Tribute to Pope Benedict XVI
by Luca de Mata
Best Wishes Holy Father! on St Joseph's Day, the name day of Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, Fides News Agency looks back at these first three years of his Pontificate
The programme of the Pontificate on the day his Petrine Ministry began
Sharing the Gospel with everyone: the urgency of mission
Ecumenical dialogue and the importance of relations with other Christians
From Regensburg to dialogue with Islam
“Non negotiable principles”: defence of human life and the family
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – This dossier intends to pay homage to the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his name day, 19th March, the Feast of Saint Joseph, only a month away from the third anniversary of his election to the Chair of Peter, on 19th April. We will try to focus our review of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI on certain themes which we consider important. Certainly we cannot mention here all the different aspects and urgencies which rotate around these first three precious years of pontificate, but we can at least recall some of the Pope's words, re-read them, make them our own, set them again in our memory. This would seem to us to be not a mere literary exercise, but rather a service to many.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his Pontificate which began on 19 April 2005, has celebrated two name days. This 19th March 2008 is therefore the third. He has spoken to the faithful about the figure of Saint Joseph many times. We cannot fail to mention the words he said on 18 December 2005 in his reflection at the midday Angelus prayer. “ In these last days of Advent – said Benedict XVI on that occasion – the liturgy invites us to contemplate in a special way the Virgin Mary and St Joseph, who lived with unique intensity the period of expectation and preparation for Jesus' birth. Today, I would like to turn my gaze to the figure of St Joseph. In today's Gospel St Luke presents the Virgin Mary as "a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David" (cf. Lk 1:27). The Evangelist Matthew, however, places a greater emphasis on the putative father of Jesus, stressing that through him the Child belonged legally to the lineage of David and thus fulfilled the Scriptural prophecy that the Messiah would be a "son of David". But Joseph's role cannot be reduced to this legal aspect. He was the model of a "just" man (Mt 1:19) who, in perfect harmony with his wife, welcomed the Son of God made man and watched over his human growth. It is therefore particularly appropriate in the days that precede Christmas to establish a sort of spiritual conversation with St Joseph, so that he may help us live to the full this great mystery of faith”.
These words of the Holy Father reveal his special veneration for the figure of Saint Joseph, veneration shared by his beloved predecessor, John Paul II. He recalled this on the same occasion 18 December 2005: “Beloved Pope John Paul II, – the Pope said –, who was very devoted to St Joseph, left us a wonderful meditation dedicated to him in the Apostolic Exhortation Redemptoris Custos, "The Guardian of the Redeemer". Among the many aspects on which this Document sheds light, the silence of St Joseph is given a special emphasis. His silence is steeped in contemplation of the mystery of God in an attitude of total availability to the divine desires. In other words, St Joseph's silence does not express an inner emptiness but, on the contrary, the fullness of the faith he bears in his heart and which guides his every thought and action. It is a silence thanks to which Joseph, in unison with Mary, watches over the Word of God, known through the Sacred Scriptures, continuously comparing it with the events of the life of Jesus; a silence woven of constant prayer, a prayer of blessing of the Lord, of the adoration of his holy will and of unreserved entrustment to his providence. It is no exaggeration to think that it was precisely from his "father" Joseph that Jesus learned – at the human level – that steadfast interiority which is a presupposition of authentic justice, the "superior justice" which he was one day to teach his disciples (cf. Mt 5:20). Let us allow ourselves to be "filled" with St Joseph's silence! In a world that is often too noisy, that encourages neither recollection nor listening to God's voice, we are in such deep need of it. During this season of preparation for Christmas, let us cultivate inner recollection in order to welcome and cherish Jesus in our own lives”.
The Church recalls Saint Joseph also on May 1, the feast-day of workers. And the Holy Father has spoken many times of St Joseph the Worker. For example on 19 March 2006, Feast of Saint Joseph and the third Sunday of Lent when in his homily he said: "St Joseph's witness shows that man is the subject and protagonist of work." And again: “I would like to entrust to St Joseph those young people who are finding integration into the working world difficult, the unemployed and everyone who is suffering hardship due to the widespread employment crisis… At the same time, it is indispensable that people not allow themselves to be enslaved by work or idolize it, claiming to find in it the ultimate and definitive meaning of life” the Pope said. He then recalled that it is written in the Bible: “ Six days you may labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, your God" (Ex 20:8-9). These words are from the Book of Exodus which also tells how God gave Israel the Ten Commandments. A page on which the Pontiff reflected during the Concelebration of the Eucharist.
