Orthdox Ratzinger Will Stand Tall in the Shoes of the Fisherman

Orthodox Ratzinger will Stand Tall in
the Shoes of the Fisherman

By Philip D. Ropp
April 21, 2005

     As was to be expected, the white smoke above Saint Peter's Square had not dissipated before the controversy surrounding the election of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI began. The first German pope since Hadrian VI reigned briefly from 1522 to 1523, the selection of the 78 year old Cardinal Ratzinger represents a "care taker" papacy in the best sense of the term. Due to his close relationship and theological similarity to Pope John Paul II, his election, for those that loved and admired the traditional religiosity of the late Holy Father, was welcomed with joy and a certain sense of relief: Much like losing a beloved father then being entrusted to the care of a cherished and loving uncle. While those of us that love and appreciate the traditional and scriptural Catholic Faith that has sustained the Church for two millennia embrace Pope Benedict XVI as one of our own, those that speak of the new Holy Father as "a stern defender of Catholic orthodoxy" as if this is some how an undesirable attribute, are not shy in trumpeting their dismay.

     Tom Heneghan, Religion editor of Reuters UK, begins his article, "Pope Benedict Must Prove He is Pastor for All" in this way: "Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has persuaded two thirds of his fellow cardinal electors that he should be Pope. Now he has to convince the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics that he will be a pastor for all of them."

     First of all, it should be noted that though the press in general had portrayed Cardinal Ratzinger as "campaigning" for the papacy, this is at odds with what has been reported in the Catholic media. In an extensive interview with Raymond Arroyo of EWTN, then Cardinal Ratzinger spoke candidly of his desire to retire as early as 1991. He stayed on because of Pope John Paul's reliance upon him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and, as the Holy Father's health failed increasingly in the latter years of his reign, because he was too loyal to leave a beloved friend and church that needed him. He is now at an age when most men have long since retired and he is assuming the rigors of the papacy. Those that know him well have described him as a brilliant but quiet, humble and unassuming man. It is difficult to square this Pope Benedict XVI with the secular and liberal Catholic media's portrayal of Ratzinger as the Machiavellian politician trying to sway the outcome of a close convention.

    Secondly, he has nothing whatsoever to prove to the world's 1.1 billion Catholics. He is their pastor as evidenced by the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel's humble little metal chimney and the ensuing pomp and ceremony that followed in Saint Peter's Square. This is, in and of itself, demonstration that the Holy Spirit has, through the college of cardinals, selected Cardinal Ratzinger to be Pope Benedict XVI. He is not the President of the United States nor is he the Prime Minister of Great Britain or in any way like any other earthly ruler. He is the Apostolic successor to the Chair of Peter and Christ's vicar to the world. Unlike citizens under the rule of temporal leaders and potentates, his subjects are not coerced or oppressed into fiscal or military servitude disguised as "freedom." Those that are opposed to the pope because he stands for a traditional, orthodox Christianity which puts him in the position of opposing such abominations as abortion, birth control and homosexuality, are perfectly free to walk away from the Catholic Church at any time and may join any faith that tolerates or celebrates such things, or entertain no faith at all.

     Certainly, Pope Benedict would prefer that all Catholics everywhere follow the Way of Christ. However, he cannot be responsible for those that follow the whim of modern intellectual fad and fashion and believe that Christ's teachings should be altered to affirm and justify sinful behavior. And the Catholic Church cannot, in turn, be held accountable for its refusal to condone and celebrate this sinful behavior. Instead, the pope chooses to shepherd the sheep that hear his voice and, through his voice, Christ's. The difference is not that these individuals are without sin. The difference is that these individuals recognize the authority of Christ in their lives, and, through his Church, seek forgiveness and repentance for this sin rather than demanding the justification of it. For the Church to justify and condone sin in the way demanded by her critics would be to allow the abomination that makes desolate to stand in the holy place, and it is difficult to conceive of any pope presenting the Church in this condition as an offering dedicated to God.

