Papal visit to Germany –1 ROBERT MICKENS
Benedict’s balancing act
An exposition of faith and reason in society was the highlight of Pope Benedict’s visit. But, with negotiations to bring the Lefebvrists back into the Catholic fold at a critical phase, he trod a tightrope when he met Protestants, Jews and Muslims
ope Benedict XVI’s third visit to Germany last week was billed as the 84-year-old pontiff ’s latest effort to help convince people in highly sec- ularised Europe that their society would be better and more human if God were at its centre. He won high praise for a deeply philo- sophical paper given to the Bundestag in Berlin on the foundations for a free state of law (see page 10). In that address, he said it was “urgent” to start a “public debate” on the necessity of retrieving the natural law tradition in developing legislation. As with his speech at Westminster Hall a year ago, the Pope was hailed for reaching across the political and religious divide of Germany’s parliament and its intellectual class. But Benedict’s visit also came at an
P
extremely troubled moment in the life of the Church in his native country, and in many other parts of the Western world. It took place at a time when record numbers of the baptised faithful have continued to leave the Catholic community, when groups of priests and the- ologians have joined committed lay people in calling for changes in church structures and discipline, and when clerical sex-abuse scandals (and their perceived mishandling and cover-up) have all but ruptured the trust that many believers once invested in their bishops and even the Vatican. Furthermore, the visit started just days after
the Vatican began anxiously waiting for leaders of the ultra-conservative Society of St Pius X (SSPX) or “Lefebvrists” to respond to a “doctrinal preamble” (which has not been published) that they must embrace in order to be readmitted to full communion in the Church. This element was a quiet, but essential subtext to the trip. It was clear that Pope Benedict, who has shown a deep personal interest in healing the so-called Lefebvrist schism, tried to walk a tightrope while in Germany. On the one hand, he sought to re-spiritualise demoralised Catholics (including a number of bishops) who want more reforms in order to realise the Second Vatican Council. On the other hand, he sought to show the anti-Vatican II
8 | THE TABLET | 1 October 2011
Lefebvrists that he could meet Muslims, Jews, Protestants and Orthodox in a way that did not betray the Catholic Church’s exclusivist claims of the past or fall into syncretism. The Pope specifically quoted the council only three times in his 17 speeches – making passing references to Lumen Gentiumat two different Catholic liturgies and citing Nostra Aetate once in his meeting with Jews. He did so in a way in which the SSPX could take no offence. Additionally, all of the meetings with non- Catholics – with the
exception of a
Lutheran-led prayer service – were closed- door events not broadcast to the public or press. Thus the images were safe from manip- ulation by those who would wish to provoke the SSPX and derail their return to Rome. With so much on the line, it was troubling that in the days before his arrival surveys showed that a majority of German Catholics did not see Benedict’s visit as particularly sig- nificant. And yet, the tens of thousands of them who turned out for his public events were excited and showed him impeccable
Benedict’s visit came at an
extremely troubled moment in the life of the Church in his native country, and other parts of the Western world
courtesy, with the exception of sizeable protests in Berlin and smaller ones in Erfurt and Freiburg. They listened respectfully to what he had to say and gave him sustained applause. Their hope was that he, too, would listen to their concerns and offer at least small signs of openness to their yearnings for change in a Church to which many of them have ded- icated their lives. But a headline in the Süddeutsche Zeitung,
the influential Bavarian paper, seemed to sum up their feelings at the end of the visit. “He came, he spoke, he disappointed,” it said. Indeed, Pope Benedict made it clear that
The Pope gives a blessing after leading a prayer service at the Marian sanctuary of Etzelsbach on Friday 23 September. Photo: CNS/Reuters, Andrew Medichini
he believed structures and certain church dis- ciplines did not need reforming. The real cause of the Church’s current crisis and malaise, he said, was lack of faith – especially among those who profess to be believers. At almost every venue, beginning with a large Mass in Berlin, he said the reform that was most desperately needed was a spiritual one. “Dissatisfaction and discontent begin to spread when people’s superficial and mistaken notions of ‘Church’, their ‘dream Church’, fail to materialise!” he exclaimed. A few days later in Freiburg, he said that Catholics needed to be more humbly obedient to Rome and their bishops, and less concerned with trying to reorganise (or over-organise) the Church. “We must honestly admit that we have more than enough by way of struc- ture, but not enough by the way of Spirit,” he told the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZDK), an influential 150-year-old umbrella organisation of laity councils, asso- ciations and movements. “If we do not find a way of genuinely renewing our faith, all structural reform will remain ineffective.” Alois Glück, head of the ZDK, said that was a false dichotomy. “It’s not a question of either promoting introspection and prayer or chan- ging the Church,” he said. “We have to link both these things.” The Pope was not ruling out reform com-
pletely, some hopefully pointed out. But later, in a meeting with Catholics who hold key posts in the Church and society, he appeared to dash such short-lived hopes. “Should the Church not change? Must she not adapt her offices and structures to the present day, in order to reach the searching and doubting people of today?” he asked provocatively, only to answer with an unequivocal “No”. “It is a question of setting aside mere strat- egy and seeking total transparency, not
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40