Pope Benedict XVI Roundup!

The elated . . .

• Fr. Sibley relays an eyewitness account of the announcement from a friend from Rome:

  It was great being with people my age (in our 20's) who were so fired up about the "Hammer of Heresy". That was another great thing - the crowd was so young. We tried making new cheers for Benedict XVI. When it was dark, my group of friends sang the Salve Regina together. Immediately afterwards we spotted two men with black coats and hats trying to walk casually through the square. But bits of red were poking out. Most of the girls kissed their hands and thanked them. Their faces were beaming as they in turn patted the young people's faces. Part of their joy I think was seeing the young people so happy and supportive. They were humble cardinals from Zagreb and Sarajevo. One of them granted our request for a blessing. So we knelt to receive it in Latin. Not long after, we went out for German beer, shouting "Viva il Papa!" along the way.

• Carl Olson posts another Seminarian's View from St. Peter's Square . . . (InsightScoop April 19, 2005).

• All your base are belong to Ratz., by Meredith (Basia Me Catholic Sum). Hilarious (put down your coffee before you read).

• The Curt Jester:

  Right now I am so full of adrenaline I think I could explode. . . . Probably one of the quietest place on earth was the offices of the National Catholic Reporter. For myself I was jumping up and down and screaming with excitement when his name was announced.

• Axios! He is Worthy!, from Teófilo at Vivificat:

  What his election portends for the Church is continuity and consolidation of the work of Pope John Paul the Great. We can expect continued, strong doctrinal clarity, leadership, and discipline, as well as the continued authentic interpretation of Vatican II. All-in-all, steady as she goes for the Ship of Peter.

• Padregio @ "Not So Quiet Catholic Corner" posts photographs from his diaconate ordination in 1999 at St. Peter's Basilica. Recognize the Cardinal?

• Dr. Philip Blosser, aka "The Pertinacious Papist", issues a pro lepos in iocando mea (or "A Defense of My Sense of Humor") -- after he was prominently featured by CNN and the international press for having prominently displayed Robert Duvall's words I love the smell of napalm in the morning ... it smelled like victory ..." in Apocalypse Now as a foil for introducing reflections on the election of Pope Benedict XVI. You know, Blossers do have a strange sense of humor. =)

• The Old Oligarch:

  Men I work with who haven't smiled in a month were as giddy as children. It was very hard to give a coherent lecture with all the thoughts of the coming pontificate. I am sure at the other educational establishment I frequent they have to keep a suicide watch over certain members of the theology department. . . .

• According to Patrick Henry Reardon, the election of Cardinal Ratzinger was a big hit among the staff at ecumenical Christian magazine Touchstone.

• JMiller @ Fiat reports on the mood from a Benedictine seminary.

• From Anthony @ Jumping without a Chute:

  Joseph Ratzinger is not the cruel, heartless, Dark Lord of the Sith turned Theologian that many attempt to portray him as. He is a man of his time and of his place. a man with an artists soul and worldview. He is a man whose intelligence can be measured by his humility. His numerous debates with friends and foes demonstrate this. He is a man who was given one of the hardest jobs in the Church. The Head of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has a thankless job. It is his responsibility to ensure that the eternal truths of our faith are maintained. This is especially hard in the world of today where somehow we have come to believe that every idea has equal importance and relevance. Just as a child resents a parent telling him "No.", many theologians resented being told that their ideas and theories could possibly be flawed or in fact wrong.

  For the past quarter century we've only seen one side of Benedict XVI. While that side is very important to understanding him, we need to learn more about the other sides of him that we haven't seen. This Pope will be more complex than most people realize or expect. He is a man who lives in a world that demands everything in as great a quantity as possible in as short a time as possible. Quantity over quality. Action without consideration. Activity without meaning. The world that believes a song should only last three minutes will be confronted by a man who understands the beauty of symphonies.

• "The Cafeteria is Closed", by Mark Shea:

  You know, one of the funny things about the media hysteria about Benedict is the faux fear that "sincere believers" from other traditions are going to somehow feel deeply threatened if the Pope, like, you know, believes that the Catholic faith is, you know, like, true.

  In reality, one of the things that serious Protestants (like serious Jews and serious Muslims) *respect* is the fact that Benedict actually believes there are truths which are revealed by God and not simply the product of whoever happens to have won the raffle for Power in the great historical process of warfare between race, class and gender. The one and only alternative to Truth is Might Makes Right.

• Chris Burgwald @ Veritas: "I couldn't be happier! This man is a towering intellect, one of the greatest theologians of our time... and I've got a book of his he signed for me!" -- Lucky guy! =)

• Dave Armstrong shares his thoughts on the Current "Mind of the Church". A very good post, including the prediction:

  . . . Pope Benedict XVI will probably be one of the most persecuted and even hated men in the world (the most hated since President Ronald Reagan). The liberals and secularists already take a very dim view of the man, because he is strongly orthodox and stands up for the truth. There is a place for this. All the early popes were martyrs. There is also a martyrdom of sorts which comes through slander and lying and severe opposition from the waves and currents of the presently fashionable zeitgeist. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is precisely the sort of man, I think, who is willing to suffer in that way, in order to strongly assert doctrinal, theological truth. It is good to be loved by the world, as Pope John Paul II was, if it is for the right reasons. The world saw the goodness and holiness in John Paul II. But it is also good to be willing to be persecuted for His name's sake, and to draw clear lines and boundaries.

  Judging by the present hate-fest that's going on in the press, the persecution has already begun.

• Fr. Tucker @ Dappled Things:

  So, I'm thrilled at the election of Benedict XVI. I don't think he will be divisive at all, any more than the Gospel itself is divisive. Certainly, some will not be happy when he hands on the Tradition that he himself has received. But, really, what does anyone expect? A Pope does not invent new things, but simply hands on the Deposit of Faith intact. . . . People who simply want to try to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ under the guidance of Holy Mother Church, though, have every reason to rejoice and support our new Pontiff with their prayers.

• The stereotype-defying "gay, Catholic and conservative" Australian John Heard, aka. Dreadnought:

  Watch out limpid European religion, especially ailing German Catholicism! Watch out moral relativists! Watch out heretics! More importantly, however, watch the world fall in love with this magnificent man who has for too long been the straw man of anti-Catholics of every description.

  For decades the Vatican enforcer of doctrine, a scintillating intellect focused on rooting out heresy, Benedict XVI served as the bad cop to John Paul's good cop. Any serious Vatican-watcher, however, knows that there is no such thing as a bad cop in the Church. The Pope served at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith out of love.

From the mildly disappointed to absolutely horrified . . .

• Liberal Catholic JCecil3 "gets something off his chest":

  The election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI while George W. Bush is in the White House feels like the world is collapsing.

