Pope Benedict XVI
THE NAME AND THE
HEART
THE NAME BENEDICT
In his
first general audience Pope Benedict XVI gave some reasons why he chose his
papal name. Apart from being much loved in the Pope’s native Bavaria, St.
Benedict, he said, was the patron saint of Europe and constituted “a
fundamental point of reference for the unity of Europe, and a strong call to
the inalienable Christian roots of its culture and civilisation.” His
predecessor namesake, Pope Benedict XV, led the Catholic Church during World
War I, and was “a courageous and authentic prophet of peace. In his footsteps I
place my ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony between
peoples.” Since his election the general perception is that Benedict XVI, as
Pope, is quite different from the erstwhile Cardinal Ratzinger who had headed
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). His warm and humble
gentleness, informality and humour have replaced the baleful image of the cold
disciplinarian.
The
spirituality of St. Benedict tends to dissolve all harshness. His Rule warned
leaders against “rubbing too hard to remove the rust lest they break the
vessel,” advising them “to seek to be loved rather than to be feared.” Pope
Benedict XVI pledged not to follow his own will or pursue his own ideas, but to
“listen with the entire Church to the word and will of the Lord.” In
fact, “listen” is the very first word of the 6th. Century Rule of
St. Benedict, which begins by instructing the monks to “incline the ear of the
heart” and then urges the Abbot to “listen” to the counsel of the “whole
community”, including its youngest and lowest-ranking members. Cardinal Mario
Martini (whose age and ill health perhaps prevented him obtaining the conclave
majority) told an Italian newspaper reporter that he was sure the new Pope
would not be rigid, predicting that “he will listen and reflect with a
free heart and open mind.”
NEW HEART
Pope
Benedict’s gentle demeanour and the congenial tone of his talks stand in stark
contrast to some of the rigid pronouncements that came from the Ratzinger-led
CDF office, prompting Markus Nolte, senior writer of the largest German
Catholic newspaper, to predict: “Benedict the Pope will be nothing like
Ratzinger the enforcer.” Markus Nolte also recalled how Cardinal Ratzinger went
to great lengths to convince Pope Paul II to refrain from making “ex cathedra”
statements. It is quite possible, he said, that Joseph Ratzinger’s sense of
obedience and humility as Prefect of the CDF made him acquiesce in the instructions
of the late Pope John Paul II. Is this insight or opinion? Intellectual that he
is, the present Holy Father’s profound thinking could quite possibly border on
mystical interiority, plunging deeper into quieter and more inward regions of
Christian tradition, as reflected in his camera-shy and retiring personality.
Pope Benedict’s
faith perception is rooted in the period of the Fathers from the first seven to
eight centuries of the Church, situating his theology in an age before schisms
divided West from East and much more before heresies lacerated the western
Church itself. One can therefore understand his foremost desire for Christian
unity. As successor of Peter his role is to be the focus of unity, and no
longer the policeman of correctness; to inspire, not to discourage; to
reconcile, not to divide. The following lines from his inaugural homily are
instinct with reconcilement: “My real programme of governance is not to do my
own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole
Church to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by him, so that he
himself will lead the Church at this hour of our history.”
God bless our
Pope, the great, the good!
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