Oh, you did?
Okay.
Anyway, things are gearing up for the visit. The Papal Master of Ceremonies has been in the country the past few days checking out the lay of the land. Rocco’s got a post here and Fr. Z has a posted a photo of Msgr. Marini with some seminarians from the Archdiocese of NY.
National Catholic Register has started a webpage/blog/resource page for the visit. It’s really good – Tim Drake is going to be constantly updating with news items.
(Go to the NCRegister blog for links to all of the official sites for the visit, from the USCCB, the Archdioceses of NY and DC, CUA, etc.)
Our Sunday Visitor also has a dedicated webpage. Look for frequent updates – they’ll be doing some things with Facebook, and once the visit starts, their correspondents will be blogging. They have a nice prayer card you can download or order in bulk.
All of the B16-related OSV materials can be ordered from this page. The last two Pope-related pamphlets I’ve done are also available in Spanish. Don’t worry, I didn’t do the translations, so they’re trustworthy.
And, of course, members of the secular media are super-busy digging out the “Pope Visits US” templates from what – 1999? – that are labeled “Divisions in the Church” “Like the Man/Ignore the Message” and “Pope Scolds ________” In addition, they’re busy creating a new template they’re calling “Pope Tries to Soften Image.”
(Full disclosure – so far, I’ve been contacted by FoxNews – a few weeks ago. Mostly for background on my views on Da Pope. I doubt I’ll be seeing any airtime with anyone partly because..well, what do I know, and partly because of logistical issues, as I discovered over and over in 2005. Let John Allen do all the work, I say!)
But anyway, here’s an assignment for you. I’m going to keep this post going – in that I’ll put in on my sidebar after it falls off this front page – because I want it to be an ongoing source, not only for blog readers but, dare we hope, for the media, looking for a sense of what some Catholics, in fact, think of Pope Benedict.
If you care to comment on this post, please muse on the following:
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How has the papacy of Pope Benedict (or even, thinking more broadly, his work and writings as Ratzinger) affected you? What have you learned from him? Has anything about this papacy affected any kind of change in your understanding or experience of faith?
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Have you changed your mind about Pope Benedict in any way over the past few years?
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What do you think are the most striking elements of his papacy so far?
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What is your prayer for Pope Benedict?
Please be honest and charitable in your honesty, especially if you have anything negative or cautionary to say.
And if there’s anyway you can identify yourself, even vaguely by age/previous experience with Catholicism/area of the country of the world in which you live, that would be very helpful!
Dear Amy,
You want us to ponder about the following questions. Yours are in italics, mine in regular.
How has the papacy of Pope Benedict (or even, thinking more broadly, his work and writings as Ratzinger) affected you? What have you learned from him? Has anything about this papacy affected any kind of change in your understanding or experience of faith?
He teaches. When I sit down and read him, I can do so with an ease I did not expect. John Paul II is a more dense writer in that I feel like I plod through his encyclicals, etc.
One thing I notice is that when BXVI appoints bishops, he doesn’t really like to have sees vacant. He appoints coadjutors, accepts retirements at the same time he appoints bishops, etc. I know this is not true 100%, but I noticed this pattern. I cannot say the same for JPII, but that is more from ignorance.
Have you changed your mind about Pope Benedict in any way over the past few years?
No.
What do you think are the most striking elements of his papacy so far?
He gets it. He’s not in an ivory tower with really random statements, but instead gives solid catechesis that is easily understood.
What is your prayer for Pope Benedict?
He challenges us gently. May he do so. And may the secular media actually summarize what he says instead of quoting him out of context.
I think he’s the master Catechist of the age: the greatest teacher the Church has been gifted with in this century. For all of JP2’s charisma and brilliance, he was a diffuse and difficult writer. Cardinal Ratzinger (and now Pope B16) is absolute clarity. His choice of simple virtues–love, hope, and faith–for his encyclicals is a masterstroke: a chance to truly present the core values of the faith for a new generation. As a leader, he simply doesn’t have JP2’s “presence”, but he has, to my mind, greater heft. I was a fan of his books before he became pope, and never dreamed so brilliant a man could ever be elevated to the See of Peter. I think his small liturgical changes (the “tip of the spear”, as Fr. Z. likes to call it) will have huge and lasting effects. He makes me proud to be Catholic.
For background, I’m a 39 year old cradle Catholic and certified Catechist involved in 8th graded teaching and sacrament prep in New Jersey. I consider catechesis to be one of the vital challenges to the laity in our time.
I have been alive since the papacy of Paul VI, and I grew up in a solid Catholic family who honored Humanae vitae against the trend. I didn’t really start tuning into John Paul II till the early 90’s. I wept when he died.
