One of the most striking features of Benedict’s time in office is how frequently he has been assailed and disparaged by certain members of the “Catholic left” (for want of a better term)—often harshly and bitterly. But misery loves company, and the left is constantly on the lookout to see if they can find someone—anyone—on the “Catholic right” voicing criticism against Benedict, even if for entirely different reasons.
The latest example comes from David Gibson, author of The Rule of Benedict, a largely negative biography of the pope emeritus. In a recent article for the Religion News Service entitled “Conservatives Vent Disappointment Over Benedict’s Papacy,” Gibson comments:
When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, the surprising choice cast a pall over the liberal wing of the flock and left conservatives giddy with the prospect of total victory. . . . Now, however, with Benedict set to leave office eight years later in an unprecedented departure, many on the Catholic right are counting up the ways that Benedict failed them, and wondering how their favorite watchdog turned into a papal pussycat.
Gibson’s claim that “many” conservative Catholics now judge Benedict’s pontificate a disappointment is backed up by citing exactly three conservative Catholic voices, including Ross Douthat, who criticized the papal resignation and wrote that Benedict’s send-off will be “marked by sourness and shrugs.”
But a handful of conservative Catholics, however well-intentioned, do not a consensus make. Since Benedict’s announcement to resign, faithful conservative Catholics have expressed overwhelming support for his pontificate through EWTN, First Things, Inside the Vatican, Crisis, Catholic World Report, The Wanderer, and countless Catholic blogs and news agencies like Zenit and the Catholic News Agency. Columns with titles like “Thank you, Benedict XVI” have become the norm.
This is not even to mention the countless tributes from non-Catholics and world leaders; the news that U.S. vocations have strengthened under Benedict; and the latest polling revealing that more Americans now have a high opinion of the Catholic Church under Benedict (62 percent) than they did even under the well-loved and justly honored Blessed John Paul II (56 percent). That doesn’t mesh with what Douthat calls “a Church in disarray.”
Yes, there are Catholic critics of Benedict whose criticisms of Benedict’s prudential errors—not to mention the dysfunctional Vatican bureaucracy—are often fair and valid.
What I question is the idea that these human failings define his pontificate, in its totality, and outweigh or obscure his undeniable accomplishments: his brilliant encyclicals and trilogy on Christ; his expositions of Church teachings on life and human sexuality, and why they are inseparable from Catholic social justice; his document reforming seminaries; his appointment of outstanding bishops; his synthesis of faith and reason; his outreach to the young; his fruitful dialogues with non-Catholics, including atheists; his defense of religious freedom; his bravery in standing up to religious extremists; his re-sacralization of the liturgy, and elevation of its beauty; his reverence for Catholic tradition and teaching that the reforms of Vatican Council II are rooted in the Church’s dynamic history; his willingness to go against the Curia and deal with the sex abuse crisis; and his inspiring sermons on the saints and other public addresses, which have drawn even larger audiences than those of Blessed John Paul II. Assessing his legacy, Dr. Tracy Rowland, a leading authority on Joseph Ratzinger, writes, “a future pope may well declare Benedict XVI a ‘Doctor of the Church.’”
Benedict’s impressive pontificate was short, but all the more remarkable because of its brevity. Not only did he help revive the liturgical treasures of the past, by stressing the importance of Catholic tradition; he brought forth a transcendent sense of mystery, imbued with the reality of the supernatural, to a heavily secularized culture in desperate need of it. He also highlighted the inner joy and authentic freedom Christianity brings. This gift can only be explained by Benedict’s very deep prayer life and an abundance of divine graces.
What critics of Joseph Ratzinger miss is how profoundly his work has affected the personal lives of Catholics across the globe, revitalizing their faith—which is far more significant than transient Vatican mishaps sensationalized by the media.
William Doino Jr. is a contributor to Inside the Vatican magazine, among many other publications, and writes often about religion, history and politics. He contributed an extensive bibliography of works on Pius XII to The Pius War: Responses to the Critics of Pius XII. His previous “On the Square” articles can be found here.
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Comments:
One thing I would add to Doino's list: the Anglican Ordinariate. In the early 1980's, JP II established the "Anglican Use" initiative--welcoming Anglicans, especially in groups, into the Roman Church while providing an approved Anglican-style liturgy which was very reverent and beautiful. In practice, it succeeded only in part (unfinished business!), but Benedict's brilliant ecumenical stroke has brought the initiative to a more workable conclusion. There is risk involved in such an initiative, it is true; but it shows a wonderful hospitality toward Anglicans whose church had left them bereft of orthodox Christian belief and practice.
