Posted on 02/15/2013 8:35:56 AM PST by BlatherNaut
Since Pope Benedict’s shock announcement Monday, I have held off commenting. Time was needed to step back and consider just what this astounding action from the world's leading defender of life and family really meant. It was an earthquake announcement that had to have greater significance than the Pope merely being tired and worn out. The two lightening strikes onto the dome of St. Peter’s that evening added an uncanny emphasis that the Pope’s action demanded the world’s attention.
(Excerpt) Read more at lifesitenews.com ...
Interesting links - thanks.
Agree. He's a rarity - a brilliant yet kind and humble man, blessed with German practicality as well as a formidable intellect. He sees his health issues as an insurmountable obstacle to effectively carrying out his duties, particularly in light of the worldwide moral disintegration and the sharp divisions within the Church.
“But the sheep, now having contracted rabies from their contact with wolves, and more ferocious in their own savagery than the wild beasts themselves, have always wanted to mangle and do violence to their Shepherd...”
St. Peter Chrysologus
It’s not the lightning strikes that is the message in the skies . It was the “dove of peace” released on the portico by Pope Benedict used as a Christian symbol to the resistance and portrayal of Islam being attacked midair and devoured by an eagle that was the message.
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Those eagles are sneaky. Dressing up in a seagull costume. At the Vatican of all places.
February 14, 2013, (LifeSiteNews.com) – Since Pope Benedict’s shock announcement Monday, I have held off commenting. Time was needed to step back and consider just what this astounding action from the world's leading defender of life and family really meant. It was an earthquake announcement that had to have greater significance than the Pope merely being tired and worn out. The two lightening strikes onto the dome of St. Peter’s that evening added an uncanny emphasis that the Pope’s action demanded the world’s attention.
So, really, why did Pope Benedict suddenly announce that he would abdicate the ministry of Successor of St. Peter in only 17 days? It is nearly impossible for me to believe that the reasons are as simple as Benedict has stated (although I believe that he is indeed very tired and barely able to carry on which we saw on our last 2 visits to Rome). There are clues.
Robert Moynihan, a reliable, long-time Vatican observer and Founder of Inside the Vatican magazine, also finds himself unsettled about the Pope’s announcement and wrote in his Feb. 12 report:
“Are there facts the Pope has weighed in making this decision that we simply don't know about, or don't know fully? … Does the Pope have information about the possible course of events in the months ahead that led him to conclude that he needed to allow a younger, more energetic man to take over his office from him, so that the Church's highest authority could take action quickly and decisively as events unfold?”
Those are my same questions.
This great and yet exceptionally humble and gentle man’s fatigue has come about from much more than aging.
Reading other commentators and looking to our own LifeSiteNews experiences have revealed a ferocious battle going on within the Catholic Church and a notably rising tide of hatred towards authentic Christianity from outside. Moreover, a comment from Benedict yesterday, adds to the impression that resignation was decided for strategic reasons. A new pope had to be quickly chosen because of the pace of alarming events both within and outside the Church.
Yesterday, during his Ash Wednesday homily, Benedict stated:
“I am thinking in particular of the sins against the unity of the Church, of the divisions in the body of the Church.”
And then we should remember these words from his first Mass as Pope:
“Pray for me, that I may not flee for fear of the wolves.”
Is he fleeing from the wolves, especially those within the Church, who he knew would inevitably, incessantly attack him during his pontificate? Very doubtful. They have been even more ferocious than he anticipated in response to his determined rolling back of some of the chaos that followed Vatican II and his strong rebukes to all the elements of the Culture of Death. Benedict’s resignation should instead, in my opinion, be seen as a deeply humbling self-sacrifice to pave the way for an urgently needed stronger pope and stronger Church.
For nothing more than professionally reporting solid facts about controversial Church developments related to moral issues, LifeSiteNews has experienced unrelenting, ferocious assault from particular Church personalities and organizations over the past few years. We have been enduring a visceral hatred from some quarters as noted by LSN-friendly inside-the-church observers. It has been nearly beyond belief, shockingly unreasonable and entirely unchristian.
The more layers we have peeled away from hidden and long-standing situations needing exposure and correction, the more we have we been subjected to these unjust and hateful assaults on our integrity and credibility and to damaging whispers and other malicious actions. The secular pro-abortion and homosexual activist forces have been easier to manage in comparison to these enraged forces within the Church.
Now think how much more Benedict has had to endure for his heroic attempts to steer the entire, badly damaged, diminished, wayward Church back on course away from the errors and influence of the “progressives” and other dissidents. They have been howling with rage over his undoing of their five decades of control. He has spoiled their plans for a morally and theologically liberal church remade in their own image, rather than Christ’s.