When Benedict was elected to the papacy, I wasn’t quite ready for the transition. In general, I have treasured his orthodoxy and the clarity of his teaching, and have tried to let him be himself without comparing him with the man who preceded him. Before his election, I considered his liturgical leanings ‘retro’, and I must say, the Latin Mass gives me a headache, and I have a very hard time seeing how full, conscious, and active participation are achieved in it. I’m coming to some understanding of the meaning of Ad Orientum, but I’m still not crazy about it. (That said, I’m often surprised how people younger than me seem to love it, so I’m trusting the Holy Spirit is doing something here. It’s possible that I don’t know what is in danger of being lost.) I’ve been non-plussed at times with issues he raises about receiving in the hand (since this was evidently in practice during the time of the Early Fathers), and more recently the question of whether large outdoor Masses conform to the Lord’s will. In the first place, where did Jesus feed the 5000? In the second place, in instances like World Youth Day, was John Paul II contradicting the Lord’s will by gathering a million young people (outdoors) to celebrate the Eucharist? (I realize there are logistical nightmares involved in trying to do this well, but still, the idea of World Youth Day Masses evaporating makes me really sad. ) Besides, who presided over John Paul II’s funeral?
But, on the other hand, I love his frankness with the Jesuits, his follow-through and handling of the Marciel situation, and I am ever so greatful for his clear articulation of the authentic teaching of the Catholic faith.
How has the papacy of Pope Benedict (or even, thinking more broadly, his work and writings as Ratzinger) affected you? What have you learned from him? Has anything about this papacy affected any kind of change in your understanding or experience of faith?
I agree that he’s a great teacher through his writings and speeches: gentle, methodical, and a marvelous synthesist of what you already know with what you need to find out. But he’s also a great teacher through what he does. He moves slowly, but nothing stops him. He listens to objections, and points people to what will help them find what they seek. He is always dignified, but never uncaring or phoning it in. He does not spare himself, but is generous to everyone else. You don’t even have to agree with the man to enjoy his sheer clarity and breadth of thought. (That’s the source of his powers of persuasion, not any cheap rhetorical trick. Not something you see much from public figures.)
Through both kinds of teaching, I have become not just more knowledgeable about my faith, but more grounded in it. I know better who I am, and have a clearer idea of what God is calling me to do and to be. Obviously this was not all the Pope’s doing. But he has made it very clear that he is there to “support the brethren”, and to help the flock entrusted to him along the road to holiness and eternal life.
None of this is to dismiss the late Pope John-Paul II. But his gifts and his aims were different, and were perhaps more about administering the Universal Church than ministering to the individual members of that church. Or me, anyway.
Have you changed your mind about Pope Benedict in any way over the past few years?
He’s even smarter than I thought.
Seriously, though, I always bought into the whole Panzerkardinal thing because I never heard anything else. A couple years before JPII died, I started to hear that he was really somebody I should be reading, and was surprised to find how nifty his teaching was, even in little blog snippets. Then he became Pope, which made it much easier to find his books at the bookstore. 
What is your prayer for Pope Benedict?
That he remains our teaching Pope for a long time. I know it’s a selfish prayer, but I want him here on earth for a while yet. Also, that people will listen to him instead of ranting.
I’m not much given to letting my heart rule my head–my kids say that I approach everything in life like it’s a geometry proof–but there is something about Pope Benedict that stirs a strong, heartfelt affection that I can’t really explain. “Devotion” is probably too strong a word, but “admiration” doesn’t seem quite strong enough. I can’t point to any concrete examples of WHY I feel this way….I love his writing and admire much of what he’s done, of course, but I admired John Paul II for those reasons, too, and didn’t have this added affection for JPII that I have for Benedict.
I often wondered what it was about the person of Jesus that made the apostles drop everything and follow him. I finally decided that it was his combination of kindness and strength that so attracted the apostles, as it continues to attract us. I think that Pope Benedict–in his very quiet, humble way–also genuinely radiates strength and kindness, courage and humility. An imperfect Vicar of Christ, of course, but a powerful and inspiring one, nonetheless. He seems a true servant of God.
I live in the northernmost part of the Archdiocese of NY. I’m a 49-year-old cradle Catholic, raised in Boston by Irish and French Canadian parents. I’ve been a daily mass-goer for about six years, but hadn’t darkened the door of any church for most of my adult life prior to that.
I really, REALLY hope to go see him. Our small parish will only have 16 tickets, given out in pairs of 2…the chances of me getting any are slim to none, since they’re already earmarked for fat-cat Catholics that are in tight with our pastor (snarky, I know, but true). I filled out the volunteer form on the Archdiocese of NY’s website, hoping maybe I can attend one of the events as a volunteer. If anyone out there has any advice or an “in” with the ticket- giver-outers I’d appreciate any help you can offer…:-)
• How has the papacy of Pope Benedict (or even, thinking more broadly, his work and writings as Ratzinger) affected you? What have you learned from him? Has anything about this papacy affected any kind of change in your understanding or experience of faith?
I was thoroughly overjoyed when he became Pope! I felt that he was the most “right” (always right) yet what I learned was that he doesn’t care to be right so much as he cares that we the folks in the Church don’t realize how much we are walking around with a fake image of Christ. I am learning how much I constantly reduce the faith to my own schemes and how much I end up not really living with Christ at all but my own idea of Him. This is what I learned about this Pope. He cares to set my compass right.
• Have you changed your mind about Pope Benedict in any way over the past few years?
