towards being a slimmer, more streamlined organisation. Four key offices which used to have their own heads have now become two big departments, each with one cardinal at its head .

But while carefully pruning the Vatican machinery, Benedict could be more ready to listen to his aides than his predecessor. This would be a step in the direction of 'collegiality', a word used in Catholic circles to refer to a sort of 'democracy' in the government of the global Church .

"He dedicates a lot of time to meeting bishops from the periphery and he has made sure that meetings with department chiefs are open to free discussion on important issues," wrote Italian daily Corriere della Sera .

The expected hard line on internal dissent has so far not materialised. Moves are afoot to overcome differences with the Society of St Pius X, the heretical and arch-traditional group which broke away from the Catholic Church under John Paul II .

Benedict has also met one of his main critics, Swiss theologian Hans Kung, and although nothing has come of it yet the act in itself was seen as a sign of openness .

Kung said recently that he has suspended judgment on his the papacy of his old friend and fellow teacher. He also said the white-haired Bavarian could have surprises in store .

"He is the supreme shepherd who proceeds with slow, small steps. He takes his time and prefers to promote small changes which trigger other bigger ones," he said .

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/04/2006 16.55]

TERESA,

Thanks for the great articles despite all the tears (definitely understandable today). You are right about Jeff Israely of Time magazine. His article above is 180 degrees from the one he wrote right after Papa was elected. At that time, Israely was pretty vicious in his accusations and characterization of Papa. He has definitely become a much kinder, gentler person himself (perhaps a closet Benaddict) and is obviously now aware of Papa's true sweet nature. Maybe (can it be?) the mainstream media has been enlightened by the Spirit.

Papa looking as bright and chipper as the very first day of his papacy one year ago today.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, with many more years to come, sweet Papa!

Thanks for all the updates Teresa.

The headline writer for Page A10 of today's Washington Post is apparently so loathe to give Pope Benedict XVI any positive marks at all, so he/she manages a minor masterpiece of how to make a positive sound negative: "The Pope's first year lacks an ideological edge; Centrist approach concerns conservatives".

Why not simply "Pope Benedict takes centrist positions in first year" - Nah, too direct, too positive. C'mon, God's rottweiler non-ideological? Let's not be too obvious here that we may have to eat our words, because we painted him a flaming reactionary, remember? So let's go with "lacks an ideological edge" - that sounds negative, and we're not misrepresenting him! Never mind that the article writer never once used the phrase "lacks ideological edge" in his whole story.

In fairness to Mr. Cooperman, his piece may be all of a pattern with those written by so many of his colleagues who have now reconsidered their stereotypes of Joseph Ratzinger - i.e., predictable about being "surprised" by him ,but having no new insights about the man and his work. But he treats his protagonist almost neutrally, and with no daggers at the ready for the facile stab-in-the-back. A big step forward.
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Pope's 1st Year Lacks An Ideological Edge:
Centrist Approach Concerns Conservatives

By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 19, 2006



One year ago, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stepped onto a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI, conservative Catholics rejoiced and liberals sulked.

Today, as Benedict marks his first anniversary as pope, the liberals are still unhappy. But so are some conservative activists.

"Among those who greatly admired Cardinal Ratzinger and were elated by his election as pope, there is a palpable uneasiness," the Rev. Richard John Neuhaus, an influential conservative, wrote recently in the journal he edits, First Things. [Fr. Neuhaus will never live this down. He's been quoted ad nauseam by every liberal writer gloating over what they perceive to be a disarray among Catholic conservatives.]

Based on Ratzinger's 23-year record as a vociferous defender of orthodoxy as head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Catholics on both sides of the debates over celibacy, homosexuality and the role of the laity expected him to lead a forced march toward ideological purity.

There has been a taste of that, most notably in Benedict's approval of a document saying men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" should not be ordained as priests. But, on the whole, the first year of his papacy has been surprisingly mild.

"He has not turned out to be the pope that many progressives feared and many conservatives cheered," said Christopher M. Bellitto, a church historian at Kean University in New Jersey.

For example:

· His first encyclical -- often considered a guide to the direction a pope intends to take -- was a gentle reflection on "God Is Love."

· Benedict has merged a few offices, but he has not undertaken a housecleaning of the Vatican bureaucracy, which is probably the fastest way for a pope to reshape the church.

· To the puzzlement of conservatives, Benedict chose the pragmatic archbishop of San Francisco, William J. Levada, as his successor at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Then, he named Bishop George H. Niederauer of Salt Lake City to succeed Levada in California, drawing howls from conservatives who believe that Niederauer is too "gay friendly," in Neuhaus's words.

"It's not just a question of what [Benedict] has done. It's a question of expectations, and here we are a year in and what he hasn't done," said Philip F. Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, a conservative news service. "When he was elected, there was an expectation from Catholics on all sides that he would be more of an activist, and that hasn't happened."

Those expectations mounted again last week as rumors circulated that the pope would allow priests to celebrate more frequently the Tridentine Mass, the centuries-old Latin liturgy that was replaced by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council of 1962 to 1965.

Breaking with a tradition established by his predecessor, John Paul II, Benedict did not issue an open letter to priests on the Thursday before Easter. That prompted speculation in conservative circles that he would instead issue a "universal indult," or general permission, for the Tridentine Mass.

But Holy Thursday came, and went, with no decree.

"This was one of the things that was expected of Pope Benedict from Day One, and that would be completely in keeping with his writings before he became pope, and why it hasn't happened yet nobody knows," Lawler said.

The reason for Benedict's unexpected mildness, in the view of some scholars and clerics, is that the job changes the man. A stern enforcer of church doctrine in his previous role, Benedict is now shepherd to the world's 1.1 billion Catholics and, therefore, primarily a pastor.

"I'm sure he has surprised some of the very conservative people, but that's because they didn't really know him. They just saw one side of him, which was his responsibility as guardian of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith," said Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop of Washington.

"I think this Holy Father is a man in the center, and we're seeing that now," the cardinal said.

During his first year as pope, Benedict has reached out to the followers of Marcel Lefebvre, a far-right French bishop who was excommunicated in 1988. But he also invited the left-wing dissident theologian Hans Kung to a cordial private dinner at his summer estate. At a synod of bishops last fall and at the installation of new cardinals in March, the pope allowed frank discussion of such controversial subjects as married priests.

"Benedict, at the one-year mark, has been far more open to dialogue than expected . . . and more open than the Wojtyla papacy was," said Bellitto, the Kean University historian, referring to John Paul II.

The Rev. James Martin, associate editor of America, a liberal Jesuit magazine, said the biggest surprise so far is the encyclical, titled Deus Caritas Est in Latin, which came out at Christmas. Rather than a condemnation of sexual sins, it was a meditation on love and an exhortation to charity.

"It was not doctrinal. It was not legalistic. It was completely accessible to an ordinary reader -- and it really had a lot of conservatives and liberals scratching their heads," Martin said.

In contrast, the instruction on homosexuality issued in November by the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Vatican department in charge of seminaries, was the kind of document all sides had expected. To Martin, it helped clarify what is changing, and what is not.

"He sees himself as a pastor -- not the enforcer any longer -- but he still believes what he believed when he was in the enforcer role," Martin said.

Although conservatives welcomed the document, they have complained that some bishops are interpreting it to mean that candidates for the priesthood must be psychologically mature, not that they must be heterosexual.

In a February essay, Neuhaus warned that unless there is a "decisive response" from Benedict against this "definitial slicing and dicing" by bishops, "it is more than possible that the effective leadership of this pontificate, now just getting underway, will be gravely weakened."

