Pope Benedict XVI Roundup!

• The Cardinal's years at Tübingen were a formative experience in his life and thought, but were underreported by the maintstream press during profiles of the Holy Father -- writing for the American Spectator, Mark Gauvreau answers the question: What Made Benedict Conservative?:
  It took me a month to answer that question. According to the media, Tübingen is the German university where, in 1968, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- the future Pope Benedict XVI -- became a conservative. He did so, according to media accounts, because of left-wing student protests in 1968, when Ratzinger was a professor.

  Is that true? That a brilliant and deeply reflective theologian and priest simply freaked out over some student protests and became orthodox? Perhaps, but if so the more compelling question the media ignored is, if the protests changed Ratzinger, what exactly about them did it? . . .

  According to Judge, the answer came in the analysis of a phrase from Salt of the Earth, which was used by John Allen Jr. in his 2001 biography of Cardinal Ratzinger:
  Despite the obfuscations of Time, Newsweek, et al., I was finally getting the story. But there was still an omission -- Ratzinger's colleague talked about the cry "Cursed be Jesus!" Where did it come from? Here Allen was no help. He quotes Ratzinger, explaining that Tübingen showed him "an instrumentalization by ideologies that were tyrannical, brutal, and cruel. That experience made it clear to me that the abuse of faith had to be resisted precisely if one wanted to uphold the will of the council. . . . I did see how real tyranny was exercised, even in brutal forms -- anyone who wanted to remain a progressive in this context had to give up his integrity." But who cursed Jesus?

  Finally, finally I found the answer, in Salt of the Earth, a book-length interview with Ratzinger himself. The book includes the full text of the quote used above by Allen. It's very instructive first to reread the above quote used by Allen. At the end of it is the line, "I did see how real tyranny was exercised, even in brutal forms -- anyone who wanted to remain a progressive in this context had to give up his integrity."

  I hit paydirt in the material that had been elliptically clipped out by Allen. For between the phrase ending "brutal forms" and the line "anyone who wanted to remain a progressive" is some very, very crucial information. The ellipses in fact omits a paragraph in which Ratzinger cites the memoir of his Protestant colleague Wolfgang Beyerhaus, who was also at Tübingen. Beyerhaus recalled the lines on the flyer, but also the title of the flyer: "Jesus the Lord -- Partisan Kasemann." Kasemann is a German colloquialism meaning "nonsense, rubish, balderdash." The students -- those noisy harmless mice in Garry Wills's recollection -- were cursing the name of Christ. It was professor and Ratzinger colleague Ulrich Wickert who implored the young Marxists not to curse the name of Jesus, all to no avail. Ratzinger: "It never got quite so bad in the Union of Catholic theology students, but the basic current, which surged powerfully into it as well, was the same. So I knew what was at stake: anyone who wanted to remain a progressive in this context had to give up his integrity."

  Update A discerning reader disputes Gauvreau's central point:

  Mark Gauvreau Judge's central point is a misinterpretation of Ratzingers memories in Salt on Earth: A students paper was overwritten: "Jesus the Lord -- partisan Käsemann" Judge explains Kasemann is a German colloquialism meaning "nonsense, rubish, balderdash." This is nonsense . . . Käsemann is the name of the well known protestant theologian Ernst Käsemann and means nothing else in German. (I am German)

  John Allen, Jr. is likewise vindicated by a reading of this profile in Beliefnet.com How the 60's Changed Ratzinger:

  Tübingen became the intellectual Mecca of the radicals, however, mostly because Ernst Bloch was there. Widely seen as the father of the 1968 student movement, Bloch's Marxist analysis of Christianity and social change provided much of the intellectual architecture for the radicals, and he personally offered support for their protests. At one point, radicals spray-painted "Ernst Bloch University" over the Tübingen sign on the campus's old assembly hall. In Milestones, Ratzinger testily acknowledges Bloch's influence, saying in passing that Bloch "made Heidegger contemptible for being petty bourgeois."

  Bloch was echoed by Moltmann, who developed the idea of Christian support for social revolution in his "theology of hope" (Moltmann's language reflects the influence of Bloch's masterwork, Principle of Hope). The Tübingen New Testament exegete Ernst Käsemann likewise lent his support to students who charged that the church had too often participated in the capitalist exploitation of the poor; and traditional theology frequently served the purpose of propping up the system. Käsemann, though no radical, had a keen sense of political responsibility; his daughter Elisabeth had been murdered on account of her political activity by the military junta in Argentina.

  For Ratzinger, all this was simply too much. Frustrated that the theology faculties were emerging as the ideological center of the protest movement, Ratzinger joined forces with two Protestant colleagues, Ulrich Wickert and Wolfgang Beyerhaus, to "bear witness to our common faith in the living God and in Christ, the incarnate word," which the three men believed was under threat. Ratzinger found himself in conflict with many of his colleagues. "I did not want to be always forced into the contra position," he said, and thus he abandoned Tübingen, a height that most theologians can only dream of attaining, after only three years.

  Much appreciation to my reader and I stand corrected.

  Update! From the Spectator (7/12/05), Mark Gauvreau Judge [to a reader who referred him to this post]:

  The writer is correct. While researching the piece I called a German friend, asked her the meaning of "Kasemann" then asked her to look it up for me in a German dictionary, which she had handy. In German, kase means 1) cheese and 2) balderdash, codswallop. She deduced that "Kasemann" mean a cheesehead, fool, etc. Kasemann is in a fact a theologian. I stand corrected -- in fact, I stand guilty of kase.

  Mystery solved. =)

  

• Katie Grant found herself an unplanned attendee of the feast of Corpus Christi and describes how she was Blown clean away by a brush with Benedict (NewScotsman.com. June 6, 2005):
  Lots of pieces of the jigsaw got into the wrong place. Nuns got a rosary going, to which people bellowed their responses while talking on their mobiles. The police chewed gum, making no attempt to impose order or to rescue unwitting passers-by swept into the throng, never to escape. I couldn't help remarking to myself, with the cynicism of the detached observer, that all this bedlam and plastic piety was not at all British.

  Then, quietly, the door of St John Lateran opened and something extraordinary happened. As the tops of the halberds carried by the Swiss Guard swam into view, every bit of cynicism and detachment deserted me. I found myself breathless. . . .

  Ms. Grant concludes "Pope Benedict XVI may not be blessed with the charisma of his predecessor, but my goodness, he still packs an Almighty punch!" -- a touching eyewitness account. Credit goes to the Ratzinger Forum for the link.

• Oswald Sobrino gives his review of Dr. Robert Moynihan's Let God's Light Shine Forth : The Spiritual Vision of Pope Benedict XVI (Doubleday, June 2005), posting some choice excerpts.

  See also Benedict on the revival of Latin as a liturgical language.

• Pope presents summary of catechism, urges memorizing Latin prayers, by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service. June 28, 2005. One of many news reports on the presentation of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a 200-page condensed summary of the Catechism published with the intention of "giving Catholics and non-Catholics easy access to the basic and essential tenets of the Catholic faith." (Via William Bloomfeld @ "Thoughts from the Right").

• On the Compendium, see also Sandro Magister's A Catechism for the Culture of the Image, on the inclusion of fourteen sacred images in the new text:
  . . . As the pope has explained, the images are not there purely for the sake of illustration. They are an integral part of the new catechism.

  They are to be reproduced in all the translations of the "Compendium." And each time they are to be placed in the same position with respect to the text. Each of the images is accompanied by a detailed commentary, with extensive citations from the Bible and the Fathers of the Church. . . .