Yes, he isn’t the dogmatish person I thought would set the church right back on the rules. He is just a man who cares to set reason back to it’s proper seat. What looks like “rules” are rules to me because I am just beginning to realize what it means to follow Christ. This isn’t about the rules at all. That stuff is just a byproduct, kinda like if someone saw me they would say my eyes are brown and hair straight and if necessary write it down on say a license so I can be identified properly. (Especially because for some reason some folks want to say my eyes are green and hair black – but they never really spent time with me to say for sure this is what they see.) But before the information on the license it is me that is being talked about. So it is with the rules (I mean dogma and doctrine.) at least as I am beginning to understand it.
• What do you think are the most striking elements of his papacy so far?
Setting reason back on its proper seat. To call the Church back to being witnesses to Christ first before being sent out on ministry. He is constantly calling us back to Christ.
• What is your prayer for Pope Benedict?
I pray my Lord to continue to give him all graces necesary to be a witness to all on the true nature of Christianity. May all those who come in contact with the Pope have their hearts awakened to the greateness of the gift of reason and may he complete the works set out for him before you call him to his reward.
JennE – wife to one and mother to many (some here and some above)
I’m currently a 30-something evangelical, a professional in the fields of evangelical education and publishing, and I’m so inspired by this man I’m hoping to be able to convert during his papacy.
As someone who was converted through the traditional liturgy, and has spent his entire Catholic life (8 years) attending what we now call the “Extraordinary Form”, the pontificate of Benedict XVI has been the answer to so many prayers. He has done more than liberate the Tridentine Mass: he has liberated this traditionalist from the prison of constant suspicion of, and defensiveness against, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.
He has enabled me to imagine a day when the term “traditional Catholic” is truly obsolete, when we can just be Catholics again. He has, I believe, already improved relations between traditionalists and other Catholics, many of whom already find themselves working together, in charity, with few impediments.
Changes, when they come, are easier to accept from a Church that reveres rather than despises her past, and Benedict’s pontificate has a deep love and respect for our Catholic heritage. Under a regime of novelty every change is suspect, every word from Rome must be scrutinized for what it is rejecting, ignoring, or hiding. But the regime of novelty has come to an end, and we can trust again.
Pope Benedict XVI has also focused on the Church, on Catholics, in a way that his predecessor did not. In many ways the papacy of JP-II seemed to be a papacy for the world: Benedict’s papacy is a papacy for Catholics (but still without neglecting the world).
I don’t mean to disparage the memory of John Paul II, who inspired so many. He was a great pope with a great heart. But for the first time ever, as a Catholic, I personally do not feel like an orphan any longer. I have a Pope. I can trust him and follow him and take my place as a true son of the Church. I am truly home.
I’m in my 20s, and have been inspired by his messages to young people at WYD and Brazil. Two quotes remain in my mind:
Dear young people, the happiness you are seeking, the happiness you have a right to enjoy has a name and a face: it is Jesus of Nazareth, hidden in the Eucharist.
My dear young people, Christ is calling you to be saints. He himself is inviting you and wants to walk with you, in order to enliven with his Spirit…
He preaches the Cross of Christ, but he also preaches the sweetness of carrying that Cross. He shows that God has descended from Heaven to save us, and that we have a choice: we can be Saints or we can destroy ourselves. I think he understands (as did Pope John Paul II) that the fate of the world in general depends on the fate of individuals.
My prayer for the Holy Father is that he continue to call everyone to conversion, both Catholics and non-Catholics, and that his message bears fruit in many hearts who will renew the Church and the world, as envisioned by St. Luigi Orione:
We are the Sons of Divine Providence, and we shall not despair, but instead, we shall put our trust unreservedly in God! We are not among those prophets of doom who believe the world will end tommorow. Corruption and moral evil are great, it is true; but I firmly believe that the ultimate victor will be God, and God shall win with His infinite mercy.
God has always won in this way! We shall have “novos coelos et novam terram.” Society, restored in Christ, will reappear on the horizon, more brilliant. It will reappear reinvigorated, renewed, and firmly guided by the Church. Catholicism, replete with divine truth, charity, new youth, and supernatural strength, will rise in the world, and place itself at the head of the reanimated era leading us to a restoration of faith, civilization, happiness, and salvation.
A great epoch is about to begin! This will be due to the benevolent mercy of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and the heavenly maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy. I envision a resplendent monument, not based in sand, rising as a luminous column of love and founded upon revealed charity, upon the Church, upon the only rock, eternal, unshaken: “petra autem erat Christus.”
Let’s put it this way: I’m not a Roman Catholic, but he’s really got me leaning heavily towards converting. This man is the genuine article. Brilliant, but as far as I can tell, humble. A true shepherd in every sense of the word. I didn’t know anything about him when he was elected, so I didn’t have any preconceived notions. A teacher extraordinaire.
My prayer for him: Many, many more years.
- Tim
I came back to the church near the death of Pope John Paul II, and I was heavily influenced to come back by the Pope JPII’s phenomenological writings. Those writings taught me about Christianity and Catholicism. They convinced me that Catholicism was more than liberation theology; that a true pro-life stance as right, that sex outside of marriage was wrong, that all of the other major ethical and moral positions of the Church were right.
