Seminarian recounts experience at installation of Benedict XVI

Another great letter from seminarian Joseph Previtali, who is currently studying in Rome:

Dear Friends in Christ,

Yesterday, I was once again blessed to be able to attend a papal event - this time, the Beginning of the Petrine Ministry of Pope Benedict XVI. It was an amazing day, on which the joyful news that Joseph Ratzinger is the Supreme Pontiff began to seem like more than just a really awesome dream!

It was so amazing to see Pope Benedict XVI in action for the first time! He is a natural as pope. We all knew that this intellectual of extremely high voltage would provide us with much depth in his teaching and preaching, but his charisma and comfort with the crowd was not a little surprising. He has been described as a quiet and reserved person - which he is - but he has shown that he can rise to the occasion when his new Petrine vocation calls him to be the center of the Church's, or the world's, attention.

His dignity of presence was apparent from the beginning, as he incensed the soon-to-be-his shepherd's pallium and fisherman's ring during the opening rite at the confessio underneath the main altar of St. Peter's Basilica. As the procession moved from the inside of the Basilica towards the door and out into the open air for the beginning of Mass, the jumbo-trons in St. Peter's Square depicted a very calm and solemn Benedict XVI. One could sense that he was very focused and prepared as he began his installation Mass. This dignity of presence, every step being measured and deliberate, speaks much of his own reverence and awe before the Office of Peter and the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.

As he came out, he waved to the crowd and blessed us. He then continued in the procession and reverenced the altar. Right after kissing the altar, he stood there, surveyed his flock, and raised his hands in triumphant joy and humble thanksgiving. This unusually-timed acknowledgement of the crowd's applause drew an even greater roar of approval from the 300,000-plus present. He again gave us his blessing. One couldn't helping laughing and clapping with delight at the spontaneous affection of the new Successor of Peter for the Lord's People.

His homily - which I highly recommend that you read - was both powerfully poignant and deeply personal. He spoke first of his need of the prayers of the Communion of Saints. His begged us three times to pray for him, and did so with great emphasis. He truly needs our prayers as he begins his time as the earthly general of the Lord's Army. His consolation is the fact that he does not have to do it alone, but that he has the prayers of the saints to accompany him.

He then gave a mystagogical catechesis on the two symbols of the Petrine Ministry - the pallium and the ring. His explanation was evocative of the Church Fathers' teachings on the role of the Bishop in the life of the Church. He sees himself both as the shepherd of the flock of Christ - after the heart of the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep - and as the fisherman at the sea of the world - catching men from the dark waters and bringing them "into His marvelous light". In this reflection on his office, he interwove very pointed critiques of the modern world and exhortations for the entire Christian faithful to "set out into the deep for a catch" in order to win the world for Christ.

The great crescendo of his address came when he hearkened back to 22 October 1978 - the day on which Pope John Paul II began his Petrine Ministry. Recalling John Paul's exclamation that we "Open wide the doors to Christ!", and "Be not afraid!", Pope Benedict reproposed "with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life" this same call to each member of the human race:

"Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ - and you will find true life."

The faithful received these words of encouragement with great enthusiasm, erupting in tremendous applause. Throughout the entire homily, in fact, there were many interjections by the faithful as they signaled their approval and appreciation of Pope Benedict's fearless proclamation of Jesus Christ.

Showing himself also to be after the heart of the good shepherd of happy memory who preceded him as Bishop of Rome, Benedict took a lap around St. Peter's Square in the popemobile (without the bulletproof glass). I was no less than five feet away from him when he passed. It was a surreal moment looking up at him in all his noble dignity against the clear blue Roman sky, with Bernini's colonnade providing a fitting backdrop. He looked very happy as he passed the faithful and received their praise and applause. I think he realized during that ride through the crowd that we will indeed pray for him every day. This must have brought him so much encouragement and peace. He was very free with and seemed very happy to give the Apostolic Blessing, which, of course, we were all very happy to receive.

Pope Benedict XVI wowed us yesterday morning at St. Peter's. There's no other way to say it. He rose to the occasion and beyond, as he inaugurated his promising pontificate. I went home filled with the joy that comes from the ecclesial experience of Jesus Christ - a mixture of divine love and human warmth. As Benedict proclaimed loud and clear to the world yesterday, "The Church is alive!"

Viva il Papa! Ad multos annos vivat!

Your brother in Christ,
Joe

Comments

[Eric Giunta]

Is anyone but me the least bit disappointed in the fact that our new Holy Father has been very vague and ambiguous in the statements and homilies he has made thus far?

For instance, he speaks broadly of objective truth, and the need for Christian and religious unity; but never does he come out and say that Catholicism is this objective truth, or that unity will only be finally achieved when heretics, schismatics, and apostates themselves convert to Catholic Christianity.

I guess I'm just disappointed at his refusal thus far to make an unambiguous declaration that Catholicism is the true religion; he basically does everything he can to dance around this belief without actually saying it, as if he's afraid of beeing *too* politically incorrect.

I dunno . . .