  The use of these images in catechesis is very near to the heart of Joseph Ratzinger. In the introduction to the "Compendium," dated March 20, 2005, he wrote:

  "Images are also a preaching of the Gospel. Artists in every age have offered the principal facts of the mystery of salvation to the contemplation and wonder of believers by presenting them in the splendour of colour and in the perfection of beauty. It is an indication of how today more than ever, in a culture of images, a sacred image can express much more than what can be said in words, and be an extremely effective and dynamic way of communicating the Gospel message."

• It is well known that some of the Holy Father's personal judgements on certain issues have been a source of division between the Papacy and orthodox American Catholics . . . no, I'm not talking about the war in Iraq: here is a far graver issue with potential for division on an international scale: Pope Benedict Opposes Harry Potter Novels, LifeSiteNews. June 27, 2005:
  As the sixth issue of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - is about to be released, the news that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prior to his elevation to the Pontificate, had denounced the wildly popular series has resurfaced. In 2003, a month after the English press throughout the world falsely proclaimed that Pope John Paul II approved of Harry Potter, the man who was to become his successor sent a letter to a Catholic German critic of Harry Potter outlining his agreement with her opposition to Rowling's offerings. . . .

  Paging Mark Shea, Amy Welborn and Michelle Arnold (the latter recommending John Granger's Looking for God in Harry Potter).

  Update: Michelle Arnold responds to my page with a good analysis of the matter. Enjoy!

• Christianity Today briefly notes that Church Attendance in Germany Experiences Huge Growth after Pope Benedict Elected Cardinan Lehman of Mainz one of the many clergy reporting that "in the period from May to June more people returned to his diocese than in the whole of 2004."

• I may have blogged this before, but May 2005 Issue of the Italian Catholic periodical 30 Giorni ("30 Days") has The testimonies of twenty-one cardinals on the new Pope (divided into two parts -- here's the second).

  Also from the May 2005 issue: Signs of spiritual friendship: Community of spirit in Saint Benedict, Don Luigi Giussani and Pope Benedict XVI, by Don Giacomo Tantardini.

• Ignatius Press' blog Insight Scoop has the goods on Pope Benedict's new book On the Way To Jesus Christ, due in October 2005. You can read the entire press release here. Ignatius Press -- the primary publisher of the Pope's books in English -- is releasing a total of four new books by Pope Benedict XVI this year.

• "Catholicity and Unity Go Together", Homily for Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. June 29, 2005.

• New York Times: "POPE BENEDICT WARM FUZZY TEDDY BEAR" . . . well, almost. On July 5, the Times' Ian Fisher ran a story with the headline: "Pope softens image with less talk of sin".

• Fr. Richard McBrien makes a case against John Paul’s canonization fast track. Writing "from the land of Bishop Gumbleton and make-it-up-as-you-go liturgies," Rick Lugari @ Unam Sanctum responds with some critical remarks about the nature of McBrien's dissent.

• This past Tuesday it was also disclosed that the Holy Father would visit a Jewish synagogue in Cologne:
  Speaking on Vatican Radio, [Cologne Archbishop Joachim Meisner] said he was pleased that "a German pope would be coming to visit the Synagogue of Cologne".

  The Vatican has confirmed Benedict's August 18-21 trip to Cologne, where he will attend World Youth Day celebrations, but is not expected to publish a detailed itinerary until a few days before the departure date.

  Archbishop Meisner's comment was the most official indication yet that Benedict will indeed be visiting the oldest synagogue north of the Alps, as had been speculated.

  According to the Associated Press, the visit will be an occasion for the Pope to practice his Hebrew:

  German-born Pope Benedict XVI will say prayers in Hebrew when he visits the synagogue in Cologne, Germany, that was destroyed by the Nazis, a cardinal organizing the trip said Tuesday.

  Jewish representatives invited the pope to visit while he is in Germany in August for the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day and Benedict replied, '"I will come,"' said Cologne Cardinal Joachim Meisner.

  The visit will include a prayer service in which the psalms will be "prayed," the cardinal said. "We have learned them in Hebrew."

  In doing so, Pope Benedict XVI will carry out the intentions of the beloved Pope John Paul II, who expressed the desire to visit the Jews in Cologne.

Pope Benedict and Father Leon Dehon

This past week we learn that Pope Benedict XVI was acclaimed by The Jewish Week by his decision to halt the "fast track beatification" of French priest Father Leon Dehon (1843-1925) due to allegations of anti-semitism, prompting a formal inquiry by the Church (Important Gesture by Pope Benedict, by James D. Besser. The Jewish Week June 17, 2005).

The beatification of Fr. Dehon by Pope John Paul II was scheduled on April 24, 2005 during the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Square. Jews took the Holy Father's move as a sign of his sensitivity to important issues in Jewish-Christian relations and that he would carry on his predecessor's commitment to fostering good relations between the Church and the Jewish people:

"This is exceedingly important," Rabbi Gary Bretton-Granatoor, interfaith director for the Anti-Defamation League, told The Jewish Week.

Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor was part of a 25-member Jewish delegation who met with the new pope last week. "This gesture is much appreciated and bodes well for the future," the rabbi said. . . .

Earlier this year, historians in France uncovered anti-Semitic writings by Father Dehon, who died in 1925, including his contention that Jews are “united in their hatred of Christ” and that the Talmud is a “manual for the bandit, the corrupter, the social destroyer.”

The hold on beatification — which was not a result of last week’s meeting with the Jewish delegation — also could point to a new Vatican sensitivity on other outstanding issues between the two communities, including the drive to elevate Pope Pius XII, the Holocaust-era pontiff, to sainthood.

“If this means they would consider slowing down the process on Pius XII until all the records are made available and analyzed, that would be a very good thing,” Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor said. “That is an issue we have raised repeatedly. We will have more opportunities to raise it again when we are there in September and October.”

Further discussion can be found, of course, at Amy Welborn's blog ("Second Thoughts" June 10, 2005), where the commentators appear divided regarding the decision, with some proposing that the priest's sentiments should be taken in light of the historical context, especially given the fact that past Christian saints have also expressed claims about the Jews that could be judged anti-semitic in content.

Others question the basic prudency of beatifying any Catholic who expresses anti-Jewish opinions following the Holocaust, especially since, in the rise of anti-semitic incidents in Europe and worldwide, they may be fuel for misinterpretation and confusion regarding the Church's relationship with the Jewish people. Sandra Meisel muses:

The newspaper account says that this cause had been closed on account of the candidate's anti-Semitism in 1952. His attitudes were well known in France. So who saw fit to revive the cause and why? To catch the rising wave of European anti-Semitism? And why would the late Pope approve this, given his warm feelings toward Jews? Was information witheld?

Yes, we'd had anti-Semitic saints in the past, including St. Louis IX and St. John Capistrano. One would think this would be an easy call, post-Holocaust, but the Church recently ignored anti-Semitic elements in Anna Catharina Emmerich -- who made the blood libel -- and beatified her. We should be most grateful that this cause was stopped in time.

I don't see how one can impute deceptive motives on the part of Dehon's supporters in making their case for beatification. After reading about his life and vocation on the website of The Priests of the Sacred Heart, you see there is much one can admire: his devotion to Christ in prayer and veneration of the Eucharist, his solidarity with the poor and working class, his recognition of the "inalienable dignity" of every human being by virtue of their God-given soul ("whether in the body of a worker at the bottom of a dark coal mine, or in the body of a well-fed financier living in the lap of luxury").

According to the SCJ's vocation website, there are approximately "130 SCJ priests and brothers living and working within the United States [and] about 2300 SCJ priests and brothers world-wide," seeking to be "prophets of love and servants of reconciliation" in carrying out a variety of ministries in the world (including, for example, a ministry to the Native Americans from South Dakota to Wisconsin, Mississippi, Illinois, Florida and Texas).

