Pope Benedict Roundup

• Benedict XVI shares a 90th birthday beer with family and friends" target=_blank>Benedict XVI shares a 90th birthday beer with family and friends, by John Allen Jr. Crux News 04/17/17:

  Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday on April 17. Among those present was Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, Benedict's 93-year-old brother, who flew in from Germany for the occasion, as well as a small delegation from Bavaria, his home region. They brought to the party two staples of Bavarian cuisine with which the 90-year-old emeritus pontiff was obviously delighted -- beer and pretzels.

• Pope Francis visits Benedict XVI to wish him a happy birthday Catholic News Agency. 04/15/17:

  On April 12 Pope Francis visited his predecessor Pope emeritus Benedict XVI at Vatican City’s Mater Ecclesiae monastery to honor two joyous occasions: the occurrence of Benedict XVI’s 90th birthday and the celebration of Easter which this year fall on the same day, April 16.

• As Benedict turns 90, a rare glimpse into his joy-filled life, by Elise Harris and Martin Rothweiler. Catholic News Agency. 04/16/17. In a lengthy interview with EWTN's German television branch, Benedict XVI's closest aide describes how the retired pontiff is doing as he turns the milestone age of 90, giving a rare look into what life is like for the Pope Emeritus.

• Scholars offer Pope Benedict birthday tribute, by Carol Glatz. Catholic News Service 04/14/17:

  Cards and letters have been pouring in, the German archbishop added, and certainly there will be some presents, including a “Festschrift” — a collection of essays celebrating the work of a well-known scholar on an important occasion — in this case Pope Benedict and his 90th birthday. …

  This year, the Vatican publishing house and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation pieced together a “Festschrift” titled after the pope’s episcopal motto, “Cooperatores Veritatis” (Co-workers of the truth).

  It was written by all 13 winners to date of the “Ratzinger Prize,” an award to distinguished scholars in theology or related studies. They are an Anglican Biblicist, an Ambrosian priest, a French philosopher, a Polish theologian, a U.S. Jesuit, a Brazilian Jesuit, a Spanish theologian, a Cistercian abbot in Austria, a Lebanese scholar, a Greek Orthodox theologian, a French theologian, a German theologian and an Italian historian.

• The Ratzinger revolution, by Tracey Rowland. Catholic Herald 04/13/17. "… This is just a short account of the many elements of an embattled Catholic culture that can be found in the mountains of publications by Ratzinger."

• New book shows interest in Pope Benedict XVI is here to stay, by Claire Giangrave. 04/17/17:

  Interest in the retired pope shows no sign of slowing down as his essential contributions to the Church and theology continue to be relevant today.

  Three new biographies on the German pontiff have been published in Italy this week alone. Three collections of essays by the pope emeritus are also in the works. Italy’s public television, Rai, will air two one-hour documentaries on Benedict celebrating his life.

  Enthusiasm over the figure of Benedict XVI is not limited to Italy. All over the world symposiums, meetings and events take place focusing on the pope’s legacy. …

• In Rome, a new generation of Benedict XVI scholars is on the rise, by Andrea Gagliarducci. Crux 03/02/17. "The theological legacy of Benedict XVI continues, four years after his pontificate came to an end."

• Aide says Benedict in perfect ‘mental and spiritual’ health, by Ines San Martin. 02/11/17.

Commentary

• Benedict XVI’s new text about Sacred Liturgy – The Russian Preface, by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf. Fr. Z's Blog 04/17/17.

• A Child of Holy Saturday: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Turns 90, by Matthew Bunson. National Catholic Register 04/15/17:

  Understandably, a great deal of focus has been paid over the years to the reflections, homilies and writings of Pope Benedict on Easter. But not only is there something deeply personal about Holy Saturday for Joseph Ratzinger the man, that day — when Our Lord was behind the massive stone at the entrance of the tomb, in utter darkness, his broken body stretched upon cold and unforgiving rock — brings essential hope to the Christian confronting the challenges of the modern age. That is a truth that Joseph Ratzinger has spent decades trying to impart.