  It feels as though Adolf Hitler is in the White House in control of the world's sole superpower, and Benito Mussolini is in the Papal Palace in charge of the largest religious institution on earth.

  It feels as though a dark cloud has settled over the whole earth as we prepare for the final confrontation between good and evil.

  Paging the authors of Left Behind, we have all the makings of a new novel. Disputations responds. (I must add in all fairness that JCecil's simply venting and his 'Bush = Hitler' / "Ratzinger = Mussolini" comparison is not necessarily indicative of the tone of his blog).

• Calling for necessary restraint, Nathan Nelson pens "an open letter to Progressive Catholics" in response to the election of Joseph Ratzinger," (responding to some nefarious tactics by Call to Action "to pit victims of sexual abuse and their advocates against the newly-elected Universal Pastor"), and urges a cease-fire in light of Hans Küng's reaction: "Küng says that we should give Pope Benedict XVI at least a hundred days before we initiate the firestorm of condemnations and Progressive anathemas, and I agree with him."

• Barbara Nicolosi @ Church of the Masses had difficulty finding a celebratory mass:

  I called four parishes in L.A. this afternoon trying to find a celebratory Mass in the archdiocese. At the gay parish in West Hollywood, the secretary sniffed and was almost shocked at the inquiry, "Oh no," she said. "We don't have anything planned." At the North Hollywood parish which has the newly installed homo-erotic Jesus staue in the sanctuary, the secretary defined desultory. "No. Father has no plans to do anything yet. Check back in a few days." The Jesuit parish phone answerer just said, "NO."

• We are One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and damn it . . . European!. The omnicient Ono Ekeh sees into the hearts and souls of the Cardinals:

  The election of Pope Benedict XVI affirms one thing. The Church is primarily about one region and "race." The Catholic church is about Europe. The cardinals of the Catholic Church unanimously gave one big "F__ you" to all of Africa, all of Latin America and all of Asia. . . .

  I'm not bitter, angry or anything (My shaking fingers on my keypad indicate unfilter blissfulness and joy). I decided to give all this more time to sink in but the more time passes, the more unpleasant the whole experience is. There really isn't much of a bright spot.

• Andrew Sullivan:

  And what is the creed of the Church? That is for the Grand Inquisitor to decide. Everything else - especially faithful attempts to question and understand the faith itself - is "human trickery." It would be hard to over-state the radicalism of this decision. It's not simply a continuation of John Paul II. It's a full-scale attack on the reformist wing of the church. The swiftness of the decision and the polarizing nature of this selection foretell a coming civil war within Catholicism. The space for dissidence, previously tiny, is now extinct. And the attack on individual political freedom is just beginning.

• Disgruntled ex-Dominican Matthew Fox has "22 Questions for Cardinal Ratzinger and the Silver Lining in the Election of this first Grand Inquisitor as Pope." (And you thought Rev. Fox's fulminations against Pope John Paul II were bad . . .)

• Anti-Benedict Comments - Fr. Sibley is leaving space for compilation of "links to sites or quotes from other sites that bemoan the election of Ratzinger as the new Pope. It should provide a large amount of amusement." Indeed. =)

• Rabbi Michael Lerner at Tikkun thinks The New Pope is a Disaster for the World and for the Jews. Not all Jews agree. Yitzchok Adlerstein shares his thoughts about Benedict XVI and Me:

  ". . . unwilling to let go of what he believed to be G-d given truth merely because social mores had changed. He nonetheless made a career of interpreting old teaching in a manner that upheld the religious dignity of others – Jews in particular. Even as guardian of the old, he could not give up his feeling and understanding that G-d cared deeply for others.

  If we had to pick a passion to share, I can’t think of a better one.

And . . .

• Town deems pope worthy of beer, by Christine Spolar. Chicago Tribune April 21, 2005.

• More reactions to election of Pope Benedict XVI . . . from Monsignor Peter J. Elliott, Sandra Miesel, and Joseph Pearce. InsightScoop. April 20, 2005.

• Not one, but two roundups of posts on Pope Benedict from John Betts (Just Your Average Catholic Guy).

• Pundits React to Papal Election, another roundup by Earl E. Appleby @ Times Against Humanity.

• Three Unimportant Thoughts on the election from Jimmy Akin.

• The New Pope, special feature of PBS' weekly "Religion & Ethics". April 22, 2005, with Fr. Fessio from Germany:

  But I was waiting, saying, "I wonder, I wonder. Could it be, could it be?" And I saw the curtains open. Once I heard "Ratzinger" I just burst into tears. It was so amazing to see someone that I've known, someone that I've talked to, someone that I've been with there, dressed up like the pope -- because he was the pope. And the joy for me is knowing what a gift this is for the Church.

  More comments from Fr. Fessio here, along with two great photographs of joyful Catholics celebrating the election.

• Catholic Reaction: Let's Study - Expagan provides two examples of Catholic Women. Example #1 Those who want Women's Ordination . . . and Example #2 Those who are excited with Pope Benedict XVI. (Me? I wanna hang out with the latter).

• No Honeymoon for Benedict XVI, a well-deserved tongue-lashing by the Anchoress:

  "It seems a shame, really. The man hadn't been pope for two hours when the lefty blogs went (literally) profane and disgraceful (and - of course - adolescent) and the press was hardlining their memes and caricatures of him.

  Benedict XVI, it seems, is a relentless and remorseless hard-ass who takes-no-prisoners and wields a clumsy and undiplomatic sword, cutting a path of hard-hearted destruction no matter where he goes, and he will be a disaster for the church, and oppressor of women, gays, people of girth, people of mirth, people with brains, and people without, little puppies, small furry rodents and children he doesn't like.

  Or, something like that.

  I have one thing to say to all of this - to all of the breathless ranting from the left and the grim, woe-is-us prognostications of SOME members of the press. It is this:

  Fer cryin' out loud, CHILL OUT.

• Miscellaneous Morning Notes on the Conclave and the Selection of a New Pope, by I. Shawn McElhinney (Rerum Novarum). [audiopost].

• Bill Cork shares his favorite Ratzinger quote from his volume, Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life.

• The Psycho Left reacts to a new Pope LogicMonkey has a great roundup of hysterical reactions from the virtual wellspring of hysterical reactions, 'The Democratic Underground.'

• What's in a Name? Part 1 and Part 2 - interesting speculations by Arthur Chrenkoff on the historical meaning and selection of Pope Benedict XVI's name.

• Note: To Amy Welborn, the only reason I haven't included her above is because I've yet to finish wading through all of her posts, of which there are plenty good. So perhaps a general link to Open Book should suffice with the recommendation to read her posts from 4/19 through the present for extensive commentary on the election, and coverage of the coverage.