But Benedict’s writings have taught me about Christ, something I never learned elsewhere. Ratzinger’s work in Jesus of Nazareth, and his opening writings to Be Not Afraid spoke directly to me, and my own needs from God, and from Christ, someone who I never felt a relationship to before hearing about him from Benedict. The wednesday audiences and homilies have taught me more about how to read and understand Scripture than I learned anywhere else. I am finally able to start to put the truth of Christ into my mind logically and emotionally, instead of feeling he is really Other.
His Regensburg speech is, I think, the shining speech/document of this century, and I think will be remembered as pointing the way this millenium. Faith AND reason have never been more clearly explained as being twin pillars than with Benedict.
My prayer for him is to live a long, long, long life. I do not care if he saves Europe from Islam or not, geographically speaking. He is saving us all nonetheless.
I’m 35, baptized as an infant, but raised by two pre Vatican catholic-turned-atheist/agnostics. Catholic school educated from 1-12 but that was a mishmash of libertion theology and postmodern morality, and I recoiled from it. I had never felt any grace, or experienced any faith until 2004, and returned to the Church in 04, to be confirmed, have my marriage validated, and then shortly thereafter, my infant son baptized.
He is a great teacher, and he does not back down from a well-established position. His talk at Regensburg was brilliant. His papacy is the beginning of Christendom reasserting itself, not as a political influence, but as the Church of the Incarnate God.
When I started investigating Catholicism, shortly before JPII’s death, I found lots of Catholics who regarded JPII as “their pope”. I was then a cradle Catholic turned Episcopalian. When Benedict was elected pope I was mildly pleased–it looked like Rome was going to hold the line that my church had not. As time went on, and as I read some of his books, it became clear that he really gets it; he understands the illness that afflicts the Episcopal Church and our modern world in general. I also came to appreciate his gentleness. In October, I came back to the Catholic church, and now I think of him as “my pope”. And my prayer for him is that God would grant him a long and fruitful life as pope, and a worthy successor.
I am not Catholic, and I’m embarrassed to say I was rather atheistic and confused in my youth. As I became older, and especially when I saw my first son moving in the womb via ultrasound, I felt a change within me and I feel like I am moving so much closer to Christ and the Church. I was profoundly moved when Pope John Paul II but for reasons I can’t explain I was overjoyed when Benedict became Pope. I knew he was a thinker and a staunch defender of the faith. In fact, the nattering nabobs on the news seemed less than pleased with him, so that endeared me to him even more. Like I said, I was lost when I was younger and his message of hope and his disdain for relativsm really speaks to me. I hope to convert during his papacy to show my respect for him. God Bless!
Personally, I was thrilled when he was named Pope and remain still. Not quite the crack-the-whip disciplinarian like some feared (and I hoped), but a first-rate Christian and fine Pope.
His presence is not felt on the ground much here, however: too many intervening layers of Catholic bureaucracy working at cross-purposes to the goals of this pontificate (and the previous one). I gather speaking to my parishioners that he is a distant figure, his writings unknown except for what I share in the homilies.
FrMichael, California parish priest
I’m very happy that, unlike JPII, he hasn’t been fooled by the Legionaries of Christ. He punished their founder (though I was disappointed there was no trial nor a clear, public finding of guilt), and apparently has begun to reform them from their cult techniques – the private vows, superiors as spiritual directors, and separation from families.
He could have done or be doing much more along each of these lines, but as always, money and image seem to be big factors. At least he seems to ‘get it’ while JP never did. I hope he will continue full speed ahead on getting rid of corruption and filth within the Church.
I had read Joseph Ratzinger’s writings before he was elected Pope, so I was very happy when he was elected.
I agree with what Jeff wrote. I’m not a “traditionalist” Catholic, but Pope Benedict’s reverence for traditional liturgy and the Catholic tradition is reconstituting the Church and in time all Catholics will be united under a beautiful liturgy. Pope Benedict has reminded us that Catholicism is a liturgical faith and it behooves us to care for the liturgy and celebrate it with reverence. He also promotes what I call a “liturgical catechesis,” because everything is always grounded in our celebration of the Eucharist, in prayer, and in lectio divina, the ways in which we truly know Jesus Christ.
I also thought Jeff’s remark about Benedict focusing more on Catholics was right on the money. It was my impression that Catholics were in danger of losing, not only their doctrinal identity, but their historical and traditional identity and Benedict has revitalized all three. Frankly, I regard this as just as important as the fight against secularism, since Catholicism has nothing to present to secularism if it doesn’t have a secure identity. I hope it will also result in the end of things like “charismatic” Catholics” and “evangelical Catholics,” because these are not grounded in the Catholic tradition. The impetus for this will come out of the reformed liturgy and the increasing interest in the derestricted TLM.
I, too, wish the Pope health and many years. He’s truly “my Pope” and I hope he’s that for many others. His focus on prayer, his humility, the way he extends himself to do as much as he can for Catholics and the Church is truly an inspiration to me. I usually brush off references to the “Holy Spirit” or “spirit-filled,” because they reek of evangelicalism, but when he was elected I thought this truly was the action of the Holy Spirit. We are truly blessed.
