Benedict XVI - A New Era

Monday May 9, 2005

Ci vedremo che succede!

I began the initial draft of this presentation just as the barrage of reporters begin their rounds of ‘experts’ and the street-wise in their effort to fill newspapers, airwaves and TV screens with early impressions of the new pope. At the early stage of media response, it is astounding that TV and radio hosts have consulted few or no pastors. They seem to believe that only the ‘experts’ have something to say. But then this is consistent with the fact that most of the cardinal electors of the Pope have not been pastors. Astounding, indeed, when you consider the fact that most Catholics experience the Church within the context of a parish. Of course the experts have a great deal of historical knowledge of the election process and concrete information about the conclave but it is also true that people in the pew have some practical wisdom to contribute.

At any rate, these were my hopes and expectations as John Paul II was laid to rest:

As cardinals gather in conclave, I hope that they will elect a man who will unseal the windows that Pope John XXIII so courageously opened to the west and to the east; to the north and to the south and restore aggiornamento to its rightful place within the Church. I hope that they will bring to the papacy a new ‘servus servorum dei’ – a servant of the servants of God, who will engage the world in dialogue not to the advantage of materialism but to bring to light the beauty that rests in the hearts of sincere people striving to be all of what God has called us to be.

I hope that they will call forth a Pope with a human heart and the charisma of John Paul II but a Pope who with the mind of John XXIII will not fear the prophets of doom who continue to deny the wonder of God in all of creation.

Though I may not be optimistic about the institution, I am hopeful that Catholics will remain faithful to the rich heritage that remains within our Church and celebrate it without embarrassment.

I am hopeful that Catholics will continue to take responsibility for the preaching of the Gospel for the passing on the faith to our children with enthusiasm.

I am hopeful that Catholics will not abandon the Eucharist table and will continue to keep our tables connected – the Eucharist table at church, our family table at home and the table of humanity throughout the world.

I am hopeful that Catholics will not remain passive spectators as the Church progresses toward the next millennium but will let their voices be heard in the sanctuary as well as in the marketplace.

I am hopeful that Catholics will challenge our leaders to honor the ancient ‘sensus fidelium’ and heed the voice of the Spirit speaking within the hearts of the faithful.

I am hopeful that Catholics will remain hopeful and allow the voices of divergent views to be heard and respected. No one person has a franchise on the fullness of truth that comes from the heart of God.

I am hopeful but not optimistic but whoever becomes the next Pope, the Church will never be the same again. Hope is born of the Spirit; optimism is born of the human heart. Hope is essential. Optimism is a gift.

And these are my words as we hear the words, “Habemus papam” qui nominatus erit, Benedictus Decimus Sextus. We have a pope who shall be known as Benedict XVI.

“… As it was in the beginning, is now and will be forever. Amen.” Well, not quite! There is a variation on that old axiom, “The more things change, the more they remain the same” and it reads this way, “The more things remain the same, the more they change!” How true.

I only wish I could have been standing among the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square when the election of our new Holy Father, Benedict XVI. “Habemus Papam!” was announced. Whatever one’s take on his qualifications, I believe this choice will prove to be the best – all things considered.

What follows are my initial thoughts and feelings about this choice. Despite the feelings of disappointment among many if not most progressive Catholics, I believe Josef Ratzinger will prove to be the right pope at the right time.

A Before I list the reasons for my position, I need to make a few basic assumptions some of which may be disclaimers.

1. I am writing as much from the gut as from the head. Simply put, I like the guy! I did not have this same feeling about the election of John Paul II from the very first day.

2. I was on his ‘hit’ list two years ago when I was reported to the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by a local group of archconservative ‘vigilantes’ for publishing two articles in St. Joseph Parish bulletin proposing an alternative but provisional solution to the ban against the reception of Holy Communion by divorced Catholics who have not obtained an ecclesiastical annulment of their first marriage. The Sacred Congregation requested a retraction but I could not retract the doctrine of the Church on conscience. There was no further request.

3. Last year I submitted to the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a formal appeal on behalf of a victim of abuse by a priest of this diocese. Although the decision of the local bishop was upheld, I am convinced that had the then Prefect of the Sacred Congregation, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger read the 46 page appeal personally, he would have reversed the decision of the local bishop.

