Yesterday I had to get away from the computer, away from newspapers and television. For my sanity, I found it was much better to run some errands in an unhurried fashion, then go spend two hours praying for the Holy Father, the Church and for the next pope.
Then off to Evensong and Ash Wednesday sung Eucharist at our little church.
Fr. Carl, a former engineer, stencils on ashes so each one has a perfectly symmetrical black cross on his or her forehead. Just kidding, but, well, he is quite painstaking to get things right in all things for the glory of God.
I see other blogs are kind of in semi-hiatus as well. So, what would you like to talk about?
How has the Pope’s renunciation affected you? What does it mean to your understanding of the Petrine Ministry? Has it changed it, threatened it, illuminated it?
Are you pessimistic about the prospects of a good Pope to follow Benedict? Or are you optimistic?
I am deeply saddened but I realize this sadness is what Evangelicals call a prayer burden, a call into intercession.
I have loved Joseph Ratzinger since long before he became Pope. His writing inspired me and attracted me to the Catholic Church. His Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus made it possible for me to become Catholic while retaining what is beautiful and true in the Anglican tradition. I will be forever grateful to him. How about you?
I have found it a bit of a burden to continue regular blogging as well. I think for Lent I may revert to a series of theological reflections. I did some on the Anglican Articles of Religion last year, which were well read. I find if i have a series to do, I blog more regularly.
I have written a posting on my blog at https://sarumuse.wordpress.com/2013/02/14/another-reflection-for-this-lent/
I have never been in communion with Pope Benedict XVI as Pope, but I have always had the highest esteem for him as a theologian and a man of utter integrity. You will find a link to an article by Fr George Rutler.
As for the future, I am no prophet or conspiracy theorist. I am beginning to see something in this abdication designed to purify the human institutions of the Church. Again, I don’t have God’s omniscient knowledge of these things!
Maybe one Lenten penance we could impose on ourselves would be to abstain from speculation. I remember just a month after this time in 2005 when we worried about the Conclave giving up on Europe. It might happen this time, but maybe not.
I know, myself, that I need to take a break. The momentous events of the past few days have had an effect I’m sure. Perhaps, a lot of things will quieten down, prior to this conclave. Not only do the Cardinals have to be quiet and attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, but, perhaps during this Lent, we all need to do so, on a personal level. Besides, there seems to be little going on in the Ordinariate, lately. My focus is on the needs and concerns of the Oshawa Sodality, rather than the issues beyond it.
Deborah,
You wrote: I found it was much better to run some errands in an unhurried fashion, then go spend two hours praying for the Holy Father, the Church and for the next pope.
We all should be praying for the Church and for the next pope are — and actually for the cardinals preparing for and during the conclave, too, that they all will be attuned to the Holy Spirit so that the conlave will yield God’s choice.
You asked: How has the Pope’s renunciation affected you?
Not very much, really. Life goes on.
You asked: What does it mean to your understanding of the Petrine Ministry? Has it changed it, threatened it, illuminated it?
It really confirms what became obvious during the last months of the last pope’s life — that is, that the Petrine ministry really needs to be in the hands of somebody who has the strength and stamina to fulfill its demands, which have expanded considerably in the past several decades. I am grateful that the present pope, recognizing this, has the courage to break with recent precedent.
Here, I should note that this break with precedent is not exactly unprecedented in the Catholic Church. Through the first half of the twentieth century, nearly all bishops, abbots of monastaries, and pastors of parishes remained in office until they died. Recognizing the problems created by pastoral leaders whose health deteriorated to the point that they could no longer keep up with the demands of office, past popes have amended canon law to require pastors to submit their resignation at the age of 65 and all bishops to submit their resignations at the age of 75 — and the preponderance of these resignations have been accepted, though there have been some exceptions. Present law grants the title of “(arch)bishop emeritus” or “pastor emeritus” to such individuals, and it’s likely that we will see the title of “ordinary emeritus” for former ordinaries of the ordinariates in due course. The Benedictine orders have not amended their constitutions to require their abbots to resign at any particular age, but most abbots now do resign after perhaps ten or twenty years in office. Until now, the papal office has remained the lone exception.
It’s also important to note that, throughout the course of its history, the papal office has always evolved in response to changing situations. St. Peter was never a head of state who exercised power of secular governance over a soveriegn nation. And in the encyclical Ut unam sint, Blessed John Paul II of joyous memory invited theologicans to consider how changes in the manner of its exercise might be “open to a new situation” that would facilitate reunion with the churches of the Orthodox Communion and the ancient oriental churches. The papal office undoubtedly will continue to evolve in response to the need.
You asked: Are you pessimistic about the prospects of a good Pope to follow Benedict? Or are you optimistic?
I have faith that the Holy Spirit will guide the College of Cardinals to select the right man to lead the church forward. Thus, I’m prayerfully optimistic and even enthusiastic!
You wrote: I have loved Joseph Ratzinger since long before he became Pope.
So have I. Over a decade ago, I listed “Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger” as the person whom I would most like to meet in a personal profile on an investing web site. I have refrained from updating that profile since the 2004 conclave so it would be clear that this desire had nothing to do with his election to the papal office.
You wrote: His Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus made it possible for me to become Catholic while retaining what is beautiful and true in the Anglican tradition.
The apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus and the canonical erection of the first three ordinariates thereunder, opening the door for large numbers of Anglican Christians to come into the Catholic Church with their patrimony, unquestionably will go down in history as one of the major elements of his legacy — not only because more Anglican Christians are sure to follow, but also because it establishes a potential model for reception of Christians from other traditions (Lutheran, reformed, Methodist, etc.) as well.
