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POPE BENEDICT XVI
zy - 24.04.2005 18:27
A short overview about the new pope. Biography, views, statements...
The election of Cardinal Ratzinger as the 265th Bishop Of Rome and head of almost 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide has been greeted with mixed feelings.
I have heard many things (good and bad) about Joseph Ratzinger over the past few years so I decidecided to have a look into what the big fuss was about.
I heard Honduras Cardinal Rodriguez Mariaga 3 years ago atthe RDS during the Mission Alive Festival and found his anti neo-liberalism and 'Option for the Poor' a powerful message for a world which seems to have lost any sense of personalism.
I believe one of the most interesting things will be who the new pope will elect to take up his old post as doctrinal chief of the Church.
Below is a little (or not so little as it has turned out) background sketch on who Benedict XVI has been, is, and may become:
Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, in Germany on April 16th, 1927.
The son of a police officer who was staunchly anti-Nazi, in 1937 Ratzinger's father retired and settled in the town of Traunstein.
When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, he was required by law to join the Hitler Youth, but according to his biographer John Allen (www.natcath.org) he was not an enthusiastic member.
He requested to be taken off the rolls and reportedly refused to attend a single meeting.
In 1943, at the age of 16 he was, along with the rest of his class, drafted into the Flak or anti-aircraft corps. The were made responsible for the guarding of a BMW plant outside Munich.
He was then sent for basic infantry training and was posted to Hungary, where he worked setting up anti-tank defences until fleeing in April 1944 (an offence punishable by shooting on the spot or hanging - in order to stop others from resisting their service ).
In 1945 he was briefly held in an Allied POW camp, where he attended de-Nazification classes. By June 1945 he was released, and alongside his brother Georg, entered a Catholic seminary.
He was ordained on June 29, 1951
At the Second Vatican Council (1962 - 1965), Ratzinger he had served as a chief theological expert, to the reformist Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne, Germany.
From 1966-69, he was a colleague of Hans Küng at the University of Tubingen. Kung once commented that, "his ideology is a medieval, anti-Reformation, anti-modern paradigm of the church and the papacy".
He was confirmed in his traditionalist views by the liberal atmosphere of Tübingen, especially the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s.
In 1972, he founded the theological journal Communio (link (  http://www.communio-icr.com/) with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac and others.
On November 25, 1981 Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
It was formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition but renamed in 1908 by Pope Pius X.
In the Vatican, he has been the driving force behind crackdowns on liberation theology, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional moral teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and dissent on issues such as women's ordination.
He was closer to John Paul II than any other cardinal, and Ratzinger and John Paul were called "intellectual bedfellows."
It will be up to him to decide who will follow him as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Benedict speaks ten languages (among them German, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin).
He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart.
He is the seventh German pope. The last German pope, Victor II, was elected in 1055 and died in 1057. He is also the oldest cardinal to become pope since Clement XII, who like Ratzinger was elected at age 78.
His nominal predecessor, Benedict XV was the pope that presided over the church during World War I.
He is best known for the 1914 encyclical "Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum", which called a halt to infighting in the church.
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Some statements of Ratzinger:
-"There were not sufficient reasons to unleash a war against Iraq. To say nothing of the fact that, given the new weapons that make possible destructions that go beyond the combatant groups, today we should be asking ourselves if it is still licit to admit the very existence of a 'just war.'"
-At a pre-conclave mass at St. Peter's Basilica he declared, "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires".
-Ratzinger specified that strong and open supporters of abortion should be denied the Catholic sacrament, for being guilty of a "grave sin."
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For further information check out:
* Allen, John L.: Cardinal Ratzinger : the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. - New York : Continuum, 2000
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Cardinal_Ratzinger
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| Read more about: zonder rubriek | | supplements | | | Europes editorial writers on pope Benedict | me - 24.04.2005 18:36
for many papers it is clear that Pope Benedict XVI is a "transitional" leader, and one who will continue the firm ideological line taken by his predecessor - and soul mate - Pope John Paul II.
The French-language Tribune de Genève and L'Express say many people who had hoped for reform will be "disappointed" over the choice of the German cardinal. For the Tribune de Genève this disappointment will also be strongly felt among Protestants who had hoped for a pope who would promote dialogue between the churches.
The mass-circulation Blick comments that the election of Ratzinger - "a man of dogma and doctrine"- is a cause of "deep concern".
"In the past two decades as head of the congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, he has suppressed all dissenting voices in the Church," it warns.
The Tages-Anzeiger echoes this sentiment: "There is a reason why Ratzinger is known as a 'panzer cardinal' and a 'grand inquisitor'. During the last pontificate it was he who declared ideological war on feminism, contraception and homosexuality, as well as liberation theology in Latin America."
Continuity
For the Geneva-based Le Temps the election of Ratzinger was a vote in favour of "prudent continuity", but it fears the cardinals "are running the risk that their choice to succeed John Paul II could negate the best aspects of his legacy".
The Tages-Anzeiger goes even further. The election of the hardline cardinal could lead to "an exodus from the Church of all those on its fringes who had hoped for changes under this Pope".
"The reform-minded Catholics will find themselves without a home, because the new Pope does not want a people's Church," it warns.
Despite the clear disappointment among the Swiss papers, some still offer a glimmer of hope.
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung says that by opting for a transitional Pope, the cardinals have bought themselves breathing space in which to consider the longer-term direction of the Church.
Choice of name
The Berner Zeitung draws consolation from the Pope's choice of the name Benedict. The last pontiff with this name - Benedict XV - was known as a diplomat and negotiator, it says, and someone who during the First World War strove for dialogue between the warring nations.
