Analysis: Pope Benedict XVI, at odds with modern world, still changed it
Mathew Schmalz, College of the Holy Cross
Posted:
Updated:
(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.)
To many observers, Benedict, who died on Dec. 31, 2022 at the age of 95, was known for criticizing what he saw as the modern world’s rejection of God and Christianity’s timeless truths. But as a scholar of the diversity of global Catholicism, I think it’s best to avoid simple characterizations of Benedict’s theology, which I believe will influence the Catholic Church for generations.
While the brilliance of this intellectual legacy will certainly endure, it will also have to contend with the shadows of the numerous controversies that marked Benedict’s time as pope and, later, as pope emeritus.
Priest and professor
Benedict was born Josef Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, Germany. During World War II, he was required to join the Hitler Youth, a wing of the Nazi Party. He was later drafted into an anti-aircraft unit and then the infantry of Nazi Germany.
In 1945, he deserted the German military and was held as a prisoner of war by the Americans; he was released when World War II concluded. In 1946, he went to study for the priesthood and was ordained five years later. He completed his doctorate in theology in 1953.
While teaching at the University of Bonn, Ratzinger was chosen as a theological adviser to Cardinal Joseph Frings of Cologne, a strong critic of Nazism, for the Second Vatican Council held between 1962 and 1965. The Second Vatican Council attempted to renew the Catholic Church by engaging the modern world more constructively. At the council, Ratzinger argued that Catholic theology needed to develop a “new language” to speak to a changing world.
As pope, Benedict would later reject more progressive interpretations of the council as a revolutionary event that was intended to remake the Catholic Church. While the council did bring substantial changes to Catholic life, particularly by allowing mass in local languages, Benedict resisted any suggestion that the Second Vatican Council was calling for a fundamental break with centuries-old Catholic doctrine and tradition. And during his pontificate, he would permit wider celebration of the old Latin Mass – a decision that his successor Pope Francis would later reverse
In 1966, Ratzinger accepted an important teaching position at the University of Tubingen. During the late 1960s, Tubingen saw widespread student protests, some of which called for the Catholic Church to become more democratic. When protesting students disrupted the Tubingen faculty senate, Ratzinger reportedly walked out instead of speaking with students as other faculty did. Ratzinger was disturbed by what he felt were dictatorial and Marxist tendencies among the student protesters. Ratzinger then moved to the University of Regensberg.
In 1977, he was named bishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI. Soon after, he was named a cardinal, a member of the administrative body that elects the pope.
Cardinal and pope
As a skilled theologian, Ratzinger was chosen by Pope John Paul II to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which oversees and enforces Catholic doctrine. In this position, Cardinal Ratzinger disciplined a number of theologians. Most notable was the case of American priest and theologian Charles Curran, who was fired from The Catholic University of America because he challenged official Catholic teachings on sexuality.
Ratzinger was also chosen to head the committee drafting The Catechism of the Catholic Church. Published in 1992, The Catechism remains an important foundation for any understanding of Catholic thought and practice.
After John Paul II’s death in 2005, Ratzinger was elected pope. He chose the name “Benedict” in honor of Benedict of Nursia, the founder of Western monasticism, a religious movement that preserved Western culture after the fall of Rome. The name “Benedict” also acknowledged Benedict XV, a much-overlooked pope who tried to broker a peace agreement to end the First World War.
Controversies in the pontificate
After his election, Pope Benedict XVI had to confront a growing sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. While a cardinal, he had publicly downplayed the extent and seriousness of the crisis. And it was under his leadership that The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided not to remove Lawrence C. Murphy from the priesthood, even though Murphy had been accused of molesting more than 200 boys at a Catholic school for the deaf in Wisconsin.
As pope, however, Benedict did take some strong steps that his predecessor, John Paul II, did not. Most significantly, Benedict punished Marcial Maciel Degollado, an incestuous bigamist, serial pedophile and the powerful founder of the Legionaries of Christ, an important Catholic religious order, by taking away his permission to preach or to say Mass publicly. He also criticized Irish bishops for their mishandling of the sexual abuse crisis.
For many survivors of clerical sexual abuse, these actions were not nearly enough. Benedict did not move to open Vatican records to public investigation, and he also failed to discipline cardinals and bishops who reassigned pedophile priests.
Beyond the sexual abuse crisis, Benedict’s pontificate had other controversies that drew worldwide attention. During a lecture in Regensberg in 2006, Benedict seemed to criticize the Islamic view of God and the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad. This lecture led to protests in the Middle East and South Asia. However, his official visits to Beirut and Istanbul repaired some of the damage.
Benedict also reached out to Catholic splinter groups. In 2009, he lifted the excommunication of bishops of the order of St. Pius X, a breakaway Catholic sect that rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. After doing this, Benedict learned that one St. Pius X bishop, Richard Williamson, had made antisemitic comments and denied the holocaust.
Benedict said his lack of knowledge about Williamson’s views was an “unforeseen mishap” due to a lack of familiarity with the internet as a “source of information.”
