Great Introduction to Benedict XVI

Our Sunday Visitor's in-house papal expert Matthew Bunson--who also prepares the same publisher's highly useful Catholic almanacs--has written an excellent account of the great events of last month, including the funeral of John Paul the Great, the conclave, and the inauguration of Benedict XVI. The book is entitled We Have a Pope! Benedict XVI. Even more valuable, Bunson gives us a close and accurate look at the life of the former Cardinal Ratzinger, his priorities, and the likely themes that will emerge in this new, grand papacy.

Many other publishers will also put out their books on the conclave and on the new Pope. But beware--some will have an axe to grind in spite of disclaimers to the contrary and some will be penned by the same people who have erred grievously in their past analysis of events in the Church. But, with Bunson, you are on safe and reliable ground.

Bunson is reliable because he interprets and analyzes from within the mind of the Church. That thinking with the Church is a tremendous advantage for reliability and realism in analysis. Those who reject Church teaching, those committed to theological revisionism, those who view the Church as having to catch up to secular society can never fully or reliably grasp what the Spirit is doing in the Church because they lack the connaturality--the innate empathy of mind and spirit--that enables one to recognize what the Holy Spirit is really doing in Christ's Church.

In other words, to get the best view of recent events in the Church and of the new-born Ratzinger papacy you need to rely on theologically orthodox Catholic writers. I recall reading or hearing someone say once that the best way to study the work of a particular philosopher was to take a course with a professor who was sympathetic to that particular philosopher. In that way, you would get a full, empathetic treatment of the life work of that philosopher that would set the basis for real understanding and productive critical evaluation. That's why the best interpreters of the Scriptures are those who live and think within the Church, along with the Church, and so view the Scriptures as the living Word of God that cannot be cut up into incoherence.

Moral theologian Germain Grisez makes a similar point when he emphasizes the dialectical method in Catholic moral theology. Grisez defines dialectical method as exploring "from within the reality in which one lives--one tries to understand the meanings and relationships which comprise the expanding and unified framework of one's life" (Christian Moral Principles, Vol. 1, p. 7, Franciscan Press, 1983). That is the way Bunson writes about the papal funeral, papal conclave, and the new Pope. Bunson obviously lives the reality of a faithful Catholic who is not crusading, whether openly or in disguise, for revisionism of any kind. And so Bunson is able to open up the reality of the great events of April 2005 in the Catholic Church.

So what about the book's contents? Bunson begins with the papal funeral and the days before the conclave. He rightly notes that "[w]hat was most striking about the coverage in the majority of media outlets was the apparent disconnect between the speculation of experts and what the Cardinals and world's bishops were discussing at their ordinary and extraordinary gatherings in the final year's of Pope John Paul II's reign" (p. 69). As an example, Bunson quotes the words of Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia spoken at the bishops' Synod of 2001:

The bishop dominated by fear will not be the man of the Gospel, nor the man of hope. Scared in front of public opinion, he does not preserve the faith with the opportunity for correction . . . The bishop as teacher educates, as a leader corrects, as a liturgical person celebrates the divine cult; as a leader he is firm when facing abuses, as a teacher he preaches morals, as a leader he unveils and corrects failures and keeps traditions. The bishop, leader of the diocesan community, does not stop committing himself so that Christ's thinking may find a place in public life.

Quoted in Bunson, pp. 70-71.

There, in the words of the Colombian cardinal and friend of then Cardinal Ratzinger, we have the profile of our new Pope and of the types of bishops he will seek to appoint. Amen. But since that type of bishop is not what secularists or revisionists want, much analysis of the papal conclave was dealing in fantasy from the very beginning. But, as early as 2001, the pre-conclave trend was captured eloquently by one of the most powerful cardinals in the Vatican.

Bunson even provides a separate chapter analyzing the issues in the conclave. Interestingly, he mentions the challenge of China--and we are now beginning to hear talk of a potential papal trip to China in the midst of a reported thaw in relations between the Vatican and China (p. 82). Once he gets to the outcome of the conclave, Bunson does not mince words: "The message from the College of Cardinals was clear: the papacy was entrusted not to some caretaker pontiff" (p. 98). Clearly, the cardinals did not choose mediocrity or tepidity. They chose a new Pope who would in no way be merely transitional. Like John Paul the Great, the conclave was not satisfied with mediocrity.

And so we have Benedict XVI whose homilies are already indisputable gems of genuine Christian eloquence. You see in the book's rich photos of our new Pope the profound joy of our new universal pastor. You see the boldness of that joy in his words to the young--words that really speak to all regardless of age: "Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and He gives you everything. When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open wide the doors to Christ--and you will find true life." (p. 116).

About a third of the book consists of a biography of the new Pope. We see that his efforts to purify the distortions found in liberation theology were rooted in his personal experience with the totalitarian threats of Nazism and Marxism to Christian truth (pp. 158-162). Bunson also corrects the distorted reporting of the 2000 document Dominus Iesus, a document which merely reaffirmed that Christianity is the true path of salvation willed by God for all people (pp. 163-166). Bunson also makes clear the pivotal role of Cardinal Ratzinger in the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I agree with Bunson and others that the Catechism "may prove to be one of . . . [Ratzinger's] most lasting achievements" (p. 170). I would add only that it will also be John Paul the Great's most lasting achievement.

The only inaccuracy that I noticed in the book was the relatively unimportant observation that the current Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury was the first "leader" of the Anglican Communion to attend a papal inauguration when in fact Anglican Archbishop Donald Coggan did so in 1978 (p. 192). But the presence of the current Anglican leader, Rowan Williams, does make for a powerful contrast between liberal Protestantism and Catholicism. Williams attempts to lead, in a sort of muddling through, a communion that has radically lost its way. From what I have read, I have concluded that Williams himself rejects traditional Christian sexual morality. The Anglicans have lost the blueprint, much as many Catholics in the West lost the blueprint after Vatican II (cp. p. 136). Benedict XVI has not lost the blueprint.