In their defense, it is completely understandable that they would harbor a particular affection for the life and vision of their founder, and wish to see him recognized as a saint. Pope John Paul II also recognized the worth of their charism in his address to the Priests of he Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonian Fathers) on June 10, 2003:

This year is the 125th anniversary of religious life of Venerable Léon Dehon. You have wished to commemorate it with a special Dehonian Year that ends on 28 June, the day when you will be commemorating his first religious profession. He himself recognized it as the day on which your Congregation came into being. I hope that this will be an incentive to you to go back to your origins with that "creative fidelity" (cf., Vita Conscrata, n. 37) which will keep intact your charism, distinguished by constant contemplation of the Heart of Christ, conscious participation in his reparative sacrifice and zealous dedication to spreading the Kingdom of the Lord in souls and in society, since it is precisely the rejection of God's love which is the root cause of the evils in the world (cf. Constitutions, n. 4).

However, one must recognize the fact that whatever qualities are good and worthy of admiration in Fr. Dehon, his perception of the Jews in those statements attribute to him are indeed hateful and indefensible, justly meriting condemnation by the Church. And for that reason I concur with those questioning the prudency of such a beatification and the consequent decision of the Holy Father in calling for a formal investigation of the matter. To quote Lee Podles (on Amy's blog):

The poison of anti-Semitism has to be purged from the Church. The beatification of a recent figure who made such anti-Semitic statements would hinder this necessary purification. Can you imagine the legitimate furor if a German Pope canonized an anti-Semite, making excuses for the remarks?

* * *

According to the same article in the Jewish Week, the meeting of the Jewish delegation and Pope Benedict led some participants to speculate on the prospects of a more theologically-oriented dialogue between Jews and Christians:

"He’s a different person," [director of the Commission on Interreligious Affairs of Reform Judaism Mark] Pelavin said of Pope Benedict. "He's a theologian by training and practice. That will color the dialogue. I think it will be more theological in nature. There will be a greater exploration of the idea of the Jews’ covenant with God, and how that relates to Catholic covenantal thinking. Those are things that will have an impact not so much in the political arena but in the teachings the Church uses."

Rabbi Bretton-Granatoor said the meeting suggested Catholic-Jewish relations are poised to jump to a new level.

"After 40 years, the time has come for us to engage in mature theological dialogue," he said. "It’s time for us to recognize that we have very different ways of looking at texts; basic concepts like covenant and mission mean different things. This meeting signaled that it’s time to start unpacking those issues. We have to learn to celebrate our differences, not try to sweep them away."

Several participants commented on Pope Benedict’s demeanor at the meeting.

"At the beginning he seemed as taciturn and as sharp in his bearing as I would have expected," said one. "But as soon as we were finished with the formalities and he stepped down to greet each of us individually, the warmth and kindness were unmistakable."

Related Links:

• "Jewish leaders say pope's past cause for optimism, not concern", by Cindy Wooden. (Catholic News Service June 13, 2005)

• Pope Benedict XVI and the Jews Against The Grain April 26, 2005. An examination of Pope Benedict's views on the Jewish people and Christian-Jewish relations with references to his many writings on the topic, both as a Catholic theologian as well as in his former capacity as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.

Pope Benedict XVI Roundup!

• The usual line of criticism is that it's The Church that's preoccupied with sex, or "the pelvic issues." Not so, according to John Allen Jr.:
  Earlier this week, headlines in the American press reported that Pope Benedict XVI had attacked gay marriage. Though the statement fell into the "Dog Bites Man" category of utterly predictable news, it nevertheless illustrates how any pronouncement by an official of the Catholic church on a sexual topic will draw attention.

  One point perhaps worth noting: In his 48,978 words of teaching as of June 9, Benedict XVI had used the word "sex" exactly once, while the word "Africa," mostly in the context of an appeal for attention to the problems of Africa, appeared 11 times. It's no mystery which has been given greater prominence in the international press. . . .

  From the news coverage, one could get the impression that Pope Benedict's statement was primarily "about" gay marriage, since that's all that was quoted. In fact, the line above was one sentence in a 3,000-word speech delivered at a convention on the family for the diocese of Rome. The broader theme was the Christian concept of the family.

• At audience, pope speaks on mobile phone, dons fire chief's helmet, by Cindy Wooden. (Catholic News Service June 15, 2005):
  A middle-aged man in a wheelchair, who was among dozens of people led up to the pope at the end of the audience, handed Pope Benedict a mobile phone and asked him to talk. The pope did so. . . .

  [Italian News Agency] ANSA later interviewed the cell phone owner, Emilio Testa, and the 44-year-old nun with cancer, Sister Maria Cristina, a member of the Sisters of St. John the Baptist in Angri, Italy.

  "When I heard his voice I could not believe it was Pope Ratzinger," the nun said. "I thought it was a dream, but instead it was real.

  "He asked me how I was, he told me to stay calm and that he would pray for me," she said. "The most surprising thing was that he remembered my name. He kept calling me Sister Maria Cristina, almost like we already knew each other."

  Testa told ANSA: "I knew how badly Sister Maria Cristina wanted to see the pope, but her health would not permit it. So when I saw the pontiff, I did not think twice. I got close, kissed his hand and, without pausing, asked him to pray for Sister Maria Cristina and perhaps say hello to her on the phone.

  "The pontiff immediately said 'yes,' took my cell phone and, smiling, began to speak to her," Testa said.

  "When it was all over, I started bawling like a baby. I realized that something extraordinary had just happened," he said. "I was happy because I knew that with that call Sister Maria Cristina's heart filled with joy."

• In Search of Freedom; Against Reason Fallen Ill and Religion Abused, on the 60th anniversary of the Allied landing in Normandy. It was initially published in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and was translated from the German by Jeffrey Craig Miller. Logos Vol. 4, Issue 2 (Spring 2005). The Holy Father addresses on a number of pertinent issues: "the breakdown of the sustaining power of law" and the rise of terrorism ("in order that force in the defense of law and right shall not be itself do wrong, it must subject itself to stringent measures. It must pay heed to the causes of terror, which so often has its source in standing injustice"); the relationship of Islam and the West ("what is it, the West? And what is Islam? Both are multi-layered worlds with great internal differences - worlds that, in many ways, also intersect. In this respect, the crude antithesis West-Islam, does not apply"), political order ("Christian belief - following in the way of Jesus - has negated the idea of political theocracy. It has - to express it in modern terms - produced the worldliness of states, wherein Christians along with the adherents of other convictions live together in peace"). As usual, a very provocative essay and one worth discussing at length. I'll probably return to it in a later post but wanted to note it for the benefit of my readers.

• Benedict XVI less conservative, more pastoral than expected: New pontiff warms to papacy, by Ann Rodgers. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 13, 2005.

• A friend noted recently in his email:
  Apropos of the compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, in an interview in the April 2003 issue of 30 Giorni magazine, the then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, said that in some circles "there is a certain opposition to any attempt to 'crystallize' a doctrine in words, in the name of flexibility."

  "The post-conciliar catechetical movement accentuated the anthropological aspect of the question and believed that, if a catechism is too doctrinal, it would be an impediment to the necessary dialogue with the man of today," the future Benedict XVI noted.

  "We are convinced of the contrary," he said. "To dialogue well, it is necessary to know what we must talk about. It is necessary to know the essence of our faith. For this reason, today a catechism is more necessary than ever."

  As a veteran fighter of the liberal catechetical establishment in Australia, to hear words like that are music to one's ears. For so long the conventional wisdom here has been "Don't teach the kids doctrine, but good Christian living". Yeah, but orthopraxis proceeds from orthodoxy. How wonderful that the man who uttered the highlighted words is now the pope, and shared our concerns.