For bloggers, Pope Benedict XVI 'rocks'!

For bloggers, Pope Benedict XVI 'rocks'

by Albion Land in Vatican City. Wednesday, 20 April, 2005, 09:32:

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning . . . The smell -- you know, that gasoline smell -- the whole hill -- it smelled like . . . victory."

Quoting actor Robert Duvall in the Vietnam war film "Apocalypse Now," that is how Philip Blosser, a conservative Roman Catholic professor in the United States, greeted the election of Pope Benedict XVI on his weblog, "Musings of a Pertinacious Papist".

Blosser, like thousands of other people across the world, has created a place to share his thoughts by blogging, among a number of Catholics who are using the net to share their faith and to talk about what is right and wrong with it.

Reacting to Tuesday's election of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as pope, Blosser explains that "when John Kerry lost the last (US) presidential election, nobody thought the world could witness a more disappointed constituency than the Democrat 'blue state' partisans" who saw George W. Bush win re-election."

"I then predicted that the disappointment and gnashing of teeth among Democrats was nothing compared to what the world would see in the disappointment of liberal, dissident Catholics . . . at the outcome of the next conclave."

"Well, I never could have been more right in a prediction. The liberal cafeteria Catholic's worst nightmare has come true: the Panzerkardinal, the Grand Inquisitor himself, has come to the papal throne."

"The Lord in His mercy and grace has sent us a Pope who loves truth, every bit as much as the late John Paul II did."

The Blosser household is a big fan of Ratzinger. The professor's son, Christopher, maintains a website called the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club, and Blosser muses about whether he is now going to have to change the name of it.

In fact, www.ratzingerfanclub.com crashed amid a sudden flood of interest after the election.

The site, featuring biographical information, speeches and glowing praise, could not be opened.

It offers T-shirts emblazoned with quotes from the new pope, including one with the words: "The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club. Putting the Smackdown on Heresy since 1981!"

Father Al Kimel is an Episcopal priest in the United States who runs a blog called "Pontifications", dedicated to discussing the relative attractions of Catholicism and eastern Orthodoxy.

His first posting following the election of Benedict XVI was much more spiritual than Blosser's. He ran the text of the Te Deum, an ancient hymn of praise.

One of the first comments was from a man who said: "Im not a Catholic, but when I heard that a new pope had been chosen, I prayed that it might be Cardinal Ratzinger. Are retrospective prayers valid!"

Another, apparently also not a Catholic, quipped: "It aint none of my business, but they made the right choice. God grant him many years!"

And a third said: "Gloria in excelsis Deo!! Pope Benedict XVI ROCKS!!! Putting the smack-down on heresy since 1981."

Over at "Titusonenine", conservative Episcopal theologian Canon Kendall Harmon filed no initial comment, but a couple of news reports on the election.

That sparked off a heated exchange of notes on how Ratzinger had written on behalf of John Paul II two years ago to encourage a new conservative Anglican organisation formed to combat what it believes is the departure of the Episcopal church from its orthodox roots.

Jimmy Akin, at JimmyAkin.org says: "How proud John Paul II would be if only he'd lived to see the election of Benedict XVI. (Oh wait. He already knows.)"

One poster replied: "I hope we start to see some real changes, real reform, in the Church, not just in a few isolated pockets like under John Paul the Great's papacy. I hope we finally have a Pope who will enforce Vatican directives and Church teachings, and do so without ambiguity."

Mark Shea, on his blog "Catholic and Enjoying It", was apparently eating his words over his prediction of who the new pope would be: "Never was I happier to be wrong! Long live Pope Benedict XVI!"

Viva Papa!

On behalf of the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club, I'd like to extend my heartiest congratulations and appreciation to our new Pope, Joseph Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI.

Expect a roundup of various posts and commentary this weekend.

Oh, yes, and if you have difficulty accessing the website, a lot of curious people around the world are doing the same, so please be patient. I'm really hoping things will return to normal in due time . . .

Viva Papa!

The Pope Benedict XVI / Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club -- In the Press

• Personal bloggers hang on pope's every word, deed, by Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY. April 15, 2008.
• From God’s rottweiler to 'my German Shepherd’ – the transformation of Pope Benedict, by Elizabeth Day. Telegraph.co.uk April 16, 2006.
• Area boy's gift made cardinal laugh St. Louis Post Dispatch. April 20, 2005.
• The World Reacts to Newly-Elected Pope Benedict XVI CNN April 20, 2005.
• Pope's fans are found online: Since 2000, site has offered praise for Ratzinger, by Tatsha Robertson. April 20, 2005.
• Locals think highly of Pope Benedict St. Louis Review April 20, 2005.
• Everyone's Wild About "Ratzy" Deutsche-Welle April 15, 2005.
• Cardinal Ratzinger Superstar Der Speigel April 14, 2005.
• Pope's website crashes Agençe France-Presse. April 10, 2005.
• A Cardinal Ratzinger Fan ... and proud of it! [Interview w/ Carl Olson] Ignatius Insight

Ratzinger Roundup!

• Homily of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, at the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff. April 18, 2005. Via Heart, Mind & Strength weblog.

• Cardinal Ratzinger 'odious' News24.com. April 18, 2005:

  Sao Paulo - German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, considered a high possibility to become the next pope of the Roman Catholic Church, was branded "odious" on Sunday by Brazilian leftist theologist Leonardo Boff, who predicted Ratzinger would never become pope. . . .

  "Ratzinger is one of the (Catholic) church's most odious cardinals because of his rigidity, and because he humiliated the bishops' conferences and fellow cardinals in an authoritarian manner on questions of faith," Boff wrote in the newspaper O Estado.

  A former priest who was condemned to silence by Pope John Paul II in 1985 for supporting radical liberation theology, Boff said Ratzinger "will never be pope, because it would be excessive, something the intelligence of the cardinals would not permit".

  First Hans Kung and Matthew Fox, now Leonardo Boff . . . the media speculation over the papability of Cardinal Ratzinger presents an opportunity for every heterodox theologian "silenced" by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith to reassert themselves and grab their 15 minutes of fame.

• Ratzinger a Nazi? Don't believe it, by Sam Ser. Jerusalem Post April 18, 2005. A Jewish newspaper promptly dismisses the scurrilous charges of Ratzinger's 'Hitler Youth': "not even Yad Vashem has considered it worthy of further investigation. Why should we?" -- While we can't Don't expect the rabid wolves of the press to roll over and give up that easily, let's thank the Jerusalem Post for their display of common sense.

