19 minute read
World news
from Jan. 6, 2023
Important events in the life of Pope Benedict XVI
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April 16, 1927
Joseph Ratzinger is born in Marktl am Inn, Germany.
With World War II ending, the 18-year-old conscripted soldier deserts from the German army and is held briefly as a U.S. prisoner of war.
June 29, 1951
He is ordained a priest along with his brother, Georg, and continues his theological studies. 1958-1977
He teaches theology at five German universities.
1962-1965
Father Ratzinger serves as an expert at the Second Vatican Council.
May 28, 1977
He is ordained a bishop, becoming the archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany. June 27, 1977
Blessed Paul VI inducts him into the College of Cardinals.
1981-2005
He serves as prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. April 19, 2005
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, 78, is elected pope and takes the name Benedict XVI.
Dec. 22, 2005
In a meeting with top aides at the Vatican, Pope Benedict insists the teaching of the Second Vatican Council must be read in continuity with the Church’s tradition.
Sept. 12, 2006
In a speech about faith and reason at the University of Regensburg, Germany, Pope Benedict cites a historical criticism of violence in Islam, setting off consternation and protests. April 16, 2007
The first of what would be a three-volume work, “Jesus of Nazareth,” by Pope Benedict goes on sale and is an immediate commercial success.
July 7, 2007
Pope Benedict issues an apostolic letter, “Summorum Pontificum,” permitting wider use of the pre-Vatican II Mass. April 15-20, 2008
Pope Benedict visits Washington, New York and the United Nations, and meets with victims of clerical sex abuse for first time. Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger of Munich and Freising, the future Pope Benedict XVI, is pictured Nov. 15, 1977. Pope Emeritus Benedict died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in his residence at the Vatican.
CNS | KNA
Love, mercy and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI
VATICAN CITY — Retired Pope Benedict XVI may have been the first pope in almost 600 years to resign – in 2013, after eight years as pontiff – yet he leaves an impressive record as a teacher and defender of the basics of the Catholic faith, spanning decades of priestly ministry, teaching and writing, and ecumenical outreach.
He died Dec. 31 at the age of 95, nearly 10 years after leaving the papacy to retire to a life of prayer and study.
Pope Francis celebrated his predecessor’s funeral Jan. 5, in St. Peter’s Square. Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the funeral rites would be simple in keeping with the wishes of the late pope.
At the funeral Mass, the only official delegations present were from Germany and Italy, the Vatican said. After the funeral Mass, the coffin was taken to St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Vatican grotto for burial.
A LASTING LEGACY
In less than a week since his death, much has already been written detailing both Pope Benedict’s accomplishments and failures throughout his long life of service to the Church. In the end, though, all the coverage boils down to one question: Who was the real Pope Benedict XVI? While it will be the task of subsequent centuries to measure the full scope of the late pope’s legacy, we might make a fruitful start by considering it through the lens of his bestselling “Jesus of Nazareth” series.
It is no secret that Benedict was a first-rate scholar, and the depth of the series lays this bare. Not only was Joseph Ratzinger one of the most intellectually gifted men to occupy Peter’s chair, but he was also one of the most important theologians in the Church’s recent history, and he made good use of his pen to teach, too. The gifted, skilled and clear writer authored more than 60 published books.
Benedict bequeathed to the Church many rich texts as part of his papal magisterium, which largely focused on the basics, although his theological acumen could zero in on the most intricate of theological questions. Think of his encyclicals on the theological virtues.
This was also true of the “Jesus of Nazareth” series. This scholarly and pastoral project, to which he committed finishing as pope though as a private theologian, focused entirely on the person and mission of Jesus Christ.
In 2003 – two years before his election as pope – then-Cardinal Ratzinger started work on what developed into the threevolume series. A lifetime of scholarship and research, meditation and prayer, dialogue and inquiry is summed up in its pages, and the breadth and depth of Benedict’s faith and spiritual intellect is on full display therein. Readers catch a glimpse into his scholarly mind, to be sure, but also get a sense of Benedict’s pastoral priorities and interior depth as a disciple.
