The See of Peter is vacant...

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's last public words, addressed to the College of Cardinals:

Before greeting you each personally, I desire to tell you that I will continue to be near to you in prayer, especially in the upcoming days, so that you may be entirely docile to the action of the Holy Spirit in the election of a new Pope.  May the Lord show you what He wants you to do.  And among you, in the College of Cardinals, there is the future Pope, to whom I, already, promise my unconditioned reverence and obedience.  For this, with affection and thanksgiving, I impart to you from my heart the Apostolic Blessing.

Contrary to what everyone in the secular world apparently thinks, these are not the words of a man who is somehow going to influence the election of his successor from behind the scenes.  This is it, and likely the last time anyone will see him in public until his funeral.

From this lowly layman, mille grazie, Papa.  You have been far more that a "simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord" and have shaped the lives of countless Catholics more than you will ever know.  The Church will be eternally grateful for your life and your witness.

The Chair of Peter

Still no time for lengthy posts, so my long-anticipated post on sacred music will have to wait.

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter.  As best I can tell, this is the only furniture-related feast in the Roman Calendar, so it is fitting that we are in the throes of last-minute packing for our move tomorrow.  At this time of night and as stressed out as I am about tomorrow, I can't generate any sort of original thought for this occasion.  So, I offer the following prayer for Pope Benedict:

Let us pray for Benedict, our Pope. 

May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies.

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Benedict, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

What a wonderful gift it is for the teaching authority of the Church, symbolized by Peter's Chair, to have endured for so many centuries.

Interlude

After yesterday's whopper of a post, I decided it's time to take a bit of a breather.  Plus, moving day is on Saturday, so we're frantically trying to get everything packed in time.

In hindsight, I really should have planned a "Why I Love Pope Benedict" series to coincide with his last days as Holy Father.  I came across an article today by Dom Alcuin Reid that summarizes very nicely why Benedict's papacy has been such a blessing to the Church.  The piece is titled "Farewell to a Gentle Liturgical Reformer" and is worth a read.  Some snippets:

. . . 

Why the liturgy? Because Pope Benedict knows that “the Church stands [or] falls with the liturgy” and that “the true celebration of the Sacred Liturgy is the centre of any renewal of the Church whatever”. His profound concern is that the Church worships Almighty God correctly, and thereby be fully connected to the indispensible source which sustains and empowers Christian life, witness and mission. If the liturgy is impoverished or off-track our ability to live the Catholic faith and to evangelise suffers.

. . .

These reforms have not been arbitrary impositions: he knows only too well the limitations of authority in respect of the Sacred Liturgy. Rather, they have been incisive, calm, even quiet corrections or exhortations – in words and by example. 

. . . 

At the heart of his reform is Pope Benedict’s conviction that Catholic liturgy “is not about us, but about God”. This explains the crucifix at the centre of the altar. It is why he publically celebrated the modern Mass facing East in the Sistine and other papal chapels. There never was a need to put a table altar in front of the altar in the Sistine Chapel (or elsewhere), but it took a pope with liturgical vision quietly to remind us of this. Similarly, his manifest conviction that the normative, if not also most appropriate, manner of receiving Our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion is kneeling and on the tongue remains a challenging invitation to reform local practice. 

. . .  

His words, acts and example since have indeed inspired a movement toward the right way of celebrating the liturgy, inwardly and outwardly. However much more we may have liked to see, he has quietly laid deep and solid foundations for a new liturgical movement upon which others can now build. 

This piece (and really, Benedict's whole pontificate) fits in nicely with my posts this week on liturgical matters  in the context of what the Second Vatican Council said in Sacrosanctum Concilium.  Our Holy Father rightly sees the sacred liturgy as essential to the life of the Church, which is why he has devoted so much time and energy to speaking and writing on these matters.  He has led by example, not imposition -- much as I personally would have liked him to revoke the indult allowing Communion in the hand or mandate that Mass be celebrated ad orientem, I know he has taken the correct approach with his gentle and pastoral style.  As with the all of the Church's doctrine, Pope Benedict has proposed, not imposed.  I pray that our next Holy Father will continue this work of revitalizing Catholic worship so that with our minds focused on the things of heaven, we may more effectively show the world what it means to be followers of Christ.