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, a former student of Benedict's and the publisher of his books in English, said he understands the impatience among fellow conservatives for a more active papacy but is not worried because "it's early yet."

When the encyclical on love appeared, "a lot of people said it wasn't the condemnation we expected, it was very open to others. That's true. He talks about the love of Eros. Here's the 'Panzer Cardinal' talking about erotic love!" he said.

But, Fessio noted, the encyclical also says that when erotic love is purified, it leads to exclusiveness and permanence. "And what does that mean? He's saying that that kind of love is only between a man and a woman, so he's rejecting homosexual unions. And he said it's exclusive and permanent, so he's excluding divorce and promiscuity."

"So on the surface it was non-controversial -- but underneath he was laying the groundwork, the principles, for conclusions that are controversial," Fessio said, adding: "I think this second year is going to be the one to look it."
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Better still, in the Post's listing of all their Benedict articles so far, I came across this surprisingly heads-up assessment of Benedict that I had not seen before. It's by another Post writer on the occasion of the encyclical release but is one of the few writers who grasped the Pope's active promotion of back-to-the-basics of the faith for all Catholics.



In Style and Substance,
Pope Displays a Return to Essentials;
First Encyclical Examines
Spiritual Love and Charitable Giving

By Daniel Williams
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, January 26, 2006

ROME, Jan. 25 -- In early January, Pope Benedict XVI presided over a baptism for 10 infants, an annual affair carried out by his predecessor, John Paul II. But instead of prepared remarks, Benedict delivered a short impromptu sermon.

He suddenly asked the parents, "Just what happens in baptism? What do we hope for from baptism?" Then he went on to tell them: "We hope for eternal life for our children. This is the purpose of baptism."

In the simple, yet startling diversion from form, the pope displayed what close Vatican observers say is a key trait of his less than year-old papacy: a return to basics. In words, style and pace, the white-haired Benedict, 78, is much more like popes of the medium and distant past than his predecessor, the avid voyager and flamboyant John Paul, who assumed the post at age 58.

In his messages, Benedict draws on some of the deepest and oldest Catholic traditions, a mark, observers say, of his roots as a theologian. He travels less than John Paul and prefers to lead traditional Catholic rites rather than media events. He has taken steps to rein in Catholic groups he thinks have gone beyond their ministering mandate.

"This pope wants to get to the essentials. He wants to be listened to," said Alberto Melloni, a church historian. "It's clarity he's after, not stardom."

On Wednesday, Benedict published his first encyclical, a papal letter to the faithful. Traditionally, first encyclicals lay out the direction of a new pontificate. This one, entitled "God is Love," deals with a theme that is arguably Christianity's most venerable message. "I wish . . . to speak of the love which God lavishes upon us and which we in turn must share with others," Benedict writes.

It explores the relation between spiritual love, referred to by the ancient Greek term agape , and carnal love, or eros . "An intoxicated and undisciplined eros, then, is not an ascent in 'ecstasy' towards the Divine, but a fall, a degradation of man," the document states. "Evidently, eros needs to be disciplined and purified if it is to provide not just fleeting pleasure, but a certain foretaste of the pinnacle of our existence, of that beatitude for which our whole being yearns."

Elsewhere, the encyclical calls on Catholics to renew their commitment to charitable giving, as an expression of the church's love. "Despite the great advances made in science and technology, each day we see how much suffering there is in the world on account of different kinds of poverty, both spiritual and material," it says. "Our times call for a new readiness to assist our neighbors in need."

The encyclical did not break new ground, but that is very much Benedict's style. For 24 years before becoming pope, he was the Vatican's chief enforcer of Catholic orthodoxy as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"He is emphasizing the essence of Christianity, which is love," said Enzo Bianchi, founder of the Ecumenical Monastery of Bose, an inter-religious center in Italy. "I think some people who hoped that this would be a pope with a great program will be disappointed. He has already shown that he is returning to the essential message because most of his speeches have been homilies, reflections on the Bible."

Observers noted one fresh pronouncement, made when the pope met with Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni. In decrying anti-Semitism, Benedict referred to Jews as the "people of Israel." According to Melloni, the turn of phrase was an affirmation of God's covenant with Jews as a chosen people, a counter to long-held beliefs in the church that Christians, and in particular Catholics, had replaced Jews as the people of God.

The pope has been drawing large crowds. It is difficult to get a seat at papal masses; reservations must be made two weeks in advance. "My impression is that when people came for John Paul, they came to see him. When they come to Benedict, they come to listen," said Sandro Magister, a Vatican writer for L'Espresso magazine.

"John Paul set a cracking pace -- it was dizzying. He did so many new things so often, it was difficult trying to keep up with him. You name it, he innovated, right up to the very end," said the Rev. Gerald O'Collins, former dean of theology of Rome's Pontifical Gregorian university. "This papacy so far seems to be a bit gentler, quieter."

If there is a motif that has run through the pope's messages so far, it is one he struck on the eve of his election last April -- an unrelenting critique of what he calls "moral relativism," the notion that there are no absolute truths but only a food court of competing and equally valid ethical stands. On Jan. 9, at an annual audience with diplomats accredited to the Vatican city-state, he pressed home this idea.

"Commitment to truth is the soul of justice," he said. "Those who are committed to truth cannot fail to reject the law of might, which is based on a lie and has so frequently marked human history, nationally and internationally, with tragedy."

The pope has also undertaken to bring into line Catholic groups he views as having become overly autonomous or having broken with tradition. He cracked down on the Franciscan order of monks in Assisi who had hosted numerous high-profile ecumenical meetings that had, in the view of some critics, put all religions on an equal footing. Future gatherings of this sort, if they take place at all, will have to be coordinated with a newly appointed bishop of Assisi and a representative of the pope assigned to the shrine of Saint Francis there.

He also restricted a Catholic missionary organization, the Neocatechumenal Way, which had instituted such innovations as holding Mass around a table in small groups and diverging from traditional Catholic liturgy. In a letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the group was ordered to present communion in "the normal way for the whole Church."

Benedict has yet to initiate a broad geopolitical project in the style of his predecessor, who on becoming pope in 1978 quickly urged freedom from communism in Eastern Europe and was hailed as a liberator. Benedict's efforts to open relations with China, broken after the 1949 triumph of communism, and regularize Catholic worship there have yet to bear fruit.

Benedict's horizons seem limited to Europe. Last year, he directly intervened in Italian politics, through his assistant bishop of Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini. Ruini campaigned against a move to liberalize rules for in vitro fertilization as well as against proposals to grant legal unions to homosexual couples and to men and women who want to share a status short of marriage. This was in line with pre-John Paul papal tradition, observed Magister, the Vatican writer.

"Italy is the pope's home ground, so he takes an interest in it. He believes Italy can be a Catholic example for Europe," he said.

Benedict believes, too, in looking to tradition concerning ecclesiastical fashion. He has revived certain papal vestments that were dropped by John Paul: flaming red shoes, and wintertime fur-lined cap and mantle, styles that date at least from the Renaissance. Gold is his favorite trim.