• Father Benedict XVI is a Friend of Jesus Christ, by Fr. Maurice Ashley Agbaw-Ebai. Crisis 04/17/17:

  As Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger developed this theme of friendship with Jesus Christ especially in his homilies at priestly ordinations in which he presided as Bishop of Rome. To be a friend of Jesus Christ invites one into a greater intimacy of knowledge and communion, for friendship demands intimacy and knowledge. Father Benedict’s new ministry of prayer on behalf of the whole Church certainly mirrors to us his fondness and intimacy with Jesus of Nazareth, the love of Benedict’s life.

• Homage to Benedict XVI, Misunderstood Prophet of Our Times, by Andrea Gagliaducci. MondayVatican.04/17/17:

  Since Benedict ascended the mountain to live out the time of his prayerful intercession on behalf of the Church, the bitterness he felt during his pontificate when he spoke of the Second Vatican Council has been forgotten. Nevertheless, he felt the need to clarify that period of Church history since the beginning of the pontificate. In his first Christmas speech to Roman Curia back in 2005, he stressed that the Council have to interpreted through the lenses of continuity. That is: the Council was not a destructive spring, but a spring called to harvest new fruits. It was a renewal within continuity, not a genetically modified organism of faith, just as every year nature is renewed in spring. At the end of the pontificate during his last meeting with the clergy of Rome, he wanted to return to the notion once more, as if that was the thread of the whole pontificate. He said that there was a media Council and a real Council. And he noted that the media Council overtook the real Council. …

• Benedict XVI at 90: Why his theology still matters, by Fr. Robert Imbelli. "Father Robert Imbelli takes a closer look at the thought of Joseph Ratzinger, and how for him the central fact of the Resurrection is Jesus Christ does not rise a disembodied soul, but bodily. Body not self-contained, but totally relational, totally gift, really present in Eucharist, poured out to embrace a humanity called to transfiguration."

• Ratzinger on the Dialogue of Religions, by Eduardo J. Echevvaria. The Catholic Thing 04/06/17:

  My of us have been eager to forget the video where Pope Francis urges a dialogue among the religions present – Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist. That video leaves the impression of a leveling out of the fundamental differences between these religions, suggesting a muting of the primary call to evangelize and proclaim the Gospel. Still, I think we can honor the pope’s motives here for dialogue, namely, encouraging the “maintaining of good fellowship among the nations.” (1 Pet 2:12) And, if possible, “as far as depends on one, to live at peace with all men.” (Rom 12:18)

  Joseph Ratzinger takes a very different stance regarding the question: “What, in concrete terms, is Christianity’s position in the dialogue of religions?”

• Gospel and Law according to Ratzinger, by Eduardo J. Echeverria. The Catholic Thing 03/21/17.

• How Pope Benedict XVI dealt with disagreement, by Dr. Edward Feser. 12/22/16:

  … This willingness to allow for diverse opinions wherever that is consistent with orthodoxy, and as far as possible to engage those who are critical of papal policy and teaching non-polemically and at the level of rational argumentation rather than by authoritative diktat, plausibly stem from Benedict’s high regard for reason.

• James Carroll’s Ratzinger, by Paul Baumann. Commonweal 11/29/16.

  "As a gifted writer himself—and a theologically literate one—Carroll might be expected to appreciate Ratzinger’s gifts as a theological writer of uncommon power and lucidity. Yet that aspect of Ratzinger’s “moral perception” is ignored. Rather, what is most striking about Carroll’s depiction of Ratzinger and the church is how it is pitched to satisfy every prejudice his largely liberal, secular New Yorker readership presumably has about Catholicism. … For Carroll and his audience, the institutional church is simply an authoritarian bogeyman, an enduring source of anti-Semitism, a corrupt patriarchy, an anachronism. Except for Pope Francis, of course.

• Benedict’s ‘Last Conversations’: Reshaping the Ratzinger Legacy?, by Massimo Fagioli. dotCommonweal 09/14/16:

  A trio of sympathetic books published since May hint at the effort to shape the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. While the portrayal emerging may appeal neither to those who’d hoped for the pope emeritus to reclaim traditionalism nor to those seeking a fuller embrace of the current pope, it might yet help consolidate support behind Francis while isolating the worst of the para-schismatic fringes.