Your system means that after Pope Leo X's "Exsurge Domine" art.33 condemned, 1520, the only real Catholics were those who believed in burning heretics which is now condemned in section 80 of Veritatis Splendor "coercion of spirit" "torture" as intrinsic evils. You or I had we lived then and held burning heretics to be against the Holy Spirit were excommunicated latae sententiae by Exsurge Domine for a belief that is now Church wide implicitly in the "intrinsic evil" judgement of John Paul II. My advice is to keep the infallible and inerrant and de fide teachings... distinct from the non infallible and the not clearly infallible. You'll notice that while you are excommunicating many here in virtual reality, the actual Catholic Church is not
excommunicating on every topic imaginable but only on some. Read the excommunication annals of the last decades given by Ed Peters at one of his sites.
His books and encyclicals will be read as long as we have the tools to print and read, as they should. He is a superb scholar and writer. In this way he helped clarify and focus the deep beliefs and reality of the Church, which was a great help for many.
On the major downside, his obsession with orthodoxy and protection of criminals (in his case, two closely linked tendencies) did tremendous damage to a Church already reeling from internal corruption. Lashing out at perceived enemies like "secularism" and "liberals" looked pretty Nixonian to many people, Catholic and otherwise. While these external worries are certainly valid concerns, they don't hold a candle to internal problems like rape, cruelty to children, blackmail etc. that have emerged as throughout his term as Pope. Had Benedict admitted that the Church's current problems are internal, emerging quite naturally our of the organizational structure of the Church, and sought to address these ghastly structural problems, his legacy would be stronger. Chasing enemies and purifying the Church to people that ask no questions, looks a lot like classic political evasion to many folks.
You fail to see that those things are not Catholic problems--as many secular scientists have also affirmed--check out the statistics having to do with abuse/rape by American public school teachers. So it's not the structure of the Church that is complicit in moral atrocities.
You've drunk the Kool-Aid pedaled by some of the neo-atheists, who blame religion for the world's woes, when it is the sinful nature of human beings that is the true root of the problem.
Never forget that Christ warned us his Church was a hospital for sinners. It should be no surprise (though regrettable) when some of them lapse back into sin. And while hopefully none of us is a child abuser, haven't we all some stain of habitual sin on us?
Thank God for His medicine, the Sacraments and Holy Church. Praise to the Lord Jesus Christ
Pope Benedict did a lot to correct the problems that he could. (We certainly have many excellent new bishops put in place by him where I live.)
Along with the freeing of the Traditional Mass in Summorum Pontificum, and the Holy Father's other liturgical initiatives, the Ordinariates leave in place a (desperately needed) liturgical renewal whose full fruits will take many years to fully come into being.
Two encyclicals get creamed by Weigel and Novak. Weigel has spent no shortage of space hoping for an emptying of the Vatican of his most-hated entity, liberals, and then decried Benedict's failures for not attending to this. Many other conservatives including First Things bloggers seem to have placed his encyclicals in the waste bin of memory and never ever discuss them. Any reference to these recent reflections on Catholic social responsibility was usually very critical in Catholic conservative circles.
Most busybodies criticizing his resignation, like the Archbolds, are conservative.
It is very fair to indicate that Benedict's teachings and actions are rarely praised, unless he is ham-handedly denouncing Islam, and then conservatives cannot praise him enough. I think it ill-behooves First Things to attempt a Fox News-style rewrite to the history of conservative responses to the Benedict papacy. Benedict was a disappointment to American conservatives because he was not their flame-throwing libertarian culture warrior. He ascended at a time of intense height of American Catholic conservative ascendancy and blogs eagerly re-ran the "Cafeteria is closed" mantra. A popular conservative blog used that as its title.
He was not the pope American conservatives expected and hoped for, banishing "evil" liberals to create conservative dream of a smaller purer church. All they got was the rare Latin Mass and the word "consubstantial" in the liturgy. They had wanted "just desserts" on those evil National Catholic Reporter liberals.
For that, they eagerly await the next papacy.
I'm a conservative Catholic, and everything you've posted is news to me.
I'm appreciative for Pope Benedict's service.
I think you paint conservatives with far too broad a brush.
" forgive them Father, for they know not what they do" comes to mind.
He is and always be in my prayers all the days of my life. I love him and I thank God for him. God bless you Pope Emeritus Benedict xv1.
Not only is Benedict a man of the mind, and a man of humility, but a man of humble kindness. He's known to be an animal lover, and he would feed the stray cats who came near his residence when he was a Cardinal. He was willing to help those creatures that some don't give much thought about. But in his humble kindness, he knows that these cats, although they can't do what we do, still have dignity and worth.
Humility, is the best word, I believe to describe him. He had a humble intellect, and a humble kindness. Not humble in the sense of being "weak'' or deficient; just the opposite. He humbly served his intellect, by constant study, and served his sensitive decency, by serving those creatures who needed his help. This only scratches the bare surface of what he's accomplished. When I think of his beautiful service to these animals, it fills me with tearful gratitude for him.