Joseph Ratzinger was elected to the chair of Peter on 19th April 2005. We all remember his first words from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica minutes after his election: “Dear Brothers and Sisters, After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you”.
On that occasion he did not explain why he had chosen the name Benedict. This he did a few days later during that first unforgettable General Audience in St Peter's Square. It was 27th April 2005. “I wished to be called Benedict XVI – the Pope explained – in order to create a spiritual bond with Benedict XV, who steered the Church through the period of turmoil caused by the First World War. He was a courageous and authentic prophet of peace and strove with brave courage first of all to avert the tragedy of the war and then to limit its harmful consequences. Treading in his footsteps, I would like to place my ministry at the service of reconciliation and harmony between persons and peoples, since I am profoundly convinced that the great good of peace is first and foremost a gift of God, a precious but unfortunately fragile gift to pray for, safeguard and build up, day after day, with the help of all”. The Pope said this name also calls to mind St Benedict of Norcia, recalling that the gradual expansion of the Benedictine Order that he founded, and its "enormous influence on the spread of Christianity across the Continent”.
Some 15,000 people from all over the world had gathered for the audience. The largest groups included 1,000 from the archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia; about 2,000 from Poland; about 1,300 from Germany; 800 from France; 700 from the United States. And others from Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Hungary, France, Canada, Gabon, England, Ireland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Australia, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Singapore, USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spagna, Mexico and Portugal. Present also 200 Muslims taking part in the 1st Christian-Muslim Symposium of Dialogue promoted by the Focolari Movement.
In his address the Pope thanked the visitors “for your presence which assures me of your prayers” and he recalled the figure of John Paul II, “ to whom we are indebted for his extraordinary spiritual heritage”. “ Just as at the beginning of his Pontificate John Paul II wanted to continue the reflections on the Christian virtues that his Predecessor had begun – said Benedict XVI – I also intend to continue in the coming months the reflections that he had prepared on the second part of the Psalms and Canticles which comprise Vespers. Next Wednesday, therefore, I will take up his Catechesis where he left off, after his General Audience last 26 January.”. At the end of the Audience Benedict XVI, as his predecessor, dedicated his last words to young people, the sick and newly-weds to whom he said. “ May the Risen Lord fill the heart of each one of you with his love, dear young people, so that you will be ready to follow him with enthusiasm; may he support you, dear sick people, so that you will accept the burden of suffering serenely; and may he guide you, dear newly-weds, to make your family grow in holiness”.
The programme of the Pontificate on the day his Petrine Ministry began
Some 140 foreign delegations came on 24th April 2005 to participate in St Peter's Square in the Mass for the beginning of the Petrine Ministry of Pope Benedict XVI with the imposition of the Pallium and the consignment of the Ring of the Fisherman. A Liturgy during which the Pope spoke unforgettable words to explain the programme of his pontificate: “My real programme of governance – the Pope said – is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole Church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him, so that He himself will lead the Church at this hour of our history.”.
Words which were heard by the multitude of faithful as well, as we said, by 140 foreign delegations. Representing Italy, the President della Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi accompanied by his wife Signora Franca, the President of the Senate Marcello Pera and the President of the Camera Pierferdinando Casini. In St Peter's Square there was also the prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his wife. The King of Spain Juan Carlos di Borbone and Queen Sofia. The German delegation led by President Horst Koehler, with him Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, home minister Otto Schily and the governor of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber. And then Queen Fabiola of Belgium, the French Premier Jean Pierre Raffarin and Prince Alberto di Monaco.
Pope Benedict XVI, obviously did not fail to mention his predecessor, Pope John Paul II: “During these days of great intensity, – said Benedict XVI –, we have chanted the litany of the saints on three different occasions: at the funeral of our Holy Father John Paul II; as the Cardinals entered the Conclave; and again today, when we sang it with the response: Tu illum adiuva – sustain the new Successor of Saint Peter. On each occasion, in a particular way, I found great consolation in listening to this prayerful chant. How alone we all felt after the passing of John Paul II – the Pope who for over twenty-six years had been our shepherd and guide on our journey through life! He crossed the threshold of the next life, entering into the mystery of God. But he did not take this step alone. Those who believe are never alone – neither in life nor in death. At that moment, we could call upon the Saints from every age – his friends, his brothers and sisters in the faith – knowing that they would form a living procession to accompany him into the next world, into the glory of God. We knew that his arrival was awaited. Now we know that he is among his own and is truly at home.”.