• A new book by Cardinal Ratzinger entitled The Europe of Benedict: In the Crisis of Cultures was published this past week in Italy, according to Catholic World News ("Pope's new book affirms Europe's Christian roots" June 22, 2005). The book was introduced in Rome on June 21, at a press conference chaired by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar for the Rome diocese, who discussed the themes of the book:
  Cardinal Ruini, in introducing the book, told reporters that Pope discussed "the fundamental points of European culture in relation to Christianity," adding that the faith remains a dominant formative influence on European society.

  The ties between Europe and the faith, the cardinal continued, "today are at risk of being broken, not by accident" but through the influence of an aggressive secularism. Cardinal Ruini spoke of an ideology which believes that "God does not exist, or at least doees not have to be accepted, and thus no reference to Him can be made in public life."

  The Italian prelate added that in the book, Pope Benedict/Cardinal Ratzinger appeals to lay Catholics to combat the spread of that ideology, and to "orient their lives as if God exists.

  The three speeches contained in the Pope's new book are "What it Means to Believe," delivered in 1992 at Bassano del Grappa, Italy; a talk on "The Right to Life in Europe," delivered at a pro-life conference in 1997; and a speech on "The Crisis of Cultures," delivered on April 1 of this year-- the eve of the death of Pope John Paul II at Subiacco, where St. Benedict founded his first monastery in the 6th century, as Cardinal Ratzinger received the "St. Benedict for Europe" prize.

  Catholic News reports that "shortly after his election, the Pope assigned all the rights to his works to the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana" -- I'm curious as to how this affects the Pope's relationship with Ignatius Press, which was the authorized translator / publisher of the Holy Father's books in English?

• On the subject of books, Zenit News Service interviewed Ave Maria University's Father Matthew Lamb, discussing Joseph Ratzinger's "Primer on Ecclesiology": Called to Communion -- Part I ; Part 2. June 23/24, 2005.

• Finally, for all the clubbers out there, Jamie McMorrin gives us Pope Benedict XVI: The Dance Mix - "a re-mix of the announcement from that glorious day when our Holy Father ascended the throne of Peter." =)

Pope Benedict XVI Roundup!

• The Promise of Benedict XVI, by Timothy George. The Dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University, thinks that:
  "John Paul II will long be remembered as the greatest pope since the Reformation. His successor, Benedict XVI, may well turn out to be the harbinger of a new reformation. . . .

  I am not predicting that Benedict XVI will follow suit and preside over a new council, Vatican III. But I do believe his pontificate will be one of great moment for the Christian church, not least for evangelicals.

  George offers five reasons why "evangelical Protestants, and orthodox believers of all persuasions, should be pleased at the election of Pope Benedict XVI." Take a look.

• "I Don't Think Benedict XVI's 'Program' Is to Combat Relativism" Zenit interviews Journalist Andrea Tornielli of Il Giornale. May 22, 2005:
  Just as I avoid the caricature that certain progressive environments have made of Ratzinger over the past 20 years, I also try to be on guard against a certain error: to think that he will be a Pope on the basis of what Cardinal Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was and said.

  I don't think that Benedict XVI's "program" is to combat relativism. I believe, instead, that he will seek to proclaim and witness the simplicity, purity and beauty of faith in Jesus Christ.

  The antidote to relativism is not a program, it is not a theory, it is not and can never be an invective or a denunciation. An invective, a denunciation, however, were more useful vis-à-vis communism. No, the antidote is in a people, even small in number, that lives the faith and witnesses the fullness of life.

• In his latest Word from Rome, John Allen Jr. assesses the first 45 days of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate:
  The pope has been more critical in describing negative trends in the broader culture. Yet so far, the overwhelming tone of his teaching has been positive, rather than the condemnation of error. Benedict XVI may prove to be less censorious than many had expected.

  Second, it's interesting to note that despite Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's frequent criticism of what he described as hasty or excessive reforms following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Vatican II is by far the most-cited source in Pope Benedict's teaching other than his immediate predecessor, John Paul II. So far, the pope has explicitly cited Vatican II fifteen times. That seems a signal that Benedict, who was a peritus, or theological expert, at Vatican II, intends to align himself with the council, at least as he understands and interprets it.

  After presenting five "big ideas" that have distinguished themselves in the Holy Father's words to date, Allen turns to Benedict "as governor," as "collegial pope," and thoughts on his style of leadership. An interesting development from one who had formerly portrayed the Pope as "The Vatican's Enforcer."

• Pope Catholic - Media Shocked! - Jeff Miller aka. The Curt Jester critiques the media response to an address by Pope Benedict XVI, in which he reiterated basic Catholic teaching on a number of moral issues. The MSM (Mainstream Media) took it as a revelation that the Pope is not as cute and cuddly as they had hoped for.

  Further commentary on condemnation of "pseudo-marriages" by Dave Morrison (Sed Contra).

• Last Saturday the Holy Father celebrated the 28th anniversary of his episcopal ordination:
  Father Joseph Ratzinger, a member of the International Theological Commission, was appointed archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI on March 24, 1977, and received episcopal ordination from the hands of Bishop Josef Stangl of Wuerzburg the following May 28.

  Father Ratzinger, who had just celebrated his 50th birthday, became the first diocesan priest in 80 years to assume the pastoral governance of the large Bavarian archdiocese. Paul VI elevated him to cardinal just a month later, on June 27.

  In his autobiography "Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977" (Ignatius Press, 1999), Cardinal Ratzinger recalled the date of his episcopal consecration as "an extraordinarily beautiful day," "a radiant day at the beginning of summer, on the vigil of Pentecost of 1977."

• "The Sacrament of Unity" translation of the homily Benedict XVI gave today in Italian during the closing Mass of the 24th Italian National Eucharistic Congress, in the esplanade of Marisabella. Zenit. May 29, 2005. According to Zenit News Service, "the Eucharistic congress, which has gathered representatives of all the ecclesial entities of Italy, opened with the theme "We Cannot Live Without Sunday." The theme is taken from the words expressed by the 49 martyrs of Abitene, a city of the Roman province of Proconsular Africa, today's Tunis, in the year 303, during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian."

• Oswald Sobrino @ Catholic Analysis on "Ratzinger on Eucharist and Parousia":
  "Parousia" is the Greek New Testament term meaning "presence" that is used to refer to the Second Coming of Christ. In a popular EWTN video series by Scott Hahn and Mike Aquilina, Hahn speaks of the Eucharist as an experience of the parousia, both in the sense that Christ comes in the Eucharist and in the sense of looking forward to Christ coming again at the end of the age. Hahn notes in the video series that the ancient Christian Aramaic prayer "maranatha" is both a plea of "Come, Lord Jesus" and a proclamation that the Lord Jesus has already come.

  Well, back in 1977, theologian Joseph Ratzinger, as he embarked on his career as a bishop, made the very same observation . . .

  [UPDATE: Ratzinger, Parousia and the Eucharist - a continuation of the previous post].

• Writing on the pernicious effect of relativism on Christian missions, one encounters this little display of what I believe is the Holy Father's sense of humor:
  The dogma of relativism has, however, yet another effect: Christian universalism, which is carried out concretely in mission, is no longer the obligatory handling on of a good meant for everyone, that is, of truth and love; with this presupposition, mission becomes the mere presumptuous attitude of a culture that imagines itself to be superior, that tramples upon a whole multitude of religious cultures in the most shameful fashion, thus, it is held, depriving these people of what is best: their own heritage. Thence comes the imperative: Give us back our religions, as the right ways for the various peoples to come to God and God to them; where these religions still exist, do not touch them! Is this demand appropriate? It is at any rate there that the good sense, or nonsense, of the dogma of relativism in the sphere of cultures and religions must be demonstrated.