     Traditional Catholic Christianity is, by its very nature and definition, consistent in its teaching that the truth of God stands forever unchanged and unchanging. "As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." The goal of the original apostles was to assure that the literal truth of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ never be forgotten: That the memory of Immanuel, God among man, be preserved as a holy and literal historical fact. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, as foretold in the prophets and by the Master himself and then played out upon the stage of history, is the bedrock authority upon which the Christian faith is built. Regardless of the errors that the Church has made over the two millennia past, she has never failed in her mission to preserve and pass this knowledge along from generation unto generation.

    This passing of the sacred knowledge of Christ unto future generations is called "Catechesis." The Catechism of the Catholic Church is the document that serves as the Apostolic Constitution of the Church, the Fidei Depositum, the "Deposit of Faith." It is the compendium of Catholic Christianity and the form in which the unchanging faith and truth of Christ is presented to the future. While those in the media are quick to refer to those that oppose the Catechisim of the Catholic Church as "progressive," which, of course, casts the Church in a pejorative and reactionary light, it should be noted that the current Catechism was published in 1992. The request for a new Catechism was made during the Vatican II Council, as the need was identified by the Synod Fathers for a central reference text on the teachings of the Church. Pope John Paul II took it upon himself as a personal responsibility to see that this was accomplished, and in 1986 named Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger Chairman of the Catechetical Commission that brought this work to fruition. This, it would seem, identifies Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI as the true progressives, and we Catholics would do well to remember that one that proclaims another Gospel of Christ and stands in opposition to the Sacred Teaching of the Church is not a "progressive" but a heretic. It is, therefore, ludicrous to presume that Pope Benedict XVI or any pope, for that matter, would oppose history, tradition and the Catechism of the Catholic Church so as to rule in favor of heretical human behaviors such as abortion, homosexuality, or euthanasia, which have always been considered sinful and the evils of which are spelled out in no uncertain terms.

     Cardinal Ratzinger, as Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was never shy about sharing his opinions, and it is a safe assumption that this candor will continue in his new role as Pope Benedict XVI. On the eve of his election, the following remarks that he made were quoted widely in the press and, in retrospect, seem to anticipate the predictable outrage that has greeted his selection to the papacy:

Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism, whereas relativism, which is letting oneself be tossed and 'swept along by every wind of teaching,' looks like the only attitude acceptable to today's standards. We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desires.

     All in all, Benedict XVI's critics are precisely those we would expect and, for that matter, those that we would want to be critical of a pope that believes in leading the Church according to the will of God. In the past, his strong and vocal defense of the faith has earned him such sobriquets as "the panzer cardinal," "the enforcer," and "God's rottweiler." Much has and will be made of his coming of age at the end of the Third Reich: His drafting into the Hitler Youth and his service in a Nazi anti-aircraft unit on the Hungarian border in the waning days of the war. Several articles may be noted in which the author takes this part of his life out of context and neglects to mention that he deserted his outfit in opposition to the Nazis and risked his life turning himself into the Americans. The end of hostilities found him a U.S. prisoner of war. He is no more a Nazi sympathizer than was John Paul II. Those that rightly characterize him as a "polarizing" influence do not seem to understand that this is a positive thing when the pole that he draws us to is an uncompromised faith in Jesus Christ.

     Pope Benedict XVI is perhaps without doubt the most qualified man on earth to lead the modern Catholic Church down the narrow path of True Faith that runs between fundamentalism and what he has aptly termed the "dictatorship of relativism." He is the leading intellectual and theologian within the church and, more importantly, those that know him best assure us that beneath his calm and reserved exterior there beats the warm heart of a pastor and a true believer in the saving power of the Gospel of Christ. While those that suffer under the dictatorship of relativism expressed shock at the election of Cardinal Ratzinger, those of us that have followed and appreciated the work that he has done for the Church would have found it far more shocking had the college of cardinals chosen someone that stands in opposition to the faith of our new Holy Father. Personally, I had anticipated that Cardinal Ratzinger's age and desire to retire and write would preclude him from serious consideration, but that he would gather enough votes to direct the conclave towards a candidate that met with his approval. We should be grateful to the college of cardinals for having the courage to elect him and we should be thankful to our new Holy Father for loving us enough to accept.

     As for those that oppose him, notice has been given: The leash of God's Rottweiler has been dropped.