Benedict XVI then spoke about the conclave and how the Cardinals decided to vote for him: “We were also consoled as we made our solemn entrance into Conclave, to elect the one whom the Lord had chosen – the Pope said –, How would we be able to discern his name? How could 115 Bishops, from every culture and every country, discover the one on whom the Lord wished to confer the mission of binding and loosing? Once again, we knew that we were not alone, we knew that we were surrounded, led and guided by the friends of God. And now, at this moment, weak servant of God that I am, I must assume this enormous task, which truly exceeds all human capacity. How can I do this? How will I be able to do it? All of you, my dear friends, have just invoked the entire host of Saints, represented by some of the great names in the history of God’s dealings with mankind. In this way, I too can say with renewed conviction: I am not alone. I do not have to carry alone what in truth I could never carry alone. All the Saints of God are there to protect me, to sustain me and to carry me. And your prayers, my dear friends, your indulgence, your love, your faith and your hope accompany me. Indeed, the communion of Saints consists not only of the great men and women who went before us and whose names we know. All of us belong to the communion of Saints, we who have been baptised in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we who draw life from the gift of Christ’s Body and Blood, through which he transforms us and makes us like himself. Yes, the Church is alive – this is the wonderful experience of these days. During those sad days of the Pope’s illness and death, it became wonderfully evident to us that the Church is alive. And the Church is young. She holds within herself the future of the world and therefore shows each of us the way towards the future. The Church is alive and we are seeing it: we are experiencing the joy that the Risen Lord promised his followers. The Church is alive – she is alive because Christ is alive, because he is truly risen. In the suffering that we saw on the Holy Father’s face in those days of Easter, we contemplated the mystery of Christ’s Passion and we touched his wounds. But throughout these days we have also been able, in a profound sense, to touch the Risen One. We have been able to experience the joy that he promised, after a brief period of darkness, as the fruit of his resurrection”. And then the phrase that perhaps touched most of all the hearts of everyone: “My real programme of governance is not to do my own will, not to pursue my own ideas, but to listen, together with the whole Church, to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by Him, so that He himself will lead the Church at this hour of our history”.
The Pope went on to illustrate the two signs which represent liturgically the assumption of the Petrine Ministry: the sign of the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman. The Pope explained that the Pallium can be considered an image of the yoke of Christ, which the Bishop of Rome, the Servant of the Servants of God, takes on his shoulder. God's yoke is God's will, which the faithful accept. This will is not an exterior burden which oppresses freedom and takes it away. To know the will of God, to know the way of life is the joy of the faithful: the will of God does not alienate, it purifies – sometime painfully perhaps – and in this way leads the man to himself.
The second sign is the Ring of the Fisherman. Peter's call to be shepherd, comes after the account of a miraculous catch of fish: after a night in which the disciples had let down their nets without success, they see the Risen Lord on the shore. He tells them to let down their nets once more and the nets become so full that they can hardly pull them in; 153 large fish: “and although there were so many, the net was not torn” (Jn 21:11). “This account, coming at the end of Jesus’ earthly journey with his disciples, – the Pope explained –, corresponds to an account found at the beginning: there too, the disciples had caught nothing the entire night; there too, Jesus had invited Simon once more to put out into the deep. And Simon, who was not yet called Peter, gave the wonderful reply: “Master, at your word I will let down the nets.” And then came the conferral of his mission: “Do not be afraid. Henceforth you will be catching men” (Lk 5:1-11). Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true life”.
And so Benedict XVI united in an admirable way the words dedicated to the programme of his pontificate to those on the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman. If the Pope's programme is to listen to the word of the Lord and in this way lead as many people as possible to Him, the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman are signs of the assumption of this difficult task. Every man and every woman, perhaps without knowing it, awaits the coming of Christ in their lives: “Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? – said Benedict XVI – If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And the Pope said again: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation”.
Sharing the Gospel with everyone: the urgency of mission
We can only understand the idea of mission proper to the Holy Father Benedict XVI if we take another look at the Messages he wrote for World Mission Sunday 2006 and World Mission Sunday 2007.