4. I believe that people of very different persuasions must state their positions clearly and unequivocally. As long as they listen attentively to each other, over time, they will come to discover a new truth. If the new truth does not emerge immediately, it will eventually emerge and conscientious dissent from official positions is an important part of the process.

5. In any event, current canonical legislation makes it very difficult for a dissident to get kicked out of (excommunicated from) the Church.

6. Speaking of dissidence, integrity is more important than orthodoxy because it ultimately underlies orthodoxy. Integrity demands the pursuit of truth based on the ongoing investigation of the sources of truth without compromise. This demands the risk of radical openness to truth wherever it may be found—yes, even outside the walls of the Church, even outside the fold, even in the world of science.

7. Institutions tend by nature to be conservative. By and large, this is true of civil governments, and economic organizations as well as religious institutions. A ‘healthy’ conservative base provides a good foundation on which tradition/s/ can rest but it also provides a clear point of departure for progressive strains that are also inevitable in any healthy organization. A true conservative forces a healthy liberal to do his/her homework. In other words, they force us to think, which is always a more constructive alternative to parroting pet theories.

8. Neither liberals nor conservatives have a franchise on integrity. The evidence is clear. Conservatives are as qualified as liberals to break any or all of the Ten Commandments and if the truth be known, conservatives were far more adept at the cover-up of sexual abuse by clergy than liberals. Moreover, sexual abuse by clergy was indiscriminate of conservative or liberal leanings.

9. The line between spiritual totalitarianism conservatism is thin as is the line between tyranny and liberalism. Neither totalitarianism nor tyranny is a healthy alternative to true engagement with those who think differently from us.

10. Spirituality is broader than theology. Unity is not achieved through theological definitions that are more products of the mind but through the heart, which is the doorway to the soul.

11. TV commentators, roving reports and sidewalk experts from the left or from the right do not have the last word. There is another force at work within the Church that exceeds the innocent wisdom of human beings or even the astute insights of scholars.

12. In essence, the Church is ultimately not under the control of the Pope or under the control of the popular but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is as true when the leaders are not listening, as it is true when the faithful are not listening.

13. Two thousand some odd years is not a long time in the life of civilization or in the life of the Church. The Roman Catholic Church is only going through its early pubescent period.

B These assumptions having been stated, allow me to list the reasons why I believe Josef Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, will lead us Catholics to a new era of healing and understanding.

1. I was neither surprised nor disappointed by the election of Josef Ratzinger. I only wish I had placed my bet before the announcement.

2. Despite that ancient axiom to the contrary, what you see is not always what you get. Despite his reputation as an intransigent conservative, there is much more to this man than that which meets the eye or matches his public reputation.

3. The young priest and theologian, Josef Ratzinger, was a colleague of the great Karl Rahner. I believe they co-edited a paperback series during the Second Vatican Council entitled “Theological Investigations.” Ratzinger himself wrote the section on collaboration and collegiality, which of course became very influential on the Constitution on the Church promulgated by the Council.

4. Josef Ratzinger is a scholar and although he has clearly favored theological fundamentalism, he is known to be a man of discernment. I believe this quality can only break down barriers and lead to a greater understanding of an opposite point of view. One cannot be truly committed to one’s own position without attempting to understand an opposite point of view. Anything less is intellectual dishonesty.

5. The pursuit of ‘truth’ is always interesting when you consider that ‘truth has a thousand faces.’ Anyone who claims to have an absolute grasp of the truth is foolish. This is not a denial of absolutes but rather an acknowledgement of the inadequacy of the human mind to grasp the fullness of truth. Anyone who claims to know the mind of God has thereby diminished the mind of God.

6. Notwithstanding my disclaimer above about equivocation, as an experienced member of the Roman Curia for 24 years, he is familiar with Vatican diplomacy. He knows the meaning of the words but he also knows that words also have deeper meanings beyond that which is found in the dictionary. Vatican diplomacy is very different from that used by other sovereign states.