Effective in employing his scholarship as a pastor, Benedict masterfully connects the dots of a sweeping array of authors and sources, offering an entirely unique and comprehensive reading of the Bible and understanding of the Church’s faith in Christ. The end product is a summary of Christian understanding of the Savior, filtered through the heart and mind of a man who breathed love of the Lord to his very end.
It is said that the books absorbed whatever free time he had for many years, and not without the misgivings of some in the curia, who criticized the studious pope for the attention he gave to this extra writing during his pontificate. It seemed to them a distraction from the duties of governance, but Benedict saw the project as an urgent obligation and concern.
BRINGING THE LOVE AND MERCY OF JESUS TO THE WORLD
While Christian theology has trended in recent years toward deconstruction, especially as regards the historical Jesus, Benedict sought to build and reconstruct. The motivation of his mission was simple: to make Jesus Christ known and loved, and to invite others to a renewed and deepened relationship with Him.
For Benedict, it was clear: The very life of the world depends upon knowing the Lord as Truth – not as an idea but as a Person. This meant for Benedict that Jesus was not a mere historical figure meant to be analyzed, but a living person ready to be encountered. Nor was Jesus just some political or social revolutionary, but the Son of God made man. All else flowed from this.
Like St. Paul, Benedict was handing on what he himself had received – what he himself had found through prayer, study and his own personal relationship with Christ Jesus. As he wrote in the first volume, the “Jesus of Nazareth’’ books contained his “personal search ‘for the face of the Lord.’” The living Jesus becomes reality to the reader, page by page, through the pen of a man truly alive in Christ. It was Christ who lived in him; it was from Christ that he received his very self, which he offered back in love. It was Christ who ordered, guided and led him. It was Benedict’s own life with Jesus, shared in these books.
And so it is clear that the trilogy is more than mere scholarly pursuit. It is the revelation of an intimate and lifelong encounter with a friend, imbued with the fruits of untold hours of contemplation. The man who often showed little concern for himself introduces readers to his Lord and Savior, his discovery of the pearl of great price. According to his biographer, Peter Seewald, Benedict observed that working on the books was “like constantly drawing water from the depths of the sources.”
The “Jesus of Nazareth” series gives the most realistic and lasting glimpse into who Benedict XVI really was, beyond all the narratives: the brilliant mind who pursued Christ all his life, who came to know him as a friend and who served him as a pastor driven to help others love him more. These works will be at the crux of any attempt to understand the interconnection of Benedict’s scholarly mind, his pastoral solicitude and his spiritual depth – because these, above all else, belonged to Christ and defined his mission, informed his pastoring and shaped his character.
If one’s last words before slipping from this earth might be any indication of who he or she really is, then it is no wonder that Benedict’s have been reported to be “Lord, I love you!” What better thing to say? What better to have lived? What better to have left behind as a written legacy? — Michael R. Heinlein, OSV News
CNS | PAUL HARING Pope Benedict XVI kneels in front of the crucifix during the Good Friday service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 22, 2011.
Important events in the life of Pope Benedict XVI
Jan. 2009
With Pope Benedict’s approval, the Vatican issues a letter lifting the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops belonging to the Society of St. Pius X to clear the way for reconciliation talks with the group. Nov. 4, 2009
With the apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum coetibus,” Pope Benedict establishes personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church.
July 15, 2010
With the approval of Pope Benedict, the Vatican releases streamlined procedures for handling accusations of clerical sexual abuse and removing from the priesthood those found guilty. May 1, 2011
Pope Benedict beatifies his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
Feb. 28, 2013
Pope Benedict, 85, becomes the first pope in almost 600 years to resign, citing declining strength because of age.