[Carl Olson]

Eric: Do you think so many dissidents and MSM folks would be howling if this was a man who simply gives supposedly ambiguous statements? And then there is that Dominus Iesus document. And his 25 books. But how about this, from the homily at his installation:

"There is the desert of poverty, the desert of hunger and thirst, the desert of abandonment, of loneliness, of destroyed love. There is the desert of God’s darkness, the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the goal of human life. The external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast. Therefore the earth’s treasures no longer serve to build God’s garden for all to live in, but they have been made to serve the powers of exploitation and destruction. The Church as a whole and all her Pastors, like Christ, must set out to lead people out of the desert, towards the place of life, towards friendship with the Son of God, towards the One who gives us life, and life in abundance."

"Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true life. The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water, it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital element to serve as human food. But in the mission of a fisher of men, the reverse is true. We are living in alienation, in the salt waters of suffering and death; in a sea of darkness without light. The net of the Gospel pulls us out of the waters of death and brings us into the splendour of God’s light, into true life. It is really true: as we follow Christ in this mission to be fishers of men, we must bring men and women out of the sea that is salted with so many forms of alienation and onto the land of life, into the light of God. It is really so: the purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin. Only when we meet the living God in Christ do we know what life is."

"If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? Are we not perhaps afraid to give up something significant, something unique, something that makes life so beautiful? Do we not then risk ending up diminished and deprived of our freedom? And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed. Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. And so, today, with great strength and great conviction, on the basis of long personal experience of life, I say to you, dear young people: Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life. Amen."

That is not vague or ambiguous at all. Unless, of course, you are looking for him to start naming heretics by name in homilies...

[Eric Giunta]

Carl:

Is there anything in those words that could not be said by any conservative non-Catholic Christian?

[Carl Olson]

Eric, you crack me up. Why not ask: is there anything in John 3:16 that could not be believed in by a "conservative non-Catholic Christian"? LOL.

[Carl Olson]

Eric, you crack me up. Why not ask: is there anything in John 3:16 that could not be believed in by a "conservative non-Catholic Christian"? LOL.

[Eric Giunta]

I know what you're saying, Carl.

But if one were to read over everything that's ben written by our Holy Father since, say, the Funeral Mass of John Paul II, one would get the impression that he's simply a conservative Christian who believes that faith in Christ is necessary for salvation; not that he's a traditional Catholic who believes that outside the Church htere is no salvation, much less that Catholicism is the true religion.

I know I'm probably just a bit over-worrited; I can't help it. I'm 20 years old, came to the Church all on my own, and have been putting up with all the crap today's Church has to offer. I'm just nervous that, since his election and before, I hear so much "Pope-Speak" from the new Holy Father. I worry that we'll have a repeat of JPII's pontificate. John Paul II may have been what we needed when he ascended the Papal Throne 26 years ago, but I don't know if I could bear any more of it.

[Teresa Polk]

Eric,

Part of what Carl quoted would not likely be said by a conservative non-Catholic Christian, unless it is by a conservative Orthodox Church Christian or a traditional Anglo-Catholic. That is the part in which Benedict XVI spoke so eloquently about the importance of history and the Church Fathers in determining our faith. To repeat that portion of what Carl already quoted:

"Today too the Church and the successors of the Apostles are told to put out into the deep sea of history and to let down the nets, so as to win men and women over to the Gospel – to God, to Christ, to true life. The Fathers made a very significant commentary on this singular task. This is what they say: for a fish, created for water, it is fatal to be taken out of the sea, to be removed from its vital element to serve as human food."

Carl can tell you better than I could that the solo scriptura folks do not like the "deep sea of history" and do not see that as part of "the Gospel" in the same way as Catholics, Orthodox and traditional Anglo-Catholics do. They certainly would not consider that vast sea of Tradition to be an essential element of the faith, as Benedict XVI described it.

Pope Benedict XVI's view of ecumenism is expressed in detail in his book "Truth and Tolerance," an excerpt of which is available on the Ignatius Press website. Since he takes such a strong interest in truth as opposed to relativism, and has mentioned that distinction in recent days, it is clear that his view of Truth will impact his ecumenical efforts. However, he does not take the kind of exclusive view of, for example, Dietrich Bonhoffer, and he does see value in other faiths to the extent that they lead people into those "deep waters" of the Truth that he describes. I would not take that openness as compromising his Catholicism in any respect whatsoever.

Moreover, it is exciting that he has shown so much oppenness toward ecumenical dialogue and has placed a high priority on trying to bring Christianity back into unity. I would not take that as indicative that he will be vague or that he will ever compromise anything important to the faith. However, it will be interesting to see what he does over the next few years in those efforts at peacemaking and unity.

In addition to everything that Fr. Fessio has said, and that Benedict XVI himself has said, about the significance of the name "Benedict," I also see the first St. Benedict as having played a great unifying role in the Church of his day. Dom John Chapman, OSB's classic book on St. Benedict and the Sixth Century describes Benedict as having drawn from more than 300 different sources in compiling his Rule, drawing from earlier monastic rules from sources very distant in time and place and creating a unified Rule that he expected could be put into effect over a broad geographic area, thus bringing together monasteries from different cultures under a single Rule. That is something of the kind of ecumenical effort that is needed today and that can be done in the context of Benedict XVI's thinking as expressed in "Truth and Tolerance." It does not involve compromising anything essential to the Catholic faith.

We will just have to wait and watch to see how all of that plays out. Although I think Benedict XVI expressed his views clearly and beautifully, he also did so in a way that was respectful of those present who were not Catholic and who will probably be included in future ecumenical dialogue. We will undoubtedly get more detail in the future.