Plunging into the mystery

A few days ago, I blogged on reporter Gary Stern’s piece on Benedict, which had some good points, but was hampered by the thematic focus that Benedict is a “mystery” to “many.”

Stern has responded to bloggers’ criticisms, particularly Carl Olson. Carl reports and responds here.  Stern maintains that most people don’t understand Benedict, and that was the purpose of his piece – to introduce that fact.

I don’t disagree with that, but I’d, in response, suggest two points:

1) The contrast with Pope John Paul II is an inadequate one because I doubt that the same people who profess to not know what Benedict is about actually could give you a coherent, accurate sense of what John Paul II was about either. (Which is part of the reporting paradigm -that JPII was “understood” while B16 is a “mystery.”) They might be able to tell you that he traveled a lot and seemed to enjoy engaging with others in settings great or small, but could they really tell you about his thought, the intellectual focus of his papacy or what the substantive fruit of his papacy was? I doubt it.

I maintain that when we’re moving in the arena of “People got JPII but don’t get B16,” we’re essentially talking about superficial media-driven impressions, not truly “getting” the person.

2) The decision to structure reporting around “B16 is a mystery” isn’t reporting anything that’s really demonstrably news, both for the reasons in #1 as well as the arbitrariness of it.

The facts are that when it comes to evidence – book sales (in the US and worldwide)  website hits, internet discussions – it seems as if there are lots of people interested in Benedict who are not scratching their heads at his purported impenetrability, but rather intrigued by and nourished by what he’s saying.

An amorphous mass that you can pin a label on that says “Thinks B16 is a mystery” is much less an object for real reporting than a more specific group you can actually (sort of) count and trace behavior of and talk to.

Christopher Blosser responds:

But I also think there are also many signs that readily challenge the suggestion that Benedict’s so-called “mysteriousness” constitutes a barrier between him and the laiety, that it may “take years (or longer) for his teachings to seep down,” that Catholics have been unable to arrive at an appreciation and understanding of Benedict — that they are in fact responding enthusiastically to his person and his pontificate:

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  • According to a January 2008 Zenit News Service report, In the course of 2007, there have been almost 3 million faithful and pilgrims that have participated at public gatherings with Benedict XVI at the Vatican and at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. In addition:
    

    For the recitation of the Sunday Angelus, in the course of 2007, there were 1,450,000 persons who came to St. Peter’s Square — 155,000 more than last year. There were 442,000 faithful who participated in the liturgical celebrations.Last April, a record-breaking 130,000 attended the Wednesday audiences, and 250,000 attended liturgical celebrations.

  • Last summer, Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, head of economic affairs at the Holy See, said that the “remarkable increase” in both donations and numbers of pilgrims showed that there was “a symbiosis, a mutual sympathy between this Pope and Christian people everywhere” — citing a “huge jump” in “Peter’s Pence”, the annual church collections given directly to the Pope to use for charity, from $60 million (£30 million) in 2005 to $102 million.The article went on to note record numbers attending Benedict’s weekly audiences, a 20% rise in attendance in visits to St. Peter’s, and similar increases to Catholic shrines in Assisi, Lourdes, Fatima in Portugal and Madonna di Guadalupe in Mexico. (“The Ratzinger Effect: more money, more pilgrims – and lots more Latin” Times July 7, 2007).
  • In October 2007, the Catholic News Service reported that Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth had sold 2 million copies worldwide According to the Catholic Book Publishers Association, it currently occupies third place in April 2008, supplanted by Our Sunday Visitor’s Pope Benedict: Questions and Answers in first place (a collection of the Holy Father’s spontaneous ‘Q&A’ sessions with children, clergy and young adults).

A humble suggestion for pastors and others seeking to clear up the mystery – the pamphlet I wrote for OSV and the Archdiocese of Washington (pictured above). It covers the basics of the papacy, then the chronology of Pope Benedict’s life and the primary focus of his teaching so far as Pope. (And no, I don’t make a dime from royalties. It was work for hire.)

(More responses in the discussion at this post at the Pope2008 blog)