"He looks like a pope painted by Raphael," said Magister. "I think that's how he sees himself."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/04/2006 15.49]

...an article about the Audience of 15/9/2005. [G]It talks about some emotions of the pizzaioli of my city, Salerno[/G].You can find it in the file [G]'Lo sapevate che...?' [/G](if you wanna read it)

[G]Antony la Salernitana[/G]

josie,i wish we could have it translated *winks*..ive checked it out upstairs..id love to read it.:)

It's been quite a while (not since the encyclical came out) since Paul Badde, the Vatican correspondent for the German newspaper DIE WELT, has written about the Pope, who was his neighbor in Rome for years. But his latest piece more than makes up for the long 'silence.' Here is a translation -


Like a dancer around the altar
The German Pope harvests from many fields
what the Polish Pope had sown.
A year in office has made him puzzlingly younger.
By Paul Badde

This Pope gets up, he stands and walks! He strides like a shepherd through the masses, like a young man. Was this why he chose these words from the Song of Songs, “I am asleep, but my heart keeps watch. Hark, a noise! Listen, my Beloved is knocking!”, which were read in 6 languages including Chinese during the intercessions at Easter Sunday Mass? It characteristic of him.

Benedict moves almost like a dancer as he incenses around the altar, the same way he incensed the coffin of the dead Pope last April. His mobility offers the starkest contrast to his predecessor, which also makes it all the more obvious how Pope John Paul II’s illness so underscored the majesty of the office as he embodied it.

At the end, John Paul II could only be carried or pushed around in wheels, when he could neither stand or walk. But in the eyes of the world, this only made him even larger than life, recalling previous Popes on their thrones carried above the heads of the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on the sedia gestatoria.

But after this painful apotheosis of John Paul in his lifetime comes Benedict XVI, who appears like a young man, following his predecessor’s last mute blessings with the eloquence of a poet.

In comparison to John Paul II in his final years, Benedict appears to personify a life in bloom. A year in office has made him younger puzzlingly. The stooped man in black who one year ago could walk through the streets of the Borgo and around the Vatican almost unnoticed cannot be recognized in the man who just celebrated his 79th birthday.

On Easter Sunday, the incredible stresses [of a liturgy-filled Holy Week] are behind him as finally he bestows his Easter blessing in 62 languages Urbi et Orbi. St. Peter’s Square is overflowing all the way to the Tiber, and more than a billion viewers are watching him all around the globe.

In the night, a hot wind from the Sahara had whipped up the dust and caused a lot of headaches and exhaustion to many Romans, even now under the blue skies of spring. But to the end, the Pope moved lightly through all the exertions that the age-old liturgies of Holy Week and Easter required of him.

And as he finally retreated behind the red velvet curtains on the loggia and the heavy St. Andrew’s bells on the campanile to his left started to chime, the applause of the city-sized crowd on the square went on for him.

John Paul II has also handed down completely to his successor all the tenderness with which he was surrounded him at the end. The German Pope is harvesting in many fields what the Polish Pope had prepared for him.

During his Easter message, he earned enormous applause when he invoked peace for Iraq, as well as when he expressed the wish that in the Holy Land, the dialog for peace could “overcome old and new obstacles… resisting every temptation for revenge.“

Applause had also surrounded him the previous night at St. Peter’s Basilica, when he used the homily for the Easter Vigil to engage in his favorite activity – teaching.

Even as Pope he continues to be a professor, but above all, he has become quite thoroughly a teacher, in whom any academic language is hardly to be noticed.

“What has happened?” he asked like a child about the Resurrection of Christ. “What does it mean for us, for the world as a whole, and for me personally?"

He asks this of his listeners, he asks himself, he asks Scripture and the world of empirical knowledge, and then, with pedagogical love, full of wonder, he recounts anew this Big Bang of the new creation that Christians have been talking about for 200 years, and about which lately, German professors appear to have set the terms of discussion not only in the intellectual world but in general.

Now he answers them from the most prominent lectern in Christendom that Christ’s Resurection, is - to use the language of evolutionary science - the biggest mutation, the most decisive quantum leap into something entirely new that has ever happened in the long history of life and its development.

Of course, he said, man is not himself an accident of evolution. But the Resurrection was “at once an explosion of light, an explosion of love, that finally loosened the hitherto unsolvable web of dying and becoming. It opened a new dimension of being and of life, bringing forth matter itself transformed, and from which a new world arises. It is a breakthrough in history, in evolution and in life itself."

But this Pope has shown himself even more eloquent and impressive in the past few days on occasions when he has been silent and simply listens.

In a red cloak, holding the Cross in both hands, among crowds of young people in the Colosseum, the ancient martyrs’ site of Rome, on Friday night, under a starry night, he silently followed the Way of the Cross.

He had entrusted the formulation of the meditation and prayers this year to Mons. Angelo Comastri, his Vicar General in the Vatican and a new prophetic voice from the Vatican: “Good Friday is the day of the killing of the just. Holy Saturday is the day of emptiness. But the last day is Easter – it belongs to the Light that rekindles itself, to Love that alone can conquer hatred. Deus caritas est, Alleluia!"

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 20/04/2006 22.19]

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/04/2006 6.07]

Kathnet, an Austrian news agency, published an article earlier this week based on an interview that Ratzinger biographer Peter Seewald gave the Passauer Neue Presse recently to mark the first year of Benedict XVI. Having co-authored two interview books with Joseph Ratzinger, he has insights into the man beyond the commmonplaces that have been parroted in recent days. Here is a translation -
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Passau – “I find that the German Pope is doing fantastically well,” says German publicist and author Peter Seewald in a recent interview with the Passauer Neue Presse.

Even the most positive expectations have been “far exceeded,” he says. "I don’t think any other Pope hass stood in such a spotlight from the very start."

“Benedikt has seamlessly worked the fusion of two pontificates into a historic double pontificate, through which the Church has entered a new age of faith,” he continues.

A Pope is not a politician, Seewald says. “It is not the next campaign that he faces but only the Last Judgment. Benedict will not step beyond the abundantly rich legacy of his predecessor. On the contrary, he will try to bring everything to full bloom. And that is more than enough.”

What style does Seewald recognize in this Pope?

“Ratzinger has found a very individual, very refined style . reserved, peaceful, almost shy, but nevertheless, he goes firmly along his way. It is a meekness such as one understands it in the Gospel sense. This new Pope makes himself small, and therefore has a greater effect, but he is also more calming.

"In a certain sense, Benedict is a born teacher, and perhaps in his new school of faith, he has begun the greatest catechesis since the time of the apostles.”

RAtzinger’s image has radically changed since his election. He is now considered “the most powerful German of all time.”

“But it is not an imperialist power that he represents, nor is it an ideology that is not human-friendly, either. Rather, he emphasizes the positive messages of love, peace, solidarity."

What has been the German Pope’s effect on his homeland?

“Ratzinger will surely continue to be a cornerstone, someone who is provocative,” Seewald thinks. “But since he has begin to be regarded with a more open eye, men coming from the most different starting points find themselves interested in what this man has to share. One can almost say, Germany is studying the Pope.

"The suffering and death of his predecessor had almost overnight brought the world a new generation of young believers. Benedict has consciously taken on this gain.”

Meanwhile, there is in Germany today “not only a greater interest in religion but related developments like the dissolution of an old deeply ingrained anti-Rome attitude, a return to church attendance, an increase in re-conversions,” he continues.

“None of this is a mass movement - that was not to be expected. But we have clearly a new atmosphere. Even many Protestants have begun to like this Pope, not the least because of his clarity. I believe that the mutual effect between the Pope and his countrymen will only become more interesting. The Poles can make a song out of that.”

Seewald remarks on another trait of Benedict. “He does not waste time with fruitless discussions, or on questions which have long been decided,” he explains.

“He will not tackle certain themes that other people harp on incessantly, but will choose instead to make the core beliefs of the faith more clearly understood. We saw that during WYD in Cologne. A million youths present – but not a word about the pill or premarital sex.

"Or take his first encyclical, Deus caritas est. He was not shy about discussing physical love. But there was no moralistic preaching, rather it was an almost tender text on the complementarity of eros and agape. The poetic conclusion is very appropriate for Easter: 'Love is possible, and we can love because we were created in the image of God.'"