Vatican II: Introduction and the "Spirit" of the Council

It appears that I have already run out of semi-original ideas, so let's move on to the first series of posts I contemplated when I came up with this project: reflections on Vatican II and its major documents.

I have already set forth many of the reasons why Pope Benedict's impending resignation saddens me.  In the context of this series, another reason I am sad that the pope is resigning is that he will be the last pontiff who actually participated in the Second Vatican Council -- assuming the next pope is 70 years old or younger, the oldest he could have been in 1965 when the Council concluded was 22.

It makes me very hopeful for the future that Pope Benedict has devoted so much of his pontificate to educating us on what the Council did and did not do.  I do think that there is more that needs to be said (hence my apprehensiveness about his resignation) -- unfortunately, the prevailing view in the secular sphere (and in many Catholic circles) is that the Council somehow did away with the previous 1,900 years of Church history in terms of theology, liturgy, and the like.  Both the ultra-orthodox and the ultra-progressive camps see the Council as a complete break with the past -- the ultra-orthodox see it as the point at which the Church fell into heresy, while the ultra-progressive see it as a watershed moment in Church history when the Church finally emerged from all those hundreds of years of backward thinking.  This is what Pope Benedict has called on many occasions the hermeneutic of rupture -- as opposed to the hermeneutic of continuity, which is how the Council should be viewed.  The hermeneutic of continuity views the Council as completely in line with Catholic tradition, given the same weight as other Councils of the Church -- not as the start of Church history, as many of a liberal persuasion would believe.

We can see just how much this sort of education means to our Holy Father when we consider the fact that he dedicated what could turn out to be his final address in any sort of public setting to the Council and its various interpretations.  The whole thing is certainly worth a read (he even cracks some jokes!), but his closing was especially telling:

[T]here was the Council of the Fathers - the true Council - but there was also the Council of the media. It was almost a Council in and of itself, and the world perceived the Council through them, through the media. So the immediately efficiently Council that got thorough to the people, was that of the media, not that of the Fathers. And while the Council of the Fathers evolved within the faith, it was a Council of the faith that sought the intellectus, that sought to understand and try to understand the signs of God at that moment, that tried to meet the challenge of God in this time to find the words for today and tomorrow. So while the whole council - as I said - moved within the faith, as fides quaerens intellectum, the Council of journalists did not, naturally, take place within the world of faith but within the categories of the media of today, that is outside of the faith, with different hermeneutics. It was a hermeneutic of politics. The media saw the Council as a political struggle, a struggle for power between different currents within the Church. It was obvious that the media would take the side of whatever faction best suited their world. There were those who sought a decentralization of the Church, power for the bishops and then, through the Word for the "people of God", the power of the people, the laity. There was this triple issue: the power of the Pope, then transferred to the power of the bishops and then the power of all ... popular sovereignty. Naturally they saw this as the part to be approved, to promulgate, to help. This was the case for the liturgy: there was no interest in the liturgy as an act of faith, but as a something to be made understandable, similar to a community activity, something profane. And we know that there was a trend, which was also historically based, that said: "Sacredness is a pagan thing, possibly even from the Old Testament. In the New Testament the only important thing is that Christ died outside: that is, outside the gates, that is, in the secular world". Sacredness ended up as profanity even in worship: worship is not worship but an act that brings people together, communal participation and thus participation as activity. And these translations, trivializing the idea of ​​the Council, were virulent in the practice of implementing the liturgical reform, born in a vision of the Council outside of its own key vision of faith. And it was so, also in the matter of Scripture: Scripture is a book, historical, to treat historically and nothing else, and so on. 

And we know that this Council of the media was accessible to all. So, dominant, more efficient, this Council created many calamities, so many problems, so much misery, in reality: seminaries closed, convents closed liturgy trivialized ... and the true Council has struggled to materialize, to be realized: the virtual Council was stronger than the real Council. But the real strength of the Council was present and slowly it has emerged and is becoming the real power which is also true reform, true renewal of the Church. It seems to me that 50 years after the Council, we see how this Virtual Council is breaking down, getting lost and the true Council is emerging with all its spiritual strength. And it is our task, in this Year of Faith, starting from this Year of Faith, to work so that the true Council with the power of the Holy Spirit is realized and Church is really renewed. We hope that the Lord will help us. I, retired in prayer, will always be with you, and together we will move ahead with the Lord in certainty. The Lord is victorious. Thank you.