I forgot to post above that I’m 37, from Ohio, and a “cradle Catholic”. My mom and her side of the family was and is Catholic, and my dad and his side are United Methodist. (Well, okay, originally their church was that Brethren church that merged with the United Methodists when he was still pretty young.) My brothers and I were raised Catholic and sent to parochial school for elementary, and my dad always fully supported it. So whatever problems I’ve had with Catholic identity or lack of knowledge were the same as my agemates’, not anything to do with my dad.
I am a Catholic Revert after many years spent in a variety of protestant churches.
A couple of years ago, after B16 was elected, adults in our parish began getting together each month specifically to read what the Holy Father has written. In spite of having a big religious ed dept at the chancery, our diocese offers no classes on his writings.
In the course of the last 2 yrs, we’ve read his exhortation to the bishops at the beginning of the Synod in Oct. ‘05, Deus Caritas Est, Milestones & other writings. Right now we’re working our way through Jesus of Nazareth. As a group of laypeople, we were hesitant to begin without any guidance from a priest etc but the Pope’s writings are generally so accessible that we haven’t had alot of trouble understanding what he’s saying.
Anybody who can’t see the Holy Spirit at work in the pontificate of this man for our time just isn’t looking.
Let me count the ways:
Benedict is a profound and thoroughly modern thinker. The most important (and sometimes I think the only one) voice of reason and faith in an age given over to value-free technology, value-free science, complete reliance on praxis.
He is a truly great communicator. Profound thought communicated in clear simple, limpid language. The Regensberg speech was brilliant, so is Spe Salvi.
He is a passionate pastor. His letter to the Chinese Catholics surprised me but after a time, I began to realize how truly brilliant this man is; it is a masterpiece, showing how he loves his whole flock. His various meetings with priests and religious….his love for them absolutely shines through. His frequent exhortations for Catholics to
take care of Christians in the Middle East.
He is a visionary. Summorum Pontificum, and some of its themes. Those who simply see a return to traditionalism IN SP are one step behind; His Holiness intends to take the Church forward firmly grounded in its Tradition, but forward nonetheless. He is also aware of what the Church needs so desparately after 40 years in the wilderness: recognition of her own identity and confidence in it.
He is a true father. He focuses on Catholics, he knows what his children need. He feeds his flock. He has begun the renewal (and I am not talking only about SP- it is in many areas, liturgy, the intellectual life of the Church, catechesis, help for various groups among us- in the Middle East, for example.)
How do I feel about this pontificate? I feel safe and secure in the Church under Pope Benedict. I feel I am fed true spiritual food, not stones. I feel he is truly my Holy Father.
What do I wish? Specifically, that the Catholic media and the Catholic hierarchy in the US would take up his message and spread it more effectively. I suspect many of them do not have the intellectual heft required, but some of them do.
Generally, that the Holy Father will have many more years (say, 10?) to continue the “renewal” he has started, to strengthen what remains, in the tumultuous decades to come.
Finally, my stats: middle aged cradle Catholic, revert to the faith, mother, professional, avid reader of anything by Benedict and the Church Fathers. Starved most of the time in my day to day local Church life but am hanging in there.
How to categorize my case — a cradle Catholic who drifted during college, and now in middle life experiencing “reversion” in a big way. When Pope John Paul died, I thought, who can fill those shoes? How blessed we’ve been to have such a holy man for these times. So I knew very little about Pope Benedict, but I am amazed by the ripples he’s already caused.
The first one: the Regensburg speech, which the MSM got pretty much wrong. I think it’s a speech that will only grow in significance with time, particularly in light of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s lily-livered capitulation of Western values. Benedict’s focus on relativism is potent and sobering, and I think he’s getting across.
I then read an article by George Wiegel early on in Benedict’s papacy in which Wiegel suggested that Catholics are indeed fortunate to have such a gifted theologian — he called him the most important Christian theologian of our time — as our pope. So I’ve resolved to read some of his works. The first thing I picked up was Benedict’s new Jesus of Nazareth, which I found utterly luminous. His gift is that he’s able to distill Truth into a language that’s eminently accessible to us laypeople. I can’t wait to read more.
The third thing — Pope Benedict’s affirmation of the latin rite, and of returning a transcendent splendor to our liturgy–is also something that has touched me deeply. Twice in the past 6 months I’ve happened into a nearby church for mass while traveling, only to find myself participating in the sublime worship that is the Latin high mass. One was at St. Mary’s cathedral in Austin, Texas. The other instance was at St. Patrick cathedral in New Orleans, for midnight mass on Christmas eve. The majesty, the reverence for the divine penetrated every fiber of my being. As mass began and the churched filled with incense, the small orchestra in the choir loft began, to my astonishment, Mozart’s great mass in C minor, which was performed flawlessly in its entirety. When I got out of there, I felt as though I had experienced what worship in heaven must consist of. These are transforming experiences, especially for post-Vatican II babies like me. I’m awake. I’m listening. I thank God for his pontificate every day. I pray for a long life, that his message might radiate into the dark corners of our culture.
Re: my post, lst paragraph, line 2, bracketed phrase: I meant to say the only one on the world stage.
