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April 19, 2005
A Fresh Serving of Popes Benedict
Just when we were starting to get used to the phrase "Mayor Littlefield," the College of Cardinals has tossed another new name our way: Pope Benedict XVI.
(That may be, by the way, the most strained local-angle lead ever. I'm quite proud of it.)
The election of Joseph Ratzinger is significant as a statement of church direction. The new pope is a hard-line traditionalist on most of the social issues dividing Catholics: birth control, celebacy, a male-only priesthood, the exclusivity of salvation within the Holy Mother Church. Ratzinger even opened the College of Cardinals conclave yesterday with a strong speech against "relativism" and the rise of "sects" -- traditional Catholic terminology for Protestant evangelical movements. (So Pope Benedictine XVI probably won't be endorsing 40 Days or Purpose anytime soon, in case you were hoping.) The new pope will almost certainly seek to define the church's doctrine more clearly and narrowly, setting it in fundamental opposition to increasingly permissive Western societies, especially in Europe.
I'm just a Presbyterian, without much knowledge of these papal matters, but I can't help but wonder if Ratzinger's choice of the name Benedict is a crucial statement. St. Benedict formed the Benedictine monastic order in the Sixth Century; the Benedictines consecrated themselves to "work and pray," living in close, strictly-controlled communities, and were responsible for transcribing "Sacred Scripture, the liturgy and the teachings of the Church in beautiful calligraphy that would become, in itself, a treasure." By identifying himself with Benedict, I think Ratzinger is declaring his dedication to scripture and tradition, and is affirming the virtues of chastity and monasticism, as classically defined. He is affirming the church's separation from the world.
You may resume arguing about Town and Country now.
| By mesh | 04:16 PM
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