2013-2022
He lives a “monastic” life of prayer and study, receiving visitors in a renovated monastery near the Vatican Gardens. With prompting from Pope Francis, he appears in public for a number of significant Church events at the Vatican. Dec. 31, 2022
Retired Pope Benedict XVI dies at 9:34 a.m.
Bishop Jugis offers special requiem Mass in Charlotte for former pope
CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis planned to offer a requiem Mass, or Mass for the Dead, for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday, Jan. 5 – the same day Pope Francis celebrated the deceased former pope’s funeral Mass in Rome. Bishop Jugis also asked Catholics across western North Carolina to pray for the repose of the soul of the late pope.
“As we mourn the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we pray for the happy repose of his soul, and we invite all people of good will to join us in commending him to the Lord,” the bishop said in a statement following Pope Benedict’s death. “As a good and faithful servant of the Lord, he faithfully carried out his office as successor of the Prince of the Apostles to strengthen his brothers and sisters in the faith, and lead the Church in faithfully following Jesus Christ.”
Bishop Jugis, who met Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 during the U.S. bishops’ “ad limina” visitation to Rome, recalled the pope as being humble and kind.
“The Holy Father was very engaging and very interested in all we had to say,” the bishop told the Catholic News Herald at the time, upon returning from Rome. “It was a very relaxed meeting,” he said, more like a conversation than a formal meeting.
“May Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rest in peace and receive the reward promised to the Lord’s faithful servants,” the bishop prayed.
Our world
20 CATHOLIC NEWS HERALD
catholicnewsherald.com | January 6, 2023
On New Year’s, pope calls for taking the risk of changing the world
CAROL GLATZ Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — The best way to usher in a truly “new” year is to stop waiting for things to get better on their own, and instead recognize what is essential and reach out now to help others, Pope Francis said.
“Today, at the beginning of the year, rather than standing around thinking and hoping that things will change, we should instead ask ourselves, ‘This year, where do I want to go? Who is it that I can help?’” he said.
“So many people, in the Church and in society, are waiting for the good that you and you alone can do; they are waiting for your help,” he said at Mass Jan. 1, the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and World Peace Day.
While Pope Francis presided over the liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica and gave the homily, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, was the main celebrant at the altar.
In his homily the pope reflected on how Catholics begin a new year by contemplating the motherhood of Mary, who “blesses us and brings us the tender love of God made flesh.”
“Mary gives us hope,” he said, and “at the beginning of this year, we need hope, just as the earth needs rain.”
Pope Francis asked people pray to Mary to accompany the late Pope Benedict XVI on his journey “from this world to God.” And, before leading the recitation of the Angelus prayer after the Mass, the pope asked that people “all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church,” who died Dec. 31.
During the Mass, the prayers of the faithful included a petition that the Lord “welcome him kindly into the kingdom of light and peace.”
In his homily, the pope also asked people to pray to Mary “for her sons and daughters who are suffering and no longer have the strength to pray, and for our many brothers and sisters throughout the world who are victims of war, passing these holidays in darkness and cold, in poverty and fear, immersed in violence and indifference!”
God wants to bring His peace into people’s homes, hearts and world, he said. Yet to receive that peace the faithful must go “with haste” to encounter the Lord, just as the shepherds of Bethlehem did.
“If we are to welcome God and His peace, we cannot stand around complacently, waiting for things to get better,” the pope said. “We need to get up, recognize the moments of grace, set out and take a risk.”
“Today, amid the lethargy that dulls our senses, the indifference that paralyzes our hearts and the temptation to waste time glued to a keyboard in front of a computer screen, the shepherds are summoning us to set out and get involved in our world, to dirty our hands and to do some good,” he said.
With the beginning of a new year, the pope said, people need to take time out from their busy lives to grow closer to God, “to hear his word, to say a prayer, to adore and praise Him.”
Devoting time to what really matters also includes dedicating time to others, he added, for example, by listening to others, especially the elderly, and talking “with our children, to ask them about how they really are, and not simply about their studies or their health.”