His closing hits the nail on the head -- it has taken some time, but the true Spirit of the Council is finally coming to the forefront as more people are actually reading the documents and reflecting on them in light of authentic Catholic tradition.  It turns out that the Council documents don't actually call for hideously ugly churches, ripping out altar rails, the abandonment of sacred music, or lay participation in Holy Mass taken to the extreme -- who'd have thunk!?

With these issues in mind, I begin this series on Vatican II.  My first stop will be Sacrosanctum Concilium (unsurprising for those who know my affinity for liturgical matters...).  The number of posts I devote to each of the four major constitutions will depend on how quickly I read them and how many points I find striking in each document.  I can warn you already, there will be quite a few on Sacrosanctum Concilium :-).  I also may intersperse other posts among this series.

My goal in this series is to offer my reflections, such as they are, on the documents and highlight what the texts actually say as opposed to what people want them to say or what the oft-touted "Spirit of Vatican II" says (hint: it's almost never what the Council actually said).  Off we go!

You know what they say about the best-laid plans...

For weeks now, I have been planning a resurrection (of sorts) for this blog during Lent this year.  I had (and still have, I suppose) grandiose plans of posting every day during Lent about something related to Catholic news, my own Lenten reading, and the like.  I was planning to make my bold foray back into the blogging world with an introductory post on Shrove Tuesday (tomorrow).

And then this morning's news hit.  So, here is a precursor to my Lenten blogging.

Following my initial period of disbelief (which lasted for the better part of the morning), I have been alternating about every half hour between being on the brink of tears and being supremely confident in the Divine Will.

Right now I am the former, so here are reasons why I am sad today, in no particular order:

• Not that there are "camps" or "teams" for our past two pontiffs, but in theological and liturgical matters, I am most assuredly a child of Benedict XVI.  I think that he has been a tremendous gift to the Church in so many ways -- his clear love for tradition (in all senses of the word), his loving ecumenical heart that burns to see all Christians reconciled with the Church, his leading by example in liturgical matters (which are nearest and dearest to my heart and probably will form the basis for a future post or three).  I know most people my age have a strong love for John Paul II because of when they grew up, but as a 2003 convert, I only knew the very end of his pontificate.  Almost eight of my almost ten years in the Church have been under Benedict, and he has influenced my own faith journey in so many ways.  
• He is my one and only Papa.  The pure self-sacrificing love that shows through in everything he does, that beaming smile that shows the face of Christ Himself -- I love this man so much that I cannot express it in words.  

• This is the closest I will get to any sort of speculation in this post, but I can't help but wonder if something is seriously wrong with his health.  He didn't even wait until after Easter to announce this and he only gave two and a half weeks' notice beforehand.  If indeed it is the case that his health is seriously deteriorating, this is the thing that makes me the saddest.

And yet, in the midst of my sorrow, I know that we have reasons to hope:

• After so much speculation that Benedict would only reign as pope for a short time and that he would not really have an impact on the Church (as a sort of "transitional" pope), he gave us almost eight years of theological brilliance and clear teaching on what it means to be authentically Catholic in the modern world.  He started the Church on the path to true liturgical renewal -- a renewal based on  continuity with tradition, not a break with the past.
• As the climax of his years of teaching on the Second Vatican Council, he began the Year of Faith in which we currently find ourselves.  He has made it abundantly clear that the true meaning of the Council is not to be found in the "Spirit of Vatican II" but in the documents promulgated by the Council.
• He has named more than half of the Cardinals of voting age who will meet very soon to elect his successor.  I think, by the working of the Holy Spirit, that we will be in excellent hands.
• Much as it feels like we are losing our Papa, he doesn't appear to be on death's door.  I pray that Josef Ratzinger will have many more years of serving the Church in his own way.

The comment I have seen most often today is that Benedict's resignation demonstrates his deep humility.  To quote one of my favorite bloggers, "he leaves as he came, with a humility that shocks the world."  And that's really what our Christian life is all about, isn't it?

