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Farewell to Pope Benedict XVI

Yesterday I woke up to very sad news that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to resign effective February 28th. As it has been remarked many times since, this is a shocking and historic event – the last Pope to resign did so almost 600 years ago. (It’s also a news milestone of sorts for me at least – I found out about it through the social media.) For all practical purposes being a Pope was considered a position for life, something that the late Pope John Paul II very courageously and painfully carried out in spite of very debilitating battle with Parkinson’s. Pope Benedict is not gravely ill according to all of those who know him, but at the age of 85 he feels weak an incapable to effectively lead an institution the size of the Catholic Church.

I was personally very shocked and saddened by the news. This Pope was really close to my heart, perhaps more so than any other Pope will ever be. In the days shortly after the death of John Paul II I checked out almost all of Cardinal Ratzinger’s books out of the University of Illinois library and started reading them. I quickly discovered a very thoughtful and serious theologian, someone who humbly pursues the truth, someone who always proposes and never imposes his views, and yet manages to get insights that are as profound as anything written in all of Catholic theological history. His theological sensibilities were grounded in the Augustinian tradition, and were therefore very close to my own. I’ve also known Cardinal Ratzinger throughout the years as a staunch, eloquent and effective advocate and defender of the Church’s orthodox teachings.

Yesterday I woke up to very sad news that Pope Benedict XVI has decided to resign effective February 28th. As it has been remarked many times since, this is a shocking and historic event – the last Pope to resign did so almost 600 years ago. (It’s also a news milestone of sorts for me at least – I found out about it through the social media.) For all practical purposes being a Pope was considered a position for life, something that the late Pope John Paul II very courageously and painfully carried out in spite of very debilitating battle with Parkinson’s. Pope Benedict is not gravely ill according to all of those who know him, but at the age of 85 he feels weak an incapable to effectively lead an institution the size of the Catholic Church.

I was personally very shocked and saddened by the news. This Pope was really close to my heart, perhaps more so than any other Pope will ever be. In the days shortly after the death of John Paul II I checked out almost all of Cardinal Ratzinger’s books out of the University of Illinois library and started reading them. I quickly discovered a very thoughtful and serious theologian, someone who humbly pursues the truth, someone who always proposes and never imposes his views, and yet manages to get insights that are as profound as anything written in all of Catholic theological history. His theological sensibilities were grounded in the Augustinian tradition, and were therefore very close to my own. I’ve also known Cardinal Ratzinger throughout the years as a staunch, eloquent and effective advocate and defender of the Church’s orthodox teachings.

So by the time the Conclave to elect the new Pope in 2005 concluded, I was very much primed to view Cardinal Ratzinger as my favorite. I remember very clearly when the news broke about it. I was in my hotel room in Tampa, Florida, during a Physics conference. I was on my knees, clutching my rosary, tears of joy streaming down my face. It was a beautiful moment and I felt the workings of the Holy Spirit in a very visceral and immediate manner. The rest of my trip to Tampa was rather forgettable.

The years since have fully justified my hopes and expectations of this man of God. He’s been God’s faithful servant, laboring incessantly and tirelessly in the vineyard of the Lord. He’s, of course, encountered a fair share of controversies, but it would have been surprising and troubling if he hadn’t. Today anyone who speaks with eloquence and conviction about timeless truths will face a very hostile blowback from the increasingly secular and immoral elites and their followers. At no point did he waver from his words and convictions, a steadfast rock of faith and a worthy successor of St. Peter.

So I am incredibly sad to see him go from this prominent role as a Pope. The tears of joy have been replaced with those of sorrow. Yet I am happy for him and believe that this is a right decision. I really wish him all the best in the years, hopefully many, that he has left on this Earth. The quiet life of prayer and meditation that he has chosen is very fitting of this contemplative and gracious man. I will continue to pray for him and for all of his intentions. And I hope he manages to write a few more books, however brief they may be.

Finally, I want to reflect upon several issues that have cropped up since Pope Benedict’s announcement yesterday.

1. Unsurprisingly when it comes to anything that has to do with Catholic Church and Vatican, there are a lot of insinuations about a possibility of some kind of intrigue or other nefarious actions that have been the reason behind this resignation. We Catholics in particular have to refrain from all sorts of speculations about intrigue in public. The secular press, and many others who don't have the interests of the Church at heart, will have a field day with this and I expect to see a lot of crazy articles in the upcoming days and months. However, we should not by our words or actions encourage any of that talk. I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit is still very much in charge, and intend to think and speak accordingly.

2. We Catholics should also not feel the apprehension and the sense of uncertainty about Benedict’s successor. Again, the Holy Spirit will continue to guide the Church, and Jesus’ promise that the gates of Hell will not overwhelm it still stands. I am again encouraged by the fact that in its two thousand years there have been Popes who had fallen well short in their personal lives, but we’ve never had a single one who had strayed from the orthodox teachings. There have never been heretical Popes, and I don’t think we’ll get one either now or ever.

3. A lot has been made out of the fact that the Church ought to elect its first non-European Pope. In this view the Church is waning in Europe and its growing in the Third World in particular. First of all I think that the claims of the decline of European Christianity are greatly exaggerated. This may be the case in certain urban circles in the Western Europe, and even then it has more to do with the weekly church attendance than the decrease in personal beliefs. Every Mass that I ever attended in Croatia was always a standing-room only. My reviews of Christian and Catholic books on Amazon’s UK site are as popular as my reviews on Amazon’s US site – with a fraction of the audience. Pope’s visit to the UK a few years back was a resounding success. For the first time since the Reformation there are now more Catholics than Anglicans at the Sunday mass, and Anglicans are overwhelmingly expected to rejoin the Catholic Church in the upcoming years and decades.

Now one of the things that I like the most about my Church is that we don't practice identity politics. And yet, or in my opinion because of that, we manage to be the most diverse organization on Earth. I am reminded of that every week when I attend Mass. It's the most diverse gathering in this incredibly diversity-obsessed culture. My son was baptized along with the kids from parents from five different continents. If the Holy Spirit leads the Church to elect a non-European Pope so be it. But I will know that the decision had more to do with his personal qualities than with the place of his origin.

4. Finally, many Catholics are upset that Pope Benedict has not decided to stay at his position until his death. Popes die “with their boots on” as someone put it. Their declining health and struggles as they approach death are a visible and inspiring witness to the redemptive value of suffering, and in this regard Popes are supposed to lead by an example. That at least is how many perceive that Pope John Paul II has acted. However, I believe that there are many ways to sanctity and holiness, and a public suffering might be just one of them. The tradition of viewing the quiet contemplative life as an ideal path to holiness has a long and venerable tradition, was particularly emphasized by St. Thomas Aquinas, and can in some way be traced all the way to the story of Mary and Martha. Martyrdom as an end in itself, devoid of a true call from God, might be as self-serving and futile as anything else that takes us up along a wrong path in life. To quote T. S. Eliot’s Thomas Becket in “Murder in the Cathedral.”

The last temptation is the greatest treason:
To do the right deed for the wrong reason.

I trust that Pope Benedict has in his immense wisdom and guided by the Holy Spirit has done the right deed for all the right reasons. He has fought a good fight, he has finished his own race. In his humility and kindness he has served Christ’s Church the best he knew how until he felt it was the time for him to step aside. It is now upon us to water and cultivate the seeds he has sawn, and help the new Vicar of Christ guide the Church through the new sets of challenges and tasks. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done, and I trust God that he’ll provide us with all the laborers that are needed for it to be accomplished.

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