Theological writings
As pope, Benedict continued his theological writing and produced three important encyclicals or papal letters.
The first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, or “God is Love,” defends “charity” as love that is freely given. Charity is not simply a good deed but an act that changes both the giver and the recipient.
The second encyclical, Spe Salvi, or “Saved in Hope,” reflects upon the hope that God gives human beings in a world that often seems hopeless.
In the third encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, or “Charity in Truth,” Benedict argues that charity is fundamentally related to justice. And when it comes to questions of human progress and fulfillment, we cannot place our trust in the nation state or market economies because “without God, man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is.”
These papal letters attempt to defend Christianity in a world that Benedict believed was growing increasingly hostile to religious faith. What was striking about Benedict’s thought – even to his theological critics – was how elegantly he presented his case for Christ and Christianity’s transforming power as sources of truth, beauty and love. But long before he became pope, Benedict admitted that Christianity would continue to lose cultural ground and dwindle to an ever smaller group of faithful believers. Writing in 1969, Ratzinger predicted the Church would have “to start afresh from the very beginning,” which meant that someday Christianity would have to build itself up again from its foundations.
The legacy of Benedict XVI
When Benedict resigned as pope in 2013, it took the world by surprise. In saying that he could no longer bear the burdens of the Papacy, Benedict promised to live in seclusion. His official title became “Pope Emeritus.”
But controversy also followed his resignation. For example, he gave interviews and put his name on writings that appeared to criticize the reforms of Pope Francis, who succeeded him.
Most recently, a January 2022 report on sexual abuse in the diocese of Munich criticized Ratzinger’s “inaction” regarding four cases of sexual abuse during his period as archbishop from 1977 to 1982. In reaction to the report, the pope emeritus apologized but did not admit to any administrative failures.
Benedict XVI’s writings will be relevant decades from now, but his pontificate will inevitably be associated with controversies. As for his own personal legacy, that will likely be defined by the one issue that concerned Benedict the most: how the Catholic Church can still make a difference in the modern world.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article here: https://theconversation.com/pope-benedict-xvi-a-man-at-odds-with-the-modern-world-who-leaves-a-legacy-of-intellectual-brilliance-and-controversy-143942.
STF
April 16, 1927: Born Joseph Alois Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn, Germany, youngest of three children to Joseph and Maria Ratzinger.
1943-1945: Assistant in Germany’s anti-aircraft defense and infantry soldier; imprisoned in 1945 in American POW camp in Neu-Ulm.
1969-1977: Professor at University of Regensburg.
SUB
June 29, 1951: Ordained along with brother Georg Ratzinger in Freising.
Above, priest Joseph Ratzinger prays during an open air Mass in Ruhpolding, southern Germany, in 1952.
Dieter Endlicher
FILE - Newly nominated Archbishop of Munich and Freising, Joseph Ratzinger, right, walks with bishop Ernst Tewes in front of the cathedral at Freising, Germany, on March 31, 1977. Tewes consecrated Ratzinger on the Saturday of Pentecost. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday. He was 95. (AP Photo/Dieter Endlicher, File)
STF
June 27, 1977: Made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
Above, from left, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of Munich, Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, and Cardinal Bernardin Gantin from Benin, smile shortly after being installed as new cardinals by Pope Paul VI during a consistory at the Vatican on June 27, 1977.
Dieter Endlicher
FILE - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger bids farewell to Bavarian believers, with the towers of Munich's cathedral in the background, on Feb. 28, 1982, before leaving to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican after being nominated by John Paul II.
Andrew Medichini
April 2, 2005: Pope John Paul II dies.
April 8, 2005: As dean of the College of Cardinals, Ratzinger presides over John Paul’s funeral.
April 19, 2005: Elected 265th pope in one of the fastest conclaves in history. Choosing name Benedict XVI, he says he is merely a “simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
Above, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger blesses the coffin containing the body of Pope John Paul II during the funeral mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 8, 2005.
Alessandra Tarantino
April 19, 2005: Elected 265th pope in one of the fastest conclaves in history. Choosing name Benedict XVI, he says he is merely a “simple, humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
April 24, 2005: Installed as pope with Mass.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI receives the pallium as he celebrates his installment Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2005. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
Pier Paolo Cito
Aug. 18-21, 2005: First foreign trip, to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI arrives for the concluding Mass of World Youth Day at the Marienfeld near Cologne, Germany, on Aug. 21, 2005.
Andrew Medichini
FILE - Pope Benedict XVI prays in front of the monument for the victims of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Oswiecim, Poland, on May 28, 2006. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Gregorio Borgia
Sept. 12, 2006: During visit to Germany, delivers speech at University of Regensburg that enrages Muslims; quoting a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as “evil and inhuman,” particularly “his command to spread by the sword the faith.”
Above, Pope Benedict XVI reads his message on his first encyclical as he presides at Vesper mass inside St. Paul's Basilica at the Vatican on Jan. 25, 2006. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
Pier Paolo Cito
April 16, 2007: First volume of “Jesus of Nazareth” completed on his 80th birthday. Released April 13.
