Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. / Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 21, 2022 / 07:05 am (CNA).
In a new letter, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI characterizes the Second Vatican Council as “not only meaningful, but necessary.”
Released Thursday, the letter is addressed to Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, president of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, which concludes a two-day conference Friday centered on the theology of Benedict XVI/Joseph Ratzinger.
Nearly three and a half typewritten pages long, the letter provides fresh observations about Vatican II from one of the few remaining theologians in the Catholic Church to have personally participated in the historic council, which opened 60 years ago this month. You can read the full letter at the bottom of this story.
“When I began to study theology in January 1946, no one thought of an Ecumenical Council,” the 95-year-old retired pope recalls in the letter.
“When Pope John XXIII announced it, to everyone’s surprise, there were many doubts as to whether it would be meaningful, indeed whether it would be possible at all, to organize the insights and questions into the whole of a conciliar statement and thus to give the Church a direction for its further journey,” Benedict observes.
“In reality, a new council proved to be not only meaningful, but necessary. For the first time, the question of a theology of religions had shown itself in its radicality,” he continues.
“The same is true for the relationship between faith and the world of mere reason. Both topics had not been foreseen in this way before. This explains why Vatican II at first threatened to unsettle and shake the Church more than to give her a new clarity for her mission,” Benedict writes.
“In the meantime, the need to reformulate the question of the nature and mission of the Church has gradually become apparent,” he adds. “In this way, the positive power of the Council is also slowly emerging.”
Ecclesiology — the theological study of the nature and structure of the Church — had evolved after World War I, Benedict writes. ”If ecclesiology had hitherto been treated essentially in institutional terms,” he says, ”the wider spiritual dimension of the concept of the Church was now joyfully perceived.”
At the same time, he writes, the concept of the Church as the mystical body of Christ was being critically reconsidered.
It was in this situation, he says, that he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the topic of ”People and House of God in Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church.”
He writes that ”the complete spiritualization of the concept of the Church, for its part, misses the realism of faith and its institutions in the world,” adding that ”in Vatican II, the question of the Church in the world finally became the real central problem.”
The retired pope, who resigned in 2013, concludes the letter by summing up his purpose for writing.
”With these considerations I only wanted to indicate the direction in which my work has led me,” he writes. ”I sincerely hope that the International Symposium at Franciscan University of Steubenville will be helpful in the struggle for a right understanding of the Church and the world in our time.”
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Vatican City, Feb 28, 2020 / 12:19 pm (CNA).- The Pontifical Academy for Life signed Friday, alongside presidents of IBM and Microsoft, a call for ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence technologies.
Pope Francis prays during Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 24, 2023. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Dec 24, 2023 / 18:00 pm (CNA).
Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, delivered on Dec. 24, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“A census of the whole earth” (cf. Lk 2:1). This was the context in which Jesus was born, and the Gospel makes a point of it. The census might have been mentioned in passing, but instead is carefully noted. And in this way, a great contrast emerges. While the emperor numbers the world’s inhabitants, God enters it almost surreptitiously. While those who exercise power seek to take their place with the great ones of history, the King of history chooses the way of littleness. None of the powerful take notice of him: only a few shepherds, relegated to the margins of social life.
The census speaks of something else. In the Scriptures, the taking of a census has negative associations. King David, tempted by large numbers and an unhealthy sense of self-sufficiency, sinned gravely by ordering a census of the people. He wanted to know how powerful he was. After some nine months, he knew how many men could wield a sword (cf. 2 Sam 24:1-9). The Lord was angered and the people suffered. On this night, however, Jesus, the “Son of David”, after nine months in Mary’s womb, is born in Bethlehem, the city of David. He does not impose punishment for the census, but humbly allows himself to be registered as one among many. Here we see, not a god of wrath and chastisement, but the God of mercy, who takes flesh and enters the world in weakness, heralded by the announcement: “on earth peace among those whom he favors” (Lk 2:14). Tonight, our hearts are in Bethlehem, where the Prince of Peace is once more rejected by the futile logic of war, by the clash of arms that even today prevents him from finding room in the world (cf. Lk 2:7).