Also, I first heard of Cardinal Ratzinger through media coverage after the death of JPII but when he walked into the Piazza for the funeral Mass, I thought “This man will be the next Pope.” He exuded a very special aura of calm authority. Talk about intuition, eh?
I happened to be in a room, watching the television, when the white smoke appeared and the announcement that Cardinal Ratzinger was the new Pope was made. Also in that room, was a large number of US Bishops, gathered for a special event; it was very clear that they were not happy!
I was extremely happy when Joseph Ratzinger was elected. As many previous commentators have said, his role as the master catechist has been a revelation. Everything is Christocentric – simple, yet profound. His knowledge of Patristics, and the easy way he weaves the teachings of the Fathers into his speeches and homilies gives the lie to any nonsense about him being stuck at the Council of Trent. Although I have a certain bias, I think his choice of the name Benedict is profound – the salvation of Europe in the Dark Ages through the monastic life will be needed again as we enter the new Dark Age – but perhaps the new Benedictine age can save us?
What is your prayer for Pope Benedict?
That his Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for priests during his visit to New York will be celebrated ad orientem. Ordinary Form or Extraordinary Form, either way would be fine with me. Either way, it tells the priests and bishops of America (and the world), This is the way it’s done, boys.
The more I read of his writing, the more I like him. I hope I don’t offend too many people by saying that I like his work better than that of John Paul II of happy memory. For one thing, it is more understandable. More significant is that he is grounded in the Fathers. Pope Benedict is a true example of living tradition. The Church was not in hibernation between the death of St. John the Evangelist and II Vatican Council, and our present Holy Father knows and proclaims that.
My prayer for him: a long life, so that the Church can benefit from his teaching, and especially so that he can appoint many, many bishops.
I liken the Pope to a favorite theology professor…the one who opened your eyes, stimulated your brain and found a pulse in your heart. The professor who’s door was always open to you when you wished to explore more deeply. Someone asked me not long ago, if I could spend an afternoon with anyone, sharing thoughts over a cold beere, who would it be? Pope Benedict was my answer, without a second thought. Not just because I’d love to talk with him, but because I think he woould do it.
I’m thirty-something and from the Diocese of Richmond. When Ratzinger became Pope, most everyone I knew was disappointed. (“Oh, Ratz!” was a common response.) I didn’t know why. But the past few years I have discovered this Pope for myself and have found nothing I didn’t like. People older than me seem to be the ones that are uncomfortable still with Benedict XVI.
What is telling is that a number of posters above have ventured healthily (from a communication standpoint) a relative preference for Benedict over his predecessor, John Paul. What is strange about the Catholic milieu is that often such words come out on the blogs only when it is safer to do so (post mortem) and one will not be ad hominemed to death for venturing a partial reservation about a sitting Pope….ala Amy’s recent thread on defensiveness.
I think what I remember most is his willingness to not compromise the faith as JPII did time and time again with the travesty at Assissi and his desire to be more popular than a leader. A leader is not supposed to be liked, our Lord and all but one of the Apostles met a martyrs death because they stood for something
B16 stands for something, and he has started-though it will take prayers and miracles- to reconnect the church back to its lineage with the TLM and not run from it as JPII did
God bless him
I’m a reverted convert. I entered the church in the mid ’70s, and wandered away over time, compleatly out by ‘91. I had reached, in my teens, the point of seeing the Church of the Gospel as subsiting within the Catholic Church. By the ’90s, I didn’t see the Church reflecting the Gospel–only what was popular, only what I could only identify a “mushy-lesbo-nun/commie-priest-politics”. I hadn’t heard a homily that seemed Christian in years. I starved to death, spiritually, in a church that seemed determined not to have faith. But I didn’t have a concept like “dictatorship of relativism” to express what I saw.
Then I reverted, more or less aginst my will. I didn’t want to acknowlege membership in a Church I saw as essentially a club for disfunctional liberal, abiguously aliligned sexualities, and mish-mash political correctness. But the Eucharist drew me back, and with out Apostolic Succession and Petrine Ministry, Christianity doesn’t make sense to me.
The JPII, under whose pontificate I was allowed to starve into a form of spiritual anorexia, by the bishops and pastors appointed over me, died, and Benedict XVI came into my awarness. Then I started reading–and I realized that Christ had not abandoned us for our collective and presonal infedelities, rather, the Holy Spirit had appointed us a new and courageous Vicar, whos gifts for teaching and inspiring us to a faith, not in the Community of the Church’s ability to change the world, but faith in Christs ability to save, and transform us, and send us into the world–a Pastor who taught the gospel I had learned as a teen, who affirmed the faith I had found, and aggressivly pursued it’s propagation among the Bishops, Clergy and people.
If not for Benedict, I think I would have left Catholicism and embraced Orthodoxy.
My prayer is this–that we continue under his pontificate, until he can select and appoint for us a large number of Bishops commited to both orthodoxy and orthopraxis, and so enable the reform of the renewal.
If he lives for 5-7 more years, he can change the face of the episcopacy. If he dies, I pray that the Holy Spririt shall mercifully give us a Pope who can continue the work he started.
