How I miss this kind of clarity. Pope Benedict, while recovering so much of the pre-Vatican II Church, was a Catholic moving forward with renewal of the person and the Church collectively in the Lord, not in some sort of sociological experiment in elevating people’s gnostic opinions about this, that or the other to a new and gnostic doctrine.
I can’t help but hope that Pope Benedict’s legacy of clarity as the way forward for the Church, not confusion and ambiguity, will have the last say.
This article in Crux by Fr. Jeffrey Kirby hits the nail on the head. You can read it HERE,
But here is the writer’s three points which sums it all up. How I long for this clarity again:
1) The secret to Pope Benedict’s life as a disciple and priest of Jesus Christ was his deep love for the sacred liturgy. It was the place where he encountered God. It was the place where the professorial introvert could be with God in the midst of the Church. As the liturgy is the summit and source of the entire Christian way of life, so the same could be said about the life of Pope Benedict. The liturgy was his source, just as it was his summit. It was the beginning and the end of everything he did.
In the liturgy, we have orthodoxy, which is properly understood as “right praise,” namely good and true worship. It was only from right praise, that Benedict understood we could have right doctrine (which is the more popular understanding of the term orthodoxy). Benedict didn’t just skip to right doctrine. He understood the need to encounter God first, and only afterwards hear and speak about him.
2) Since Benedict’s teachings flowed from his encounter from God, he was able to see the harmonious interaction between faith and reason. Of the many principal themes that can be seen in his writings, preaching, and teaching, the interconnectedness of faith and reason stand out. He was concerned about the rationalism, fideism, and fanaticism that occur when either faith or reason claim a sole competence to knowledge. Benedict saw both faith and reason as necessary for the human spirit to flourish. He realized that any discord between them needed to be reconciled if the contemporary world was to prosper in matters of the spirit.
3) With the dynamism between worship and doctrine, Pope Benedict saw the essential call to orthopraxy, namely, to right action. He modeled his entire pontifical teaching on the theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. He called all disciples to live virtuously and to faithfully follow the way of the Lord Jesus. This way of life summoned believers to care for the poor, sick, and abandoned. Benedict addressed this call and gave substantial teachings on the Church’s social doctrine.
13 comments:
One can hope, however I smell schism coming. The question is when: six months, a year, or....? Alternatively, excommunications?
The polar opposite of what we have now
As expected, one news story after another has identified Pope Benedict XVI as a rigid, right-wing extremist.
Were the authors of said news stories alive during Pope Benedict XVI's Pontificate? Are they unaware that Pope Benedict XVI was unrelenting in his supportive of things that right-wingers have long despised.
Right-wing extremists despise Vatican II, Novus Ordo Mass, Ecumenical Movement, interfaith dialogue, Assisi, Communion in the hand, altar girls, inculturation, climate change, the green movement ("tree-hugger" issues), condemnation of capitalism, rejection of the death penalty...
Conversely, Pope Benedict XVI supported all of the above...and more.
It is a tremendous disservice to the truth to confine Pope Benedict XVI to the "he-was-a-right-wing-extremist" box.
Fortunately, as he has done for years, Pope Francis, via his great relationship with then-Pope Emeritus...his insider knowledge...will present the truth in regard to Pope Benedict XVI.
I will heed Pope Francis' comments in regard to Pope Benedict XVI.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
mark,
You are, of course, correct. Meanwhile, those who tend to identify with the so-called “right wing extremists,” including I suspect some who post here, will ignore Pope Benedict's statements and positions on all of those things because they do not fit their narrative and agenda of Francis-bashing.
In regard to Pope Benedict XVI's legacy:
As Emeritus, Pope Benedict XVI was unrelenting in support of Pope Francis. Then-Emeritus demonstrated that a Pope, and Emeritus Pope, need not be of danger to the Church.
Then-Emeritus rejected claims that a rupture existed between his former Pontificate, and Pope Francis' Pontificate. Emeritus rejected attempts that had tried to pit the two holy men against each other.
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Then-Pope Emeritus heaped praise upon Pope Francis:
"Thank you above all to you, Holy Father: your goodness, from the first moment of your election, in every moment of my life here, strikes me, and truly brings me, in an inner sense, more than in the Vatican Gardens, with their beauty, your goodness is the place where I live: I feel protected."
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Then-Pope Emeritus:
"I am grateful to be joined to Pope Francis by a great agreement of views and a cordial friendship. Today I see it as my only and last duty to support his pontificate in prayer."
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Then-Pope Emeritus on the continuity between Pope Francis and Pope Saint John Paul II:
"Moreover, at this point, the inner unity of the message of John Paul II and the basic intentions of Pope Francis can also be found: Pope Francis fully shares this line."
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Then-Pope Emeritus:
"I applaud this initiative that wants to oppose and react to the foolish prejudice in which Pope Francis is just a practical man without particular theological or philosophical formation..."
"Pope Francis is a man of profound philosophical and theological formation..."
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Mark, thank you for your reply.
Pope Benedict XVI, to his credit, rejected attempts by Pope Francis-haters that pitted then-Emeritus against Pope Francis. In 2013 A.D., Pope Benedict XVI declared that he would remain loyal to his successor. He fulfilled that promise.
Emeritus also rejected claims that Pope Francis had broken continuity between the current, and former, Pontificates in question.
Pope Emeritus rejected conspiracy theories that explained supposedly as why he had "really" resigned as Pope.
Emeritus rejected preposterous claims that he continued to serve as Pope.
Emeritus rejected claims that he and Pope Francis were distant from, and unfriendly to, each other.
It is a shame, as well as unproductive, that Pope Francis' critics, as well as haters, continue to promote the above-mentioned destructive, false narratives.