The census of the whole earth, in a word, manifests the all-too-human thread that runs through history: the quest for worldly power and might, fame and glory, which measures everything in terms of success, results, numbers and figures, a world obsessed with achievement. Yet the census also manifests the way of Jesus, who comes to seek us through enfleshment. He is not the god of accomplishment, but the God of Incarnation. He does not eliminate injustice from above by a show of power, but from below, by a show of love. He does not burst on the scene with limitless power, but descends to the narrow confines of our lives. He does not shun our frailties, but makes them his own.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Brothers and sisters, tonight we might ask ourselves: Which God do we believe in? In the God of incarnation or the god of achievement? Because there is always a risk that we can celebrate Christmas while thinking of God in pagan terms, as a powerful potentate in the sky; a god linked to power, worldly success, and the idolatry of consumerism. With the false image of a distant and petulant deity who treats the good well and the bad poorly; a deity made in our own image and likeness, handy for resolving our problems and removing our ills. God, on the other hand, waves no magic wand; he is no god of commerce who promises “everything all at once”. He does not save us by pushing a button, but draws near us, in order to change our world from within. Yet how deeply ingrained is the worldly notion of a distant, domineering, unbending, and powerful deity who helps his own to prevail against others! So many times this image is ingrained in us. But that is not the case: our God was born for all, during a census of the whole earth.
Let us look, then, to the “living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9). The God who is beyond all human reckoning and yet allows himself to be numbered by our accounting. The God, who revolutionizes history by becoming a part of history. The God who so respects us as to allow us to reject him; who takes away sin by taking it upon himself; who does not eliminate pain but transforms it; who does not remove problems from our lives but grants us a hope that is greater than all our problems. God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small; in his righteousness, he submits to our injustice. Brothers and sisters, this is the wonder of Christmas: not a mixture of sappy emotions and worldly contentment, but the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate. Let us contemplate the Child, let us contemplate the manger, his crib, which the angels call “a sign” for us (cf. Lk 2:12). For it truly is the sign that reveals God’s face, a face of compassion and mercy, whose might is shown always and only in love. He makes himself close, tender, and compassionate. This is God’s way: closeness, compassion, tenderness.
Pope Francis brings a figure of the Christ child over to the nativity scene inside of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Mass. Vatican Media
Sisters and brothers, let us marvel at the fact that he “became flesh” (Jn 1:14). Flesh: the very word evokes our human frailty. The Gospel uses this word to show us that God completely assumed our human condition. Why did he go to such lengths? Because he cares for us, because he loves us to the point that he considers us more precious than all else. Dear brother, dear sister, to God, who changed history in the course of a census, you are not a number, but a face. Your name is written on his heart. But if you look to your own heart, and think of your own inadequacies and this world that is so judgmental and unforgiving, you may feel it difficult to celebrate this Christmas. You may think things are going badly, or feel dissatisfied with your limitations, your failings, your problems, and your sins. Today, though, please, let Jesus take the initiative. He says to you, “For your sake, I became flesh; for your sake, I became just like you”. So why remain caught up in your troubles? Like the shepherds, who left their flocks, leave behind the prison of your sorrows and embrace the tender love of the God who became a child. Put aside your masks and your armor; cast your cares on him and he will care for you (cf. Ps 55:22). He became flesh; he is looking not for your achievements but for your open and trusting heart. In him, you will rediscover who you truly are: a beloved son or daughter of God. Now you can believe it, for tonight the Lord was born to light up your life; his eyes are alight with love for you. We have difficulty believing in this, that God’s eyes shine with love for us.
Christmas Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the night of Dec. 24, 2023. Vatican Media
Christ does not look at numbers, but at faces. However, who looks at him amid the many distractions and mad rush of a bustling and indifferent world? Who is watching? In Bethlehem, as crowds of people were caught up in the excitement of the census, coming and going, filling the inns, and engaged in petty conversation, a few were close to Jesus: Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and then the Magi.
Let us learn from them. They stood gazing upon Jesus, with their hearts set on him. They did not speak, they worshiped. Tonight, brothers and sisters, is a time of adoration, of worship.
Worship is the way to embrace the Incarnation. For it is in silence that Jesus, the Word of the Father, becomes flesh in our lives. Let us do as they did, in Bethlehem, a town whose name means “House of Bread”. Let us stand before him who is the Bread of Life. Let us rediscover worship, for to worship is not to waste time, but to make our time a dwelling place for God. It is to let the seed of the Incarnation bloom within us; it is to cooperate in the work of the Lord, who, like leaven, changes the world. To worship is to intercede, to make reparation, to allow God to realign history. As a great teller of epic tales once wrote to his son, “I put before you the one great thing to love on earth: the Blessed Sacrament… There you will find romance, glory, honor, fidelity, and the true way of all your loves on earth” (J.R.R. TOLKIEN, Letter 43, March 1941).
