Benedict’s rigorism united the church

Benedict’s untimely passing sent shockwaves across the globe, yet his fray against schism remains one humane and unacknowledged act buried by conservative criticism. Pope Emeritus stood, unharmed, as a defender of the church doctrine and Catholic values.

I thank my parents, who gave me life in difficult times and prepared a wonderful home for me with their love, which shines through all my days as a bright light until today. My father's clear-sighted faith taught us, brothers and sisters, to believe and stood firm as a guide in the midst of all my scientific knowledge; my mother's heartfelt piety and great kindness remain a legacy for which I cannot thank her enough. My sister has served me selflessly and full of kind concern for decades; my brother has always paved the way for me with the clear-sightedness of his judgments, with his powerful determination, and with the cheerfulness of his heart; without this ever-new going ahead and going along, I would not have been able to find the right path.

I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the many friends, men and women, whom He has always placed at my side; for the co-workers at all stages of my path; for the teachers and students He has given me. I gratefully entrust them all to His goodness. And I would like to thank the Lord for my beautiful home in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, in which I was able to see the splendor of the Creator Himself shining through time and again. I thank the people of my homeland for allowing me to experience the beauty of faith time and again. I pray that our country will remain a country of faith and I ask you, dear compatriots, not to let your faith be distracted. Finally, I thank God for all the beauty I was able to experience during the various stages of my journey, but especially in Rome and in Italy, which has become my second home.

I ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart from all those whom I have wronged in some way.

Nearly eighteen years ago, the late Joseph Alois Ratzinger denounced moral relativism, or judgements defined as true or false only to an affixed standpoint, as a malevolent force facing God’s kingdom, a view that he would later contrast by countering the increased secularization in Western countries.

Four years later, the Pope Emeritus reinstated four excommunicated bishops, one of which was a Holocaust denier, a move that sparked outrage among Jewish groups. This in return, normalized relations in the church, despite being accused of heresy. Pope Benedict XVI sought this as a gesture of Christian love, fray- ing against schism and adhering to his role to sustain Christian love through a moral that transcends beyond the conservative views of man.

Schism is defined as the division between people in a religious denomination over Catholic teaching. This strays the faithful from God’s love, a gesture that was halted by Benedict himself and his predecessor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio or Pope Francis. In 2019, the latter made a statement after returning from Africa, claiming that the church remains fearless in facing conservative Catholics, as servants of God should be; courageous yet relentless to pursue a goal to spread Christian love.

Moral relativism in religion has remained one of, if not, the most persistent debates in the church due to its diversification, and perhaps the rendering of faith as obsolete and pointless from a religious and subjective standpoint. Contrary to Benedict XVI’s encyclical of Deus caritas est (God is love) that signifies Christian love, the late supreme pontiff armored the church and the faithful from the snares of conservative relativism. By the power of love, the concept of agape (ascending), eros (descending), and philia (mutuality) was born in his encyclical. However, combatting schism in the church was an arduous road for Benedict XVI, mishandling four clergy sex abuse scandal cases that resulted in favoring the accused priests. The late supreme pontiff then asked for forgiveness, despite being unable to rectify the traumatic scars of thousands. Staining his legacy, he was no stranger to controversies, yet he willingly humbled himself, as the leader of a church should be.

Schism lurked behind Benedict, as in 2010, the Pope Emeritus justified his thoughts on the use of condoms as a halter of acquired immunodeficiency

What I said earlier of my compatriots, I now say to all who were entrusted to my service in the Church: Stand firm in the faith! Do not be confused! Often it seems as if scienceon the one hand, the natural sciences; on the other, historical research (especially the exegesis of the Holy Scriptures) - has irrefutable insights to offer that are contrary to the Catholic faith. I have witnessed from times long past the changes in natural science and have seen how apparent certainties against the faith vanished, proving themselves not to be science but philosophical interpretations only apparently belonging to science - just as, moreover, it is in dialogue with the natural sciences that faith has learned to understand the limits of the scope of its affirmations and thus its own specificity. For 60 years now, I have accompanied the path of theology, especially biblical studies, and have seen seemingly unshakeable theses collapse with the changing generations, which turned out to be mere hypotheses: the liberal generation (Harnack, Jülicher, etc.), the existentialist generation (Bultmann, etc.), the Marxist generation. I have seen, and see, how, out of the tangle of hypotheses, the reasonableness of faith has emerged and is emerging anew. Jesus Christ is truly the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and the Church, in all her shortcomings, is truly His Body.