In 2006 the theme was “Charity, soul of mission”. Benedict XVI, from the very first lines, enters in medias res: “ Unless the mission is oriented by charity, that is, unless it springs from a profound act of divine love, it risks being reduced to mere philanthropic and social activity”. And in fact it is precisely the love which God has for every human person which constitutes the heart of the experience and the proclamation of the Gospel. Therefore although it is necessary and legitimate to meet people's material needs, this comes after the proclamation of the Gospel, the sharing of the message of love contained in every page of the Gospel.
So what is the individual Christian community called to do? The Pope explains: “Every Christian community is therefore called to make known God who is Love”. A theme extracted from his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est. Here the Holy Father explains that God's love permeates the whole of creation and human history. “In the beginning, – the Pope wrote in the Message for Mission Sunday 2006 recalling his Deus Caritas Est – man came from the Creator's hands as the fruit of an initiative of love. Later, sin obscured the impression of the divine within him. Deceived by the Evil One, Adam and Eve, our first parents, failed to live up to the relationship of trust with their Lord, succumbing to the temptation of the Evil One who instilled in them the suspicion that the Lord was a rival and wanted to limit their freedom. So it was that they preferred themselves to divine love freely given, convinced that in this way they were asserting their own free will. They consequently ended by losing their original happiness and they tasted the bitter sorrow of sin and death. However, God did not abandon them. He promised salvation to them and to their descendants, announcing in advance that he would send his Only-begotten Son, Jesus, who in the fullness of time was to reveal his love as Father, a love capable of redeeming every human creature from the slavery of evil and death. In Christ, therefore, immortal life was communicated to us, the very life of the Trinity. Thanks to Christ, the Good Shepherd who did not abandon the lost sheep, human beings of all time were granted the possibility of entering into communion with God, the Merciful Father who was prepared to welcome home the Prodigal Son. An astonishing sign of this love is the Cross. Christ's death on the Cross, I wrote in the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est, is "the culmination of that turning of God against himself in which he gives himself in order to raise man up and save him.... This is love in its most radical form.... It is there that this truth can be contemplated. It is from there that our definition of love must begin. In this contemplation the Christian discovers the path along which his life and love must move" (n. 12)”.
The connection between the love of God and mission is also treated by John Paul II in the encyclical Redemptoris missio: “the soul of all missionary activity: love, which has been and remains the driving force of mission, and is also the sole criterion for judging what is to be done or not done, changed or not changed. It is the principle which must direct every action, and end to which that action must be directed. When we act with a view to charity, or are inspired by charity, nothing is unseemly and everything is good.” (RM n. 60). “To be missionaries – said Benedict XVI in his Mission Sunday message 2006 – means loving God with all one's heart, even to the point, if necessary, of dying for him. How many priests, men and women Religious and lay people, have borne the supreme witness of love with martyrdom even in our times! Being missionaries means stooping down to the needs of all, like the Good Samaritan, especially those of the poorest and most destitute people, because those who love with Christ's Heart do not seek their own interests but the glory of the Father and the good of their neighbour alone. Here lies the secret of the apostolic fruitfulness of missionary action that crosses frontiers and cultures, reaches peoples and spreads to the extreme boundaries of the world. ”.
No less intense, a year later, the Message for World Mission Sunday 2007. This time the theme was: “All the Churches for all the world”. In this sense the purpose was to reflect on the urgency and the importance still in our day, of the Church's missionary work. Again on this occasion the Pope went straight to the heart of the matter which – the Pope said – "invites the local Churches of every continent to a shared awareness of the urgent need to re-launch missionary action in the face of the many serious challenges of our time. The conditions in which humanity lives have of course changed and in recent decades, especially since the Second Vatican Council, a great effort has been made to spread the Gospel. However, much still remains to be done in order to respond to the missionary call which the Lord never tires of addressing to every one of the baptised. In the first place, he continues to call the Churches of so-called "ancient tradition", which in the past provided the missions with a consistent number of priests, men and women religious and lay people as well as material means, giving life to an effective cooperation between Christian communities. This cooperation has yielded abundant apostolic fruit both for the young Churches in mission lands as well as in the ecclesial situations from which the missionaries came. In the face of the secularised culture, which sometimes seems to be penetrating ever more deeply into Western societies, considering in addition the crisis of the family, the dwindling number of vocations and the progressive ageing of the clergy, these Churches risk withdrawing into themselves to view the future with ever less hope and weakening their missionary effort. Yet, this is the very time for opening oneself with trust to the Providence of God, who never abandons his People and who, with the power of the Holy Spirit, guides them toward the fulfilment of his eternal design of salvation ”.