Brothers and sisters, tonight love changes history. Make us believe, Lord, in the power of your love, so different from the power of the world. Lord, make us, like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and the Magi, gather around you and worship you. As you conform us ever more to yourself, we shall bear witness before the world to the beauty of your countenance.
Blaj, Romania, Jun 2, 2019 / 04:06 am (CNA).- Declaring their beatification Sunday in Romania, Pope Francis said seven martyred Greek-Catholic bishops gave their lives for fidelity to the Church and in defense of the right to freedom of religion.
Benedict’s letter will not leave all of his followers enthralled, because the reevaluation of the total “spiritualization” of the Church perceived as the mystical body now required a “theology of religions”. This would add coherence to Lumen Gentium, often challenged notion of religions other than Catholicism worshiping the same God. As such it would [appear to consequently] reference facing the people rather than ad orientum. Engagement with global projects among them the UN.
Emphasis then is on a more outward than inward ecclesial posture. Some might attribute this letter to the variables of old age. Although, it has to be taken seriously on its merits. For one the Church, whether rightly or wrongly, that is, not in terms of focus rather in feasibility and doctrinal coherence already had begun this process [for example Abu Dhabi].
Theoretically, the Church must appeal to the world in all its entirety, the mission given at the Ascension. In order to do so it cannot remain an attractive medieval artifact highly satisfying to a select body. It must if it is to reach the four global corners acquire a universal posture and messaging consistent with Christ’s revelation. That can be done. Similarly, that does not necessarily sanction the broad based Synodality concept of listening. Instead, it would putatively provide the new missionary able to interface with, engage the world. A realistic faith reflected in its overreaching institutions.
If we don’t write this letter off as the reverie of old age, rather as the reflection of a great churchman and theologian we might consider the words of Cardinal Parolin to Ewtn, that we hold true to the faith but couch it with modesty, respectful of the people of our time. Rather than challenge the pope and his Magisterium. That nevertheless requires reciprocity of the latter holding to the true faith.
Insofar as ad orientem, I’m confidant Benedict, to the contrary of what may be presumed in reading his letter is not repudiating his previous recommendation when pontiff to continue the traditional Latin rite, both for spiritual continuity, and liturgical continuity as a model for enriching the Novus Ordo. Neither does my comment endorse the pontiff’s initial Abu Dhabi remarks.
Churchmen ought to sit up and take a look around before questioning the necessity of the Council or its salubrious effects in the Catholic Church.
Notice how baptisms of children and adults are growing by leaps and bounds. Notice the surge of Catholic marriages, how all who profess the Catholic faith stand up in unison against conteaception and abortion. Notice how Catholic laymen are in the vanguard fighting against the immorality of the culture at large. Witness the long lines for confession. Note, too, the extraordinary missionary efforts of the Church and how ten of thousands of young Catholics devote significant amounts of months and even years proclaiming the Gospel to those who don’t know Christ. Take a look at all the Catholic hospitals being built, the schools that are being founded to serve the poor in countries around the globe and the founding of new religious orders and apostolates to staff these charitable ventures. Look at the vast number of young men entering the priesthood in the USA, in Ireland, France, Spain, and Italy. Look at the number of martyrs for the faith that we have among our bishops. Look at the exemplary lives of our clerics, their holiness, their outspoken witness to the truth in the public forum…such valor, such courage, such faith to dare to proclaim Christ so boldly from the pulpit and in the town square. It’s no wonder that we have vast numbers of people wanting to enter the Catholic Church since the Church is such a model for good in the world. The overwhelming movement of the Holy Spirit among the “people of God” is simply awesome to behold and simply breathtaking.
Why in God’s name would anyone ever question the fruits of Vatican Council II in the life of the Church?