The canton Valais paper Le Nouvelliste says it is likely that the new Pope will surprise everyone. It adds that during the Second Vatican Council of the early 1960s he was considered "open to reform".
Reform is at the top of a wish-list which Blick presents to the new Pope. "We want a Pope who will engage in dialogue... a Pope with the courage to doubt and question himself... a Pope who will defend the poor and... who will do away with discrimination."
Finally it hopes the new Pope "will not be obsessed with sex". "Constantly harping on about sexual morality suffocates the liberating Christian message of love and hope," it argues.
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=106&sid=5701913&cKey=1113979075000
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& our encyclopedia pals, wiki stunned the world with the amount of text they managed to get online and through their process of editing and challenging last night.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Benedict_XVI
[Really quite incredible, one of my reservations on wikipedia has been the weight of its religious based and war time german interest contributors, from the beginning they've produced pages and pages on everything religious from catholic to mormon to jewish to star trek theology, and almost every officer of the wehrmacht got an entry but Emma Goldman waited almost two years for her entry. & she's considered to be one of the 50 most influential americans of the XX century.]
The US press has welcomed in bush's words " a strong leader", and a "wise man" but there are some misgivings.
the French press have decided this "continuity pope" is also a bit "temporary" (for at 78 no-one expects him to be at the helm for 25 years "and out of the crypt" - that would be indecent even for a fang) Le Monde quotes the irish cardinal (a fan) who sa'ys Benedict XVI will talk "peace" whilst Leonardo Boff (an opponent) thinks "it will be difficult to love him" a good reflection of the very mixed reactions.
http://www.lemonde.fr/web/articleinteractif/0,41-0@2-3214,49-640864@51-634097,0.html
The Germans are not as all delighted as your local commercial press would have you believe.
All their bishops got a letter from Benedict XVI last year telling them to oppose Turkish membership of the EU on the grounds that Europe = Christendom. There is mixed feelings on the intent of the "war" on liberalism, and on the lack of ecumenical enthusiasm. And also the lack of jolly good show words from South American and Africa.
Indeed though not a RC, archbishop Tutu has expressed despair at the choice of conclave in quite an outspoken statement carried in various european newspapers.
a german national-
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1557981,00.html
a south german paper gave equal space to criticism of the election, focussing not on either Boff or Kung as "liberal in opposition" but Gotthold Hasenhüttl instead-
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/ausland/artikel/624/51573/
For their part the Austrians are delighted.
They have no problem with the past, and look forward to a strong man at the top, and will send a contigent of youth to Bendict XVI's first foreign engagement at Koln later this year, where he will attend a youth rally.
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=2021209
The italian press have gone from an intense anti-Ratzinger campaign which quite surprised all onlookers in the last days, to simply qouting his speeches and masses and wondering about
Mr B. again.
The very establishment Corriere de la Sera in today's editorial claims at the end, though not their choice for Pope, the cardinals joined from "left" and "right" [perhaps "right" and "far right"] to elect Ratzinger, and sure he plays the mason composers Mozart and Beethoven like a virtuoso on piano, speaks 10 languages, and has the formidable intellect of Augustine, and sure you have to handle people like that with a lot of care.
The editorial writer of Corriere rather likes his eyes too.
"occhi da cherubino" ¿ma dai?.
La Reppublica (bill clinton's european paper of choice for his open letters to us all) takes a rather more "liberal" squint at things, finding space to use the english words of a US journalist shouting copy into the phone - "the winner is the german!"
I'm not sure if its tongue in cheek or not (the 10 languages thing) but they claim a ukrainian hopes Benedict XVI will re-introduce mass in latin. "latin's lovely". Benedict XVi (first official papal homily this morning was in latin, he didn't miss a cue, he's been practising a long time)
http://www.repubblica.it/2005/d/sezioni/esteri/nuovopapa1/lapiazza/lapiazza.html
where-as l'unita note that "the german" is the only "non-left wing thing" in fashion in Italy at the moment.
The british press, are well summarised by aunty beeb, and vary from the utter delight of the welsh to the "papa ratzi" tag of the Sun. (it's quite a craft writing that sort of headline and thinking that tag)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4463579.stm
the british PM Tony Blair hopes to be able to work with the new pope on important issues, such as the development of Africa.
the chinese said the Vatican could improve its relations with Beijing by breaking its ties with Taiwan and refraining from interfering with China's internal affairs.
The dutch, very liberal bunch and proddy too-
have had this to say-
Algemeen Dagblad (centre commercial daily)
gives space to the Belgian "liberal" cardinal Daneels, who aint happy but has still mused to the french language press «Il a été élu légitimement et démocratiquement. L'élection d'un pape ne relève pas du lobbying et n'est pas un choix de parlement », = he was elected legitmately and democratically. the election of a pope doesn't rely on lobbying and is not a choice of parliament.
[odd that "lobbying" getting into the french, just as silly as the idea of 115 old men electing a leader for 1.2 billion being democratic, surely the Holy Spirit can be allowed to do better?]
the Telegraaf is sort of "sun like" and leads with the headine "we are pope" with the german words "our ratzinger is pope" The dutch are very clever, they speak loads of languages. So too do the Swedish and they're just as proddy-
Aftonbladet, their tabloid daily didn't carry the new pope on front page but stuck him down a few pages. with this headline-
Påven - soldat i Hitlers armé
=
Pope soldier in Hitler's army.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/vss/nyheter/story/0,2789,633838,00.html
So not much hope for ecumenism in liberal protestant sweden then. The slightly more upmarket "Dagens Nyheter" also leads with a local story, about a finance minister embroiled ina scandal going backa long way. Their take on Benedict "papa-ratzi"
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=148&a=404247
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