I guess I’m in the generation that I’ve heard called “JP II Catholics”; I was born one year to the day after the beginning of his pontificate.
When I was a student in Rome, some friends and I were invited to attend the ordination of deacons from the North American Pontifical College. The celebrant at that beautiful Mass at the chair of Peter was then-Cardinal Ratzinger. I recall three things from the Mass with great clarity. One, the utter joy and beauty of the young men who were being ordained as deacons on their way to the priesthood. It’s hard for me to believe that the priesthood is in real danger of being extinguished when I think of those wonderful and committed men. Two, the great clarity and elegance of the Cardinal’s homily (and his crisp German accent.) Three, the gentleman who was seated behind us who whispered after we got to shake the Cardinal’s hand: “He could be the next Pope.”
I always felt an odd disconnect between the presentation of “God’s Rottweiler” and “the Panzerkardinal” in the media and the man I’d heard speak and whose writing presented the truths of my faith in such a clear and thoughtful way. When he was elected to the papacy, many of the other teachers at the Catholic school where I work expressed publicly their dismay and anger at the choice. Even recently, a former Jesuit who teaches religious studies was talking about the Pope in a way that made it clear that the only knowledge he had of B16 was what he’d read in the papers. When I asked if he’d read “Deus Caritas Est” or Jesus of Nazareth or anything else that the Pope had written…he said no.
I’m excited to be a young(er) Catholic right now and to be starting a family and raising my children in the Catholic faith with him at the helm of this little boat. He challenges me to grow in my faith and to focus on the central truths of Catholic Christianity — Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself out of love for me, and who continually calls me back to Him. I’m glad that he focuses his teaching on calling the Church to a strong and profound commitment to the reality of the Gospel and the truths of who we are. It’s not an “anything goes” faith, and it shouldn’t be.
My prayer for him, reiterated at all of our Masses (Ruthenian Rite Catholics), is that God will preserve him in safety, honor, and health for many years as he faithfully dispenses the word of His truth. May God grant him many happy years!
(50 yr old cradle Catholic.) I started taking courses through distance learning at Franciscan U. in the late 90’s towards a masters of theology degree, which is how I came to read some of Cardinal Ratzinger’s work. I found it refreshing and rational. So when Pope John Paul II died, I was quite familiar with the cardinal both as a figure in the Church and as a theologian. I watched the funeral mass of our late pope, live (2 am or something like that) and then followed the conclave very closely. On the day of our pope’s election, I was at work, with head phones on, listening/watching discreetly in one tiny corner of my computer screen EWTN’s live coverage, while I worked. I remember so well seeing and hearing Raymond Arroyo and Richard John Neuhaus when the white smoke appeared. I started crying. I kept crying for joy when some time later, Cardinal Ratzinger appeared, our new pope! I was so elated. It wasn’t so much that I wanted him, in particular. It was more the feeling of amazement and awe at the continued life of the Holy Spirit in our Church, and at being present historically to witness this tradition being carried on. My appreciation of Pope Benedict has increased with each new writing and sermon. I feel so blessed to be part of this Church right now.
Pope Benedict is so much more than I expected. He is a superb writer, teacher and speaker. In addition, he appears to be a warm and genuine person, who truly cares about the Church and the world.
I definitely changed my opinion, or, perhaps I should say I finally formed an opinion. When he was elected, my opinion had been formed by the media. I know I was a fool to listen to them, but there it is. My younger daughter calmed me when I was concerned about his election. She told me that I didn’t really know anything about him, and that I should trust the Church. Out of the mouths of babes! OK, she was 17, but still she had more sense than her mother. I listened, and began to read. I began with Salt of the Earth. That book blew me away. After that, I read God and the World, Truth and Tolerance, Milestones, his encyclicals and I’m still reading. I have come to realize what a treasure PBXVI truly is. He can elucidate the faith in a way that engages me; body and soul.
The most striking element of his papacy so far is how many people listen to him. I thought that attendance at the public audiences would drop off, given that he did not have the personal charisma of JPII, but that just has not happened. People come to hear him, not just to see him. It is a beautiful thing.
I am a revert. Left the faith as a teenager, and was brought back by my older daughter, when she was around four. She asked me why we didn’t go to church (most of her friends did–we live in Kansas). I asked if she wanted to go and she said yes. Well, I guess I hadn’t fallen too far from the tree–church to me still meant Catholic, so off we went! I suspect she may have regretted bringing me home occasionally as she got a little older, and thought sleeping was preferable to Mass, but we’re all still home in the Church (she is now almost 24). I am 49 years old, and live in the Wichita, KS diocese.
I pray for Pope Benedict at every Mass, and frequently outside Mass, that God will continue to grant him wisdom, health and long life, and that we will continue to listen and learn from His vicar on earth.
As the breeze stirred the pages of the book of gospels that lay on the coffin of John Paul, I sensed that something profound was happening. The whole history of the church seemed present there in the mesmerizing chant of the litany of the saints. Though the future was unknown, a sense of calm and hope prevailed.