• "Pope's 'enforcer' heads field as election begins", The Independent April 18, 2005. Peter Popham in Rome comes out swinging with some memorable labels:

  The favourite to win is Joseph Ratzinger, 78, the late Pope's personal theologian, the massively orthodox heir to the Inquisition and "enforcer of the faith" who has been fighting to rid the church of all the "heretics" let in by the liberalism of the Vatican's Second Council.

  "Massively orthodox"? -- As opposed to what? Skinny and malnourished?

Ratzinger and Ecumenism - Some quick thoughts

• "Progressive cardinals try to block Ratzinger", reports Richard Owen, writing for the UK's Times, reports:

  Galvanised by reports that Cardinal Ratzinger may already have as many as 50 of the 77 votes needed to become the next Pope, liberal cardinals held talks under the guidance of Cardinal Achille Silvestrini of Italy. They hope to thwart the appointment of Cardinal Ratzinger, the late Pope’s long-serving hardline doctrinal "enforcer", fearing that he would be a divisive force in the Roman Catholic Church.

  Cardinal Silvestrini, who is over 80 and therefore unable to vote, has vigorously promoted the progressive agenda: collegiality, or Church democracy, ecumenism, global poverty, dialogue with Islam and a more open debate on celibacy and the role of women.

  Which leads the reader to conclude that Ratzinger must, of course, be against all those things. Each of these topics can be discussed in greater detail, but a note on "Ratzinger and ecumenism" based on a discussion with a fellow blogger regarding the Cardinal's dispute with Kasper over Dominus Iesus (often cited as the chief evidence of Ratzinger's opposition to ecumenism):

  Of course, we can argue about tact -- and it does make sense that Kasper would disagree. As President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, he and Ratzinger are at "opposite ends of the spectrum" in terms of their respective jobs, the former emphasizing what binds Christians together; the latter emphasizing the very real, very genuine differences that still separate us, and the hard truth that there exists a "historical continuity — rooted in the apostolic succession — between the Church founded by Christ and the Catholic Church: "This is the single Church of Christ which our Saviour, after his resurrection, entrusted to Peter's pastoral care," subsisting in the Catholic Church -- as reasserted in Vatican II.

  Naturally, this claim is a hard thing for Protestants to accept, and many wish for the Roman Church to relenquish such claims of about itself in the interest of unity. The reassertion of such a claim, however legitimate, prompted Cardinal Kasper to wish "for a different tone and different language," given he was the one dealing with the Protestant reaction. . . .

  [R]egarding Lutheran-Catholic dialogue, according to John Allen, Jr., it was Cardinal Ratzinger of all people who is credited as personally resolving a 'roadblock' in ecumenical relations between the two (Ratzinger credited with saving Lutheran pact National Catholic Reporter Sept. 10, 1999.

  Also, being one with a Swiss Mennonite background on my father's side, I was pleased to note that Ratzinger 'made ecumenical history' in a 1995 meeting with the Bruderhof, an Anabaptist community^*: "Discovering Mennonite-Catholic Dialogue" (blogpost to Against the Grain Feb. 11, 2004).

  Point being: much as one could portray Cardinal Ratzinger as a bitter opponent or obstacle to ecumenical relations in light of the Kasper-Ratzinger scuffle over Dominus Iesus, a closer look reveals that this is not necessarily the case.

  Given the nature of his job, Ratzinger is a stickler for "doctrinal precision", but he's not necessarily opposed to ecumenical relations or seeking out unity where it is possible.

  * The Bruderhof was founded by Eberhard Arnold in the 1920's, and associated with the 16th century Hutterites. The Bruderhof has the distinction of being the first Anabaptist-origin community to enter into formal dialogue with the Catholic Church at the institutional level. According to Ivan J. Kaufmann, "Although this dialogue does not involve Mennonites directly, it has an important impact on Mennonites because of the theological positions they share with the Bruderhof." ("Mennonite-Catholic Conversations in North America: History, Convergences and Opportunities" Mennonite Quarterly Review, January 1999.

  So, I'm inclined to think that a Ratzinger papacy would not necessarily be seen as bringing a sudden end to ecumenism by some Protestant denominations.

Happy Birthday, Cardinal Ratzinger

On April 16, 1927, Holy Saturday in Marktl am Inn, and is baptized the same day. Reflecting on this experience in his memoirs, he says:

To be the first person baptized with the new water was seen as a significant act of Providence. I have always been filled with thanksgiving for having had my life immersed in this way in the Easter Mystery . . . the more I reflect on it, the more this seems fitting for the nature of our human life: we are still waiting for Easter; we are not yet standing in the full light but walking toward it full of trust.

[p. 8, Milestones: Memoirs 1927 - 1977]

Ratzinger Roundup!

Cardinal Ratzinger in the News:

• Opponents rail at Ratzinger, by Denis Barnett in Vatican City. (Herald Sun April 14, 2005) -- a rather provocative headline for a somewhat muted article, according to which "Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – nicknamed 'God's Rottweiler' during a long tenure as the late pope's guardian of Catholic doctrine – is a polarising influence on the pre-conclave negotiations," with opposition to the CDF Prefect forming around "the scholarly Carlo Maria Martini", a former archbishop of Milan.

  Fr. Greeley cashes in on the speculation with a look at the very different views of the "papal contenders," expressing his personal preferance for Martini.

• "Pope's hard-nosed enforcer in lead: Conservative cardinal hit Beatles, opposed women as priests" screams hysterical Charles W. Bell and Corky Seimazsko of the New York Daily News. Honestly, I don't think the Cardinal has ever met a Beatle in person, much less laid a hand on him. Perhaps he took offense at Lennon's "more popular than Jesus' remark?"

  The Daily News echoes Hans Kung's charges of subversive manipulation, attributing a role to 'Ratzinger's [unidentified] surrogates' in "creating a buzz" around Rome: "allies of the German cardinal who ordered the other 'red hats' to clam up about who might succeed Pope John Paul II are actively campaigning to make him the next pontiff."

• Opposition Mounting to Ratzinger as Pope Deutsche-Welle April 14, 2005

  La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, both respected Italian dailies with close contacts with the Vatican, say two powerful German cardinals, Karl Lehmann of Mainz and Walter Kasper, who is based in Rome, have lined up against their fellow German who has been the Catholic Church's controversial doctrinal watchdog.

• Handicapping the conclave. "Italian newspapers, like nature, abhor a vacuum, and hence in reaction to the press blackout imposed this week by the College of Cardinals, all manner of speculation and rumor has been appearing in the local press," says John Allen Jr, who dismisses much of the rumors as "little more than guesswork," spotting "'trends on the basis of two or three chance encounters." However,

  "The push for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger . . . is for real. There is a strong basis of support for Ratzinger in the college, and his performance in the period following the death of the pope, especially his eloquent homily at the funeral Mass, seems to have further cemented that support. One Vatican official who has worked with Ratzinger over the years said on April 13, “I am absolutely sure that Ratzinger will be the next pope.”

