WONDERING GURU
On 2 January 2023, Pope
Francis announced: “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict
XVI, passed away at 9:34 AM in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican”. Vatican announced that the body of the Pope
Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can pay their
respects and then to the Vatican Grottos where he will be laid to rest on 5th
January 2023.
On 28 December 2022 Pope Francis himself had publicly
shared the news about his predecessor's worsening health due to advancing age at
the end of the last General Audience of the year 2022.
As the life chapter of the Pope Benedict XVI comes to
an end what will The Catholic Church remember about him. I personally feel the
Pope will be remembered for the following 7 things.
1)
Let me begin with what everyone already
knows. He was the first pontiff in six centuries to resign. The last pope to resign willingly was
Pope Celestine V in 1294 after reigning for only five months. Before resigning Benedict
was the only Pope to discuss publicly the possibility of resignation. “Those of
us who are over 75 are not allowed to run even a small diocese and cardinals
over 80 are not allowed to elect a pope. I can understand why one day the Pope
might say ‘even I can’t do my job any more’,” said retired Archbishop Luigi
Bettazzi of the north Italian city.
2)
On Tuesday, 19 April 2005, Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger was elected the 265th Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, selecting
the name Benedict XVI. He was the first German pope. He was one of the oldest
reigning Pope since Leo XIII, who died aged 93 in 1903. Since his election
Benedict was hailed as a hero by conservative Catholics and viewed with
suspicion by liberals.
3)
Before he was elected pope, the man
formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was known by such critical epithets
as “God’s rottweiler” or “German Shepherd” because of his stern stand on
theological issues. He was the Vatican’s chief doctrinal enforcer for nearly a
quarter of a century.
4)
He was the first Pope to engage in
dialogue with groups outside of the Church, the ecumenical churches and even
the schismatic Lefebvrians. He also developed a path for integrating married
Anglican clergy into the Catholic Church. Benedict approved an
apostolic constitution, or special decree, that allowed Anglican clergymen and
laypersons to join the Roman Catholic Church while maintaining some Anglican
traditions.
5)
Benedict XVI also began the financial
reforms. Following the formation of the European Union, the Church was forced
to modernize the management of its finances. Yet Benedict XVI’s greatest
contribution to the Church was his magisterium. According to scholars, his catechesis,
encyclicals on central aspects of the faith, and biographies on Jesus of
Nazareth could qualify him to one day be declared a doctor of the Church.
If
you remember his Encyclicals are : Deus caritas Est (God is Love) in 2005; Spe Salvi (In Hope We Were Saved) in 2007;
Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) in 2009.
6)
His papacy was hounded most by the child
sex abuse scandals particularly in Germany, Ireland, and the United States. He had
apologised to victims several times for the criminal behaviour of priests. In 2008 Benedict made his first visit as pope
to the United States, where he spoke out against clerical sexual abuse. In a
pastoral letter, Benedict rebuked the bishops of the Irish church for a failure
of leadership.
7) His
role as a President of the Commission for Drafting the Catechism of the
Catholic Church and the six years of intense work (1986-92) behind its
preparation are one of his many outstanding achievements.
Not
only the Catholic Church but the World Leaders also remember him for his personality
and service. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said Benedict was
“a humble man of prayer and study”. US President Joe Biden said Benedict “will
be remembered as a renowned theologian…”. The United Kingdom’s King Charles III
said he received the news of Benedict’s death “with deep sadness”. He further
said Pope tried to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican
Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. Russian President Vladimir Putin has
described Benedict as “a prominent religious figure… a staunch defender of
traditional Christian values”. The head of the Lutheran Church of Sweden said “Benedict
XVI had a great impact on the rapprochement of Lutherans and Catholics in the
last 50 years”.
May God grant Pope Benedict XVI eternal bliss
among the galaxy of saints. Let’s pray
that this brilliant theologian will one day become a saint like his predecessor
John Paul II.