The Pope recalled that the Good Shepherd invites also recently evangelized Churches to dedicate themselves generously to the missio ad gentes. Despite the many difficulties and obstacles they encounter in their development, these communities are constantly growing. "Fortunately, some of them – the Pope pointed out – have a large number of priests and consecrated persons, many of whom, although there are so many needs in loco, are nevertheless sent to carry out their pastoral ministry and apostolic service elsewhere, even in lands evangelized long ago. Thus, we are witnessing a providential "exchange of gifts" which redounds to the benefit of the entire Mystical Body of Christ. I warmly hope that missionary cooperation will be intensified and that the most will be made of the potential and charisms of each one. I also hope that World Mission Day will contribute to making all the Christian communities and every baptized person ever more aware that Christ's call to spread his Kingdom to the very ends of the earth is universal. "The Church is missionary by her very nature", John Paul II wrote in his Encyclical Redemptoris Missio, "for Christ's mandate is not something contingent or external, but reaches the very heart of the Church. It follows that the universal Church and each individual Church is sent forth to the nations.... It is highly appropriate that young Churches "should share as soon as possible in the universal missionary work of the Church. They should themselves send missionaries to proclaim the Gospel all over the world, even though they are suffering from a shortage of clergy'" (n. 62).
Speaking of mission we cannot fail to mention the words Benedict has addressed to youth, especially the young people gathered for Agorà in Loreto in early September 2007: “The world – the Pope said on that occasion – needs to be changed and it is precisely the mission of young people to change it”. And again: “Do not be afraid to dream with your eyes wide open of great projects for good, never let yourselves be discouraged by difficulties”. Words which recall the many pronounced by John Paul II on the occasion of numerous meetings with young people during which he urged them not to be afraid to welcome Christ into their hearts and to devote their energies to bearing witness to Him in every corner of the earth.
Ecumenical dialogue and the importance of relations with other Churches
A few weeks after his election to the Chair of Peter, Benedict travelled to Bari for the conclusion of Italy's 24th National Eucharistic Congress. Where, on 29 May 2005, during a deeply participated Concelebration of the Eucharist, Benedict XVI tackled the theme of ecumenism and relations with other Christians. Those were unforgettable words worth re-reading. The Holy Father said: “The Christ whom we meet in the Sacrament is the same here in Bari as he is in Rome, here in Europe, as in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. He is the one same Christ who is present in the Eucharistic Bread of every place on earth. This means that we can encounter him only together with all others. We can only receive him in unity. Is not this what the Apostle Paul said in the reading we have just heard? In writing to the Corinthians he said: "Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf"(I Cor 10:17). The consequence is clear: we cannot communicate with the Lord if we do not communicate with one another. If we want to present ourselves to him, we must also take a step towards meeting one another. To do this we must learn the great lesson of forgiveness: we must not let the gnawings of resentment work in our soul, but must open our hearts to the magnanimity of listening to others, open our hearts to understanding them, eventually to accepting their apologies, to generously offering our own. The Eucharist, let us repeat, is the sacrament of unity. Unfortunately, however, Christians are divided, precisely in the sacrament of unity. Sustained by the Eucharist, we must feel all the more roused to striving with all our strength for that full unity which Christ ardently desired in the Upper Room. Precisely here in Bari, fortunate Bari, a city that preserves the bones of St Nicholas, a land of encounter and dialogue with our Christian brethren of the East, I would like to reaffirm my desire to assume as a fundamental commitment working with all my might for the re-establishment of the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. I am aware that expressions of good will do not suffice for this. We need concrete acts that penetrate souls and shake consciences, prompting each one to that inner conversion that is the necessary condition for any progress on the path of ecumenism. I ask you all to set out with determination on the path of that spiritual ecumenism which, through prayer, opens the doors to the Holy Spirit, who alone can create unity”.