  On the other hand, several cardinals have said privately that they’re uncomfortable with the prospect of a Ratzinger papacy. It’s not just that some don’t believe his strong emphasis on the protection of Christian identity in a secular world ought to be the guiding light of the next papacy, but there’s also a real-world concern about the election of a figure with his “baggage.” Fairly or unfairly, Ratzinger is to some extent a lightning rod for Catholic opinion, and in a church that’s already divided, some cardinals worry about exacerbating those divisions. One said April 12: “I’m not sure how I would explain this back home.”

  More discussion of John Allen's article at Amy Welborn's Open Book.

• Also from John Allen, Jr. - speculations as to what a Ratzinger papacy might look like. (National Catholic Reporter April 14, 2005):

  In the main, it would likely take shape along predictable lines. Ratzinger would mount a strenuous defense of Catholic identity, resisting enticements from secular culture to water down church teaching and practice; he would stress “Culture of Life” issues, doing battle against gay marriage, euthanasia and stem cell research; he would ensure that theological speculation is contained within narrow limits. He would likely travel less, and project a more ethereal style reminiscent of Pius XII. Ratzinger’s governing metaphor for the church of the future is the mustard seed – it may have to be smaller to be faithful, what he calls a “creative minority.”

  One can also, however, anticipate elements of a Ratzinger pontificate that would come as a surprise, and that would mark a departure from the policies of John Paul II. . . . READ MORE

• Papal contender's calls for European return to Christian roots April 15, 2004.CBC News reports on Cardinal Ratzinger's new book, Values in a Time of Upheaval, published this past Wednesday.:

  Europe needs a new - certainly skeptical and humble - acceptance of itself, if it wants to survive," the German-born Ratzinger wrote in excepts published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

  "The ever more passionately demanded multiculturalism is often above all a renunciation of what is one's own, a fleeing from what is one's own."

  He said people can respect the faith and culture of others only when they remain true to their own, "only when what is holy, God, is not alien to us ourselves."

  European integration as represented by the European Union has become a mostly economic project, he wrote, "with far-reaching exclusion of the spiritual foundations of such a society."

• Analysis: At 78, Ratzinger a rising star, by Uwe Siemon-Netto (UPI). The Washington Times offers a defense of the Cardinal from a Protestant theologian, howbeit anonymously:

  . . . Ironically, the strongest resistance against Ratzinger's elevation seems to hail from his fellow German cardinals, most of who rank among the most liberal church leaders. In all, there are six German prelates of that rank. But Vatican insiders report that Ratzinger also has many opponents among the 11 U.S. cardinals who consider him too doctrinaire.

  In truth, though, this soft-spoken Bavarian, who was consecrated priest at age 24, "is not so much doctrinaire as he is committed to the truth and sound doctrine," a leading Protestant theologian told United Press International Friday.

  "He is arguably the Catholic Church's finest theologian, in addition to being a very humble and deeply religious man.

  "If he is to be the next pontiff, we may expect extraordinary surprises of him," said this scholar who knows Ratzinger well but asked to remain anonymous.

• Papal hopeful is a former Hitler Youth, screams the UK's Sunday Times, April 17, 2005. As if this were a sudden revelation, a magnificent triumph of investigative journalism . . . guess again, folks. From our Ratzinger FAQ: :

  Was Cardinal Ratzinger a Nazi?

  The story that Ratzinger was a member of the Hitler Youth is true. It's a biographical fact that seems to have circulated on many a mailing list, and seems to surface at precisely opportune times when the Prefect finds himself in the media's spotlight. From the way it has been presented, one might assume this is one of those skeletons the Cardinal keeps tucked away in his closet (next to his executioner's axe and the token heads of Hans Kung, Matthew Fox, Leonardo Boff & Charles Curran).

  The truth is that as Ratzinger mentions himself in Milestones: Memoirs: 1927 - 1977, he and his brother George were both enrolled in the Hitler Youth (at a time when membership was compulsory), and discusses family life under the Third Reich in chapters 2-4 of his autobiography.

  Likewise, John Allen Jr., journalist for the National Catholic Reporter and author of 2002's biography of the Cardinal The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith, supplies the historical details sorely lacking in other reports:

  As a seminarian, he was briefly enrolled in the Hitler Youth in the early 1940s, though he was never a member of the Nazi party. In 1943 he was conscripted into an antiaircraft unit guarding a BMW plant outside Munich. Later Ratzinger was sent to Austria's border with Hungary to erect tank traps. After being shipped back to Bavaria, he deserted. When the war ended, he was an American prisoner of war.

  Under Hitler, Ratzinger says he watched the Nazis twist and distort the truth. Their lies about Jews, about genetics, were more than academic exercises. People died by the millions because of them. The church's service to society, Ratzinger concluded, is to stand for absolute truths that function as boundary markers: Move about within these limits, but outside them lies disaster.

  Later reflection on the Nazi experience also left Ratzinger with a conviction that theology must either bind itself to the church, with its creed and teaching authority, or it becomes the plaything of outside forces -- the state in a totalitarian system or secular culture in Western liberal democracies. In a widely noted 1986 lecture in Toronto, Ratzinger put it this way: "A church without theology impoverishes and blinds, while a churchless theology melts away into caprice." ^*

  For more details of the Cardinal's life, click here.

  ---

  * "The Vatican's Enforcer", National Catholic Reporter, April 16, 1999.

The Fan Club for "God's Rottweiler"

Cardinal Ratzinger's Fan Club In the News

Concurrent with the popularity of our PanzerKardinal, a few members of the press have taken notice that this "enforcer of doctrinal orthodoxy" actually has admirers among the laity. Of course, many find the existence of such an organization -- even one as loose-knit as this -- offensive to their enlightened liberal sensibilities. Here's a brief roundup:

• "Where Catholic bishops are virtually at home" Agence France Presse. April 13, 2005. Featuring "troublesome, left-wing" Bishop Jacques Gaillot, who after being exiled by the Vatican to "the abandoned see of Partenia, buried under the sands of the Sahara desert," makes use of his time by overseeing (www.partenia.org, the virtual "diocese without frontiers." Oh, and the latter half is dedicated to the fan club for "God's Rottweiler."

• Potential popes meet faithful in cyberspace Reuters. April 6, 2005. Takes a look at a number of websites for papal candidates, lumping the Ratzinger Fan Club in with the rest (although we've been around for FIVE YEARS now?).