“Follow me” . . . repeated a gentle figure whose vestments and thick white hair tossed about as the wind grew stronger. Using Christ’s words he recounted the life and witness of the late pope, a life that mirrored his own.
Days later, his installation homily touched me deeply as he challenged the church to be the shepherd that leads humanity out of the internal and external deserts of life, toward friendship with the Son of God. He recalled Christ’s words to Peter, “Feed my sheep” knowing that they were now spoken to him.
On that day I was a 44-year old lifelong, Catholic woman. I had been poorly educated in the faith and had a shallow spiritual life. I had rarely opened a bible. I believed that religion was a set of rules which were quaint . . . and optional.
I now see that the powerful wind on that grace filled day was the Holy Spirit. Three years later, it continues to blow where it pleases. Many, like me through Benedict’s luminous books, encyclicals, homilies and audience messages have been brought to an encounter with Christ. We have been captivated by the Holy Father’s call to experience the beauty, and liberation found in a journey of faith.
Life has changed. Though still weak, I strive to be a better Christian. I have a richer, more joyful marriage and family life. My work as an artist has a greater purpose. I pray that Benedict will be granted many more years, and that he will continue to touch the hearts of the faithful. Our Church is blessed to be guided by this humble and loving shepherd who has generously responded to the call “Feed my sheep.”
My church (Arlington, VA diocese) recently did the drawing for tickets to the mass in DC. I still have not heard how many we were alloted, total, but I know they are offering a bus to transport the winners (for a small fee).
The bus will leave about 5 am and not return until 4 pm. There has been much talk of all the extra time to allow to get through security and get seated.
That said, my mother, who also won tickets to see JPII in Baltimore years ago, was gifted one ticket by a friend who had her name called and is unable to go. She’s one lucky lady, right?
We were stunned at St. Joseph’s-Yorkville to be told Pope Benedict is coming to our church on April 18th. This lovely small church on East 87th Street has been my parish for 50 years. Founded as the German national church of New York when many Germans flooded into Yorkville and wanted to worship in their own language it now has a Mass in German once a month as a tribute to its heritage. We also have a thriving school. We were given 27 tickets to the Mass at Yankee stadium and since the church is closed to all but invited guests selected for his coversation to Christian denominations we have been alloted 325 places to stand outside the church. I don’t know if I got a place yet since half went to the church and half to the school but I hope I am one of the lucky ones.
The unfortunate thing about the caricatures is that they failed to provide concise critiques. I find B16 better than his predecessor for me and really enjoy him and his writings in all ways. However, he is due criticism. For example, why is it he seems to have had this access available to American court theologians like Weigel and Novak. And his same group that has summarily reduced acts of charity in service to Christ as “preoccupation.” Why does it seem that the representatives of power and wealth (Glendon for example), get open arms? And again, the Romero cause for sainthood gets special delays in the office of CDF? Is doing charity, standing up for the poor and laboring in the fields so filthy and so likely to corrupt someone’s soul (as opposed to glorifying every Republican war effort in print and word) that they should always be considered suspect in the Vatican?
Caritas est deus made an attempt to bridge that gulf, and it is good. But the bridge from theory to practice, from dogma to praxis for B16 was so hard and so clearly forced that he had to separate the sections. Dogma was part I and was fantastic! Praxis was drier in part II (but still good but not as powerful).
He need folks who labor near him, not academic elitists or think tank wordsmiths and propagandists from the American right wing.
The caricatures failed to identify the problem-not enough contact or interest in contact with people with dirty hands from laboring with the poor, just a lot of ink-stained writers and authors.
And maybe this is a problem of a structure like the Vatican, but the consequence of that problem is a CDF document labelling the service of Christ in the poor as a preoccupation, not a central act of a Christology in action. And this is very alienating.
And perhaps this led to the caricatures.
“…may the Holy Ghost make of him a great restorer of the devastated vineyard of the Church.”
HABEMUS PAPAM
Benedict,
Please restrict,
Enemies and foes.
Benedict,
I pray, constrict
Heretics who pose.
Benedict,
I do predict,
Tradition, if you shield…
Benedict,
Of Rome’s district
The Vineyard will be healed!
Short but sweet -
this afternoon I was watching the RomeReports segment I’d tivo’d from EWTN and I had to chuckle outloud and here’s why:
I confess over the years I have made my better half’s life fairly miserable by jumping on him every time he makes a slight of tongue against my beloved Church (he’s cradle Episcopalian, rebaptized but now lapsed Mennonite) and my worst occasion for sin is probably his most trivial, but after more than a decade of matrimony it still makes me cringe to hear his ObGyn-like pronunciation of papist or papal (think PAP smear) .
Well, I had to eat my words upon hearing, in the final segment at the tail end of the show, PAPaRatzi himself addressing his audience in English congratulating “the PAPal Foundation for their gift to the Vatican of the handmade St. John’s Bible…”
Grrrr – so I learned humility today:
if its good enough for the Pope himself its gotta be good enough for me and my hubby! I’ll just have to learn to offer it up for his safe and successful PAPacy, right?
oh heck me and my italics sorry!
What about the pamphlet told you it was written by a “hack”?
From Amy: Gerry, I’m the “hack.” I wrote it.