  At least, in the face of such demands, one ought to look carefully at each religion to see whether its restoration would really be desirable. When we think, for instance, of how on the occasion of the most recent rebuilding of the main Aztec temple, in the year 1487, "at the very lowest estimate, twenty thousand people" bled to death, "over four days, on the alters of Tenochtitlan" (the capital city of the Aztecs, in the upper Mexico valley) as human sacrifices to the sun god, it would be difficult for us to encourage this restoration of religion. . . . To the earth gods and the vegetation gods, the Aztecs offered "men and women, who were for the most part flayed alive"; to the gods of rain, who were thought of as being like dwarfs, they offered up little children, who were drowned in springs, in water holes, and in certain parts of the Lake of Tetzcoco. There were rituals, a part of which was the slaughter of human beings. All of this derived, as W. Krickeberg has established, not from some inborn "inclination to bloodthirstiness", but from a fanatical belief in the duty of men to provide in this fashion for the continuation of the world. This, of course, is an extreme instance, but it nonetheless shows that one cannot simply see in any and every religion the way for God to come to man and man to God.

  From Truth & Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions pp. 73-75 (Ignatius, 2004). According to Ratzinger, differing variants of the lecture from which this was excerpted was read at the Salzberg Higher Education week in 1992, at a meeting of the CDF with the Asian Bishops Conference in 1993, and at an educational function in Sassari (Sardinia). I must say I'm curious whether the above passage made it into the lecture? =)

John Allen Jr.'s Turnabout

A stirring edition of "Word from Rome" by the National Catholic Reporter's John Allen, Jr., contains his reflections on the election of Pope Benedict XVI, the funeral of Pope John Paul II, as well as the following personal confession:

Six years ago, I wrote a biography of the man who is now pope titled Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith. In the intervening period, I have learned a few things about the universal Catholic church and how things look from different perspectives. If I were to write the book again today, I'm sure it would be more balanced, better informed, and less prone to veer off into judgment ahead of sober analysis.

This, I want to stress, is not a Johnny-come-lately conclusion motivated by the fact that the subject of the book has now become the pope. In a lecture delivered at the Catholic University of America as part of the Common Ground series, on June 25, 2004, I said the following about the book:

"My 'conversion' to dialogue originated in a sort of 'bottoming out.' It came with the publication of my biography of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, issued by Continuum in 2000 and titled The Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith. The first major review appeared in Commonweal, authored by another of my distinguished predecessors in this lecture series, Fr. Joseph Komonchak. It was not, let me be candid, a positive review. Fr. Komonchak pointed out a number of shortcomings and a few errors, but the line that truly stung came when he accused me of "Manichean journalism." He meant that I was locked in a dualistic mentality in which Ratzinger was consistently wrong and his critics consistently right. I was initially crushed, then furious. I re-read the book with Fr. Komonchak's criticism in mind, however, and reached the sobering conclusion that he was correct. The book - which I modestly believe is not without its merits - is nevertheless too often written in a "good guys and bad guys" style that vilifies the cardinal. It took Fr. Komonchak pointing this out, publicly and bluntly, for me to ask myself, 'Is this the kind of journalist I want to be'? My answer was no, and I hope that in the years since I have come to appreciate more of those shades of gray that Fr. Komonchak rightly insists are always part of the story.

After Ratzinger's election as Benedict XVI was announced, I had hoped to have the opportunity to write a new preface for the book contextualizing some of the views it expresses. Unfortunately, the publisher in the United States, for reasons that I suppose are fairly obvious, had already begun reprinting the book without consulting me. Hence it is probably already appearing in bookstores, without any new material from me.

I can't do anything about that, although the British publishers were kind enough to ask me to write a new preface, which I have already done, so at least the damage will be limited in the U.K.

What is under my control, however, is a new book for Doubleday (a Random House imprint), which I hope will be a more balanced and mature account of both Ratzinger's views and the politics that made him pope. It has been in the works for some time and I hope it will be worthy of the enormity of the story, and the trust of those who elect to read it.

I was among those to recieve a copy of John Allen Jr.'s biography, in exchange for the opportunity to try my hand at writing a book review. Despite it's obvious liberal bias (which I took for granted, given his working for the National Catholic (Dis)torter), I was rather gentle in my response. In retrospect, I think the reason I didn't come down so hard was that, even in his introduction, I could detect a change of tone in the author, a softening towards the Cardinal that would take his more liberal readers by suprise:

Allen's judgements about Ratzinger's character are not what one would expect coming from a 'progressive' Catholic journalist for the National Catholic Reporter: Allen believes Ratzinger "is not the vengeful, power-obsessed old man who lurks like a bogyman in the imaginations of the Catholic left". On the several occasions Allen has met Ratzinger, he has found him to be "charming, with a shy personal style and an active wit", possessing "a calm, peaceful spirit and the remarkable ability to listen". With regard to Ratzinger's thought, Allen finds that his "arguments are more than ex post facto rationalizations for exercises of authority" and speaks of "a deep, logical consistency to [his] vision". Indeed, Allen is so impressed with Ratzinger that he exclaims "in the unlikely event I ever had access to Ratzinger as a personal confesser, I would not hesitate to open my heart to him, so convinced I am of the clarity of his insight, his integrity, and his commitment to the priesthood" -- sentiments which might be denounced as treasonous or dismissed as insane by some on the Catholic left. . . .

And so the man comes around.

I'm very pleased to hear this, as I am sure many of his readers. I look forward to reading his new book on our Holy Father.

Pope Benedict XVI and the Jews

With great affection I also greet all those who have been reborn in the sacrament of Baptism but are not yet in full communion with us; and you, my brothers and sisters of the Jewish people, to whom we are joined by a great shared spiritual heritage, one rooted in God's irrevocable promises.

Pope Benedict XVI, Inaugural Mass Homily April 24, 2005.

* * *While the harpies of the press and disgruntled remnants of heterodox factions are doing their best to fan the flames of controversy over the Cardinal's brief stint in the Hitler Youth -- rather a non-issue after a careful review of the facts -- a few people have actually raised the genuine inquiry: what does Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, actually think about the Jewish people?

Over the course of his life, as a Catholic theologian as well as in his formal capacity as Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Holy Father has written on the Church's relationship to the Jewish people. Following is, to the best of my memory, an overview of the 'highlights'. (To those for whom much of this is a recap of earlier discussions, my apologies).

'Interreligious Dialogue and Jewish-Christian Relations' (1998)

Interreligious Dialogue and Jewish-Christian Relations Communio 25, no. 1 (1998): 29-41. [.pdf format]; HTML Version. Produced for a session of the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, Paris, this essay was published in Communio and was republished in Many Religions, One Covenant. The piece is chiefly devoted to the matter of interreligious dialogue and various approaches to the world's religions -- such as the sublimination of theistic religions into a transcendental, mystical model; the pragmatic approach, which prioritizes orthopracy over dogma and "interminable wrangling over truth" -- pointing out their strengths and deficiencies. In the latter part of the essay, Cardinal Ratzinger notes that beyond the superficial opposition of the "Old" to "New" Testament, "the primal fact is that through Christ Israel's Bible came to the non-Jews and became their Bible," bringing Jews and Gentiles together. Furthermore:

"Even if Israel cannot join Christians in seeing Jesus as the Son of God,it is not altogether impossible for Israel to recognize him as the servant of God who brings the light of his God to the nations." The converse is also true: even if Christians wish that Israel might one day recognize Christ as the Son of God and that the fissure that still divides them might thereby be closed, they ought to acknowledge the decree of God, who has obviously entrusted Israel with a distinctive mission in the "time of the Gentiles." The Fathers define this mission in the following way: the Jews must remain as the first proprietors of Holy Scripture with respect to us, in order to establish a testimony to the world. But what is the tenor of this testimony? . . . I think we could say that two things are essential to Israel's faith. The first is the Torah, commitment to God's will, and thus the establishment of his dominion, his kingdom, in this world. The second is the prospect of hope, the expectation of the Messiah -- the expectation, indeed, the certainty, that God himself will enter into this history and create justice, which we can only approximate very imperfectly. The three dimensions of time are thus connected: obedience to God's will bears on an already spoken word that now exists in history and at each new moment has to be made present again in obedience. This obedience, which makes present a bit of God's justice in time, is oriented toward a future when God will gather up the fragments of time and usher them as a whole into his justice.