  A piece of trivia: the "Bible quote [defending] Ratzinger's strict line: 'Preach the word ... convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching . . .' (St. Paul, 2 Tim 4:2)" is one of the Cardinal's personal favorites, about which the Cardinal stated in Salt of the Earth: "I don't want to overreach myself, but I would say that this expresses the essence of what I consider to be my standard at this time." (p. 114).

• Which qualities Cardinals will look for in the next Pope, by Sophie Arie. Christian Science Monitor, mentions that "Ratzinger is an icon for conservative Catholics, who have set up a website (ratzingerfanclub.com) and distributed Ratzinger keyrings, speeches, and stickers." Ms. Arie betrays her ignorance, because we've never had keyrings. Likewise, she fails to mention the RFC was "set up" nearly five years ago, and with no intention for campaigning on behalf of the Cardinal. We've stated as much in our FAQ.

• Konklave - Daumendrücken für Cardinale Ratty [Google translation] veröffentlicht: April 13, 2005. Pretty straightfoward reporting on the RFC. No real suprises here.

• Was für einen Papst hätten Sie denn gern? [Google Translation], by Franc Patalong. Spiegel Online. April 13, 2005, according to whom "the enthusiasm of the "generation JP2" for the deceased Pope Karol Wojtyla surprised also the catholic church." Not to menton a rather jealous Hans Kung and Matthew Fox. The Spiegel ponders over the nature of the RFC's website: is it satire or genuine?, mentioning that another German television station has already concluded that our enthusiasm for the Cardinal is (gasp! shock! horror!) authentic.

• "La popularidad del cardenal Ratzinger" [Google Translation], by Mirra Banchón. DW-World.DE Deutsche Welle. April 11, 2005. The author sounds somewhat upset by the existence of the club, and its expression of "absolute solidarity." Hmmmmmmm. Rather we be lukewarm?

Time to Revisit the 'Ratzinger-Kasper' Debate?

The Pontificator emailed me this article from the Geoffrey Kirk, Vicar of St Stephen's, Lewisham in the Anglican Diocese of Southwark: "The Way We Live Now, A Tale of Two Cardinals" (New Directions July 2001) -- a look at the public theological debate of 2001 between Cardinal Ratzinger and Cardinal Kasper from the perspective of a member of the "anglo-catholic" organization Forward in Faith:

What is at stake in this dispute?

Kasper, it appears, grounds his view, to some extent at least, on his own pastoral experience as a bishop. As the chief pastor of an increasingly secularised diocese in one of the most secularised areas of Europe, he found that both priests and people tended to resent and ignore Vatican directives on faith and especially morals. He saw the necessity, in other words, of asserting the priority and authority of the local bishop, who could then, wisely and pastorally, adapt general regulations and prohibitions to the situation of his own flock.

Ratzinger, on the other hand, constantly fears that such an approach will condemn the authority of the Church (a world-wide communion responsible to its own history and the Lord of that history) to the death of a thousand diocesan moderations and qualifications.

The dispute looks like the age old one between Aristotelian realism and Platonic idealism, except that Ratzinger bases his arguments less on Platonic philosophy than on scripture and tradition. For him the Universal Church is not simply the expansion of an initially local community. It is the 'Jerusalem above' which Paul describes as 'the mother of us all' (Galatians 4.26).

Kasper, it appears, does not deny the pre-existence of the Church; he merely asserts that pre-existence belongs not only to the Church Universal, but also to concrete historical churches, which are likewise grounded in God's eternal mystery. . . .

Rev. Kirk comes down rather hard in his critique of Cardinal Kasper, believing the consequences of his argument are reflected in the sorry state of the Episcopal Church:

It is not entirely clear how much authority Cardinal Kasper would like to see exercised by the bishop of a particular Church. But members of Forward in Faith will already, in this brief description of the arguments, have read the runes and taken sides.

Kasper is arguing, in the midst of a world-wide crisis of authority and credibility in Anglicanism, for an Anglicization of the Roman Church. The Anglican disease is the disease of wilful autonomy. Ours is a polity which tolerates (thus far at least) any and every local 'adaptation of doctrine'. It has, at the centre, no regulating structure or legislative authority. . . .

Traditional Anglicans in some provinces, who are hounded and persecuted for holding opinions which, in other provinces are mainstream and unexceptionable, cannot but admit that Ratzinger has a point. There is clearly a sense in which a Church which has no central authority and no means of reaching a common mind has ceased to be a Church. It has degenerated into an arena of competing ideologies.

Traditional Anglicans in some provinces, who are hounded and persecuted for holding opinions which, in other provinces are mainstream and unexceptionable, cannot but admit that Ratzinger has a point. There is clearly a sense in which a Church which has no central authority and no means of reaching a common mind has ceased to be a Church. It has degenerated into an arena of competing ideologies.

* * *

As the Cardinals decide on the future of the next pope, among the topics of discussion will be the proper distribution of ecclesial authority -- about which there will be much discussion by the press and pundits (for instance, in the criticism of "centralization of power in the papacy" and the advocacy of freedom on a local, diocesian level). Perhaps now would be a beneficial time to examine once more the issues of this great debate.

As Russel Shaw noted ("Authority reconsidered: Who's in charge here?," Our Sunday Visitor August 12, 2001):

Theoretical as all this is, it has important practical implications involving, in Cardinal Kasper's words,"ethical issues, sacramental discipline- and ecumenical practices.'

The meaning of that is clearer when it is borne in mind that as bishop of Rottenburg-Stuttgart from 1989 to 1999, Cardinal Kasper joined two other German bishops in proposing that some divorced and remarried Catholics be allowed to receive the sacraments without a declaration of nullity - a judgment by the Church that their first unions were invalid. The Vatican vetoed the idea.

Such clashes between local Church authorities and Rome have had numerous counterparts in the United States over the years.

One such counterpart, weighing heavily in not a few minds, is the scandal of defiantly "pro-choice Catholic" legislators (and presidential candidates) openly receiving communion at their parishes in the United States (more commentary on that fiasco here).

On one hand, you had for the better part of the presidential race a drawn-out discussion of the USCCB on the "complexities" of the matter, and how to resolve it in sensitive and pastoral manner without "causing a commotion" at the alter rail (or communion line, rather, since alter rails are a thing of the past).

On the other hand, you might recall Cardinal Ratzinger weighing in "from Rome" on the subject, and speaking rather clearly and explicitly on the necessity of refusing commmunion to those guilty of "an obstinate persistence in manifest grave sin" (see p. 4, 5 of Worthiness to Receive Communion: General Principles June 2004).

