Guardian of the doctrine, the Vatican's Enforcer, the Grand Inquisitor, the Rasputin of the Vatican, the King-maker, the bulwark of Catholic orthodoxy; these are only a handful of titles which have been attributed, either recently or more remotely in time, to the new Roman Pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI.
A lot has been written about him already and a lot more will be written in the future as has been the case with the Popes of the last century or so.
In this short reflection I would like to focus on some interesting aspects regarding the new Pope which could be useful to think about and which could also feature among the characteristics of the new pontificate.
My first impression when seeing the new Pope on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica was one of great surprise! Even though journalists had been mentioning Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger among the papabili, I never thought he would become Pope. I thought that way because I always considered Ratzinger as someone who was ideal as a person leading the Church from "behind the scenes"; he has in fact been called the "king-maker" rather then the king, and I think this suited him very much.
In his important position as head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, surely the leading congregation of the Church, Ratzinger was certainly John Paul II's right hand man. He was the author, or the inspirer, of some of the late Pope's encyclicals and apostolic letters. An intelligent reader of Ratzinger's literary style and theological contents would be able to trace his hand in John Paul's Ecclesia de Eucharistia and the recent Mane Nobiscum Domine, both relating to the Eucharist.
At the same time, this friendship between John Paul II and his successor, spanning about two decades, was one of the features influencing the 115 cardinals' choice. I believe that the Spirit was very much at work within this context. And so, though I was surprised, I was pleased because through the choice of Ratzinger as the new Pope, continuity - a notion so important within the Catholic Church - was thus ensured.
A lot has been written about the new Pope's choice of name: Benedict derives from the Latin benedictus, well spoken of. It is a name with bonds with the notion of peace, even because the last Pope to bear the name is remembered as "the Pope of peace"; Benedict XV dedicated his entire papacy to peace in Europe and the world. St Benedict was also chosen by Pope Paul VI as the patron saint of Europe and the new Pope has spoken more than once about the need of "rechristianising" the European continent and thus fighting the process of secularisation which has been surrounding us for the past decades.
Though comparisons are odious, it may be quite interesting to notice comparisons and contrasts between John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It is quite fascinating how the Spirit - at least for those who believe - works in the Church. While John Paul came from Eastern Europe and from a country which suffered so much under Nazism and Communism, Benedict XVI is a German; a country at the heart of Western Europe still trying, after 60 years, to shake off the stigma of its Nazi years. It seems as if the Holy Spirit wanted to keep the balance!
John Paul's pontificate was one of the longest in history; having been elected at 58, 20 years younger than Pope Benedict. However a pontificate like the present one could turn out to be quite remarkable especially if the new Pope guides the Church to stop for a while and reflect more deeply and for a longer period on the vast amount of writings of Pope John Paul II; something which seems quite possible especially if we regard the contents of the first homilies the new Pope has delivered.
Continuity is also affirmed: Benedict XVI seems ready to continue in his predecessor's mission in the ecumenical field which has been given great importance in the Catholic Church particularly since Vatican II. Pope Benedict, being German, could easily be the instrument of the Spirit in understanding better the northern European mind, which almost five centuries ago brought about the Reformation. Who could interpret Luther better than a fellow German?
I find also quite remarkable the fact that though Pope Benedict is considered a conservative, he has already expressed himself in favour of more collegiality in the Church, quite a contrast to John Paul II's pontificate. Even though many Catholic "liberals" have feared him because of his conservative stance on many issues, it is good to mention that at Vatican II, Mgr Ratzinger together with his superior Cardinal Josef Frings, was among the liberal conciliar majority (John Allen, "Cardinal Paradox" in The Tablet September 18, 2004, 4-5).
Pope Benedict may yet surprise us now that he is head of the Church by finding a balance between his once liberal view and his recent conservative ways! After all, a very old Latin proverb does say In medio stat virtus; virtue is to be found half-way between extremes.
Pope Benedict XVI has already been the subject of much debate in the media: journalists have been trying to unearth any "negative" episodes regarding his youth. As a German living in his own native Bavaria during the war, young Ratzinger could not avoid military service. We could surmise here the same hostility which has also been expressed toward Pope Pius XII: however Pope Benedict's own words regarding the Catholic Church and its intervention against anti-Semitism are another proof that the Church could not do much in such times when tyranny and totalitarianism were the order of the day.
There is no doubt that the Spirit of God has been doing his job lately: it is now up to us as committed Christians to express our support to the new vicar of Christ in his delicate job of running the Church in such a secularised world which is quite indifferent to God and His cause.