Pax.
Mark Thomas
Mark Thomas,
I know I'm wasting my time typing this, but I'll take a chance that maybe, just maybe this might reach some corner of rationality in your mind:
You make the same mistake that militant homosexuals make: You immediately jump from "disagreement" to "hate". I'm sorry, but that's just plain silly. Teenagers struggling for a good grade are the most likely to make this jump: "Oh, that teacher HATES me!" Or kids who fight with their parents often jump to the same irrational conclusion: "Mom and Dad HATE me!" In most cases, the teacher, Mom and Dad, the police, the IRS, the chancery or whomever it is one might be struggling against, has not fallen into the sin of hatred. Hatred just takes too much energy and trouble.
And so it goes with Bergoglio/Francis. This man has constructed his own resume of confusion, contradiction, obfuscation and deceptive language. I will freely admit that I DO hate what he is doing as a pope. That's where it stops. I do not have the luxury of hating this man and, I dare say, all of the other people I know who share my concerns do not hate him either.
If you are really concerned about false narratives, a good place to begin would be to stop creating your own about alleged "Francis haters". I would look a bit harder and deeper and see a deeper motivation. Many of us love the Church. Most people tend to defend what they love when they see it attacked, manipulated, distorted or seduced.
Hating Francis? That might be the most false narrative of all.
Thanks for that, Mister Jerome W. 🙂
Great explanation.
Jerome Merwick,
Bravo, but you are wasting your time, Mark Thomas is incapable of rational thought. A sad little man.
His other delusion is that things are going swimmingly, in Church Novus Ordo. Well here is a startling statement from Father Hunwicke which undercuts that false narrative as well (Mark Thomas would never dare dark in his door):
"Apparently, the Diocese (Catholic) of Dublin has just a single seminarian in training.
Well, that's not our business. And the terrible collapse of Irish Catholicism undoubtedly has multiple factors. But things are not exactly booming in this country. In 1996/1997 our numbers peaked at around 110 annual ordinations [St. John Paul II was Pope then}; the projected number for 2023 is 18 [Pope Francis can claim this "victory"}.
Within the Church, there can be little doubt that the onslaught upon Catholicism worldwide by the promoters of Bergoglianism has a lot to do with it. As young people view the ecclesiastical landscape, who can blame them if they discern massive heterodoxy and liturgical heteropraxy. There are disincentives in Anglicanism, and they are not small; but who, some clergy wonder, can guarantee that disincentives will not multiply in the Catholic Church ... indeed, including disincentives already at work in the C of E, such as the purported ordination of women to major orders.
If anybody doubted these problems, Traditionis Custodes should dispel those doubts. The cruel malevolence of that text says it all. Its vicious hostility, targetted particularly on the young, says it all. The incessant attacks by the pontiff himself on 'rigidity' say it all."
Jerome and TJM:
Well, if rationality is the standard, please tell us whether you disapprove of any or all of “Vatican II, Novus Ordo Mass, Ecumenical Movement, interfaith dialogue, Assisi, Communion in the hand, altar girls, inculturation, climate change, the green movement ("tree-hugger" issues), condemnation of capitalism, rejection of the death penalty” and, if so, whether your disapproval is due to Francis’s support of those things or whether you also disapprove of Pope Benedict’s support of these things. However, again, in the interests of respect and decorum, you may want to postpone a response and further discussion until after Pope Benedict has been laid to rest.
Mark:
What I approve or disapprove of is really not relevant, or, for that matter important. Given the list you've tossed at us, I would generally say that my attitude towards most of those things mentioned are guardedly negative. Of course, whether I "approve" of climate change is a bit absurd, since the climate is constantly changing whether I approve or not--what I disapprove of is the cult of environmental worship that has created a false god of the earth. No Catholic can be against Ecumenism, but the false ecumenism of compromising the Catholic faith or watering it down to appease others is definitely a losing proposition. Whether Pope John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis or whatever (God help us) follows, approves or supports these positions, ideas and other assorted items on your list has had zero influence on my own position. I do not believe in or exercise papolatry. There is a big difference between the Solemn Magisterium, the Ordinary Magisterium and the authentic or non-infallible Magisterium. Every action or comment made by a pope doesn't magically become holy writ and there has been a good deal of writing, proclamations and other statements made by popes that good Catholics can disagree upon. Instead of wasting your time asking a small-timer like me about this, consult an expert.
My point, which you've apparently tried to deviate from, is that disagreeing with a pope does not make one a pope-hater. Try sticking to that.
Jerome:
Thank you for your response. The list was not mine but Mark Thomas’s. However, it is serviceable as a test for consistency and intellectual honesty, as in “I disapprove of those things even though they were supported by Pope Benedict and not just because they are supported by Pope Francis.” Moreover, for some people it seems to come as a surprise that the “conservative” Pope Benedict was also a very environmentally conscious Pope, for example, as they tend to associate such things with being radically left-wing or some such.
Anyway, your response suggests that you are consistent and intellectually honest, for which I am glad. As you may have noticed, honesty and truth are important values for me, as I believe they should be for any Catholic. And I consider that we are in deep trouble when we so readily accept lies and dishonesty as so many seem prepared to do nowadays, for political expediency or other opportunistic reasons.
As for the pope-hater issue, I will let you and Mark Thomas address that one.
I now look forward to TJM’s response.
Dear Mark,
I thought it was Mark Thomas who was asking me the question--hence my less than patient diction. Since only a capital and lowercase "M" separates you, one of you should adapt his online moniker to make clear who each is. Just a suggestion.
The other Mark has tried the patience of just about everyone who posts here at one time or another. You'll WANT others to be sure you are not the same person. Trust me.
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