Finally, I humbly ask: pray for me, so that the Lord may admit me to the eternal dwellings, despite all my sins and shortcomings. For all those entrusted to me, my heartfelt prayer goes out day after day.

Ink Panther

FROM PAGE 9 ► syndrome (AIDS) and broke the Vatican’s sustained policy of contraceptive banning. Aside from sparking outrage and mixed reactions, a 2010 report by the New York Times stated that a certain number of Catholics and Christians lost faith due to the contrasting viewpoints of the pope against non-celibate individuals.

Clerical celibacy is practiced upon entering priesthood, and this speaks volumes as to why Benedict’s perception differed. He aligned himself with an exhaustive viewpoint to stress the common good, regardless of its critical consequences in the media. Benedict was lauded by African bishops due to the outbreak of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the continent from the cultural practice of polygamy and promiscuity, or the practice of transient yet multiple sexual relationships.

It is subjectively agreeable that the pope’s latter remark will not be a primary cause to cease sexual moralities, but it can tweak an individual moral perception aligned with the church’s goal to attain the common good. Condom use cannot repress the sexual urges of man, as it is a natural desire to bond or to sin, but it cannot be a sole basis to fray against religion and as a threshold to eradicate moral relativism.

Quoting Benedict, “Love is divine because it comes from God and unites us to God.” It is compassionate and patient, for as long as it is instilled within man, it can transcend divisions, including schism. Benedict’s untimely passing sent shockwaves across the globe, yet his fray against schism remains one humane and unacknowledged act buried by conservative criticism. Pope Emeritus stood, unharmed, as a defender of the church doctrine and Catholic values. Hence the title of being a Doctor of the church is yet to be engraved in his controversial legacy.

FAITH can be blinding if not empowered by love, Novaliches Bishop Emeritus Teodoro Bacani Jr. said at the University Fiesta Mass in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas at the Santisimo Rosario Parish Church on Friday, Jan. 27.

In his homily, Bacani warned that faith per se is not enough to see God: “You need that power of faith to be energized by love. Unless it is energized and empowered by love, faith can be blind faith. Faith can remain unseen.”

The Novaliches bishop emeritus described St. Thomas as someone who saw people “in the eyes of faith.”

“He saw in fellow human beings Christ the Lord, whom he loved with all his heart. And because he had faith, that faith sought answers. Because he had the love, he sought endlessly for those answers and lovingly presented them to fellow human beings,” Bacani said.

He added: “St. Thomas received light. Having received the light in love, he passed them to others with great love, preaching, and teaching.”

“He has contemplated so much beauty yet sought to share. And yet having shared it, he saw that all he did was nothing compared to what had been given to him,” Bacani said.

Coinciding with the Mass and the launching was the arrival of the relic of St. Titus Brandsma, a journalist-martyr canonized by Pope Francis in May 2022, personally received by UST Parish Priest Fr. Paul Talavera, O.P. It was on display at the parish until Sunday, Jan. 29.

The University launched Friday the triennium of St. Thomas as part of the Church commemoration of the 700th anniversary of his canon- ization in 2023, 750th death anniversary in 2024, and 800th birth anniversary in 2025.

Presiders of the three-day Triduum masses reminded Catholics of the values exemplified by St. Thomas in the context of the family, the academe, and the Eucharist.

Former UST Legazpi rector Fr. Ramon Claro Mendez, O.P. said God-centered families are not demonstrative of affection, but of fidelity and simplicity.

“The family is a community of life and love, that’s from [the Vatican 2 document] Gaudium et spes (joy and hope). It is through the Cross that the family can attain the fullness of its being and the perfection of its love,” he said in his homily on the first day, Jan. 24, which had the