So far, the majority of articles intended to wrap up and evaluate the first year of the Benedictine Papacy have been written from the point of view of the journalist and the few resource persons, usually prominent names, whose opinions were solicited. In translation, here are two stories fromt he Italian media written from the point of view of the faithful, the individual pilgrim at St. Peter's.
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He will never be a Pope of dramatic gestures, indeed his essential measure is moderation, with a media impact certainly less shattering than his predecessor’s. But to the tens of thousands of the faithful who came to celebrate his first anniversary as Pope in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict XVI is fine as he is.

The atmosphere was similar to that during great jubilee events, with the faithful gathered within the embrace of Bernini’s colonnade and beyond. Choirs, flags, streamers of every form and color (an enormous one read “GRAZIE BENEDETTO”, another one prominently featured a Superman logo). Shouts of “Happy birthday” or “Happy anniversary” in many languages. Groups that were waiting to be announced by the emcee so they could erupt in ovation and greetings directed to the Pope.

“What I like about this Pope," said Elisabetta, a girl from the province of Caserta, “is that he always places the emphasis on ‘joy.’ This gives us the idea that our faith is to be lived as a great asset and enrichment, certainly not as a brake on our behavior.”

For her friend Giorgia, who was able to go to Cologne last year for WYD, “(this Pope) has a simplicity and goodness about him, notwithstanding his authority as a great theologian, that makes us think about him almost like a member of the family.”

Don Pietro, who is guiding a parish group from Padovano, sees the Pope’s continual calls for peace among nations as one of the main threads in this Pontificate.

“The international panorama arouses concerns which grow worse daily,” he comments, “and Benedict’s repeated appeals for dialog, his condemnation of terrorism, his admonitions not to counter violence with more violence, are flames of light in the dark. We can only hope that he will be heeded.”

Everyone agrees that Benedict is not a Pope from which to expect spectacular acts carried out to attract the eye of the crowd.

”He is German to the core,” saus Piergiorgio, a young seminarian from Liguria, "but even his exceptional theoretical preparation, his fame as an authoritative theologian, do not prevent him from speaking to the hearts of people naturally and simply. He can confront the great truths in words of great lucidity, which somehow seem to be sculptured. Many times, his catecheses, his Angelus discourses, his homilies on special occasions, reach to the level of literary texts.”

Many appreciate his sense of continuity with his predecessor. “He recalls him every time he has the occasion to do so, and I like this very much,” says Sara, who came from Ferrara province with her two children.

“I am here for Benedict’s audience and to visit Wojtyla’s tomb. John Paul II was our Pope, he marked our era. To receive such a huge legacy is not easy, but this Pope should do it wisely before he can give his own personal mark to the Papacy.”

“The most important sign he has given us,” says Carlo, who is with a parish gtroup from the province of Pavia, “is in the title of his encyclical, ‘God is love.’ Could there be a stronger message to re-focus the values of Christian truth? This Pope has a lot to tell us. We are here to listen.”

And from korazym.org, a very extensive and well-maintained site for and by young people originally inspired by John Paul II, an editorial to assess Pope Benedict's effect on the youth:

The relationship with young people has been one of the most sensitive challenges for Papa RAtzinger. At first, coldness from one and shyness on the other, then meeting each other halfway, resulting in mutual surprises. When what one does not expect happens instead….

One year later, one needs to return to that state of mind in those days, when we were rendering homage to John Paul II and a new pappl betting game started, which involved almost everyone, from the serious to the merely facetious, expert or non-expert.

There was at that time the consciousness of living through a historic moment, of an inevitable change after a quarter century with the same great Pope, but equally great was curiosity over a choice – that to be made by the cardinals in conclave – that appeared truly difficult and sensitive. The new Pope would step up to a hot seat, indeed.

Even for the world of youth, for so many young people who had a chance – on one or several occasions – to find community of “feeling” with the Polish Pope, of establishing with him a rapport of deep esteem and trust, even for these young people (we count ourselves among them), those days were special.

In their variety of ideas, lifestyles, experiences, behavior (one must remember there was no such category then as “young Catholic”, and there certainly was no one to speak in their behalf), they shared a common denominator about a possible successor to John Paul. Not among everyone, but surely among many - born of simple desires, hardly considered at length, the fruit of impressions, emotions, hopes, wishes, sympathy. That whoever was chosen would be welcome. Two desires, however. First, that the new Pope not be Italian. The second: among so many non-Italian possibilities, that the choice not fall on someone too severe or rigid, not like Ratzinger, in effect!

At the 'Habemus Papam!' announcement, when Cardinal Medina Estevez pronounced the baptismal name Josephum, everyone understood. But many still turned to each other, almost like a survival instinct, to ask, maybe there is another cardinal named Joseph. But no, that Josephum was Ratzinger, and the young people welcomed him cordially but without enthusiasm.

Timidity on his part, coldness from the other. A sense of inadequacy on his part, difficulty in relating to a person so different from the Pope they had known. Both sides had to work hard at it, but one year later, the result – compared to the forecast – is all hearts and flowers!

There has been no cooling down of relations with the young, but rather the reciprocal discovery of new occasions for dialog and encounter. There has been the discovery of a Pope who has dropped his shyness and has succeeded to feel at ease responding spontaneously to questions from the youth. The surprise of young people who are listening to challenging words, words that go against current modes of thinking, and finding themselves impressed into sincerely intending to follow the path indicated. They have the certainty of a dialog which is destined to continue, although with different emphases from the preceding one.

Cologne was only the point of an iceberg, which is starting to emerge week after week in the Pope’s encounters with the youth of Rome, with university students, with so many youth delegations who have come to Rome in the course of the year. Always, the Pope has sought to have a positive dialog with them, always seeking the appropriate tone, never concealing the radicalness of a demanding faith, but always making clear that it bears fruit in freedom and in the search for truth.

This has been one of the most difficult challenges in the first year of Benedict XVI’s pontificate. And the Pope has confronted it with wisdow, without renouncing his personal style (do you remember the long Eucharistic Adoration on the eve of the Mass at WYD?). With the result that today what one would call his popularity index is much higher than one would have expected right after his election.

Many of those who at that time practically “implored” God that there was another Josephum, are “forced” today to admit that this Pope has been able to surprise them. With hindsight, they say: "Appearances deceive. The Holy Spirit knew what He was doing in the Sistine Chapel.”

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/04/2006 6.05]

[The comments below are from Fr. Richard Neuhaus in First Things responding to the numerous anniversary articles on Benedict which claim Neuhaus is unhappy with Papa. He also remarks about all the quotes in these articles from Hans Kung. As always, Fr. Neuhaus is quite entertaining.]


"Tis the season for commentary on Pope Benedict’s first year. On the frenzied left, John Cornwell (he of the Hitler’s Pope defamation) is among those writing that I am very unhappy with Benedict, which is nonsense. Cornwell, writing in the Times of London, says that I aspire to being the “alternative pope,” which is nonsense on stilts. For an appreciation of the Holy Father’s leadership, see my “Pope Benedict on Love and Justice” in the May issue of FIRST THINGS.

Amy Welborn posts other comments on the first year, including this from the premier dissident, Swiss theologian Father Hans Küng: “Benedict must choose between an eventual retreat to the pre-modern, pre-Reformation world of the Middle Ages, or a forward-looking long view which will take the Church into the post-modern universe that the rest of the world entered for quite some time.”