7. Americans tend not to understand Vatican Diplomacy.

8. The Church moves forward very slowly– rarely in leaps and bounds; “Festina lente,” a Latin phrase meaning, “Make haste slowly!” The ‘salami technique’ tends to be more effective than revolutionary change.

9. Meaningful changes do not take place by edict but by the evolution of thought – not just at the top but more importantly at the bottom where fermentation begins. As there has been a great deal of fermentation in Latin America so also in Africa. To the extent that the Church has not entered into a true engagement with the poor of Latin America, many Catholics are moving into the Evangelical Protestant tradition. Although the African Church is still expanding, it is also true that African Catholicism is very different from American Catholicism but it is also very different from European, ‘Roman’ Catholicism.

10. I believe Benedict XVI will lower the papal profile. He will be appropriately more introverted and less dramatic than John Paul II. He will not be interested ‘working the crowds’ but in administering the Church – collegially. Despite his accent on papal authority during the reign of John Paul II, I don’t believe he can forget the ‘truth’ of what he wrote in the sixties.

11. I believe Benedict will be a listening Pope. Despite the fact that he was a close advisor to him, I believe he will not be a clone of John Paul II.

12. Though I surely do not believe that as the Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Joseph Ratziner was motivated by politics in the administration of his office, he knew only too well the politics of the curia and of the papacy itself. I can’t believe that he has not been unaware of polarization within the church during John Paul’s tenure and of the need for a movement toward the center. If anyone can move the Church to the center, he can – if he wants.

13. It is unfortunate that centrism has been viewed by people on the right and left as weak or wishy-washy. In truth, only a centrist can discern truth on both sides of the aisle.

14. It was most unlikely that a Cardinal who espoused discontinuity would have been elected. Cardinal Ratzinger was a known entity among the cardinals. There is little doubt in my mind that a turn to the left would heighten the danger of schism.

15. While it is true, the election of someone on the right guarantees continuity with the past, it by no means guarantees conformity to the past.

16. So, ‘ci vediamo que succede;’ Let’s see what happens.

Okay, this is getting longer than I intended but after all, the election of a pope happens only once or twice in a generation.

After reading this, many of my ‘liberal’ friends may be throwing up their hands in disbelief or even disgust. Hold on.

C So what can we expect to happen during the ‘reign’ of Benedict XVI?

The worst that can happen is that Benedict XVI will harden his position on Church doctrine and discipline rather than set a more pastoral or conciliatory tone in which case, we will know exactly that for which he stands. This can only produce clarity on matters of dissent.

The Catholic world is very different today than it was when John Paul II was elected. Catholics are no longer submissive to absolute authority or edict.

Anyone who believes that Third World Catholics are more faithful to the Church teaching on birth control or that all priests are celibate hasn’t done his or her homework.

American Catholics measure faithfulness by submission to the letter of the law. This is not the way it is in Italy or Latin American or in Africa or in Asia for that matter. American Catholics, both liberal and conservative, tend to be legalistic in the practice of their faith. If they decide to depart from doctrine or discipline, they will justify it through legalisms and a circuitous logic. Italians and others formed in the tradition say, “The law doesn’t apply where it can’t apply!”

Moreover, it would be a mistake to assume that all those ‘traditional’ folks who approved of Ratzinger’s appointment in the face of microphones and TV cameras are full-fledged loyal Catholics dedicated to the teaching and discipline of the Church in every respect. Only the more daring are prepared to say what they really think to the media.

Most faithful Catholics are too timid to say in public what they are really thinking in private. Many Catholics revert to an unhealthy passive agressive response. Not a good idea. Catholics in the pew need to speak up and act out respectfully but assertively—in faithfulness to the Gospel.

The decrease in the number of Catholics going to individual confession must be attributed to both conservative and liberal Catholics. In fact, the percentage of conservative Catholics no longer ‘going to confession on a regular basis is greater than the percentage than liberal Catholics this notwithstanding the fact that there are more conservative Catholics who attend church on a regular basis.