Catholic commentator, George Neumayr, in his article The Reluctant Pope, lists some of Benedict’s notable accomplishments “trivialized and discredited” by many:
“his battles with the dictatorship of relativism,’ his promotion of wider use of the traditional Latin Mass, his reinstitution of the ban on the ordination of homosexuals to the priesthood, his historic overture to disaffected Anglicans, his voluminous stream of speeches and writings that aimed at repairing the catechetical collapse within the Church; his insistence on the ‘non-negotiable’ character of the natural moral law in shaping politics and culture.”
Benedict’s greatest and nearly-unbearable crosses have likely come from opposition to, hatred for, and outright rejection of his reforms - the opposition coming from many in influential positions within the Church – at all levels.
In his blog, Benedict XVI: Reason’s revolutionary, The Acton Institute’s Samuel Gregg explains some of the reasons for the animosity Benedict has experienced:
“Intellectually, Ratzinger far surpassed the usual suspects who want to turn Catholicism into something between the disaster otherwise known as the Church of England, and the rather sad leftist-activism of aging nuns stuck in 1968. But against the increasingly-absurd rants of a Hans Kung or Leonardo Boff, Ratzinger simply continued defending and explaining orthodox Christianity’s essential rationality with a modesty lacking in his opponents.”
Gregg also mentions the pope’s “efforts to root out what Ratzinger once called the 'filth' of sexual deviancy” which I have repeatedly noted on this website is a job still far from completed. He has been able to complete this and his other priority tasks only to the extent that the difficult Church bureaucracies and the world’s bishops have followed his urging and well reasoned pleadings.
There has been much resistance, some of it astonishingly vicious and rebellious, especially from clergy and laity in the wealthy, developed nations. Benedict has been betrayed even by those closest to him within the Vatican itself.
Benedict’s exceptional appeals to reason, if accepted, writes, Gregg, translate “into changes in lifestyles that many people simply don’t want to make. But a pope’s job isn’t to tell people what they want to hear.”
But as we have noticed in recent years, reason is increasingly rejected, and changeable feelings and desires are given more emphasis in decision-making by persons and organizations. Anyone who dares to instruct them in what is best regarding their bodies, their sexuality, their theology or their ego, is increasingly seen as a hateful personal aggressor rather than a loving father or other teacher.
I wish that Benedict could have held on for at least several more months to complete more of his necessary reforms and to appoint more faithful bishops.
I wish he could have waited for some of his recent outstanding archbishop appointments to receive their red hats so that they could also vote in this conclave. I am thinking of persons such as Philadelphia’s Charles Chaput, Montreal’s Christian Lépine, Quebec City’s Gérald Cyprien Lacroix and the archbishop of Los Angeles, Jose Gomez – all some of the very best of Benedict’s recent placements or moves to major dioceses.
The Cardinal Mahony scandal that broke last week has shown how very entrenched the “filth” still is, and that those responsible have still not yet been fully accountable. The neglect was sickening. If the now revealed offences of actively protecting criminal sexual abusers of minors did not exceed the statute of limitations, we might today be seeing the archbishop of the largest diocese in the US up on criminal charges.
Even secular media are appalled that Cardinal Mahony has made it a point to announce to the media that he is looking forward to going to Rome to vote for Benedict’s replacement.
Mahony is an aggressive personality, some say, a bully. Considering all that has been revealed in recent weeks, it is a great scandal for the Church and to the world that this severely negligent prelate, considered by some to be the ring leader of “progressive” US bishops, should be allowed to have any influence whatever in the conclave. I hope at the very least that he will be shunned by the other cardinals.
It is perhaps more than coincidental that Benedict announced his resignation after the Los Angeles abuse files were made public last week. Archbishop Gomez publicly rebuked his predecessor (highly likely with papal approval) and then Cardinal Mahony arrogantly publicly challenged his rebuker’s admonition. This is a first since the sex abuse scandals broke.
Maybe the Mahony incident and other recent inappropriate outbursts by leading Church officials were the last straws for Benedict. That is, he knew that these and other worrisome developments needed quick and firm action from a strong pope, but that he could no longer muster the energy.
I suspect that Benedict knows the restoration and cleaning up of the filth and rebellion within the Church has to continue with haste because of an ominous, rapidly growing cloud of persecution on the horizon at a time when the wisdom and inspiration of the Church will be greatly needed. Perhaps he sees clearer than most what is coming and that there is no time to have an incapacitated pope leading the Church. His resignation was a proactive action.
There will be a conclave in only a few weeks. Who could have predicted such a thing would happen so quickly?
In that conclave the forces of good and evil will be in an unseen battle that we cannot imagine - pride, power and glory-seeking vs holiness, humility and willingness to embrace Christ’s cross.
The outcome of the conclave will to a very large extent depend on the intensity of the prayers and sacrifices of Christians around the world from now until the final decision and acceptance is reached.