Change “Benedict” to “Paul VI” or “John Paul II,” and you have the same statement Father Küng issued 10, 20, and 40 years ago. One of Amy’s respondents imagines Küng saying to his secretary, “Und I am tired today zo, lizzen, just release article number 4 to ze press, okay, Helga?” That sounds about right."

do you guys think Papa ever reads all these *first-year wrap ups* on his pontificate?

Dear Grace - Not all of them, but perhaps the most important ones. Remember, he reads several newspapers very day, plus the Secretariat of State and Vatican Radio provide him with daily news rounds-ups...

Interesting note:
Just to give you an idea on the lag time it can take between an article appearing in the European press and being reported in the English media, Catholic News Agency only yesterday in
www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=6535
reported on Vittorio Messori's Corriere della Sera magazine interview from two weeks ago (before Holy Week) which, thanks to our Italian sisters who posted the original article right away, we were able to present here in translation on the day the magazine came out.

Benefan - I thought I had posted a comment on your Fr. Neuhaus posting, but I am finding out that when I am working very late at night (just before my 2 a.m. bedtime, that is), more and more I'm forgetting to hit the Rispondi button after checking out Anteprima!

Anyway, I am so glad Fr. Neuhaus's sense of humor kicked in, with all the quoting out of context that has been done about him recently. Howeever, I don't think he will ever live it down - "Catholic" liberals will forever saddle him with it as their way of gloating that the Pope has "disappointed even his core supporters."

The part about Hans Kueng is hilarious!

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/04/2006 14.37]

Here are some comments posted in the Catholic World News site to its April 20 article "Appraising Pope Benedict's First Year"
www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=43660
(which, unfortunately, I can't reproduce because it is one of those articles for which one must be a CWN subscriber to be able to get in full online).
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I think it is often the case that the Holy Spirit elevates somewhat contrasting men as popes in succession to each other--think of Bl. Pius IX and Leo XIII. I suspect John-Paul II and Benedict XVI will prove such a "matching set" in terms of style, tone, and priorities. The Church will be strengthened by contributions of both. It is obvious from his statements that Benedict XVI feels tremendous regard for his predecessor. I think we should revere them as grandfather and father respectively.
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This man does not seem to be living in the shadow of anyone, but he is allowing a due respect to everyone and time to mourn a very loved man who has died. These things are very difficult when a person is in public life to be allowed to mourn in a private way. He is allowing everyone time. This will make any transition easier and result in more understanding and coperation than when feelings are at such a height of emotionalism. In the past years our Church has had enough of that. Wisdom, not age..
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Pope Benedict XVI seems to be kicking into high gear towards fulfilling his mission as he sees it. Amen! Let us continue to pray without ceasing for our great Holy Father.
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...My local Catholic TV station hosts a new program called "The Holy Father's Messages". I tuned in thinking at last, something on "Deus Caritas Est" or Pope Benedict's homilies, but it turned out to be a collection of appearances of the late Pope at World Youth Days. There is a danger here- these young people seem to be blinded by their personal loyalty to the late Pope and have forgotten respect for the office (shown by respect for whoever currently holds it.)
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With all due respect to John Paul 2, it is time we move on and stop acting like he is still pope. Enough with the comparisons already. JP2 did some things right and some things wrong. Having "enormous charisma" and globe trotting do not neccessarily make for a great pope. We have in Benedict, our present pope, a great man that should not have to live in John Paul's shadow. Lets look forward and let him lead.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 21/04/2006 14.44]

It's I who am belated, actually, as this piece came online on 4/18 and I didn't get to see it till today. It, of course, contains nothing new, except some pretty far-out ravings by a former nun .
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Quiet pope confounds expectations
By Peter Gould
BBC News


Few papal elections have been awaited with such anticipation as the conclave of 2005.

Pope Benedict XVI's election was met with jubilation in Rome.

Around the world, a billion Catholics were anxious to know who would succeed John Paul II, and what it would mean for their Church.

One year on, they are still getting to know Pope Benedict XVI.

His style is certainly very different to his predecessor, and the first year of his papacy appears to have been a quiet one.

His election on 19 April last year was greeted by the ringing of the Vatican bells. Thousands of pilgrims cheered wildly.

But others were dismayed; the reputation of the new pope went before him. As Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, he had been the guardian of Church doctrine, a man accused of silencing dissent.

John Allen, Vatican correspondent of the National Catholic Reporter, says the cardinal was seen as a Darth Vader figure.

"Many people expected that if Ratzinger were elected on a Tuesday, by Wednesday priests would be saying mass in Latin with their backs to the people, and one would hear a great flushing sound across the Catholic world as all the dissidents and liberals were washed out of the system."

But as Allen points out, the most striking thing about Pope Benedict's first year is how little of this has come to pass.

"To be sure, there have been tough moments," he says.

"Yet on the whole, his first year has not produced the swift, hard-line action many expected. No theologian has been publicly censured, there have been no en masse firings of personnel, there is no discernible drift towards radically conservative figures and there has been no earthquake in either liturgy or doctrine."

The new pontiff has produced his first encyclical, about love and charity, and he has endorsed a ban on men with "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" becoming priests.

He has also created new cardinals and appointed bishops.

All in all, it has looked like a smooth transition.

Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit scholar and an expert on the Vatican, says Pope Benedict has enjoyed a prolonged honeymoon period.

"He has gone against expectations," he says.

"Many people on the Right and the Left thought he would come on strong and go after dissidents, shaking his finger at everybody, like a cross between a grand inquisitor and an authoritarian schoolmaster.

"They expected him to do things fast, like a new prime minister or president, who spends their first 100 days getting new people in, setting their agenda, and showing how different they are from the man before.

"But popes don't do that. It took John Paul II seven years to replace all the top people at the Vatican...I do not think he is a traveller, and that does have an impact on the Church."

So far, under Benedict XVI, there have been no great purges, and outwardly it looks like business as usual.

One of the biggest talking points has been the pope's penchant for Prada shoes and Gucci sunglasses.

It has left some Catholics wondering where this papacy is heading.

"In a way, he has been almost invisible," says Dr Lavinia Byrne, a former nun who is now a writer on Church issues.

"I am very disappointed, because I thought he would be more interesting and sparky. We know who his tailor is, and whose sunglasses he wears, but we do not know much about what he thinks. [Dr. Byrne - is it? - can you read at all, or do you have ears to listen? What has Joseph Ratzinger been doing his whole career through dozens of books and hundreds of articles, and now as Pope, through his homilies and messages, but telling the world what he thinks?]

"People say he enjoys being pope, and wearing the clothes, but he has said and done nothing, and delivered very little. One year on, it is still a case of watch this space."
[AAARGHHHH! GRRRRR!!!! Is this woman for real?]

One of the few changes made by the new pope has proved controversial.

Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, an expert on Islam and the Arab world, has lost his job as head of the department that promotes dialogue with other religions, and is now papal nuncio in Egypt.

As a long-time Vatican observer, Father Thomas Reese is in no doubt the move was a demotion.

"The Pope's worst decision so far has been the exiling of Archbishop Fitzgerald," he says.

"He was the smartest guy in the Vatican on relations with Muslims. You don't exile someone like that, you listen to them.

"If the Vatican says something dumb about Muslims, people will die in parts of Africa and churches will be burned in Indonesia, let alone what happens in the Middle East.

"It would be better for Pope Benedict to have Fitzgerald close to him."

Another tricky area concerns the Vatican's relations with the Orthodox Church.

After the fall of communism, there was friction with the Russian church over claims that the Vatican was intent on "poaching souls".

The continuing tension meant John Paul II never achieved his ambition to visit Moscow. But Pope Benedict wants a better understanding with Orthodox Christians, and has dropped one of his official titles, Patriarch of the West.