July 7, 2007: Removes restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass in major gesture to traditional Catholics.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI, center, flanked by Archbishop Piero Marini, master of ceremonies for liturgical celebrations, right, and an unidentified prelate, waves at the end of his 80th birthday Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on April 15, 2007.
Andrew Medichini
FILE - Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful during an audience at the Vatican on June 30, 2007, as he invited all Roman Catholics in China to unite under his jurisdiction and urged Beijing to restore diplomatic ties and permit religious freedom. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Gregorio Borgia
July 19, 2008: Apologizes to victims of child sex abuse by clergy in Australia
Above, Pope Benedict XVI, left, prays during a Mass in St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, on July 19, 2008. Benedict apologized to victims of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy in Australia, describing their acts as "evil" and a grave betrayal of trust that has brought great shame on the church.
Kathy Willens
April 20, 2008: During visit to United States, prays for victims of Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at ground zero.
July 19, 2008: During visit to Australia for World Youth Day, meets with victims of priestly sex abuse and during a Mass apologizes for their suffering.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI prays as New York Cardinal Edward Egan, left, looks on during a ceremony for victims' families, survivors, and first responders from the World Trade Center attacks during a visit to ground zero in New York on April 20, 2008.
Antonio Calanni
July 17, 2009: Breaks right wrist in late-night fall at summer vacation home.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI, followed by his personal aide Rev. Georg Gaenswein, has his right wrist in a cast after a late-night fall at a summer vacation home, Les Combes d'Introd, near Aosta, northern Italy, on July 29, 2009.
Andrew Medichini
March 17, 2009: En route to Cameroon, tells reporters aboard papal plane that condoms are not the solution to AIDS and can make problem worse, prompting widespread criticism.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI, center, flanked by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, left, and spokesman father Federico Lombardi, greets the media at the end of a press conference held on the aircraft on his way to Yaounde, Cameroon on March 17, 2009.
Lefteris Pitarakis
Sept. 16-19, 2010: During first state visit by a pope to Britain, meets with Queen Elizabeth II, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and beatifies Anglican convert John Henry Newman.
Nov. 20, 2010: Revises controversial condom-AIDS comments in book and says male prostitutes who use condoms may be taking a first step toward a more responsible sexuality.
Above, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict XVI inspect an honor guard of the Royal Company of Archers and the Royal Regiment of Scotland Band as the Pope arrives at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, Scotland, on Sept. 16, 2010.
Pier Paolo Cito
May 1, 2011: Beatifies John Paul II before 1.5 million people.
June 28, 2011: Tweets for the first time, announcing launch of Vatican news information portal.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI delivers his blessing as he is driven past a picture of late John Paul II during his beatification ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on May 1, 2011. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito, File)
Gregorio Borgia
Feb. 11, 2013: Reveals in Latin that he is stepping down Feb. 28 during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, surprising even his closest collaborators.
Above, Pope Benedict XVI waves to the faithful during his final general audience in St.Peter's Square at the Vatican on Feb. 27, 2013.
Michael Sohn
Feb. 28, 2013: Departs Vatican City in a helicopter bound for Castel Gandolfo, where he begins his final journey as a “simple pilgrim.”
Above, a helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI flies over St. Peter's Basilica as it leaves the Vatican for Castel Gandolfo on Feb. 28, 2013.
Andrew Medichini
April 28, 2014: Joins Francis on altar to canonize St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII, the first time a reigning and retired pope celebrate Mass together.
Above, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, center, is assisted by his former personal aide Rev. Georg Gaenswein, right, as he arrives in St. Peter's Square to attend a canonization Mass for two pontiffs, John XXIII and John Paul II, led by Pope Francis, at the Vatican on April 27, 2014.
Daniel Karmann
April 11, 2019: In an essay, blames the clergy sex abuse scandal on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and an absence of God.
January, 2020: Contributes to a book reaffirming celibacy for priests at a time when Francis was considering an exception, sparking calls for rules governing future “popes emeritus.”
June 18, 2020: Travels to Germany to visit his ailing brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, who dies two weeks later, on July 1.
July 16, 2021: Has his signature relaxation of restrictions on celebration of old Latin Mass reversed by Pope Francis.
Jan. 21, 2022: Is faulted for his handling of four sex abuse cases while bishop of Munich in the 1970s and 1980s by independent report commissioned by German church.
Feb. 8, 2022: Asks forgiveness for any “grievous faults” in handling of Munich priests, but denies personal or specific wrongdoing.
Dec. 28, 2022: Pope Francis announces Benedict is “very ill,” asks for special prayers and visits him at his home.
Dec. 31, 2022: Benedict dies at 9:34 a.m. at his home in the Vatican Gardens at age 95.
Above, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is pushed on a wheelchair onto a bus, to be with his ailing brother, in Regensburg, Germany, on June 18, 2020. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday Dec. 31, 2022. He was 95. (Daniel Karmann/DPA via AP, File)
