He was: quiet, peaceful, prayerful, steady and stable, reserved, humble, joyful, and unwaveringly loyal to the Church and her Pontiff. He was this way his entire life, but these last years are striking.
He watched his successor systematically, over ten years, assault his legacy:
1. The "Communio" school he founded was ignored and then assaulted as the John Paul Institute in Rome was destroyed.
2. The traditional Latin mass which he treasured was repressed.
3. The resistant Catholic Church in China of Cardinal Zen, which he supported in their persecution and allegiance to Rome, was abandoned into the hands of the Communist Party.
4. The classic Catholic and yet contemporary synthesis of faith and reason he advocated (e.g. Regensburg Address) was replaced by an incoherence of emotion and sentiment.
5. The delicate, sophisticated hermeneutic of reform, of discontinuity within greater continuity, by which he interpreted the Council and confronted Modernity, even as he embraced what is best within it, was replaced by volatility and an unrelenting harangue about rigoristic dogmatism and legalism.
6. Love for the priesthood and inspiration for young priests was replaced by a resentful anti-clericalism.
7. Moral clarity/certainty were replaced by ambiguity/confusion as moral absolutes became relativized and prudential judgements became absolutized.
8. Steadfastness and stability were replaced by unpredictability.
9. Quiet and discretion were replaced by spontaneity, garrulousness, and subjectivity.
10. The subtle but significant distinction between Catholic Social Teaching and partisan politics was replaced by the ideological preferences of Western liberal elites.
In the face of such systematic assault, Benedict remained quiet like Christ before Pilate and Herod. No complaint; no argument; no resentment; no victimhood. Serene, confident, steadfast. Better still, he was impeccably loyal to Pope Francis, his nemesis. This is the young David protective of murderous King Saul.
Not only did he honor the papacy and protect his own integrity and holiness, but he protected the unity of the Church. He served, silently, as shepherd, precisely by supporting the new pope. He has been this Pontiff's singular friend. Francis has disappointed the progressives and is facing a revolt out of Germany and across the globe. This is looking like a real schism. But on the other side he has alienated traditionalists, Coummunio's, the persecuted Chinese Church, conservative young priests, and so many of the most pious and practicing whom he disparages as "backward-looking." These groups, most fervent in their love for the Church of memory and of the actual present, (in contrast to the utopian fantasy of the progressive imagination), remain, nevertheless, loyal to their Pope. He has Benedict to thank for this. There is not a whiff of real rebellion from the right. This is because we have been quietly schooled by Benedict to remain loyal, peaceful, humble and hopeful.
As I was ruminating this week about these two popes I received in my intellect a simple, clear thought...from heaven, I believe, and specifically from Benedict. Clear as a bell I thought: "He is faithful. Substantially, Pope Francis is faithful to the faith." This did not seem to come from me, but from above. I pondered this word. True: he is a man of faith, of prayer, of the Church, of the poor. More particularly, he has basically (if erratically and contradictorily) protected Humanae Vitae, the celibate-male priesthood, the nature of marriage and the preciousness of incompetent human life. In this he has fundamentally renounced the Cultural Left. He has been faithful.
It felt as if Benedict, by way of ten years of quiet, had clarified: He is faithful. I felt a great joy and relief. Francis may well be, as I think, breathlessly incompetent in theology and Church governance, but he is faithful. The bark of Peter is rocking in the waves, but he is (with help from above) keeping it afloat.
With this guidance from above, I renew my allegiance to Pope Francis. Since his death, I have changed: more interior peace, confidence, strength. I NEVER make New Year's Resolutions: they are futile frustrating delusions of moral agency. But Since January 1 I have felt Benedict as a gentle presence in my life, fortifying my faith and enhancing my peace, patience, clarity, confidence and hope.
He wrote of the Ascension of Christ (I paraphrase from memory): "This was not so much a departure or separation as a new mode of presence whereby Christ was even closer to us, through the Holy Spirit and the sacraments of the Church."
I will not miss him. I expect to experience even more of his influence and assistance as he smiles quietly down on this Church he so loved.
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