The scandal is ongoing, with very few bishops actually heeding Cardinal Ratzinger's instructions. After nearly half a year of studying the issue, Cardinal McCarrick's task force weighed the various options with no satisfactory results but a two-and-a-half-page report that concluded "there will be continuing consultation on the complex theological and canonical aspects of these matters within our Conference and with the Holy See." Fr. Neuhaus' appraised the situation in his Feb. 2005 column of "The Public Square"):

According to Cardinal McCarrick's report, everything was handled just right. "Bishops, pastors, and parishioners across the country have been wrestling with how our faith should shape our decisions in public life. This has been a very good thing." Yes, there were problems. "The media or partisan forces sometimes tried to pit one bishop against another." Oh dear, the media and partisan forces are at it again. Especially those partisan forces that are obsessed by the "one issue politics" of abortion. Never mind that some bishops very publicly stated that support for abortion and embryonic stem-cell research gravely compromised a politician's communio with the Church, while others just as publicly said they saw no problem and happily invited such politicians to receive Communion. "We do not believe," says the McCarrick report, "that our commitment to human life and dignity and our pursuit of justice and peace are competing causes." But nobody said they were competing causes, except possibly Cardinal McCarrick and other bishops who seem to think the Democratic Party has a monopoly on the pursuit of justice and peace. At the November meeting, there was neither opportunity nor stomach for discussing McCarrick's report. Which may be just as well. The bishops were simply grateful that they had escaped the prospect of having a radically pro-abortion Catholic in the White House. Except, of course, for those bishops committed to the pursuit of justice and peace.

So, Catholics in the United States continue to live with the scandal of "pro-choice" politicians coming under censure by their bishop in one diocese, and happily receiving communion in another, all the while blatantly living in a state of open rebellion against the Church.

Perhaps the Rev. Geoffrey Kirk is right: are we witnessing the 'Anglicanizing' of the Catholic Church in America?

Resources on the 'Ratzinger-Kasper' Debate:

Key Articles:

Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on some aspects of the Church understood as Communion - Communionis notio . May 28, 1992.
"On the Office of Bishop", by Cardinal Kasper. 1999. [NOTE: Thus far I have not been able to find this online].
Ecclesiology Of The Constitution On The Church, Vatican II, 'Lumen Gentium', L'Osservatore Romano Sept. 19, 2001.
"The Local Church and the Universal Church: A Response to Walter Kasper", by Cardinal Ratzinger. America Nov. 19, 2001.
On the Church: A Friendly Reply to Cardinal Ratzinger, by Cardinal Kasper. America April 23-30, 2001. Translated by Ladislas Orsy, S.J. Originally published in the journal Stimmen der Zeit (December 2000).

Supplementary Articles:

Cardinal Dulles Weighs In on Ratzinger-Kasper Debate, Vatican City, 28 May 2001 (ZENIT.ORG).
Reflections on Cardinal Kasper's "On the Church", by Charles J. Chaput. America, July 30 2001.
Authority reconsidered: Who's in charge here?, by Russell Shaw. Our Sunday Visitor, August 12, 2001.
The Kasper-Ratzinger Debate and the State of the Church, by Dr. Philip Blosser. Reprinted with permission from New Oxford Review, April 2002, p. 18-25.
What Happens at Baptism? The Ratzinger-Kasper debate, by Fr. Daniel Callam, CSB. Catholic Insight, May 2002.

* * *

Update: Regarding Russel Shaw's example of Cardinal Kasper proposing "divorced and remarried Catholics be allowed to receive the sacraments without a declaration of nullity," a reader reminds me that Cardinal Ratzinger mentions a similar proposal in Salt of the Earth (Ignatius, 1997), p. 207:

". . . The principles have been decided, but factual questions, individual questions, are of course always possible. For example, perhaps in the future there could also be an extrajudicial determination that the first marriage did not exist. This could perhaps be ascertained locally by experienced pastors. Such juridical developments, which can make things less complicated, are conceivable."

I thank the reader for bringing this up. Given the volume of content on my website as well as Ratzinger's works, my memory certainly fails at times. However, we should note that the cited passage is immediately followed by the Cardinal's qualification:

But the principle that marriage is indissoluble and that someone who has left the valid marriage of his life, the sacrament, and entered into another marriage cannot communicate does in fact hold definitively.

Furthermore, the entire question is situated in a section in which Ratzinger stresses the necessity and significance of abstaining from communion by the faithful in such circumstances.

Unfortunately, Ratzinger does not elaborate further in the interview what he means by "extrajudicial determination . . . ascertained locally" -- but I suspect that given his role as Prefect in the October 1994 decision "Concerning reception of Holy Communion by Divorced and Remarried Persons"), whatever he meant in the passage cited could in no way be equated with the joint-proposal by Daneels, Kasper and Saier as described in John Allen Jr.'s article "Reopening the divorce question" National Catholic Reporter Oct. 29, 1999).

Lastly, as Cardinal Dulles comments on the matter (Zenit, May 28, 2001):

"Good arguments can be made both for and against allowing Holy Communion to be given in certain problematic cases," Cardinal Dulles writes. "But in the context of Kasper's article the essential question is whether the solutions should be worked out by particular churches on their own authority. Is the situation in the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart so peculiar that it should be allowed to go its own way on these two questions?

"From reading Kasper's text I do not see why the problems in Rottenburg or Stuttgart differ significantly from those in Munich, Johannesburg, or New York. Whatever policy is permitted in Rottenburg-Stuttgart does not concern that diocese alone; it will inevitably have repercussions all over the world."

Ratzinger Roundup!

I found the photograph on the right while surfing the web -- It was hosted on a German website, although I don't know the context. I'm not sure if it's actually Cardinal Ratzinger or the Emperor from Star Wars, what with the shadow-shrouded face, dour expression and the ominous background lighting . . . but I find the photograph characteristic of some of the portrayals of the Cardinal in the press, for whom a pontificate under Cardinal Ratzinger would have the most apocolyptic overtones, spelling the doom for Jedi knights -- er, "progressive Catholics" -- across the globe.

Here's a roundup of the rather mixed reportage of Cardinal Ratzinger in recent weeks:

• Cardinal who will play kingmaker in Rome, by Stephen McGinty and Richard Gray. Scotland on Sunday April 10, 2005, reporting:

  ". . . this week, as either papal candidate or kingmaker, the German theologian, who was raised in Bavaria under the shadow of the Nazis, will wage a battle against the liberal forces of reform.

  Yesterday the chief spokesman for the Catholic Church, Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls, confirmed that no cardinal would speak to the press ahead of the conclave, a move understood to have been initiated by Ratzinger to prevent public debate of the issues now facing the church.

  A church source said yesterday: "Cardinal Ratzinger doesn't want a pope as right wing as Pope John Paul II. He wants a Pope more right wing than Pope John Paul II. There were a lot of things which the Pope chose to do against the wishes of Cardinal Ratzinger."

