Posted on 04/20/2005 7:40:24 PM PDT by Arbor Vita
There has been a lot of chatter around the Net concerning Pope Benedict's name and possible connections to prophecies of St. Malachy and St. Benedict. Is he, indeed, the "Glory of the Olive" or possibly the fulfillment of the prophetic idea attributed to St. Benedict that a member of his order would someday be Pope?
I read at another website that Pope Benedict has spent a lot of time over the years making retreats at Benedictine monasteries.
So here is my question:
Does anyone know -- or does anyone know how to find out -- if Pope Benedict ever officially became a Benedictine Oblate? Apparently he has never been a monk, but person's not under monastic vows can become part of the extended monastic family by becoming oblates. If Pope Benedict ever became an oblate of one of the monasteries he visits, that would, indeed make him a part of the Benedictine Order, and clearly the "Glory of the Olive."
Any and all information or help getting info would be greatly appreciated.
Ping!
Interesting questions. I've been wondering the same thing. BTW, Welcome to Free Republic.
He's not listed with any Benedictine connection on his vatican bio.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/biografia_en.html
If he was an oblate, he kept it quiet.
I had read somewhere that B16 was affiliated with Opus Dei.
I'm amazed at the sheer number of people, particularly Evangelical, who are latching on to this.
Great question
Thanks for that link. I've been looking for a biography.
The LA Times wrote a story that said that two cardinals who were affiliated with Opus Dei were backing Ratzinger...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-opus19apr19.story
Does anybody know where to get a copy of his address at the end of mass today?
What is oblate?
An Oblate is a lay or clerical, single or married, associate formally associated to a particular monastery. The Oblate seeks to live a life in harmony with the spirit of Saint Benedict as revealed in the Rule of Saint Benedict and its contemporary expression.
A site to learn more:
http://www.osb.org/obl/
"If Pope Benedict ever became an oblate of one of the monasteries he visits, that would, indeed make him a part of the Benedictine Order, and clearly the "Glory of the Olive.""
Given that he now answers to Pope Benedict XVI and, that all good Catholics view their Popes as infallable regarding spiritual issues, it's a moot point.
Looks like an Olive to me.
I have a copy of it. You want me to email it to you?
I am a Benedictine Oblate. Have been nearly 27 years. I'm so pleased to see attention being brought to this calling.
I don't know the answer to your question but I just heard something wonderful this evening on EWTN. Raymond Arroyo was talking to Joan,who's works for the Vatican's Information Center(name?). Late in the program,when Joan arrived, she said that she had heard that on April 1st,the day before Pope John Paul II died, Cardinal Ratzinger went on to pray in Corsi,Italy at the tomb of St Benedict for the Pope's health.Maybe that's why he chose St Benedict's name,which also makes me wonder why he chose to go to St Benedict's tomb.There are also many saints buried in Italy so there must be another reason he chose St Benedict's name as well. I sure hope somebody finds out.
Opus Dei is a great organization. I hate it when people who don't know squat about it,seek to smear it. Some of the best priests in our Catholic Church belong to Opus Dei.
VATICAN CITY, APRIL 19, 2005 Zenit.org.- In choosing the name Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger links his pontificate to two great evangelizers, says an observer.
Bishop Cipriano Calderon, retired vice-president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, said in statements to ZENIT: "The novelty of this Pontiff lies already in the name chosen: He succeeds Benedict XV, who chose this name in honor of St. Benedict, patron of Europe and great evangelizer of his time."
"If Benedict evangelized the first Medieval Age, Benedict XV evangelized the modern age, and now Benedict XVI will be the evangelizer of the new millennium," explained the prelate.
Pope Benedict XV, Giacomo della Chiesa, whose pontificate ran 1914-1922, succeeded Pius X as World War I was beginning.
In his programmatic encyclical "Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum" he appealed for peace and analyzed the causes of war.
One of his main objectives was the formation and sanctification of the clergy.
During the war he engaged in intense aid activity and promulgated the Code of Canon Law.
In the ecumenical field, he established the octave of prayer for Christian unity in the Catholic Church in 1916. It was Benedict XV who said "the Church is not Latin, or Greek, or Slav, but Catholic: There is no difference among her children, whether they are Greek, Latin, or Slav, or of another national group."
To Benedict XV is owed the canonization of two women such as Margaret Mary Alacoque and Joan of Arc.
He died suddenly on Jan. 22, 1922. A monument dedicated to him in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul), Turkey, states that he was a common father "without distinction of nationality or religion, benefactor of peoples."
He took his name from the patron of Europe, Benedict of Nursia (480-547), author of the monastic Rule and founding father of the Benedictines.
ZE05042020
St. Benedict, the patron Saint of Europe, is the founder of the Benedictine Order. We can assume until further clarification that Pope Benedict XVI chose the name for 2 reasons, the patron St. Benedict and Pope Benedict XV. Just by the fact of the name Benedict being chosen can be considered a good enough reason to fullfill the Malachy prophecies.
What is an oblate?
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