POPE BENEDICT XVI: A CURATOR OF TRUTH

Sonnie Ekwowusi pays tribute to Pope Benedict XVI who passed at age 95

It all began on June 29 1951: Two blood brothers: Joseph Ratzinger (24), and his older brother, Georgi Ratzinger (27) are ordained to the priesthood in Freising, a university town in Bavaria, Germany. With outstretched hands the two brother priests impart their first blessing on the waiting bemused crowd, and, by extension on the 1.2 billion Catholics-one-sixth of the world’s population. April 19 2005: Joseph is elected Pope by a clear majority of 115 Cardinals. He replaces Pope Saint John Paul 11. Immediately after his election, he presents himself to the faithful on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica amid the spontaneous outbursts of “Habemus papam ex Germania”. The outbursts shake the pillars of St. Peter’s Basilica to their foundation. There are about 400,000 people in St. Peter’s Square, some of them radiantly waving the German flags. Joseph is the first German Pope succeeding St. Peter, the first Pope, for 482 years. The new Pope chooses the name, Benedict XVI after Saint Benedict of Nursia, the great religious founder and educator whose motto is: ora et labora (“pray and work”). September 14 2005: the new Pope unveils and blesses a statue of St. Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, which is placed in a niche on the outside of St. Peter’s Basilica. February 28 2013: Pope Benedict XVI resigns citing advanced age and declining health. He is the first Pope to do so in over 600 years. I can go on and on reeling out the prominent events that shaped Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate.

In his funeral homily at the Saint Pope John Paul 11, Joseph Aloysius Cardinal Ratzinger said: “This is not the time to speak of the specific content of this rich pontificate. Likewise, this piece does not aim to cover the full extent of Pope Benedict XVI’s rich pontificate and his rich literary achievements. Instead, it serves as a way for billions of people across the world to pray for the merciful judgment of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI. We pray that the Lord Jesus will welcome him home as his humble servant and a curator of saving truth. We pray too that all those who loved and admired and inspired by him may take consolation in the following words of his homily in the solemn inaugural Mass of his pontificate at Saint Peter’s Square: “Do not be afraid of Christ. He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything.”

As John L. Allen Jr. rightly noted in his book: The rise of Benedict XV1, to be elected Pope is tantamount to being sentenced to life imprisonment, meaning that the job of a Pope is not only tasking but entails gigantic self-immolation. One of the first remarkable things about Pope Benedict, in my view, is his calm recollection, self-assurance and serenity even during seemingly turbulent times. He stood out for his surpassing intelligence, calm demeanour and strong convictions.  Another remarkable thing is his towering stature and presence in the world. For short of a better expression, he was a first-class world intellectual. He could be counted among the first 10 most intelligent human beings that have lived in this world. He was known for his strong stance on issues such as the defence of traditional marriage and opposition to violence and terrorism.  He was the professors’ professor. Above all, he was a professor of dogmatic theology. He was the theologians’ theologian. Elmar Bruber, who was his student in theology at the Academy of Freising, recalls that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger taught theology ex-tempore as if the whole body, branches and principles of theology was in his head. “His rational brilliance, inked with his verbal gifts, generated an unconditional admiration”, writes Bruber. Bruber recalls that whenever it was the turn of Joseph to preach on Sundays the cathedral was packed to the brim, and that even Ratzinger’s fellow professors attended and “listened to his words in a breathless silence”. After publishing his benchmark book: Introduction to Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI had published more than 135 solid theological works including Jesus of Nazareth; The nature and mission of Theology; Salt of the Earth: Christianity and the Catholic Church at the End of the Millennium; Values in a time of Upheaval: Meeting the Challenges of the Future; What it means to Be Christian: Three Sermons, Christianity and Crisis of Cultures;  The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State and the Church. 

Undoubtedly Pope Benedict XVI derived his strength in accomplishing the foregoing from prayer. I think this largely accounts for the success of his pontificate. He was rooted in the faith of his parents, in a rural, liberal-Bavarian Christian piety. As Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI, in collaboration with his boss, Saint Pope John Paul 11, worked indefatigably hard to ensure that the message of the Gospel might be handed down bereft of errors, untruths and falsifications. In fact, Saint Pope John Paul 11’s numerous encyclicals bear the imprint of Cardinal Ratzinger’s resolve to maintain Christian values and doctrinal purity. Small wonder Saint Pope John Paul 11 gave him the task of producing the Catechism of the Catholic Church which he successfully produced. 