Norm.
Actually Norm, Canon 538 specifies the retirement age for pastors to be 75. Of course the diocesan bishop can adopt a diocesan policy which allows priests, for pastoral or personal reasons, to retire at an earlier age.
Tim,
You wrote: Canon 538 specifies the retirement age for pastors to be 75. Of course the diocesan bishop can adopt a diocesan policy which allows priests, for pastoral or personal reasons, to retire at an earlier age.
Yes, as can national or regional episcopal conferences for their territories. Here in the States, the retirement age seems to be 65 for pastors and parochial vicars.
That said, many presbyters continue to be active in ministry after their formal retirement. Here in the Archdiocese of Boston, many pastors have a “retired priest in residence” who lives in the parish rectory and assists with the respective parish’s mass schedule, especially on weekends and holy days, and also providing coverage especially for sacramental ministry on the pastor’s days off. Likewise, retired bishops who are in good health typically assist with episcopal ministry by visiting parishes to confer confirmation and by performing ordinations in houses of clerical religious orders. Thus, retired clerics still have active roles in the life of the church.
Norm.
Considering that Catholic priests have no pension plan, and are dependant on personal means or diocesan charity for any retirement income, I am sure that most wish to stay in some sort of active ministry as long as possible.
EPMS,
You wrote: Considering that Catholic priests have no pension plan, and are dependant on personal means or diocesan charity for any retirement income, I am sure that most wish to stay in some sort of active ministry as long as possible.
Under church law, each diocese or other particular church bears the responsibility to provide a decent lifestyle, including housing, meals, medical care, etc., for its retired presbyters and bishops. Larger dioceses typically maintain a residence for retired clergy, one section of which is a fully equipped nursing home for those who need it, while smaller dioceses must make other arrangements.
Norm.
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I certainly feel a loss at no longer having such an intelligent thinker at the helm following February 28th.
Pope Benedict XVI did more than any single person (other than the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity!) to bring me back home to the Church. As a lapsed Catholic slowly rediscovering catholicity through the Anglican church, I began to read the then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s books (initially his Introduction to Christianity, and the Jesus of Nazareth books, and then his other articles and CDF pronouncements later on) and was struck at his keen theological insights and the clarity of his commentary. Here was a “thinking Catholic” I could really engage with, and through him I began to see the depth of other Catholic writers and of the Catholic faith generally. Off the top of my head, I’d list these as things I learned from him: how to approach Holy Scriptures as an integrated whole; appreciating the sacraments as fundamental incarnational aspects of the Christian religion and not mere memorials of a past incarnation; understanding how the members of the fully subsisting Church can and should interact with those members exhibiting elements of sanctification and of truth outside the Church’s visible confines; seeking in every criticism of Christianity, however harsh or antagonistic, some potentially rational ground with which to engage; and believing that proper theology must contain objective truth-claims and not be merely subjective yearnings for the transcendental.
Anglicanorum Coetibus was a bold stroke that showed a lot of ecclesiastical imagination and ecumenical courage, and it personally captivated me and my Protestant-born wife. Under its auspices, we (re)joined the Church in 2011. Even if the numbers remain small for the time being, my family’s participation in the U.S. Ordinariate and Anglican Use liturgy has taught me so much about the meaning of being in communion with the Church and of the purpose of worship.
Pope Benedict’s very humble and thought-out act of abdication has emphasized to me that the Church is measured by so much more than the personal leadership qualities of the Pope. Each generation must bring forth its Popes, its bishops, its evangelists, its thinkers, its day-to-day witnesses and even its martyrs. We are all the Church and must each play our respective parts in His plan.
I felt that I have to offer during the Lent every moment of my life in intention of Benedict XVI and unity of the Church. God received my prayers and in the Ash Wednesday I woke with the great teeth pain and fever. There was pus under the teeth.
PS. As I am not native English speaker – sorry for my bad English.
I was surprised at my own reaction. On a cerebral level I know ‘popes come and popes go’ and that it is the office of the bishop of Rome that is important but one also feels an attachment to the man himself on a more personal level…
Like Mario I benefited from reading him both before and after he became Pope. One in particular, “Called to Communion”, was of particular influence in my seeking full communion. His observation that the Gospel of John written as it was in the post-apostolic period assumes an ongoing petrine ministry of unity and service. Years ago I had read Oscar Culmann’s work on Peter in which he demonstrates the primacy of Peter in the N.T. but denies that the primacy had continued after his death but I remained unconvinced that it hadn’t. Then when I read the former Cardinal’s observation ‘the penny dropped’.
There were of course many other influences not least of which was the example of many faithful Catholics, clergy and laity, I have had the benefit of knowing. I had hoped to one day make a pilgrimage to Rome with a view to at least seeing Pope Benedict XVI and possibly hearing him speak but, alas, it was not meant to be…
GCT
Porys, your English faulty? I just noticed my sentence in which ‘benefit of knowing’ does not agree with the previous ‘the example’!
Well, CNA asked my views (http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/lay-catholics-voice-gratitude-for-inspired-pope/) and I don’t have a lot to add to what I believe. It seems that the Pope believes a younger man is needed to carry his work forward, and I perforce must agree with him. Given the current makeup of the Cardinals, I suspect he will get what he wants.
Given the current makeup of the Cardinals I shudder to think what’s coming next. God, indeed, help us.