It is being seen as a move towards reconciliation between the two churches, divided by the Great Schism of 1054.

For almost a quarter of a century, Cardinal Ratzinger worked behind the scenes at the Vatican. Now, as Pope Benedict, he is required to be the public face of the Church.

His predecessor, John Paul II, possessed the skills of the actor, and was always at ease on a stage in front of a big audience.

Benedict is more reserved; an intellectual who enjoys playing his piano. Now aged 79, he may be less inclined to undertake the gruelling overseas tours, and the huge open-air masses.

But if he spends more time at the Vatican, will media interest start to wane?

"I do not think he is a traveller, and that does have an impact on the Church," says Dr Lavinia Byrne.

"If the pope stays at home, you need to have state-of-the-art telecommunications, and you must have a really good website.

"The Vatican's website needs to carry daily updates, list contact details, and provide pictures of the people who run the departments - even their holiday snaps."

One year on, Pope Benedict remains something of an enigma to the faithful. Has the man once known as God's Rottweiler turned into a less threatening German shepherd?

"We are still waiting to find out who he is," says Lavinia Byrne. [Speak for yourself, Lavinia!]

[C][/C]I can't translate my whole article about the pizzaioli of Salerno because it's too difficult 4 me !It's in the file 'Lo sapevate che...?'!Can anybody help me to translate this article,please?

Antony la Salernitana

Well, a rather lame wrap-up for a prestigious organisation such as the BBC is supposed to be. As for the ex-nun, dr. Lavinia Byrne, with all due respect, she deserves the medal for the stupidest comments on the pope in a very long time.

MAG6 - I think the BBC is coasting on whatever residual prestige it has left after its scandalous partisanship on reporting the war in Iraq! What respect can you have for an organization whose editors allow its producers to hound a man to commit suicide, as they did with the hapless middle-level official from the Defense Ministry?

And as for the Lavinia Byrneses of the world, I am sorry for them. Nothing is more pathetic nor contemptible than an ex-nun trying to sound holier-than-thou!

Joseph Ratzinger famously said that when he was confronted by an interviewer over his reputed "change of heart" from being a 'progressive' when he was a participating theological expert in Vatican-II to his 'conservative' image as Prefect of the CDF.

Mutatis mutandis, he can say that again today about the prolix prophets (mostly false, alas) of the press. Fr. Guy Selvester at shoutsinthepiazza.blogspot.com/
speaks for those among us who did not set any store by media prejudices about this Pope:
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Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Who is Different?

One year on into the pontificate of Benedict XVI and it is still easy to see lots of commentators talking about how he has turned out, in his first year as pope, to be so different than expected. It has indeed been a relatively quiet year in which he has calmly and steadily set a course for his leadership and shown us a style different from his predecessors.

But I still contend that it isn't the man who has changed. Rather, it's the perception of the man, in particular among the left-wing media and so-called "progressives" in the Church which has changed.

Because he faithfully pursued policies set out by Pope John Paul II (whom Benedict himself calls "the great") when he served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith it was easy to give him the moniker, "God's Rotweiler". But how accurate was that? Really not at all.

Anyone who knew or worked with the then Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger would tell you that his reputation as a hard-liner, an archconservative and (bizarrely) an unpleasant person was completely undeserved.

On the contrary, most people, even some of his detractors who has occasion to work with him closely like the former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Rembert Weakland, OSB (a noted progressive) talked about how kind, well-mannered and brilliant Ratzinger was. Whether you agreed with the policies of the CDF or not was another matter. The man, however, was known to be intelligent, devout and kind.

Still, the liberal Catholic media and the secular media which really knows nothing about the Church and prefers to publicize stories that emphasize conflict over the truth, made this man out to be evil.

Every single self-styled liberal and/or progressive Catholic I knew was devastated a year ago today when they heard the news that Ratzinger had been elected. Every single one. Some even wept. But, that's because they chose to believe the myth rather than find out the truth.

Consequently, the past year is now being characterized as one in which Benedict XVI has re-made himself and changed. That's utter nonsense. This is the man he has always been but no one wanted to see or believe that because he didn't do things differently than the pope he served. So, since he was being faihtful to the job he had been given everyone ascribed to him the role of being the mastermind rather than the messenger... and they were as wrong as they could be.

The man seen now and known as a kindly, thoughtful, well-read, good-natured shy pope is the SAME man who served the Church for almost 30 years in the CDF.

I'll grant you that he has begun to show sides of himself that his former role didn't call for. He has broadened the scope of his ministry as the job he's been called upon to do now demands.

Nevertheless, the biggest change has been that people are finally looking at who he really is rather than who they choose to believe he is.

That is the change the last year has brought: his enemies and detractors have finally had to admit the truth.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/04/2006 8.03]

Thanks to Sylvie for this article, which is actually an editorial written for the upcoming issue of France Catholique. Here is a translation:
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BENEDICT ONE YEAR LATER
By Gerald LeClerc

Holy Week is always an occasion to revisit Rome, whose extreme visibility at this time of year makes it an exceptional reference point, even for the most intransigent opponents of any religious message.

Benedict XVI is not John Paul II, but he has an analogous moral authority. The obvious hostility shown by a distinct intellectual and journalistic milieu when he was elected has not been shared by public opinion which is otherwise so vulnerable to ideological intoxication. For several reasons.

First, Cardinal Ratzinger had been impressive for his intelligence, his intellectual firmness, which had nothing “rigid” about it, his authentic openness to all debates which he has answered by rejecting all facile accommodations and remaining faithful to the demands of the faith.

Those who have reservations about the “inflexibility“ of the Church on certain moral questions seem ready to understand, at the same time, that accepting the conveniences of relativism does not do service to the Church. Christianity is too serious to lend itself to momentary satisfactions, and the dilution of a message rooted in a culture of which we are all heirs in some way is not acceptable.

Benedict XVI embodies this living continuity, impressive because of all the oppositions that have failed to make it yield, and precious because of the comforting reassurance that it brings in a period of uncertainty, when temptation takes the form of the question “what good is it?”

One could have legitimately assumed that after the often painful ordeals of the last years of John Paul II, the cardinals would choose a successor who was much younger and filled with that same incredible energy which the Pope who said “Do not be afraid!” loosed to the world.

The fact that they chose to vote their confidence in the longtime companion of the deceased Pope, advanced in age, reserved even in the face of his redoubtable mission, constitutes a sign which we must examine even now, one year after the advent of Benedict XVI.

Before God, in the intimacy of their conscience and the perception of their awesome responsibility, these eminent men decided to elect Joseph Ratzinger as the most equipped and suitable man to exercise the supreme magisterium in a period of great uncertainty for humanity.

The times require a Bishop of Rome illumined with supernatural wisdom, as well as great speculative and practical lucidity.

Benedict XVI has not yet taken a determinative decision for the central government of the Church, although he has indicated some directions he will take. But first and above all, he has guaranteed the mission we expect of him through his manner of teaching with extreme clarity, characterized by depth as well as accessibility.

In a world which generally reacts only to the ambiguous solicitations of outright seduction, he addresses himself to that which is most reflective and sensitive in us, to our capacity to enter into the mysterious core of revelation.

Not only are we not disappointed in our expectation, but one perceives there is a basic movement in the making as proof that Benedict XVI touches both the mind and the heart.

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 22/04/2006 6.07]

Pope attends Mozart concert

Benedict says Rome has a 'vocation' for culture (ANSA) - Rome, April 21 -
Pope Benedict marked the official birthday of Rome on Friday by attending a concert of music by Mozart in the city's chic new Auditorium venue .

