By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
What did Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI mean by his metaphor of the Church as a boat taking on so much water that it is “in danger of capsizing”?
The questions are coming thick and fast as a result of the reaction to this passage in Pope Benedict’s eulogy for Joachim Cardinal Meisner, delivered by Archbishop Ganswein at the funeral in Cologne.
Meisner was one of the signers of the dubia questioning Pope Francis over the ambiguities in Amoris Laetitia. The Pope Emeritus and the retired archbishop of Cologne, one of the premier dioceses in the Catholic world, were friends and collaborators. Based on comments in Benedict’s eulogy, they evidently spoke frequently by phone after both had retired from active service in the world.
I remember in the 1980s or 1990s visiting Cologne and seeing various tracts displayed in the cathedral on various teachings of the faith, penned personally by Cardinal Meisner. His vigorous attempt to reach out and evangelize those fallen away from the faith or those questioning belief impressed me at the time. I took it as a sign that here was one bishop deeply engaged and more intensely invested in meeting the challenges to the faith than elsewhere in the secularized and skeptical West.
Pope Emeritus Benedict remains an insider at Rome where Pope Francis remains tight-lipped, refusing to acknowledge, let alone answer, the dubia. Cardinal Meisner, on the other hand, was an outsider to Rome and one of the signers of the now public document questioning the compatibility of the Pope’s document on marriage and family with settled teaching in those areas of moral and sacramental theology.
Any conversations between Benedict and Meisner would no doubt prove most interesting. The eulogy provided a written insight into their friendship. Meisner, a son of the Church, would no doubt see the former Pope as a spiritual father and likely turned to him for advice.
In a matter as significant as challenging the teaching of the current Pope, it is very possible that the archbishop would seek the counsel of Francis’ Predecessor before considering public support of the dubia by adding his signature.
Before acting so publicly to question a Pope, what better individual could there be to provide a second opinion than his close friend, countryman, and former Pope? Thus, in the absence of any other elements to provide further context, the heated rhetoric and intense speculation that have ensued following the public release of the text of Pope Benedict’s final encomium for Meisner.
Here is the money quote, which our readers have likely already read elsewhere given the already voluminous commentary upon this event:
“What moved me all the more was that, in this last period of his life, he learned to let go and to live out of a deep conviction that the Lord does not abandon His Church, even if the boat has taken on so much water as to be on the verge of capsizing.”
Is Benedict tipping his hand? Does he favor the position of his friend Cardinal Meisner and support the dubia? As we go to press this week Archbishop Ganswein has already issued the predictable disclaimer that Benedict did not by his “capsizing” comments in said eulogy mean any criticism of Pope Francis, as reported by katholisch.de.
Some might propose that this image does not necessarily mean that Benedict believes the Church is capsizing at present under the leadership of Pope Francis. Perhaps he means to describe the experience of the life of the Church in Germany as loved by Cardinal Meisner. This is very possible, as Benedict is an expert on the Church in Germany and describes his sorrows in regard to his homeland and its harsh treatment of him in his book Last Testament.
But for Benedict, practiced at diplomatic language and well known as a gentle man who strenuously avoids giving offense, to use such dramatic imagery was a calculated risk. He had to know that the many who oppose aspects of Pope Francis’ innovations would seize upon the dire metaphor as one applied to the Church as a whole.
Although reason dictates that one could not of necessity claim that Benedict blames the current Pontiff for any problems assailing the barque of Peter, it is inevitable that others would disagree.
If the Church could ever seem to be capsizing, could not that moment be now when even an atheist, albeit friendly to Benedict, claims that Francis is persisting in a “hidden schism” with “obstinate persistence.” Marcello Pera made his comments in an interview in Il Mattino, July 9.
Pera is quoted as saying that Francis’ concern is “not the Gospel, only politics.” If it is true that the Successor of Peter has a basic misconception about his role as the Vicar of Christ that error will be transmitted throughout the Church.
Some who brook no criticism of Francis in their shock are conjecturing that this document was not written by Benedict at all but by a figure they name “pseudo-Benedict.” In light of the recent denial by a designated spokesman for Benedict we are left with nothing more certain than that the capsizing comment is nothing more than a generality that can in some way be applied to Catholic experience in some ways in every age of the Church.
So much of what passes for Catholic teaching in Rome these days is emotive, amateur, and juvenile scribbling in comparison to what in the days of Benedict and John Paul appeared to result from much more in the way of homework. Reason has been left behind in much of what passes for faith. The Church cannot credibly claim to speak for the God of reason evident in creation when patching together pastoral initiatives that deny common sense.
Thus the dubia which stands now as an epitaph to the life of the departed Cardinal Meisner, who died waiting in vain for the respect of an answer on the part of Pope Francis to a sincere and vital question.
For those who feel the water already rising around their ankles as they struggle to remain serene amidships within the Catholic ship these comments apply very much to their current experience. To ask them to resist blaming Pope Francis for the swamping vessel at this point seems too much, amounting to little more than a bucket when what is needed is a period in dry dock for extensive repairs.
Benedict is very right to counsel thus, as expressed in the Meisner eulogy:
“The Church stands in particularly pressing need of convincing shepherds who can resist the dictatorship of the spirit of the age and who live and think the faith with determination.”
Lord, send us many faithful and holy shepherds! May they “think the faith” and thus lead us in the truth of Christ.
Thank you for reading and praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
@MCITLFrAphorism
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress