It happened to us Catholics again. When St. Teresa of Calcutta died in 1997, her death got little attention in the secular media, which was still fixated on the death of Princess Diana which had occurred a couple of weeks prior. Now, when Pope Benedict XVI has died, there is more attention given to Pele, who died a few days ago.
Occasionally in history it has happened that the most learned person in the world became pope. It happened at the end of the classical age when Gregory the Great served as pope. It happened at the turn of the second millennium when Sylvester II was pope. It happened during the Italian Renaissance before the birth of Erasmus when Pius II was pope.
In today’s world it would be difficult to label any one person as the most learned. Pope Benedict, however, would certainly be one of the candidates for this accolade, and in this sense, would be considered to have been a light to many, just as the Gospel of today says.
Josef Ratzinger
As an example, I have read several authors write about what Albert Einstein believed about God. Only Josef Ratzinger, though, described what Einstein believed and gave a footnote from a book Einstein had written describing his worldview (Einstein believed that God created the universe, then ignored it).
Some people wonder how Ratzinger got the reputation for being a liberal scholar. Josef Ratzinger was ordained a priest at the age of 24 with his older brother. It is a German tradition to ordain two brothers together when they are close in age in seminary, and thus it happened in June of 1951 in Freising, Germany.
The dominant tradition in Catholic thought for the previous century had been Thomism, a system of thought based on Thomas Aquinas, the great medieval Dominican. Young Fr. Ratzinger rejected Thomism as overly intellectual. He preferred the thought of Augustine and the later Franciscan movement, which emphasized faith and the spiritual life.
For example, in his Introduction to Christianity, the book that made him famous, Ratzinger tweaked the notion that Jesus’ death on the cross saves us. He wrote that when the eternal Son became man in the person of Jesus, this elevated our human nature and is the ultimate cause of our salvation.
He was an advisor at the Second Vatican Council and, with other liberals, advanced the trend away from Thomism. In the late 60’s and the 70’s, though, he saw his fellow liberals reject the Catholic faith by supporting Marxism and the sexual revolution. He distanced himself from this movement, basing himself on the faith of the ages.
In 1977, Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of Munich and made him a cardinal. Thus he took part in the conclave of 1978 that chose John Paul II. In 1981 the pope appointed him as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Disciplined
It is in this role that most people got to know him. He opposed and disciplined several prominent theologians for their opposition to Catholic teaching. The media portrayed him as a brutish authoritarian.
During his tenure it seemed that he would leave the Vatican in retirement on the death of John Paul II. It was not to be. The cardinals in the conclave of 2005, perhaps reacting against the wave of media antagonism against the Church, elected Cdl. Ratzinger. He chose the name Benedict XVI in honor of the saint who founded western monasticism.
During his pontificate, the media attacked Benedict XVI as someone who permitted sexual scandal. This was unjustified; in fact, in his first days as pope, Benedict took decisive action against Frs. Marcial Maciel and Gino Burresi, two priests who had founded religious orders. I suspect that John Paul II, who came from a Communist country in which the government routinely slandered good priests, could not bring himself to believe the charges against these priests.
Criticism
Benedict was massively criticized for an address he gave in 2008 in Regensburg. He said that the Catholic faith is different from Islam in that it concedes a role to reason. Faith builds on reason and transcends reason, but it does not contradict reason. Islam, on the other hand, exalts faith and denigrates reason. This is why Islam is far faster to wage religious war.
This might be an unpopular sentiment and was condemned in the media; yet this was Benedict’s analysis.
Benedict surprised the world when he announced his retirement in 2013. Again, I believe this came from his precise analysis of the papacy in the modern world. As popes would come to live longer thanks to contemporary medicine, it would become necessary for the good of the Church for popes to resign as they become too old to be vigorous leaders of the Church.
I think Benedict’s greatness lay in his humility, the same humility that prompted him to retire. Very intelligent people have a temptation to pride. They often despise customs of the society around them. Their experience prompts them to believe that the way they do things is better than the standard way of doing things: usually they are right.
Respect
Benedict always respected the faith given by Jesus to his Church. He respected the authority of the teaching Church, even as he strove to change certain ways of thinking in the Church. He subordinated his great intellect to the faith revealed by God.
As pope, Benedict was once introduced to Pele. It turned out that he was maybe the only man of his generation outside a cloistered monastery who did not know who Pele was.
I look forward to your monthly writings. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Father Mike for your sharing and enlightenment, as usual. God bless your intellect and service to His people!