I hope that we will all learn from this great man how to do justice, love goodness, and walk humbly with our God -- and trust in our Lord Jesus that the gates of hell shall never prevail against our Mother Church.

Thoughts on the papal ceremonies this morning

First off, let me say that seeing Nancy Pelosi kiss Pope Benedict's ring when she greeted him at the White House this morning was probably one of the less pleasing things I've seen in my life.

I never get tired of hearing Kathleen Battle sing, and this morning was no exception. Her performance of the Lord's Prayer (even though it wasn't the correct wording of the Our Father) was quite excellent. I had chills running down my spine the whole time.

I've said it before (though not here) and I'll say it again: President Bush is one of the most Catholic-sounding Protestants I've ever seen or heard (too bad the music selections--that version of the Lord's Prayer and Battle Hymn of the Republic--are two of the most quintessential American Protestant hymns that exist). I don't know if the rumors about him converting to Catholicism after his presidency is done are true or not, but I pray that they are. Come on, Mr. President, join your good friend Tony Blair and come home to the Church. We would be exceedingly happy if you did so.

I won't comment at length on the Pope's speech this morning, but here it is if you want to read the full text. I was glad that he devoted a large chunk of his comments to the notion that truly free societies cannot exist without Truth as their foundation and even quoted the late beloved John Paul the Great in doing so. All in all, his speech set a good tone for the rest of his trip, in which he will hopefully continue to make his voice heard for true peace and justice as well as for the place of faith in modern society.

Still to come tonight: a prayer service with the U.S. bishops at the National Shrine.

APH

Update: I forgot to mention that it's the Pope's 81st birthday, and I just discovered that he shares a birthday with another one of my favorite people, Rafa Benitez.

A mingling of pope and politics...

A hilarious and highly appropriate cartoon from this site:

He's here!

Photos courtesy of the Associated Press:





Rather spry for a man who will be 81 tomorrow, no? He doesn't make any official public appearances until tomorrow, but I'm still extremely excited right now!

APH

Popestock 2008!

Yes, my friends, the day has almost arrived. Deo Gratias! Only a few short hours remain before the Holy Father touches down at Andrews Air Force Base for his first visit to American soil. I'm both happy and frustrated at the same time – happy that he is coming to the United States relatively soon after his elevation to the See of Peter, but frustrated at the timing. As I'm sure you are aware, I'm in the middle of the push toward exams here at the law school, which means there is no way I can get away to go up to D.C. To be fair, I've seen him in person already (at the Vatican in 2005…sorry, I'm still working on a better way to incorporate photos in to these posts), so I'm not that annoyed. But still, it's unfortunate.

There has been a lot of press recently about the pope's "approval ratings" among Americans. For the most part, the results are encouraging. According to CNN, 80% of people they surveyed had a favorable view of the pope. This is higher than I might have expected, and that is a good sign. However, there have been more telling opinions published in recent days that claim to have found deeper problems with the views of American Catholics. This article from Slate claims that the more "orthodox" members of the Church are displeased with Benedict's perceived moderation, and there is a veritable plethora of opinions from "progressive" Catholic sources pining for change in the Church and in the papacy. These people were the same ones who lamented Benedict's election in 2005 as the end of whatever hope they had of gaining ground on the issues of clerical celibacy, female priests, and the like. In short, the more progressive members of the Church argue that Benedict has already gone too far in cracking down on touchy subjects, while the conservative members argue that he has not gone far enough in such matters.

While I obviously lean toward the "orthodox" side of things, what people on both sides fail to realize is that the office of pope is unlike any other. His position as the pastoral leader of Christians all over the world is not the same as the one he had as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was Joseph Ratzinger's job there to be the watchdog of the Church, so to speak. It is the job of Benedict XVI to be the Vicar of Christ on Earth, and because he is such a gentle and insightful man, he realized from the very beginning that this was necessary.

All of this aside, I firmly believe that Benedict's trip across the pond will unite Catholics as well as people of all faith traditions. After all, how often does the spiritual leader of one-sixth of the world come knocking on your door?

I will, of course, be waiting with baited breath for all of the pope's public appearances (I'm especially curious to see his speech at the United Nations) and will likely comment more as his trip progresses.

Get excited, people!

APH