Christianity does not give up this basic configuration. The trinity of faith, hope, and love corresponds in a certain respect to the three dimensions of time: the obedience of faith takes the word that comes from eternity and is spoken in history and transforms it into love, into presence, and in this way opens the door to hope. It is characteristic of the Christian faith that all three dimensions are contained and sustained in the figure of Christ, who also introduces them into eternity. In him, time and eternity exist together, and the infinite gulf between God and man is bridged. For Christ is the one who came to us without therefore ceasing to be with the Father; he is present in the believing community, and yet at the same time is still the one who is coming. The Church too awaits the Messiah. She already knows him, yet he has still to reveal his glory. Obedience and promise belong together for the Christian faith, too. For Christians, Christ is the present Sinai, the living Torah that lays its obligations on us, that bindingly commands us, but that in so doing draws us into the broad space of love and its inexhaustible possibilities. In this way, Christ guarantees hope in the God who does not let history sink into a meaningless past, but rather sustains it and brings it to its goal. It likewise follows from this that the figure of Christ simultaneously unites and divides Israel and the Church: it is not in our power to overcome this division, but it keeps us together on the way to what is coming and for this reason must not become an enmity.

"Reconciling Gospel & Torah: The Catechism" (1994)

"Reconciling Gospel & Torah: The Catechism". This essay was originally written for a Jewish-Christian encounter in Jerusalem in February 1994 and was republished in various forms, including the first section of Many Religions, One Covenant. Ratzinger asks the question: "Can Christian faith, left in its inner power and dignity, not only tolerate Judaism but accept it in its historic mission? Or can it not? Can there be true reconciliation without abandoning the faith, or is reconciliation tied to such abandonment?" -- framing his answer in light of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which teaches:

The mission of Jesus consists in leading the histories of the nations in the community of the history of Abraham, in the history of Israel. His mission is unification, reconciliation, as the Letter to the Ephesians (2:18-22) will then present it. The history of Israel should become the history of all, Abraham's sonship become extended to the 'many.' This course of events has two aspects to it: The nations can enter into the community of the promises of Israel in entering into the community of the one God who now becomes and must become the way of all because there is only one God and because his will is therefore truth for all. Conversely, this means that all nations, without the abolishment of the special mission of Israel, become brothers and receivers of the promises of the chosen people; they become people of God with Israel through adherence to the will of God and through acceptance of the Davidic kingdom.

During the course of this essay Ratzinger takes a stand against the "superficial polemics" of anti-Jewish biblical hermeneutics, objecting to "crass contrasts [which] have become a cliché in modern and liberal descriptions where Pharisees and priests are portrayed as the representatives of a hardened legalism, as representatives of the eternal law of the establishment presided over by religious and political authorities who hinder freedom and live from the oppression of others."

"Where the conflict between Jesus and the Judaism of his time is presented in a superficial, polemical way," says Ratzinger, "a concept of liberation is derived which can understand the Torah only as a slavery to external rites and observances." Such an antinomian portrayal of Jesus are in no way part of the Catechism, whose presentation of Judaism is derived from St. Matthew and presents "a deep unity between the good news of Jesus and the message of Sinai."

Citing paragraph # 1968 of the Catechism, Ratzinger goes on to say:

his view of a deep unity between the good news of Jesus and the message of Sinai is again summarized in the reference to a statement of the New Testament which is not only common to the synoptic tradition but also has a central character in the Johannine and Pauline writings: The whole law, including the prophets, depends on the twofold yet one commandment of love of God and love of neighbor (Catechism, 1970; Mt. 7:20; 22:34-40; Mk. 12:38-43; Lk. 10:25-28; Jn. 13:34; Rom. 13:8-10). For the nations, being assumed into the children of Abraham is concretely realized in entering into the will of God, in which moral commandment and profession of the oneness of God are indivisible, as this becomes clear especially in St. Mark's version of this tradition in which the double commandment is expressly linked to the "Sch'ma Israel," to the yes to the one and only God. Man's way is prescribed for him he is to measure himself according to the standard of God and according to his own human perfection. At the same time, the ontological depth of these statements comes to the fore. By saying yes to the double commandment man lives up to the call of his nature to be the image of God that was willed by the Creator and is realized as such in loving with the love of God.

In the third part of this essay, Cardinal Ratzinger discusses Jesus' encounter with the Jewish authorities, exploring the mysterious way in which he fundamentally reinterprets and transforms the Torah, opening up the covenant to the Gentiles in a process which culminated in his crucifixion and resurrection from the dead. I won't go into further details, but suffice to say it's a good read. According to the Cardinal, Jesus' death on the cross

cannot simply be viewed as an accident which actually could have been avoided nor as the sin of Israel with which Israel becomes eternally stained in contrast to the pagans for whom the cross signifies redemption. In the New Testament there are not two effects of the cross: a damning one and a saving one, but only a single effect, which is saving and reconciling.

I expect that Christian and Jewish readers will be sharply divided in their reactions to this portion -- the former intrigued by Ratzinger's line of thought; the latter finding themselves in disagreement. Nevertheless, it is my hope that Jewish readers will at the very least appreciate the Cardinal's rebuke of anti-Judaism and his reminder that: "Jesus did not act as a liberal reformer recommending and himself presenting a more understanding interpretation of the law. In Jesus' exchange with the Jewish authorities of his time, we are not dealing with a confrontation between a liberal reformer and an ossified traditionalist hierarchy. Such a view, though common, fundamentally misunderstands the conflict of the New Testament and does justice neither to Jesus nor to Israel."

The Cardinal closes with a reiteration of the Catechism's rejection of the charge of deicide and collective Jewish guilt, teaching that "Jesus' violent death was not the result of chance in an unfortunate coincidence of circumstances, but is part of the mystery of God's plan" (599) and that "All sinners were the authors of Christ's passion."

. . . the blood of Jesus speaks another - a better and stronger - language than the blood of Abel, than the blood of all those killed unjustly in the world. It does not cry for punishment but is itself atonement, reconciliation. Already as a child - even though I naturally knew nothing of all things the catechism summarizes - I could not understand how some people wanted to derive a condemnation of Jews from the death of Jesus because the following thought had penetrated my soul as something profoundly consoling: Jesus' blood raises no calls for retaliation but calls all to reconciliation. It has become, as the "Letter to the Hebrews" shows, itself a permanent Day of Atonement of God.

'Reconciling Gospel & Torah' is an interesting essay -- one which I found to be conciliatory in spirit and refreshing in its rebuke of "superficial polemics" against the Jews and caricatures of the Jewish law which are found in liberal theology as well as some traditionalist camps.

Dominus Iesus (August, 2000)

Dominus Iesus, or "Declaration on the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church" was chiefly intended as a corrective measure to theological excesses and erroneous positions adopted in the course of ecumenical/interreligious dialogue, as well as were found in theologies of "religious pluralism." As such, it was not really intended to address the issue of the Church's relationship with the Jewish people. Nevertheless, some Jews did take offense at its reiteration of standard Christian doctrine concerning the centrality of Christ and his Church in the salvation of mankind, their protests bolstered in part by the press, enough to warrant commentary by Cardinal Kasper, President of the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, who offered both an apology for any misunderstanding that might have occured as well as a defense of Cardinal Ratzinger and the intent of the document:

Some Jewish readers tend to think that the Church's attitude towards Jews and Judaism is a sub-category of its attitude towards world religions in general. Yet, such a presumption is a mistake, and so is the presumption that [Dominus Iesus] represents "a backward step in a concerted attempt to overturn the [in this case Catholic-Jewish] dialogue of recent decades" . . .