A few weeks after Bari, the Pontiff flew to Germany to preside World Youth Day. Here too the theme of Christian unity returned on the occasion of a meeting with representatives of other Churches and ecclesial Communities: “ As a native of this Country, – said Benedict XVI on that occasion – I am quite aware of the painful situation which the rupture of unity in the profession of the faith has entailed for so many individuals and families. This was one of the reasons why, immediately following my election as Bishop of Rome, I declared, as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, my firm commitment to making the recovery of full and visible Christian unity a priority of my Pontificate. In doing so, I wished consciously to follow in the footsteps of two of my great Predecessors: Pope Paul VI, who over 40 years ago signed the conciliar Decree on Ecumenism Unitatis Redintegratio, and Pope John Paul II, who made that Document the inspiration for his activity. In ecumenical dialogue Germany without a doubt has a place of particular importance. We are the Country where the Reformation began; however, Germany is also one of the countries where the ecumenical movement of the 20th century originated. With the successive waves of immigration in the last century, Christians from the Orthodox Churches and the ancient Churches of the East also found a new homeland in this Country. This certainly favoured greater contact and exchanges so that now there is a dialogue between we three. Together we can rejoice in the fact that the dialogue, with the passage of time, has brought about a renewed sense of our brotherhood and has created a more open and trusting climate between Christians belonging to the various Churches and Ecclesial Communities. My venerable Predecessor, in his Encyclical Ut Unum Sint (1995), saw this as an especially significant fruit of dialogue (cf. nn. 41ff.; 64)”.
Benedict XVI explained that among Christians, fraternity is not just a vague sentiment, nor is it a sign of indifference to truth. Instead it is founded on the supernatural reality of the one Baptism, which inserts all baptised Christians into the one Body of Christ. “ Together – the Pontiff explained – we confess that Jesus Christ is God and Lord; together we acknowledge him as the one mediator between God and man (cf. I Tm 2:5), and we emphasize that together we are members of his Body (cf. Unitatis Redintegratio, n. 22; Ut Unum Sint, n. 42). Based on this essential foundation of Baptism, a reality comes from him which is a way of being, then of professing, believing and acting. Based on this crucial foundation, dialogue has borne its fruits and will continue to do so. I would like to mention the re-examination of the mutual condemnations, called for by John Paul II during his first Visit to Germany. I recall with some nostalgia that first Visit. I was able to be present when we were together at Mainz in a fairly small and authentic fraternal circle. Some questions were put to the Pope and he described a broad theological vision in which reciprocity was amply treated. That colloquium gave rise to an episcopal, that is, a Church commission, under ecclesial responsibility. Finally, with the contribution of theologians it led to the important Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (1999) and to an agreement on basic issues that had been a subject of controversy since the 16th century. We should also acknowledge with gratitude the results of our common stand on important matters, such as the fundamental questions involving the defence of life and the promotion of justice and peace. I am well aware that many Christians in Germany, and not only in this Country, expect further concrete steps to bring us closer together. I myself have the same expectation. It is the Lord's commandment, but also the imperative of the present hour, to carry on dialogue with conviction at all levels of the Church's life. This must obviously take place with sincerity and realism, with patience and perseverance, in complete fidelity to the dictates of one's conscience in the awareness that it is the Lord who gives unity, that we do not create it, that it is he who gives it but that we must go to meet him.”.
On 21 January 2007, during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, in his reflection before the recitation of the midday Angelus prayer from his window overlooking St Peter's Square, the Pope said the theme chosen for the Week of Prayer was taken from the Gospel of St Mark and narrates the people's wonder at the miracles of Jesus: “He makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak!” (Mk 7,37). “ I intend – the Pope said – to comment more broadly on this biblical theme this 25 January, the liturgical Feast of the Conversion of St Paul, when at 5:30 p.m. I will preside at the celebration of Vespers for the conclusion of the "Week of Prayer" in the Basilica of St Paul Outside-the-Walls. I expect many of you to come to that liturgical encounter because unity is achieved above all by praying, and the more unanimous the prayer, the more pleasing it is to the Lord. This year the initial project for the "Week", subsequently adapted by the Joint International Committee, was prepared by the faithful in Umlazi, South Africa, a very poor town where AIDS has acquired pandemic proportions and human hopes are few and far between. But the Risen Christ is hope for everyone. He is so especially for Christians. As heirs of the divisions that came about in past epochs, on this occasion they have wished to launch an appeal: Christ can do all things, "he makes the deaf hear and the mute speak" (Mk 7:37). He is capable of imbuing Christians with the ardent desire to listen to the other, to communicate with the other and, together with him, speak the language of reciprocal love. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity thus reminds us that ecumenism is a profound dialogical experience, a listening and speaking to one another, knowing one another better; it is a task within everyone's reach, especially when it concerns spiritual ecumenism, based on prayer and sharing which is now possible among Christians. I hope that the longing for unity, expressed in prayer and brotherly collaboration to alleviate human suffering, may spread increasingly in parishes and ecclesial movements as well as among Religious institutes.”