In his Angelus address after the Mass, the pope said Mary reminds the faithful that “if we truly want the new year to be good, if we want to reconstruct hope, we need to abandon the language, those actions and those choices inspired by egoism.” Pope Francis accepts offertory gifts from children dressed as the Three Kings as he celebrates Mass on the feast of Mary, Mother of God, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Jan. 1, 2023.
CNS | VATICAN MEDIA
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Love comes first, pope says in letter on teaching of St. Francis de Sales
CINDY WOODEN Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — The most important question a Christian can ask when making any decision in life is “where the greatest love is to be found,” Pope Francis wrote in a letter marking the 400th anniversary of St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of the Church.
Thinking about the legacy of St. Francis, who was born in France in 1567 and died in 1622, Pope Francis said he was convinced that the French saint’s “flexibility and his farsighted vision have much to say to us,” especially in recognizing the real-life struggles of ordinary people and judging faith by love.
The pope’s letter was titled “Totum Amoris Est” (“Everything Pertains to Love”) and was released by the Vatican Dec. 28, the 400th anniversary of the death of St. Francis de Sales, who was bishop of Geneva, Switzerland, co-founder of the Visitation Sisters and a prolific writer, including of tracts he would slip under the doors of people’s homes.
In a letter that quoted heavily from St. Francis’ books “Treatise on the Love of God” and “Introduction to the Devout Life” but also from his own exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis said the saint has much to teach the Church today.
“We are challenged to be a Church that is outward-looking and free of all worldliness, even as we live in this world, share people’s lives and journey with them in attentive listening and acceptance,” the pope wrote. “That is what Francis de Sales did when he discerned the events of his times with the help of God’s grace.”
“Today he bids us set aside undue concern for ourselves, for our structures and for what society thinks about us, and consider instead the real spiritual needs and expectations of our people,” the pope said.
Returning in 1602 to Paris, where he previously studied, St. Francis de Sales saw a world changing around him, the pope said, and he knew that he must respond theologically and pastorally.
“This was certainly not the first time that he had encountered individual fervent Christians, but now things were different,” the pope said. “Paris was no longer the city devastated by the wars of religion that he had known in the years of his education, or by the bitter conflicts that he had seen in the Chablais,” a region on the border of France and Switzerland.
— Pope Francis
“He encountered something unexpected: a flood ‘of saints, true saints, in great numbers and in all places,’” as St. Francis described them. “There were men and women of culture, professors of the Sorbonne, civil authorities, princes and princesses, servants and maids, men and women religious. A whole world athirst for God in a variety of ways.”
The saintly bishop developed a new approach to spiritual direction, the pope said. “It was a method that renounced all harshness and respected completely the dignity and gifts of a devout soul, whatever its frailties.”
As the Second Vatican Council would teach 350 years later, the pope wrote, St. Francis de Sales knew that every person was called to holiness and that the call was specific to each person and his or her talents, shortcomings and state in life.
And, he said, the saint knew that the call was a grace, poured out with love.
“At the same time, this grace never makes us passive. It leads us to realize that God’s love radically precedes us, and that His first gift consists precisely in our acceptance of that love,” the pope wrote. “Each person therefore is responsible for cooperating with his or her own fulfillment, with spreading his or her wings with confident trust before the gust of God’s wind.”
“More important than any kind of useless rigidity or self-absorption,” Pope Francis wrote, St. Francis de Sales encouraged the faithful “to keep asking at every moment, in every decision, in every situation in life, where the greatest love is to be found.”
St. John Paul II, he noted, referred to St. Francis de Sales as the “Doctor of Divine Love,” not primarily because he wrote about divine love, but because “he was an outstanding witness to that love.”
“His writings were no theory concocted behind a desk, far from the concerns of ordinary people,” Pope Francis said. “His teachings were the fruit of a great sensitivity to experience.”
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Read online
At www.catholicnewsherald.com: Read the full text of Pope Francis’ apostolic letter ‘Totum Amoris Est’
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