The German pontiff, who returned to Rome specially after a few days of rest at his summer residence, is known to be a fan of the Austrian composer and to be fond of playing his music on the piano .

"He was a great composer who left an indelible mark on history. He was a musical genius," Benedict said after the concert by the Santa Cecilia orchestra .

According to Russian conductor Vladimir Jorowski, the pope was responsible for the choice of some of the pieces - such as his accompaniment for the Ave Verum Corpus prayer - which made up the program .

The concert, at the ultramodern venue designed by top Italian architect Renzo Piano, was organised to celebrate the 2,759th anniversary of the founding of Rome .

Benedict told the assembled Italian dignitaries that Rome had a vocation to be "a beacon of civilisation and spirituality for the entire world" .

He said this vocation derived largely from the city's "rich artistic heritage, closely linked to the city's Christian history." The pope comes from a musical family. His brother, Georg Ratzinger, was for many years choir master in Regensburg, home to one of Europe's most famous boy's choirs .

"Music lifts the soul to contemplation and helps us see the most intimate shades of human nature," the pontiff said in his address to officials attending the Rome concert .

[Regarding the concert in the post above, here is a brief article about the soprano who seems to be originally from a town in New York State.]

Clarence Native Hits the High Notes for the Pope

Posted by: Erika Brason, Reporter
Updated: 4/21/2006 8:27:59 PM

Pope Benedict XVI requested Mozart for his one year anniversary celebration. But only two sopranos are able to sing the particular arias he wanted to hear. One of them is Clarence native Laura Aikin.

Aikin sang two Mozart arias in her first performance for the leader of the Catholic Church. Her unique ability to hit the high notes is aided by her extraordinary range of three full octaves.

Family members gathered to watch the live performance at Intertech in Lockport. Then shortly after the performance, they received a phone call from Laura.

"It was very spiritual, sureal," says her sister Ginny.

Aikin lives near Milan, Italy with her husband and two children.

[Yahoo has a photo of Ms. Aikin shaking hands with Papa.]

Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops conference, carried some special articles on 4/19/05 to mark the first anniverayr of Benedict XVI's Papacy. It included this editorial.
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The gift of making himself heard:
He speaks like a Father of the Church
By Gian Maria Vian

Joseph Ratzinger has been Bishop of Rome for a year. Beyond alleged reconstructions that are hardly convincing if not patently marked by an unmistakable sense of fakery, the candidacy of the Dean of the College of Cardinals emerged because of his evident authoritativeness in the most numerous conclave ever held and one of the shortest – less than a day.

The new Pope himself underscored this, with the calm wonder of a chuld, in his April 24 homily when he asked, “How could 115 bishops, coming from all cultures and all nations, find a person on whom the Lord desires to confer the mission of bidning and loosening? Once more, we knew: we knew we were not alone, that we are surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God.”

Thus, for a year now – trusting that he is not alone because he is sustained by Christ and the communion of saints - Benedetto XVI is truly the “servant of the servants of God”, according to the Papal title introduced 14 centuries ago by Pope Gregory, one of his greatest predecessors.

And Benedict XVI, steeped as he is in Church tradition, without needing to rely on citations, truly speaks like a Father of the Church, as Gregory the Great was, but also like Leo, the first Pope whose teachings – simple and profound – came down to us.

Already an acute and authoritative theologian at Vatican-II, Joseph Ratzinger has gone through life immersed in the great Christian texts but instead of just being cloistered in his room, he has known how to pass it on to students and the faithful, as well as to men and women of today, facing each of them confidently.

He has done this as the theologian-pastor that he has always been, even during the 23 years that he guided with gentle firmness the doctrinal office of the Holy See. It is as a theologian-pastor that he now exercises the Petrine ministry, as he had indicated from his first Papal homily on April 20, 2005, when he evoked that “collegial communion” that was intended by Vatican II, “uniquely concerned with proclaiming to the entire world the living presence of Christ.” And he does it with words that are heard and read by great numbers of people, not only Catholics, with new interest.

Benedict XVI – authoritative collaborator of a “great Pope” like John Paul II, whom he does not cease to recall, and to whom it would be anti-historical to compare him because their two personalities are very different – declared his program immediately on April 24, “not to do my will, not to follow my ideas, but to listen, with all the Church, to the words and the will of the Lord, and let myself be guided by Him, so that it will be He Himself who guides the Church in this hour of our history.” Simple words, where there is no place for rhetoric, and which everyone understood well.

If John Paul II knew how to give great visibility to the message of Christ, in a world deafened by a multitude of messages and lost behind ever-changing idols, Benedict XVI has the gift of making himself heard: as in his coming-out one year ago, in Cologne for World Youth Day, in his encounters with local clergy in July and March, with children and young people in October and April, with the members of the Curia and the diplomatic corps in December and January, in the Wednesday audiences (using till February, with great sensitivity, the outlines left by his predecessor), in the clear and precise homilies of Holy Week. And in his only Papal document published so far, the programmatic encyclical dated Christmas Day 2005, on God, who is love.

In all this, he has called the attention of everyone to the essence of the Christian faith which is “not an ethical decision or a great idea” but “a Person, who gives a new horizon to life”. And he does this in the same manner as the ritual which unfolds in every Catholic Church on Easter Vigil, when all the lights are turned off so that only the light of Christ may shine forth.

John Allen's Word from Rome for 4/21/06 begins with a wrap-up and evaluation of Benedict's first Holy Week as Pope. He is one of the few journalists today who actually listens to the Pope's words and studies the text of his homilies and messages.

If only the other journalists who report by rote, and those partisan observers who are none too Benedict-friendly would only take the time to do that, they would not be asking stupid questions like "What is this Pope really like?" and "Where is he taking the Church?"
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BENEDICT'S HOLY WEEK

Benedict XVI was elected in mid-April, which this year meant his first anniversary coincided with Easter. Last week, he had seven high-profile occasions to present himself: the Chrism Mass and the Mass of the Lord's Supper on Holy Thursday, the service of the Passion of the Lord and the Via Crucis on Good Friday, the Easter vigil on Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday itself, and his Angelus address on what the Italians call Pasquetta, or the "little Easter," on Monday.

Asked endlessly during the same arc of time to comment for the global press on who the pope is and what he's doing, I was sometimes tempted to respond, "This isn't Kim Jong-Il … just listen!"

In summary form, Holy Week underscored at least four points about Benedict XVI: 1) His emphasis on the basics; 2) The centrality of love to his thought; 3) The distinction he draws between service and power; and 4) His "preferential option for Africa" with respect to the developing world.

Ticking off the topics Benedict covered during Holy Week, at first blush they seem entirely predictable -- the need for priests to be men of prayer, Jesus' washing the feet of the disciples as an act of love, the reality of evil, the link between Easter and Baptism, and so on. It's the nature of the liturgical season.

The striking thing, however, is that Benedict did not treat these subjects as a point of departure for other reflections, but rather as the very core of his concern. There was never a sense that he wanted to use the platform afforded by Holy Week to launch a message; Holy Week was the message.

In that sense, Benedict is a "back to basics" pope.

The church doesn't need new paradigms or initiatives, he believes, so much as the capacity to explain its core teachings well, and to inspire a desire to live them. Benedict's theology is never speculative, but pastoral and "kneeling."

This focus on the fundamentals is reflected in how he has approached the papacy. Statistics help tell the story: At the end of his first year, John Paul II had given 569 talks, and held 68 major public events. Benedict over his first twelve months gave 291 talks, and held 31 events. (One might profitably ask if the church has really missed those other 278 papal speeches!)

