Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died this morning — Saturday, December 31, 2022.
His death is international news, but I don’t have much to say at the moment.
Headlines included the all-too-predictable political spins and ‘hidden meanings.’
And, happily, I saw the following articles: one from BBC News, the other from Vatican News; both giving a pretty good overview of our former pope.
“A Great Intellectual and Scholar”
“Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95“
Emily McGarvey, BBC News (December 31, 2022)“…Following news of the former pope’s death people began gathering in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
“Annamaria, 65, and Patrizia, 64, visiting from the northern Italian city of Bologna, said they went there immediately as soon as they heard about the death.
“‘We came here to pray. He was a great pontiff, certainly very different from Francis, he was a great intellectual and scholar. Like the rest of the Church we will always remember him,’ Annamaria told the BBC….”
Crisis, Controversy and Responsibility
“‘God is love’: The key to Benedict’s pontificate“
Vatican News (December 31, 2022)“…As a young man, already esteemed as a theologian, Ratzinger had followed the council sessions as the peritus of Cardinal Frings of Cologne, leaning toward the reformist wing….
“…According to the young theologian, the texts ‘should respond to the most pressing questions and should do so, as far as possible, not judging or condemning, but using maternal language.’ Ratzinger favoured the foreseen liturgical reform and the reasons for its providential inevitability. He would say that to retrieve the true nature of the liturgy, it was necessary that the ‘Latin wall be demolished.’…
“…But the future Benedict XVI was also a direct witness of the post-conciliar crisis, of the controversies in the universities and theological faculties. He witnessed the questioning of essential truths of the faith and unchecked experimentation with the liturgy. Already in 1966, just a year after the Council ended, he would say that he saw a ‘low-cost Christianity’ in the offing….
“…2006 was also the year of the ‘Regensburg affair’. In giving a discourse at the university where he had taught, the Pontiff cited a historical source, without appropriating it as his own, that ended up sparking protests in the Muslim world due to how his remarks were exploited or taken out of context in the media. From then on, the Pope multiplied signs of attention toward Muslims….
“…In January 2009, the Pope decided to revoke the excommunication of four bishops illicitly ordained by Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, among whom was Richard Williamson, who denied the existence of the gas chambers. Controversy then exploded in the Jewish world, leading the Pope to take up pen and paper and, writing to all the world’s bishops, assuming full responsibility….”
Vatican News has, understandably, been giving quite a bit of attention to Benedict XVI’s life and death:
- Vatican News (December 31, 2022)
- “Farewell to Benedict XVI: ‘Humble worker in vineyard of the Lord’“
- “Reactions from the world to news of Benedict XVI’s death“
- “Fr. Lombardi: ‘Benedict spent his life seeking the face of Jesus’“
- “What Pope Francis has said regarding Benedict XVI“
- “Organizer of papal journeys remembers ‘The gentle Pope’“
- “Death of Pope Emeritus Benedict: his official biography“
Two Millennia and Counting
We’ve been blessed with good Popes lately: including Saints Pius X, John XXIII, Paul VI and John Paul II. And, as one of my daughters said, we’ve needed them.
Time for me to wrap this up.
Popes come and go. The Church continues, and has for two millennia and counting.
Every half-millennium, roughly, so far, we’ve hit rough patches. I’ve talked about that before. Among other things:
- “Pope Benedict XVI: Not Well, Prayer Requested” (December 29, 2022)
- “Pope Francis and ‘The Virtue of Vigilance’” (December 23, 2022)
- “Christopher Marlowe and His World” (March 6, 2021)
- “Epiphany: Still Shining” (January 6, 2019)
- “Infallibility?” (July 30, 2017)
