1 November 2017

Joseph Ratzinger

Happy All Hallows! May the Saints pray for the whole stae of Christ's Church Militant here in Earth. We need you!

This is a slightly unusual post which some people ... probably rightly ... may consider in bad taste.

Archbishop Gaenswein has described the life of emeritus pope Benedict as flickering away like a candle flame. Please God, he may yet live to give service to the Church. Back in 2013, some unwholesome individuals were already gleefully anticipating his funeral ... one of whom has actually just cheerfully suggested that Ratzinger should now campaign in support of PF! "Brazen", did you say? But nobody lives for ever. If his death is within sight, it seems to me that there are some practical points which it might be useful to make.

It will be an occasion for grief but also for retrospectives. The Media love retrospecting! It will also be a time in which even some of the nastier specimens in the bilge water of the Barque of S Peter will by convention put their gut hatred temporarily on hold. Joseph Ratzinger may, for a week, become in death more audible!

It seems to me that this should be an occasion for emphasising and showcasing what we think is important about his distinguished pontificate; not simply out of nostalgia and affection but with an eye on what needs to be emphasised for the good of the Church's ongoing life. It is my view that any of us who have any sort of entree into the Media world should have given some sort of forethought to this question.

Secondly, I have a suspicion that PF, out of a thoroughly commendable sense of decency, has not liked to savage elements of Papa Ratzinger's legacy too obviously while his predecessor is still alive. And I doubt if he would wish to do so on the very morrow of his death. But there is some evidence that PF is aware of his own mortality, and might not wait as long as he would wish before doing some spoiling. We must also not forget his unfortunate tendency to be easily influenced by some immensely dodgy people.

'Liturgy' springs to mind; and not least the position of Cardinal Sarah, around whom the Wolves ... and probably the Vultures as well ... have been circling for some time. It is rumoured that he was appointed by PF on a recommendation of Papa emeritus Ratzinger. Repeated and rather nasty public humiliations by PF have happily failed to persuade His gutsy Eminence to behave like an Anglo-Saxon and fall on his own sword. I wonder how long his heroic service to the Church in his present lonely role will survive Joseph Ratzinger's death.

Sarah, Liturgiam authenticam, and Summorum Pontificum are treasures which the Church can ill afford to lose. And they are what the Wolves particularly have their eye upon.

7 comments:

Joshua said...

I for one look forward to the funeral of the present incumbent being celebrated by the Pope Emeritus as a Cincinnatus redivivus.

Martin Browne OSB said...

Archbishop Gänswein has stated publicly that the remarks attributed to him about the ebbing away of Pope Benedict’s life are entirely fictitious.

Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...

Bishop Emeritus Ratzinger is four square behind what our Holy Father does:

Only where there is mercy does cruelty end, only with mercy do evil and violence end. Pope [Pope] Francis is totally in agreement with this line. His pastoral practice is expressed in the fact that he continually speaks to us of God’s mercy. It is mercy that moves us toward God, while justice frightens us before Him.

Dear Father. I think it obvious that ABS loves and respects you and so it is sometimes perplexing to read what you think about Bishop Emeritus Ratzinger. It is quite clear that he thinks the Justice of God is cruelty and that the sola mercy praxis of the Holy Father is the way to go.

However, you your own self have written, several times, about the error of separating Mercy fromJustice.

It seems to ABS that Bishop Emeritus would not be at all forlorn if the Holy Father ditches Summorum Ponitificum because when he was Pope, he described his Motu proprio as an act of tolerance:

Fr Federico Lombardi, S.J., Director of the Holy See Press Office: What do you say to those who, in France, fear that the "Motu proprio' Summorum Pontificum signals a step backwards from the great insights of the Second Vatican Council? How can you reassure them?

Benedict XVI: Their fear is unfounded, for this "Motu Proprio' is merely an act of tolerance, with a pastoral aim, for those people who were brought up with this liturgy, who love it, are familiar with it and want to live with this liturgy. They form a small group, because this presupposes a schooling in Latin, a training in a certain culture. Yet for these people, to have the love and tolerance to let them live with this liturgy seems to me a normal requirement of the faith and pastoral concern of any Bishop of our Church. There is no opposition between the liturgy renewed by the Second Vatican Council and this liturgy.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080912_francia-interview.html

Come on, the difference between the Real Mass and the Lil' Licit Liturgy is like the difference between lightning and lightning bug (Mark Twain).

Et Expecto said...

It is a very realistic possibility that the Pope Emeritus will outlive the Pope Regens. We understand that Francis has only one lung, which could be the cause of other health issues. We also know that Benedict has always looked after himself well. If his brother is anything to go by, there are a few more years in him yet.

Liam Ronan said...

If I may just interject a plea for the Faithful Departed who cannot so much as lift a finger to alleviate their torments?

The Rorate Caeli Purgatorial Society now has 85 priests who offer the Traditional Latin Mass, either weekly or monthly, for souls enrolled in the Society. Enrollment, which requires no stipend, is as easy a sending an e-mail. Further details may be found at this link:

https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/11/all-souls-day-plenary-indulgence.html

Anita Moore said...

I have had the same exact thoughts about the extent to which Pope Benedict provides a brake on PF while the former lives, and the same exact fears about what might happen once that brake is removed.

Donna Bethell said...

It is passing strange that even Pope Benedict should have characterized Summorum Pontificum as an act of tolerance, since he wrote in the cover letter to the motu proprio "What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."