From Regensburg to dialogue with Islam
A great uproar followed the words pronounced by Benedict XVI on 12 April 2006 in the Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg in Germany, when he addressed representatives of the world of science. In his lectio magistralis in which he treated the subject of faith and reason, the Pope stressed the need for “courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur” in order to be capable of “genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today”. The lecture, as we all saw, led to widespread protest in the Muslim world due to a wrongly interpreted remark about Islam, when, citing a 14th century Byzantine Emperor, Benedict XVI affirmed that the diffusion of a creed through violence was unreasonable. The protests subsided after the Pontiff himself explained. In general it can be said that the Lecture in Regensburg was received with difficulty by Muslims, very few read the whole text and probably most saw only what was written about it in the international press. In his lecture, addressed to the West rather than to Muslims, the Pope simply said that if the West continues to think of reason as something detached from the faith, morals, values, spirituality, then culture is emptied of the essential. With this vision of reason the West has created an enormous gap between itself and the rest of the world, from Arabs, Africans, Asians. And this because in every culture in the world, reason is connected with values and spirituality.
With his lecture the Pope intended to say that our understanding of reason must be broadened if we wish to dialogue with the rest of the world. If western society claims to be a model for many peoples, it must rediscover its spiritual roots, otherwise there will be a clash between civilisations; if – on the one hand – the West fails to broaden its understanding of rationality in order to integrate spirituality, morals and values and – on the other – the Muslim world and other civilisations fail to integrate this rationality which the West has developed, especially into their values and faith, we risk ever more serious conflict. And the whole purpose of the Pope's Lecture was precisely to promote dialogue among cultures and religions.
Although the lecture was not addressed specifically to Muslims, we can say that it did demonstrate the serious attention which Benedict XVI gives to Islam. Following that Lecture there have been several positive steps forward in dialogue between Catholics and Muslims, for example shortly after Regensburg, the Pope invited ambassadors of Muslim countries accredited to the Holy See and representatives of the Italian Islamic Council to a meeting on 25 September 2006 at his Summer Residence in Castelgandolfo just outside Rome. That meeting in Castelgandolfo was an opportunity to reaffirm readiness for dialogue, having established certain priorities, first and foremost religious freedom: “I confirm my esteem and profound respect for followers of Islam", the Pope said, replying once and for all to the polemic with regard to his lecture in Germany.
Benedict XVI took the opportunity to illustrate his thought on Islam, and he asked Christians and Muslims to work together to “counter any manifestation of violence ”, the assumption on which he based his analysis on faith and reason. “Inter-religious and intercultural dialogue the Pontiff said – are a necessity in order to build together the world of peace and brotherhood so ardently desire today by all men and women of good will”. And in this sense “men and women of today expect us to give eloquent witness able to indicate to everyone the value of the religions dimension of life”. Therefore "Christians and Muslims must learn to work together, as indeed they already do in many common undertakings, in order to guard against all forms of intolerance and to oppose all manifestations of violence; as for us, religious authorities and political leaders, we must guide and encourage them in this direction”.
The Pope's conciliatory words at Castelgandolfo made it clear that “fruitful collaboration” and respect between cultures and between religions can only be founded on “reciprocity, especially with regard to religious freedom”. The Pope proposed a convergence between the two religions, not only on the level of spiritual witness, but also on a moral programme to defend human rights. “ I am profoundly convinced that in the current world situation it is imperative that Christians and Muslims engage with one another in order to address the numerous challenges that present themselves to humanity, especially those concerning the defence and promotion of the dignity of the human person and of the rights ensuing from that dignity. When threats mount up against people and against peace, by recognizing the central character of the human person and by working with perseverance to see that human life is always respected, Christians and Muslims manifest their obedience to the Creator, who wishes all people to live in the dignity that he has bestowed upon them."
Defending the family and defending human life from beginning to natural end
Benedict XVI has not failed since 19th April 2005 to recall the urgent need to defending life from conception to natural end, and to defend the family founded on the sacrament of matrimony. The Pontiff has always opposed any sort of scientific technicalism which fails to privilege life as an essential value, life as a gift of God. These are what we call “nonnegotiable principles”, principles which should be a value for every man and woman. The Pontiff has made numerous interventions on this theme. And there are bound to be many more in the future. The reason being repeated attacks, ever more violent, on the part of a secularist culture with increasing force on every day life.