Perhaps Pope Benedict XVI’s most-prized achievement was his unflinching commitment to providing the right answers to the following eschatological questions which threaten the happiness of most right-thinking persons: Who am I? What is the meaning of human existence? What am I doing in this world? Where am I going after this life? I think Pope Benedict appreciated that his answers to the above queries would not be readily acceptable in a highly secularized world which seeks to remove God from the public space. The world crisis is essentially a crisis of religion not much crises of intellectual conviction. During the pontificate of Saint Pope John Paul 11, the primary challenge was communism and its suppression of human freedom. But at the election of Cardinal Ratzinger in 2005 the primary challenge had shifted and focused on confronting what he dubbed “dictatorship of relativism”. Pope Benedict’s crusade against dictatorship of relativism although rather diffused and amorphous was very effective. Allen writes that the real challenge which Pope Benedict faced was to convince the secularized world that there was a “dictatorship” to be resisted in Europe. As Cardinal Francis Stafford then aptly put it: “The tragedy of Europe is rooted in the eclipse of the Christian identity of individual Europeans and their society as a whole… Unfortunately that is being repeated in the European Union. There is a kind of Christophobia, a fear of Christ, not just a withdrawal from him…Pope Benedict will be able to bring the people of Europe a new, rediscovered sense of the dignity of what it means to be a child-to be chosen by God in Christ to be his child.”

Pope Benedict knew from the onset that his pontificate would be buffeted from side to side by the different forces swelling up the secularized culture. Even the cardinals who elected him had identified secularized culture or post-Christian secular culture as the dangerous ill-winds that would attempt to rock the boat of the successor of St. Peter. He was pained by the crisis of religion. He often repeated that the Church needed a revolution of faith. That probably explains why he chose the name Benedict after St. Benedict XV the great, founder of European monasticism. According to Pope Benedict XV1, St. Benedict XV  “lived at a time when Roman Empire was collapsing, and he saw the role of the Church as to preserve the best in human culture throughout the centuries…in his footsteps, I place my ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples.”

In imitating Pope Benedict V1 who preserved the best in human culture, Pope Benedict XV1, according to German journalist, Peter Seewald, decided to run a papacy of love. This is not surprising because Pope Benedict XVI loved humanity and had always nurtured love and sympathy for the poor and needy. Perhaps not many are aware that Pope Benedict XVI freely authorized the use of his organs after his death for those who are in need of them to stay alive. According to Pope Benedict, “to offer, spontaneously, parts of one’s body for someone who needs them is an act of great love”. Although Allen and others do not think that such an offer will be accepted after Pope Benedict’s death, the offer goes to illustrate the Pope’s unwavering social concerns and his love for others. In his first encyclical letter, Deus caritas est (God is Love) he extensively treats the different aspects of love. He ends up explaining why all loves should find their root in the real Love-love of God.

Another enthralling encyclical letter of Pope Benedict XVI with masterful scholarship is Caritas in Veritate (Charity in truth). This particular encyclical, in my humble view, is a must read especially for those involved in promoting or building human development, democratic culture and ethical standards in banking and financial institutions and others. The encyclical covers themes such as integral human development in our time, ethical considerations of the world economic crisis, notion of rights and duties in development, dignity of the human person and demand for justices and the search for lasting peace in the world. In this encyclical, Pope Benedict writes that world peace cannot be considered a product of mere agreements between governments or product of inter-diplomatic contacts, economic, technological and cultural exchanges. For these efforts to lead to lasting peace, according to Pope Benedict XVI, the voices of the people affected by injustice must be heard and their situation must be taken into consideration if their expectations are to be adequately corrected. In concluding the encyclical, the Pope states that while technology has greatly helped to transform the world, the supremacy of technology has prevented many people from recognizing the higher things which cannot be explained in terms of matters alone. He finally ends by stating that “a humanism which excludes God is an inhuman humanism.”

A good thought for Pope Benedict XVI will not be complete without mentioning his unbelievable ecumenical drive.  If Saint Pope John Paul 11 provided different platforms for collaboration between Christians and Muslims, non-believers, Jews, free thinkers, atheists, agnostics and all that, Pope Benedict XVI equally did something greater in his short stint as Pope. He was excited about the growing rapprochement between the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Communion, Orthodox Church and other churches. During his pontificate, about 4,000 traditional Anglicans comprising clergymen and laymen returned to the Catholic Church, thanks to Pope Benedict’s papal endorsement.

As the remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is reverently being carried for interment amid tears of sorrow and joy, we pray God to welcome him to eternal home, that heavenly convivium, as Richard John Neuhaus liked to put it, where fellowship, laughter, smile, love and conversation will never end. The legacy of Pope Benedict XVI will continue to be felt within the Church and beyond.

Ekwowusi writes from Lagos