[Dominus Iesus] does not affect Catholic-Jewish relations in a negative way. Because of its purpose, it does not deal with the question of the theology of Catholic-Jewish relations, proclaimed by Nostra Aetate, and of subsequent Church teaching. What the document tries to "correct" is another category, namely the attempts by some Christian theologians to find a kind of "universal theology" of interreligious relations, which, in some cases, has led to indifferentism, relativism and syncretism. Against such theories we, as Jews and Christians, are on the same side, sitting in the same boat; we have to fight, to argue and to bear witness together. Our common self-understanding is at stake.

Rabbi David Berger of the Rabbinical Council for America, on the other hand, took issue with Cardinal Kasper's interpretation that Jews "are entirely excluded from the purview of its controversial assertions," and offered his own qualified support of the "supercessionism" of Cardinal Ratzinger (On Dominus Iesus and the Jews May 1, 2001 -- further commentary: "To Evangelize - Or Not to Evangelize?" Against the Grain March 21, 2005).

The Heritage of Abraham: The Gift of Christmas (December, 2000)

The Heritage of Abraham: The Gift of Christmas, published in L'Osservatore Romano December 29, 2000, is one of my favorite writings by our Holy Father on the Jewish people -- in that it clearly demonstrates his alignment with the thought of his close friend and predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and the Second Vatican Council, in speaking of a "new vision of Jewish-Christian relations":

We know that every act of giving birth is difficult. Certainly, from the very beginning, relations between the infant Church and Israel were often marked by conflict. The Church was considered by her own mother to be a degenerate daughter, while Christians considered their mother to be blind and obstinate. Down through the history of Christianity, already-strained relations deteriorated further, even giving birth in many cases to anti-Jewish attitudes, which throughout history have led to deplorable acts of violence. Even if the most recent, loathsome experience of the Shoah was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology, which tried to strike the Christian faith at its Abrahamic roots in the people of Israel, it cannot be denied that a certain insufficient resistance to this atrocity on the part of Christians can be explained by an inherited anti-Judaism present in the hearts of not a few Christians.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this latest tragedy that a new vision of the relationship between the Church and Israel has been born: a sincere willingness to overcome every kind of anti-Judaism, and to initiate a constructive dialogue based on knowledge of each other, and on reconciliation. If such a dialogue is to be fruitful, it must begin with a prayer to our God, first of all that he might grant to us Christians a greater esteem and love for that people, the people of Israel, to whom belong "the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs are the patriarchs, and from them comes Christ according to the flesh, he who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen" (Romans 9:4-5), and this not only in the past, but still today, "for the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable" (Romans 11:29). In the same way, let us pray that he may grant also to the children of Israel a deeper knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth, who is their son, and the gift they have made to us. Since we are both awaiting the final redemption, let us pray that the paths we follow may converge.

The Jewish People & Their Sacred Scriptures (May, 2001)

The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible was published by the Pontifical Biblical Commission on May 4, 2001. In the wake of the Shoah, it dealt with the pertient questions of whether Christians "can still claim in good conscience to be the legitimate heirs of Israel's Bible . . . and propose a Christian interpretation of the Bible," also addressing the issue of scriptural passages in the New Testament deemed "anti-semitic". Although the document reaffirmed the unity of the Old & New Testaments and Christian reading of the Jewish scriptures, it did include a positive treatment of the Jews, as indicated in Cardinal Ratzinger's proposal that:

what ought to emerge now is a new respect for the Jewish interpretation of the Old Testament. On this subject, the Document says two things. First it declares that "the Jewish reading of the Bible is a possible one, in continuity with the Jewish Scriptures of the Second Temple period, a reading analogous to the Christian reading, which developed in parallel fashion" (no. 22). It adds that Christians can learn a great deal from a Jewish exegesis practised for more than 2000 years; in return, Christians may hope that Jews can profit from Christian exegetical research (ibid.). I think this analysis will prove useful for the pursuit of Judeo-Christian dialogue, as well as for the interior formation of Christian consciousness.

Likewise, the document caused something of a stir in the Jewish press by its recognition that:

What has already been accomplished in Christ must yet be accomplished in us and in the world. The definitive fulfilment will be at the end with the resurrection of the dead, a new heaven and a new earth. Jewish messianic expectation is not in vain. It can become for us Christians a powerful stimulant to keep alive the eschatological dimension of our faith. Like them, we too live in expectation. The difference is that for us the One who is to come will have the traits of the Jesus who has already come and is already present and active among us. (paragraph 5.)

See also:

• The Wait Is Over: Jews' Messiah Now Kosher, by Eric J. Greenberg. The Jewish Week January 25, 2002. Containing certain excesses of interpretation of the notable passage by Eugene Fisher, ecumenical director for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.
  
• Rome Has Spoken: A New Catholic Approach to Judaism, by Donald Senior, C.P. President of the Catholic Theological Union at Chicago and appointed by Pope John Paul II to the Pontifical Biblical Commission. Commonweal January 31, 2003 / Volume CXXX, Number 2.
• Selected Important Quotations with Comments by Philip A. Cunningham. Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning.

* * *

This will not be last we have heard from Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, on the subject of our elder brothers and sisters in the faith. We can rest assured that, contrary to the fear-mongering accusations of some critics, as well as honest concerns of others, our Holy Father will carry on the friendship between the Church and Israel that was maintained to such an excellent degree by Pope John Paul II.

Further reading:

• Pope Benedict XVI, Child of Abraham, by Rabbi David Rosen. International Director of Interreligious Affairs of the American Jewish Committee. Beliefnet.com.
• Pope reaches out to Jews, promising to foster dialogue (AFP) April 21, 2005. Catholic.org.
• The Big Thing: Jews have a lot in common with Pope Benedict XVI, by David Klinghoffer. National Review Online. April 20, 2005.
• How Future Pope Won the Respect of Jewish Leaders, by Meghan Cline. New York Sun April 22, 2005.

Getting to know Pope Benedict XVI . . .

• "Groundswell Swept Ratzinger Into Office", by Sebastian Rotella, et al. Los Angeles Times April 21, 2005.
  "When the majority of 77 or 78 was reached, there was a gasp," Murphy-O'Connor said. "Everyone clapped. He had his head down. He must have said a prayer. I didn't see his face. He must have been aware this could happen, but when it does, it is a very special moment."

  After the traditional burning of ballots and the pope's triumphant balcony appearance Tuesday, Benedict XVI invited the cardinals back to a hasty celebratory dinner. Caught off-guard, 20 nuns at the cardinals' Vatican residence improvised a repast of soup, beans, cold cuts, ice cream and Champagne.

• Surprise! New Pope takes a walk through Rome CWNews. April 20, 2005:
  The newly elected Pope, clothed completely in the distinctive white vestments of the papacy, caught onlookers by surprise when he chose to travel on foot, walking the few hundred yards to the apartment in the Citta Leonina where he had lived for years. When the news spread that the Pontiff was walking through the city, hundreds of people quickly gathered, and he spent some time in front of the apartment building, greeting the people and blessing young children. Italian police and Vatican security officials did their best to control the crowd, preserving some breathing room for the Pontiff.

