Catholic historian reflects on the courage and brilliance of Pope Benedict XVI
Editor’s note: The following was written by Msgr. Raymond J. Kupke, an adjunct professor of Church history in the School of Theology at Seton Hall University in South Orange and pastor of St. Anthony in Hawthorne, N.J.
On Ash Wednesday, 2011, I was seated with a small group of perhaps 100 people in the Benedictine church of Sant’Anselmo on the Aventine Hill in Rome. Traditionally, the Pope begins Lent by going to Sant’Anselmo and joining in a penitential procession to the nearby Dominican Basilica of Santa Sabina, where he celebrates Mass and the Imposition of Ashes. I was in Rome visiting a friend, and with the permission of my parochial vicar, Father Bill Mooney, I opted to stay for Ash Wednesday. The prior of the Benedictines at Sant’Anselmo at the time was Father (now Bishop) Elias Lorenzo, O.S.B. from New Jersey, and he graciously invited me to join his community in the procession. He did not have to ask twice!
In this fairly intimate setting, so unlike Saint Peter’s Basilica, the personality and warmth of Pope Benedict XVI were able to shine. As soon as the Pope entered, you were aware of his presence as it filled the church, even though, at first, you did not see him. His prayerful presence recollected the whole group, and soon, after an opening prayer, we were chanting the Litany of the Saints and processing toward Santa Sabina with Pope Benedict bringing up the rear. I kept looking behind me to see if the Pope was really there.
I thought of that beautiful day this morning when I heard the sad news of Pope Benedict’s passing. To some, he may seem to have been a papa del passeggiata, an interim pope between the two towering personalities of Popes John Paul II and Francis. But that would be to do him an injustice.
While his election as pope in 2005 was not a foregone conclusion, it was also not a surprise. With a solid reputation as a theological scholar, he was virtually the only cardinal with an intellectual reputation rivaling that of Pope John Paul II. His quarter-century experience working in the Roman Curia, his beautiful homily at John Paul II’s funeral, and his quiet but effective skills organizing the conclave as Dean of the College of Cardinals, and at the same time keeping at bay those calling for immediate canonization of his predecessor earned him grateful notice among the cardinals. In addition, after the very long pontificate of John Paul II, Josef Ratzinger was one of the only two cardinals in the 2005 conclave who pre-dated Papa Wojtyla and could remember that there were other ways of being pope.
Pope Benedict was basically an introvert. He never had the natural abilities of others to make the grand gesture or seize the symbolic moment. The press, which saw him as a reactionary, often judged him harshly compared to his predecessor and successor. He was, by nature and training, a Bavarian scholar and professor. Even as Pope, he continued to gather his former doctoral students for an annual summer week-long reunion/theological seminar. His legacy to the Church will be found, I think, in two areas. He was not just a scholar but also a teacher and preacher. His 2008 homily in New York, in which he used the gothic architecture of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral as a symbol, is a gem of his style – both deeply reflective and, at the same time, very accessible. His theological output, again very accessible, will help define Catholicism for years to come. The other area was his most dramatic gesture – that of his resignation from the papacy in 2013. Typically, having weighed the issue from theological, medical, historical, and gerontological viewpoints, he courageously made a decision that will come to be seen as a gift to all his successors and to the Church.
At the closing ceremonies of the Second Vatican Council on Dec. 8, 1965, there were actually four popes present in Saint Peter’s Square. Pope Saint Paul VI presided at the ceremony. Archbishop Karol Wojtyla (Pope Saint John Paul II) and Bishop Albino Luciani (Blessed Pope John Paul I) were both present as bishops and “fathers of the Council.” And Father Jozef Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) was present as a 38-year-old peritus or theological advisor at the Council. With his death this week, the curtain is effectively drawn on Vatican II, the watershed religious event of the twentieth century. May Pope Benedict, who put his considerable talents at the service of Christ and his Church, rest in peace and rise in glory.
This column was reprinted with permission from The Beacon and the Diocese of Paterson.
Featured photo: Pope Benedict. Angie Menes via Unsplash