When I was pastor of St. Joseph, we used to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a communal format with general absolution. The vast majority of those who attended were traditional, practicing Catholics. In fact it was they who were most disappointed by Bishop Serrataelli’s recent prohibition of General Absolution. This has not and will not result in longer lines outside the confessional for individual confession if for no other reason than the fact that there is an insufficient number of priests available to administer the sacrament on an individual basis. (Cf my website archive for previous postings on General Absolution.)

I expect Pope Benedict to maintain and doctrinal integrity and disciplinary continuity with his predecessors. However, I expect members of the Catholic fold to continue to form their conscience with due regard for the doctrine and discipline of the Church but will not limit their conscientious decisions to Church pronouncements. Catholics, including conservative Catholics, have already resolved the issue of artificial birth control.

Divorced Catholics in second marriages who are unable for one reason or another to approach the diocesan tribunal for an ecclesiastical annulment will, with the help of their confessors, come to a conscientious decision in faith before God about their second marriage and will resume full communicants at worship as will men and women in gay civil unions. Traditional Catholics in both categories have being doing so for years.

I find our Holy Father’s preoccupation with relativism very interesting ‘relatively speaking’ with regard to the sexual abuse scandal. In the past, he seems to have considered it ‘relatively’ less important than other pastoral issues. In fact, in some of his previous statements, he implied that it was blown out of proportion by the media. Those who have had more direct experience with sexual abuse here in the United States and throughout the world might consider this a clear sign of relativism on the part of Joseph Ratzinger.

However, I believe that in recent months Cardinal Ratzinger has become much more informed about the reality not only in the United States but also across the world. I believe that his early statements about exaggerations by the media will give way to the facts. Most victims of sexual abuse have not come forth due to fear of exposure or of an insensitive response or even of an intransigent silence on the part of the Church.

I believe that he will not discriminate between conservative or liberal, gay or straight abuse of children. I believe that Benedict will finally admit that there is within the clerical culture, both liberal and conservative, a sub-culture that is both hetero and homosexual. This is not to state in any way that the abuse issue is the result of gays in the clergy. No way. It is only to suggest that some priests – straight and gay – have been leading a double life of which many bishops have been aware and in which even some bishops have themselves been involved. I think Benedict will clean up our act. In any case, as I mentioned to our own bishop, the clerical culture is broken! The bishops have only to acknowledge it.

In so doing, he will discover that although mandatory celibacy as well as homosexual orientation cannot be blamed for the sexual abuse of children, he will understand that mandatory celibacy is not a healthy alternative for all priests and that marriage and the priesthood are not incompatible.

His references to the corrosive nature of materialism would have much more force were they accompanied by a lesser attachment of bishops, cardinals and priests to the worldly treasures such as rings, jeweled crosses, mitres, watered silk garments and other symbols of honor to say nothing of life-style perks and privileges. More than one sage has said that, “Once one becomes a bishop, he will never sleep in a tent, will never have a bad meal and will never hear the truth again.” Well, this borders on the irreverence, to be sure, but in every irreverent statement, there is more than an element of truth.

If Benedict XVI is not aware of these realities, his tenure will be short-lived, i.e., his congregation will diminish which is not to say that Catholics will leave the Church. Indeed not. They will remain in the fold but will continue to search for communities of faith that reflect their values and for the longer tradition of the Church which extends far beyond the last few popes, even beyond Pope John XXIII. He will also find that the papacy itself will diminish as a needed moral voice and force in a world infected by materiallism and excessive moral relativism.

Ultimately the Pope will not be who he wants to be but whom the Church calls him to be.

One final note. Comments have been voiced about the young Josef Ratzinger’s involvement in Hitler’s youth corps and in the German Army. Such comments are silly if not downright insincere whatever their source. What adult who joined a forbidden fraternity or at least engaged in forbidden activities in a legitimate fraternity or who among those who served in Vietnam does not have something to regret from past associations. Give me a break. It is grossly unfair to hold a young boy responsible for moral decisions he had no ability to make. It is clear that when he realized the reality of Hitler’s intentions, he deserted!

So, these are my initial off-the-top-of-my-head reactions as a pastor-at-large. They are my own opinions and represent no other individual or organization or institution.

‘Ci vedremo che succede!’

Father Lasch
Pastor Emeritus
St Joseph RC Church
Mendham NJ

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