• Pope Benedict & Judaism, a survey of two articles in the Jewish Press by Domenico Bettinelli confirms that the election of Joseph Ratzinger to the throne does, in fact, bode well for the people of Israel.

  Light in a New Dark Age: Pope Benedict XVI -- The Man and the Mission, by George Weigel. Wall Street Journal April 21, 2005:

  As with the program, so with the man: He is a Benedict in the depths of his interior life and in his intellectual accomplishment. Benedict XVI has an encyclopedic knowledge of two millennia of theology, and indeed of the cultural history of the West. He is more the shy, monastic scholar than the ebullient public personality of his predecessor; yet he has shown an impressive capacity for a different type of public "presence" in his brilliantly simple homily at John Paul II's funeral and in his first appearance as pope. He has known hardship: He knows the modern temptations of totalitarianism (paganism wedded to technology) from inside the Third Reich; he has been betrayed by former students (like the splenetic Brazilian liberation theologian Leonardo Boff) and former colleagues (like Hans Kung, a man of far less scholarly accomplishment and infinitely less charity). His critics say he is dour and pessimistic. Yet I take it as an iron law of human personality that a man is known by his musical preferences; and Benedict XVI is a Mozart man, who knows that Mozart is what the angels play when they perform for the sheer joy of it. Indeed, and notwithstanding the cartoon Joseph Ratzinger, the new pope is a man of Christian happiness who has long asked why, in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council, summoned to be a "new Pentecost" for the Catholic Church, so much of the joy has gone out of Catholicism. Over some 17 years of conversation with him, I have come to know him as a man who likes to laugh, and who can laugh because he is convinced that the human drama is, in the final analysis, a divine comedy.

• Annuntio Vobis Gaudium Magnum - the author of the blog Mystery Achievement registers his impressions of the Holy Father:
  He is a man of sincere and profound Christian holiness who both demands it from himself, and will demand it from us, the Catholic faithful. The interview footage in which he acknowledged the sins of Catholics, and the "mea culpas" of the past Good Friday's Stations of the Cross drove this home to me. And in the section of his pre-election homily to the College of Cardinals where he both contrasted doctrinal steadfastness with relativism, and enumerated some of the bitter fruits of the latter, he subtly but clearly said, in effect, that doctrinal faithfulness and holiness are of a piece.

• Rome's Radical Conservative, by Michael Novak. New York Times April 20, 2005:
  One of Cardinal Ratzinger's central, and most misunderstood, notions is his conception of liberty, and he is very jealous in thinking deeply about it, pointing often to Tocqueville. He is a strong foe of socialism, statism and authoritarianism, but he also worries that democracy, despite its great promise, is exceedingly vulnerable to the tyranny of the majority, to "the new soft despotism" of the all-mothering state, and to the common belief that liberty means doing whatever you please. Following Lord Acton and James Madison, Cardinal Ratzinger has written of the need of humans to practice self-government over their passions in private life.

  He also fears that Europe, especially, is abandoning the search for objective truth and sliding into pure subjectivism. That is how the Nazis arose, he believes, and the Leninists. When all opinions are considered subjective, no moral ground remains for protesting against lies and injustices.

• The Acton Institute's Robert Sirico on the True Liberalism of Benedict XVI:
  We have already heard a thousand times or more that the new Pope is a conservative. As counterintuitive as this may sound, I believe that insofar as the new papacy has implications for economics and politics, it is in the direction of a humane and unifying liberalism. I speak not of liberalism as we know it now, which is bound up with state management and democratic relativism, but liberalism of an older variety that placed it hopes in society, faith, and freedom.

  Also from the Acton Institute: Alejandro Chaufen on Benedict XVI and Freedom": "Given Ratzinger’s sharp focus on doctrine, many have seen only one side of this man: the protector of the faith, the leader of a new “inquisition.” Few have focused on his rich analyses of freedom. . . ."

• The Real Ratzinger: The Lover of Lovers, by Anthony & Marta Valle. Inside the Vatican: " To the world he is many things; to us he is th priest who celebrated our wedding Mass in St. Peter’ Basilica on June 24, 2004, a short 10 months before h became Pope Benedict XVI . . ."

• Not a transitional pope: Benedict may surprise, by John Allen, Jr. National Catholic Reporter April 29, 2005.

• In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation by Matthew Schofield, Knight Ridder Newspapers. April 21, 2005. A great profile of the Pope with comments from his brother, George. As a fellow cat-lover, I am heartily pleased to learn of our new Pope's preferences for feline companions:
  "I went with him once," said Konrad Baumgartner, the head of the theology department at Regensburg University. "Afterwards, he went into the old cemetery behind the church.

  "It was full of cats, and when he went out, they all ran to him. They knew him and loved him. He stood there, petting some and talking to them, for quite a long time. He visited the cats whenever he visited the church. His love for cats is quite famous."

• Oswald Sobrino on The Importance of the name Benedict in light of his conversations with Peter Seewald in God and the World.

• 'A Beautiful Personality': The Pontificate of Benedict XVI Begins Interview with Father Augustine Di Noia. National Catholic Register May 1-8, 2005:
  He has a beautiful personality and when that begins to shine through and becomes evident, people will love him. One hundred percent of the staff in the office — including the ushers — are absolutely ecstatic.

  He is a kind, extremely humble and extraordinary human being. He’s also a fun man with a good sense of humor — we’ll miss him. He’s the whole package — he’s holy and knows how the Church works and how to run the Church.

  And on a similar note: ‘People Will Love Him', Newsweek interviews Fr. Di Noia. April 19, 2005.

• The Real Benedict XVI: Reports Reveal Warmth and Openness. Zenit.org. April 23, 2005:
  When he first came to Rome in 1981 to take up his post as prefect of the congregation he did not even take possession of the apartment that would normally be his by right, as it was occupied by an elderly cardinal, whom he did not wish to disturb. The apartment in which Cardinal Ratzinger has remained in all these years in Rome, is not one as large or well-appointed as would normally correspond to his post, and is adorned with secondhand furniture. It is also located on the other side of St. Peter's Square from his office, instead of being in the same building. . . .

  In the afternoons the future Pope would often go out for a walk along the streets near his apartment and would stop to greet the shopkeepers along the Borgo Pio. Mario, a fruit-seller, recalled how once the cardinal asked him which apples to buy to best prepare a strudel. And electrician Angelo Mosca spoke of the time he had gone to the cardinal’s apartment to fix a problem, and how he had remained in a relaxed conversation with him for an hour, "just as if we were old friends."

For decades, the world has only known Cardinal Ratzinger through his capacity as the 'doctrinal enforcer' -- an difficult, thankless but unfortunately necessary assignment, which he accepted from Pope John Paul II and fulfilled to the best of his abilities.

Suffice to say not many in the world have actually encountered Joseph Ratzinger the pastor, the teacher, the theologian, save for those who have encountered him through his writings or had the opportunity to meet the man himself and work with him.

Now that he is has been installed, we will be blessed to know Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI of the Catholic Church.

With reference to the grumblings of dissent, a parting thought from Disputations ("First Fruits can be Sour"): "Why the hate and venom for a pope who, as pope, hasn't actually done anything yet?" and concludes:

If people hate Pope Benedict XVI because they hate where he draws his lines, and if he draws his lines around the Catholic faith, then they hate the Pope because he is Catholic. In other words, they hate the Catholic faith.

I regard this as a good fruit of Pope Benedict's papacy -- or, if you like, of the cardinal electors making the safe and easy choice. The masks are coming off, the indirection and equivocation are slipping away. People will continue out of habit to speak of "the Vatican" as the focus of their hatred and derision, but I expect it to become increasingly apparent to everyone that it is the Church herself -- note, herself, the Bride of Christ, not itself, the old foreign men in dresses -- that people hate and deride.

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!