  Take Stephen McGinty and Richard Gray's word for it, folks. If this guy's elected, it'll be only a short time before the jack-booted Swiss Guard stormtroopers kick open the doors of every reform-minded parish to drag heterodox priests and wayward activist nuns kicking and screaming to the Inquisitor's rack.

• While tainted by the customary liberal slant of his publisher, Daniel J. Wakins' profile of the Cardinal -- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Vatican's doctrinal gatekeeper, The New York Times April 8, 2005 -- is a little less hysterical, and like John Allen Jr.'s biography The Vatican's Enforcer (Continuum, 2001), makes some effort to dispel the Dostoyevskian caricatures of Ratzinger as the "Grand Inquisitor" or Panzerkardinal:

  A small, white-haired man, Ratzinger joined the pope as his doctrinal watchdog in 1981, when the pope named him leader of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which, in more dangerous times, for accused heretics was called the Inquisition. He came to have regular access to the pope, and was often consulted by him. The two spoke in German.

  In that role, he has acted as theological police officer, coming down hard on theologians who deviate from his interpretation of Catholic teaching. At least that is his public persona. But those who know him say he is a subtle thinker, a courtly and urbane man.

  "He is theologically innovative but at the same time very attuned to the church and theological orthodoxy," said John-Peter Pham, a former Vatican diplomat whose book "Heirs of the Fisherman" focuses on papal transitions. Pham says that unlike virtually all of his predecessors in the last century, Ratzinger is a professional academic theologian.

  He lives frugally just outside St. Peter's Square in a modest apartment over a main bus stop, and usually walks across the square to work, during which he patiently puts up with many petitioners complaining about their priest or some other issue. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Beethoven.

• UP Religious Affairs editor Uwe Siemon-Netto plays it safe for the most part in Analysis: Ratzinger in the ascendance (Washington Times April 2, 2005), brushing aside the usual Ratzinger stereotypes to interview Rev. Anthony Figueiredo, a former secretary of John Paul II and systematics theology teacher at Seton Hall University, on Ratzinger's strengths as a potential leader of the Church:

  "At this point, doctrine is what matters. The world is in a state of flux. This is when you need consistency, and this is Ratzinger's strength. . . .

  Again like John Paul II, Ratzinger considers evangelization and fidelity of faith the church's top priority, especially in the light of the growth of Islam in Europe and particularly in Italy, where it is estimated to be the predominant religion in as little as 20 years' time.

  "In this situation, we need someone who is forthright in what the church teaches. We need consistency in our teaching, otherwise Muslims will not listen to us," Figueiredo insisted. "That's why Ratzinger is so important -- he will not flinch."

• In Ratzinger's mustard seed (Asia Times Online. April 5, 2005), an author by the name of Spengler revisits Ratzinger's prophetic words concerning the rise of European secularism (and consequent diminishment of Christianity) in a provocative passage from the German edition of Salt of the Earth:"We might have to part with the notion of a popular Church. It is possible that we are on the verge of a new era in the history of the Church, under circumstances very different from those we have faced in the past, when Christianity will resemble the mustard seed [Matthew 13:31-32]".

  According to the author:

  

  [Ratzinger] added, "Christianity might diminish into a barely discernable presence," because modern Europeans "do not want to bear the yoke of Christ". The Catholic Church, he added, might survive only in cysts resembling the kibbutzim of Israel. He compared these cysts to Jesus' mustard seed, faith of whose dimensions could move mountains. Ratzinger's grim forecast provoked a minor scandal, complete with coverage in Der Spiegel, Germany's leading newsmagazine. The offending sentences did not appear in the English translation, "Salt of the Earth", and were not discussed further in polite Catholic company.

  George Weigel took note of Europe's spiritual crisis in a March 2005 essay "Is Europe Dying?", giving credence to Ratzinger's predictions. Spengler goes on to discuss the various manifestations of the Church throughout the world ("social-welfare agency" in the U.S.; "quasi-revolutionary political movement" in Latin America) and sees John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger as part of the "'Augustinian' minority of senior clergy who tried to steer the Church back to its fundamental mission, namely repentance and salvation."

• Shortly before the passing of our Holy Father, Sandro Magister offered a portrait of Cardinals Ratzinger and Ruini and their service to the Pope in the latter days of his life (The Pope and His Two Consuls, by Sandro Magister. www.Chiesa. March 30, 2005):

  The pope's esteem for Ratzinger and Ruini goes beyond his entrusting them with the two ceremonies dearest to him, Palm Sunday and the Stations of the Cross. He has also seen them, from the beginning, as the two sharpest minds among the Church's leadership. He has always placed enormous trust in their analyses and decisions, and he keeps this trust alive.

  And the latest news is that both Ratzinger and Ruini have increased rather than diminished the impact and intensity of their public activity. While the pope declines and remains silent, they are speaking and acting more than ever. And the tenor of their speech and activity is geared far more toward the future than toward the past. It's almost like they are revealing a plan for the next pontificate. Their recent declarations have already become required reading for the main electors of the future pope. . . .

  In Ratzinger's case, the latest of these key declarations is the text he wrote for the Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum.

  The very fact that the pope entrusted the composition of these meditations to him is news in itself – in recent years, this task had been assigned more modestly to poets, monks, and journalists. But it is no less surprising that three days before the ceremony, Ratzinger's text was made available in various languages on the Vatican's website, and was immediately taken up and discussed all over the world. It is impossible not to come to the conclusion that John Paul II authorized this unusual early release of the text.

• If Sandro is right, perhaps there's something to all this talk about Ratzinger being papabile after all. At the same time, I'd prefer not to indulge too much in such speculation, given the press appears to be doing a fine job of it already:

  Ratzinger possible successor to Pope John Paul Expatica.com [Germany] April 7, 2005.

  Ratzinger ruled out as likely successor The Australian April 8, 2005.

  Well, that was quick.

• Finally, we learn from Reuters that Ratzinger made Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential" List. Subscription required to view the actual article, which I don't have (anybody care to email?)

* * *

I'll leave you with a better photograph of the Cardinal we all know and love, this one courtesy of the June 2003 issue of 30 Giorni, featuring Ratzinger's speech to the Pontifical Biblical Commission on the hundredth anniversary of its constitution.

And for the pessimists among us, a parting reflection from the Cardinal himself:

The loss of joy does not make the world better -- and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the courage and impetus to do good.

We have a new need for that primordial trust which ultimately faith can give. That the world is basically good, that God is there and is good. That it is good to live and be a human being. This results, then, in the courage to rejoice, which in turn becomes commitment to making sure that other people, too, can rejoice and recieve good news.

Cardinal Ratzinger, Salt of the Earth, pp. 36-37.