Benedict has pared the papacy back to what he considers its core functions, and when he does take the stage, he is determined to get to the heart of the matter.

None of this, however, means Benedict is incapable of surprise.

In his homily during the Easter vigil, for example, he described the resurrection as a kind of evolutionary "leap," awakening echoes of the late French Jesuit theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin, whose thought indirectly influenced the document Gaudium et Spes at the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and who saw physical evolution as part of a broader cosmic and spiritual process. At the time, then-Fr. Joseph Ratzinger was critical of what he saw as an overly optimistic thrust in Teilhard, and in French theology generally, but he never dismissed the core insight.

"If we may borrow the language of the theory of evolution," Benedict said, "it [the Resurrection] is the greatest 'mutation,' absolutely the most crucial leap into a totally new dimension that there has ever been in the long history of life and its development. … It is a qualitative leap … towards a new future life, towards a new world which, starting from Christ, already continuously permeates this world of ours, transforms it and draws it to itself."

One well-known theologian in Rome told me this week that he always holds his breath when Benedict XVI speaks, because he may hear something that will take him off guard -- generally in the sense of opening up a new perspective on a topic he thought he already understood.

This will not be a papacy of great innovation, but neither will it be about stagnation or "glorious repetition." Instead, it is shaping up as a case study in the "return to the sources," or ressourcement, which has always been Benedict XVI's theological and pastoral style.

In the aftermath of Benedict's election, many commentators, myself included, expected that "truth" would be the watchword of the new pope's struggle against the "Dictatorship of Relativism."

The surprise is that, if one were to select a single word to summarize Benedict's magisterium so far, it would have to be "love." Joseph Ratzinger, the erstwhile enforcer of the faith, has metamorphosed into the world's most ardent Apostle of Love.

In his six homilies and messages during Holy Week, totaling (in Italian) 6,958 words, Benedict managed to use the noun "love" 29 times, plus some form of the verb "to love" 10 times. That's one reference to love for every 178 words, meaning that it was rare for a paragraph to go by in which the pope didn't return to the theme. The word for "sin," by way of comparison, appeared only three times, the word "evil" only four times.

Pressing such numbers too far can turn into a kind of Kabbalah, but as a rough indicator of the pope's interests, they are indicative.

At the Lord's Supper on Thursday, for example, Benedict defined sin as "the refusal of love, not wanting to be loved, and not loving."

"The holiness of God is not just an incandescent power, before which we must draw back in terror," he said. "It's the power of love, and therefore a purifying and healing power."

At the Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday, Benedict described the resurrection as "an explosion of love, which broke the formerly indissoluble bond between 'dying and becoming.'"

Perhaps most tellingly, Benedict closed his message for the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing on Easter Sunday with the Latin formula Christus resurrexit, quia Deus caritas est (Christ is risen, because God is love!) Among other things, the line is an echo of Benedict's first encyclical, also on the theme of love.

Benedict returned during Holy Week to another favorite theme, which is a sharp disjunction between service and power. Priesthood, indeed any ministry in the name of Christ, must be about service, the pope insisted. Moreover, the Christian message, particularly its emphasis on the sovereignty and supremacy of God's law, sets limits to all forms of secular power.

Speaking to priests in the Chrism Mass, Benedict pressed the theme.

"Christ wants us to be instruments of service," the pope said. "If human hands represent human faculties, and, generally, the technical capacity to dispose of the world, then anointed hands must be a sign of the human person's capacity to give, of the creativity to shape the world with love."

In his Easter vigil homily, Benedict said the new life offered by Christ is "a formula of contradiction to all the ideologies of violence, and a program for opposition to corruption and to aspirations to power and possession."

As one implication, Benedict stressed that Christians cannot remain indifferent regarding injustice.

"On the Via Crucis, there is no possibility of being neutral," Benedict said. "Pilate, the skeptical intellectual, wanted to be neutral, to stay out of it; but in so doing he took a position against justice, for the sake of conformism and his career."

Typically, the pope offers a quick survey of current events in his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing on Easter, and Benedict XVI followed suit, ticking off a host of global hotspots: Darfur, the Great Lakes region in Africa, and Africa generally; Iraq; the Holy Land; Latin America; and the current nuclear crisis with Iran, though without mentioning that nation by name.

It's revealing that Benedict started with Africa, and that he mentioned more specific concerns in Africa than in any other part of the world. Over Holy Week, in fact, Benedict mentioned Africa as often as he did sin.

That builds on a track record.

Last June, Benedict announced plans for second Synod of Bishops for Africa. In a message to the clergy in Rome on May 13, he urged the priests and deacons from African not to allow their continent to be overcome by the vices exported from Europe. On May 25, at his regular weekly audience, he urged international leaders to be mindful of the material difficulties faced by the peoples of Africa, a message he's repeated on other occasions.

During the daily General Congregation meetings leading up to the conclave, several African cardinals delivered eloquent pleas for the next pope, whoever he might be, to put the suffering of their continent at the top of his pastoral agenda.

"The pope sat through all of that," one African cardinal told me immediately after Benedict's election. "He has to know our concerns."

[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/04/2006 2.22]

So someone in the media did take notice of the Pope's address to the Jesuits at the Vatican yesterday (I posted a translation of the full text in HOMILIES, DISCOURSES, MESSAGES and commented on it in NEWS ABOUT THE CHURCH). Here is the AP report. Needless to say, it's better to read the Pope's text:
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VATICAN CITY, 22 April 2006 (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI reminded members of the Jesuit religious order Saturday of their vow of obedience to the pontiff and said their main job was to interact with modern culture.

Benedict made the comments following a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in honor of the Jesuits, who are marking several anniversaries surrounding the founder of the order, St. Ignatius Loyola, and other prominent members.

Benedict told the prelates that Loyola was a faithful servant of the church.

"And it was from this desire to serve the church in the most useful and efficient way that the vow of special obedience to the pope was born," Benedict said.

The Jesuits are renowned for their intellectual rigor and excellent teachers, scholars and scientists. Founded in 1540, the Society of Jesus is the largest religious order in the Roman Catholic Church, with 20,170 Jesuits around the world as of 2004.

Benedict said that because of their background, the Jesuits had an important job in nurturing "a dialogue with modern culture," which he said had made great progress in science but was sorely tested by materialism.

The Vatican has had a sometimes tense relationship with the Jesuits.

In a highly publicized incident, Pope John Paul II named a temporary replacement to lead the order after Rev. Pedro Arrupe suffered a crippling stroke in 1981, brushing aside Arrupe's choice for an interim leader in an unprecedented change-of-command.

Arrupe, who died in 1991, had pushed for the church to move for a more socially just world while remaining faithful to papal authority.

But during his tenure, some Jesuits, especially in the United States and the Netherlands, had questioned papal pronouncements on birth control, priestly celibacy and the ban on female priests.

Earlier this year, the order announced that its general superior, Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, would retire in 2008 and that the order would convene a meeting of representatives from around the world to elect his successor.

people in blogs are talking about some supposed vatican document to be issued about using condoms in Aids stricken Africa.whats this all about? ive read some comments and i worry about Papa:(

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Scritto da: gracelp 23/04/2006 23.54
people in blogs are talking about some supposed vatican document to be issued about using condoms in Aids stricken Africa.whats this all about? ive read some comments and i worry about Papa:(

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Don't worry about Papa.
Firstly,these rumors are non-official.
And if it is really Vatican intent to issue such a document (at the moment just drafting), it will be certainly not one-moment decision. We don't know background at all.
I believe Papa follows God will. And I am praying for it.