The expression “nonnegotiable principles”, the Pope uses forcefully in the Apostolic Exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, on the Eucharist. “ Worship pleasing to God – the Pontiff writes –, can never be a purely private matter, without consequences for our relationships with others: it demands a public witness to our faith. Evidently, this is true for all the baptized, yet it is especially incumbent upon those who, by virtue of their social or political position, must make decisions regarding fundamental values, such as respect for human life, its defence from conception to natural death, the family built upon marriage between a man and a woman, the freedom to educate one's children and the promotion of the common good in all its forms. These values are not negotiable”.
Benedict XVI returned to the same subject on 24th March 2007, when he received in the Sala Clementina in the Vatican, cardinals, bishops and politicians taking part in a Meeting in Rome organised by the Commission of the Catholic Bishops' Conferences of European Community (COMECE), on “Values and perspectives for tomorrow's Europe ”. On that occasion Benedict XVI said: “ In reality, if compromise can constitute a legitimate balance between different particular interests, it becomes a common evil whenever it involves agreements that dishonour human nature.
A community built without respect for the true dignity of the human being, disregarding the fact that every person is created in the image of God ends up doing no good to anyone. For this reason it seems ever more important that Europe be on guard against the pragmatic attitude, widespread today, which systematically justifies compromise on essential human values, as if it were the inevitable acceptance of a lesser evil. This kind of pragmatism, even when presented as balanced and realistic, is in reality neither, since it denies the dimension of values and ideals inherent in human nature. When non-religious and relativistic tendencies are woven into this pragmatism, Christians as such are eventually denied the very right to enter into the public discussion, or their contribution is discredited as an attempt to preserve unjustified privileges. In this historical hour and faced with the many challenges that confront it, the European Union, in order to be a valid guarantor of the rule of law and an efficient promoter of universal values, cannot but recognize clearly the certain existence of a stable and permanent human nature, source of common rights for all individuals, including those who deny them. In this context, the right to conscientious objection should be protected, every time fundamental human rights are violated.”.
One fundamental characteristic of the Magisterium of Benedict XVI is to strive to lead the Church towards time eternal: or, the urgency to put the Liturgy at the centre of ministry as the full and proper expression of ecclesial life. In this sense the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum establishes the uninterrupted validity of the traditional rite in Latin of a living liturgy and therefore he insists on the fact that the flow of prayer is endless, transcending time. Benedict XVI has never failed to stress the importance of the use of Latin in the Church. The Church's Catholic preaching has always been in many languages, but soon Latin imposed itself, not only for its universal character deriving from the fact that it was the language of the ancient Roman Empire, but also thanks to its ability to express concepts of great theological, juridical and cultural substance, concisely and effectively. Moreover the fact that Latin is not used as a language does not mean that it is a dead language. A language which is no longer spoken in not necessarily dead and indeed it can flourish again.
Paul VI in 1969, with his Apostolic Constitution “Missale romanum” on the Roman Missal replaced, without abrogating it, the old Roman Rite, issuing a new set of norms and prayers, the “Novus Ordo Missae”. In the Reform a series of changes and variations, many of which were not foreseen by the Second Vatican Council or by the Constitution published by Pope Montini. The quid novum consisted not only of the use of the vulgate in the place of Latin, but also the altar which assumed the form of “mensa”, to underline a banquet instead of a sacrifice; “celebratio versus populum”, instead of “versus Deum”, and the consequent abandoning of celebration towards to East, that is towards Christ symbolised in the rising sun; lack of silence and recollection during the ceremony and theatrical celebrations often accompanied by desecrating song, with the priest reduced to “president of the assembly”; over-development of the liturgy of the word compared with the eucharistic liturgy; the “sign” of peace which replaced the genuflections of the priest and the faithful, as a symbol of the passing from the vertical to the horizontal dimension of the liturgical action; communion received by standing faithful and eventually in the hand; women were given access to the altar; concelebration tending to “collectivize” the rite; above all changes and replacements in the prayers of the Offertory and the Canon. As Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos explained when he presented the Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI, “today we see new and renewed interest for the traditional liturgy, never abolished, which many consider a treasure ”.
Dossier by P.L.R. - Agenzia Fides 19/3/2008; Editor Luca de Mata
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