Edward Peitler: This mocking antiphrasis of Vatican II that you strongly hold and present here is an illogical and irrational sweeping generalization. It is erroneous and inaccurate to reason that the dwindling numbers and religious practices of Catholics after Vatican II is directly caused by the Council; it’s like reasoning that since Z follows Y, Y must be the cause of Z. There is simply no direct and singular connection between the two leading you to a conclusion that confirms your preconceived bias that the Council was a disaster furthering your chosen resistance and rejection of the reforms and teachings of the Council manifested especially in your disrespect and disloyalty of Pope Francis who continues to implement Vatican II today. This reasoning is irrational and unfounded. This view is indicative of a narrow-mindedness and misplaced North American and European perspective (the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) which is blind to the wider picture of the Church worldwide that includes the explosive growth of Catholic membership and practice in other continents especially in Africa after the Council. The decrease in religious practices in the West did not only affect the Catholic Church but also other churches and religions as well. This phenomenon is scientifically attributed by sociologists and anthropologists to the overall rise and spread of secularism in the West. You are wrong to imply a direct connection between Vatican II and the decline of the number and religious practices of Catholics. The facts and reality worldwide belie and debunk your fiction and belief flowing from and due to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness and/or preconceived bias.
Edward Peitler’s Description of the imaginary Church today I found very funny. Jan Michael, do you not see the real situation in the Church today? All the opposite, which Mr. Peitler points out, is precisely what has been done in the name of Vatican ll. And all that was done in the name of Vatican ll are actually in the Council texts. I’m left to wonder if His Holiness Pope Benedict XVl does not view the Abhu Dhabi signing as legitimate, as the Council does say that we Catholics and Muslims worship the same God. That violates Dogmatic Decrees and common sense that we do not worship the same God. Our God is Trinitarian, the Second Person became Man, he gave us Seven Sacraments, and he suffered and was crucified for our Salvation. Compare this to any other Religion and tell us we worship the same God as Vatican ll states.
Deacon. Nice essay!! As the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”. I appreciate hearing Mass in English but have no objection to the return of the use of some Latin. Otherwise i am afraid i fail to see what positive impact V2 had. The draining of the church of priests and nuns was especially damaging.
As an obedient son of Pope Benedict XVl this has knocked me to the floor. I certainly will not question His Holiness. But I am left disappointed. I would hope, as Archbishop Vigano, that Vatican ll be declared illegitimate considering how the Council began and how things ended up. God Bless you, Pope Benedict XVl, and may he give you many more years.
I’m getting tired of hearing that, because of the growth of the Church in Africa and Asia, we shouldn’t worry so much about the decline (understatement) in our own cultures (speaking as a Westerner).
Vatican II is a representation of the church as it was in the mind of Christ in the founding of the Church. People who do not perceive its fruitfulness are those who are not open to the moves of the Spirit.
Benedict’s letter will not leave all of his followers enthralled, because the reevaluation of the total “spiritualization” of the Church perceived as the mystical body now required a “theology of religions”. This would add coherence to Lumen Gentium, often challenged notion of religions other than Catholicism worshiping the same God. As such it would [appear to consequently] reference facing the people rather than ad orientum. Engagement with global projects among them the UN.
Emphasis then is on a more outward than inward ecclesial posture. Some might attribute this letter to the variables of old age. Although, it has to be taken seriously on its merits. For one the Church, whether rightly or wrongly, that is, not in terms of focus rather in feasibility and doctrinal coherence already had begun this process [for example Abu Dhabi].
Theoretically, the Church must appeal to the world in all its entirety, the mission given at the Ascension. In order to do so it cannot remain an attractive medieval artifact highly satisfying to a select body. It must if it is to reach the four global corners acquire a universal posture and messaging consistent with Christ’s revelation. That can be done. Similarly, that does not necessarily sanction the broad based Synodality concept of listening. Instead, it would putatively provide the new missionary able to interface with, engage the world. A realistic faith reflected in its overreaching institutions.
If we don’t write this letter off as the reverie of old age, rather as the reflection of a great churchman and theologian we might consider the words of Cardinal Parolin to Ewtn, that we hold true to the faith but couch it with modesty, respectful of the people of our time. Rather than challenge the pope and his Magisterium. That nevertheless requires reciprocity of the latter holding to the true faith.
Insofar as ad orientem, I’m confidant Benedict, to the contrary of what may be presumed in reading his letter is not repudiating his previous recommendation when pontiff to continue the traditional Latin rite, both for spiritual continuity, and liturgical continuity as a model for enriching the Novus Ordo. Neither does my comment endorse the pontiff’s initial Abu Dhabi remarks.
Churchmen ought to sit up and take a look around before questioning the necessity of the Council or its salubrious effects in the Catholic Church.
