Decisive Benedict the Pope the world needs
AS one would expect of the leader of a billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI is a leading theologian, one of the major thinkers of our age.
But he is also a sharpshooter - the kind of man who can explain complex ideas in simple ways, and then act decisively.
People everywhere welcome his gifts. As a young Catholic studying in a modern university where relativism and other intellectual trends pushed against Christian truth, beauty and goodness- I often found Benedict to be speaking directly to those who wanted to push back.
But even non-Catholics have something to learn from him.
Benedict regularly describes, for instance, how the secular West can overcome some of the more alienating aspects of modern living, and he is not afraid to engage the Church's critics.
In his papal writings, then, Benedict has quoted atheist thinkers such as Nietzsche and Marx, and used their criticisms of false belief and an unjust society to show how Christian love and hope can transform contemporary lives.
Indeed, on a recent trip to the United States, Benedict surprised even his most ardent critics, using his public speeches and private meetings to heal wounds caused by some priests' abuse of children.
Further, Benedict's 2006 comments on religion and violence have already transformed the direction of the debate on terrorism. His speech in Germany resulted in some violent reactions, but the Pope - who later travelled to Turkey - was credited with defusing serious tensions.
Even those who might baulk at Catholic teaching on human sexuality and politics will find Benedict an honest and insightful guide.
People seeking alternatives to over-commercialisation, hyper-sexualisation, and degrading events like the Sydney Mardi Gras, will find World Youth Day calls them to something radically different.
It was Benedict who wrote his first papal encyclical on love, and it is Benedict who has situated sex and other flashpoint topics within an account of human nature that emphasises man's capacity for compassion, solidarity, family and love.
The themes of his leadership for Catholics are clear.
On the so-called "reform of the reform", the important debate on how Catholics evaluate changes to the Mass since Vatican II, Benedict has called for a return to beauty.
He is keen, on paper, to promote an organic development from tradition, derived from what he calls a "hermeneutic of continuity".
Converting ideas into action, however, Benedict has restored the altar arrangement in St Peter's Basilica, a site that attracts relentless attention, and he now regularly wears historical vestments to show that Christian worship today is linked with Christian worship throughout the ages.
Benedict means the end, then, of any post-Vatican II confusion. On signal Catholic issues, he has moved with decisiveness, and great wisdom.
Everywhere he goes he communicates with authority. He is just the Pope the world needs.
(Source: News.com.au, July 13,2008)
AS one would expect of the leader of a billion Catholics, Pope Benedict XVI is a leading theologian, one of the major thinkers of our age.
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| ĐGH Benedictô tới Australia |
People everywhere welcome his gifts. As a young Catholic studying in a modern university where relativism and other intellectual trends pushed against Christian truth, beauty and goodness- I often found Benedict to be speaking directly to those who wanted to push back.
But even non-Catholics have something to learn from him.
Benedict regularly describes, for instance, how the secular West can overcome some of the more alienating aspects of modern living, and he is not afraid to engage the Church's critics.
In his papal writings, then, Benedict has quoted atheist thinkers such as Nietzsche and Marx, and used their criticisms of false belief and an unjust society to show how Christian love and hope can transform contemporary lives.
Indeed, on a recent trip to the United States, Benedict surprised even his most ardent critics, using his public speeches and private meetings to heal wounds caused by some priests' abuse of children.
Further, Benedict's 2006 comments on religion and violence have already transformed the direction of the debate on terrorism. His speech in Germany resulted in some violent reactions, but the Pope - who later travelled to Turkey - was credited with defusing serious tensions.
Even those who might baulk at Catholic teaching on human sexuality and politics will find Benedict an honest and insightful guide.
People seeking alternatives to over-commercialisation, hyper-sexualisation, and degrading events like the Sydney Mardi Gras, will find World Youth Day calls them to something radically different.
It was Benedict who wrote his first papal encyclical on love, and it is Benedict who has situated sex and other flashpoint topics within an account of human nature that emphasises man's capacity for compassion, solidarity, family and love.
The themes of his leadership for Catholics are clear.
On the so-called "reform of the reform", the important debate on how Catholics evaluate changes to the Mass since Vatican II, Benedict has called for a return to beauty.
He is keen, on paper, to promote an organic development from tradition, derived from what he calls a "hermeneutic of continuity".
Converting ideas into action, however, Benedict has restored the altar arrangement in St Peter's Basilica, a site that attracts relentless attention, and he now regularly wears historical vestments to show that Christian worship today is linked with Christian worship throughout the ages.
Benedict means the end, then, of any post-Vatican II confusion. On signal Catholic issues, he has moved with decisiveness, and great wisdom.
Everywhere he goes he communicates with authority. He is just the Pope the world needs.
(Source: News.com.au, July 13,2008)