Notice how baptisms of children and adults are growing by leaps and bounds. Notice the surge of Catholic marriages, how all who profess the Catholic faith stand up in unison against conteaception and abortion. Notice how Catholic laymen are in the vanguard fighting against the immorality of the culture at large. Witness the long lines for confession. Note, too, the extraordinary missionary efforts of the Church and how ten of thousands of young Catholics devote significant amounts of months and even years proclaiming the Gospel to those who don’t know Christ. Take a look at all the Catholic hospitals being built, the schools that are being founded to serve the poor in countries around the globe and the founding of new religious orders and apostolates to staff these charitable ventures. Look at the vast number of young men entering the priesthood in the USA, in Ireland, France, Spain, and Italy. Look at the number of martyrs for the faith that we have among our bishops. Look at the exemplary lives of our clerics, their holiness, their outspoken witness to the truth in the public forum…such valor, such courage, such faith to dare to proclaim Christ so boldly from the pulpit and in the town square. It’s no wonder that we have vast numbers of people wanting to enter the Catholic Church since the Church is such a model for good in the world. The overwhelming movement of the Holy Spirit among the “people of God” is simply awesome to behold and simply breathtaking.
Why in God’s name would anyone ever question the fruits of Vatican Council II in the life of the Church?
“Why in God’s name would anyone ever question the fruits of Vatican Council ll in the life of the Church.”
Your question is hilariously laughable. Look around you, and you’ve got your answer.
The readers laugh hilariously while you bark. Consider the remote possibility of sarcasm…
Edward Peitler: This mocking antiphrasis of Vatican II that you strongly hold and present here is an illogical and irrational sweeping generalization. It is erroneous and inaccurate to reason that the dwindling numbers and religious practices of Catholics after Vatican II is directly caused by the Council; it’s like reasoning that since Z follows Y, Y must be the cause of Z. There is simply no direct and singular connection between the two leading you to a conclusion that confirms your preconceived bias that the Council was a disaster furthering your chosen resistance and rejection of the reforms and teachings of the Council manifested especially in your disrespect and disloyalty of Pope Francis who continues to implement Vatican II today. This reasoning is irrational and unfounded. This view is indicative of a narrow-mindedness and misplaced North American and European perspective (the fallacy of misplaced concreteness) which is blind to the wider picture of the Church worldwide that includes the explosive growth of Catholic membership and practice in other continents especially in Africa after the Council. The decrease in religious practices in the West did not only affect the Catholic Church but also other churches and religions as well. This phenomenon is scientifically attributed by sociologists and anthropologists to the overall rise and spread of secularism in the West. You are wrong to imply a direct connection between Vatican II and the decline of the number and religious practices of Catholics. The facts and reality worldwide belie and debunk your fiction and belief flowing from and due to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness and/or preconceived bias.
I think your defense of the fruits of the post Vatican II Church is eloquent.
Edward Peitler’s Description of the imaginary Church today I found very funny. Jan Michael, do you not see the real situation in the Church today? All the opposite, which Mr. Peitler points out, is precisely what has been done in the name of Vatican ll. And all that was done in the name of Vatican ll are actually in the Council texts. I’m left to wonder if His Holiness Pope Benedict XVl does not view the Abhu Dhabi signing as legitimate, as the Council does say that we Catholics and Muslims worship the same God. That violates Dogmatic Decrees and common sense that we do not worship the same God. Our God is Trinitarian, the Second Person became Man, he gave us Seven Sacraments, and he suffered and was crucified for our Salvation. Compare this to any other Religion and tell us we worship the same God as Vatican ll states.
Deacon. Nice essay!! As the saying goes, “the proof is in the pudding”. I appreciate hearing Mass in English but have no objection to the return of the use of some Latin. Otherwise i am afraid i fail to see what positive impact V2 had. The draining of the church of priests and nuns was especially damaging.
Leaps and bounds? Seriously deacon? The church is in freefall. Look around.
As an obedient son of Pope Benedict XVl this has knocked me to the floor. I certainly will not question His Holiness. But I am left disappointed. I would hope, as Archbishop Vigano, that Vatican ll be declared illegitimate considering how the Council began and how things ended up. God Bless you, Pope Benedict XVl, and may he give you many more years.
I’m getting tired of hearing that, because of the growth of the Church in Africa and Asia, we shouldn’t worry so much about the decline (understatement) in our own cultures (speaking as a Westerner).
Vatican II is a representation of the church as it was in the mind of Christ in the founding of the Church. People who do not perceive its fruitfulness are those who are not open to the moves of the Spirit.