May the Holy Spirit guide the cardinals and keep the powers of darkness that have infiltrated the church at bay during this historic time.
I have to agree with many commentators that Pope Benedict has likely performed a great act of humility and charity for the good of not just the Catholic Church, but for the whole world. Where I disagree with many is that there are graver reasons for his decision than are being surmised.
There is a growing sense that something evil is on its way and the greatest bulwark against the evil can only be a strong, unified and faithful Catholic Church working together with all other authentic believers of the loving triune God.
Benedict knows this. That is why he has suddenly stepped aside for the new pope, who will be called to do the necessary battle that Benedict is no longer capable of.
And he has done it at the very beginning of Lent, the Catholic season of special prayer and fasting that culminates in the full rememberance of the suffering and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. By then, the new pope should be in place. The timing could not be better.
The power of authentic faith, when unleashed, will always defeat any evil. It usually happens, however, by way of the cross. That was the example the Master gave.
I can only wish that he had stripped Mahony and others like him of any ecclesiastical authority before stepping down.
“But the sheep, now having contracted rabies from their contact with wolves, and more ferocious in their own savagery than the wild beasts themselves, have always wanted to mangle and do violence to their Shepherd...”
Interesting metaphor.. hard to follow the logic..
Need further expansion of the logical operators..
Welcome HOME!!! God is smiling because a lost sheep has been saved!!
He probably doesn't want to antagonize the liberal and moderate cardinals before the conclave.
A shame that Mahony will be voting. At least his East Coast pervert-protecting counterpart, Cardinal Law, is no longer eligible.
Wolves - corrupt clergy
Sheep - laity corrupted by wayward clergy, who have now joined them in launching attacks on official Church teachings and on the Pope who promulgates them.
Wolf - e.g. Cardinal Mahony
Sheep - e.g. "pew potatoes" who follow his lead, and the lead of bishops like him.
Interesting article. The Pope’s comment about the “wolves” in his first address came to my mind, too. Of course, he had been in the Vatican in one capacity or another for decades, so he would certainly have been aware of the wolves inside the gates, as well as out in the world.
I don’t know whether it’s an accute illness or just a sudden worsening of the accumulated pains of age, but whatever it is, he clearly feels that he is not only too weak to continue physically, but too weak to continue to fight against the wolves and that if he remains, they will somehow overcome him and thus be free to savage the Church.
I see him not only hoping to hand over the flock to a stronger shepherd, but perhaps hoping to draw the wolves off after him. And I think that they will continue to attack him, even after he is no longer Pope; but I also don’t think he is going to live much longer. However, perhaps they will be distracted for awhile, until they can get the measure of his successor.
I know the liberal wolves are going to do everything they can to undermine the conclave, just as the Dems used every conceivable dirty trick to steal the last US election. They are so convinced of the rightness of their “progressive” cause that they are not bound by any ethical concerns; and they don’t see the Church as anything that has to do with God, but as a political institution that gives them enormous power. Thus, they’re not afraid to act in ways that could not even remotely be considered Christian (or even legal, by most standards!). I think one of the reasons BXVI renounced the Papacy at such short notice was to give them as little time as possible to coordinate their strategy.
I am really afraid, not of the world, but of what might happen in the Church now.
Prayers for the Holy Father and the Church. Very interesting read - thanks for posting.
wrote:
I heard (and saw) it was a seagull, not an eagle, and the dove escaped.
Ah So... It was a bird that rose from the sea that attacked the bird of peace... interesting very interesting.
Maybe with enough prayer, that "bully" Cardinal Mahoney can be led to detect a subtle warning from those two lightning strikes onto the dome of St. Peter's, and change his evil ways and voting proclivities.
To use a baseball metaphor more commonly used with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinal Mahoney does not want to hear (in relation to lightning bolts from the heavens and himself), "Strike three!!! You're Out!!!"
Thank you for posting that. I got it this morning, but worked at church all day. Then our Serra Club led the Stations of the Cross tonight.
Samuel Gregg’s perspective on this really resonates with me.
We need to pray for the upcoming conclave.
he clearly feels that he is not only too weak to continue physically, but too weak to continue to fight against the wolves and that if he remains, they will somehow overcome him and thus be free to savage the Church.
It certainly appears that way. Doubtful he would break with papal tradition without very serious reasons.
I know the liberal wolves are going to do everything they can to undermine the conclave, just as the Dems used every conceivable dirty trick to steal the last US election.
Do you mean liberal cardinals? I have read that the composition of the College of Cardinals has shifted toward greater orthodoxy under JPII and Benedict XVI. (Although some of their appointments could turn out to be wolves in sheep's clothing.) Cardinal Scola would seem to be the most likely choice if the goal is to continue along the path that John Paul and Benedict have established.
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An Evangelical Looks at Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict’s Resignation in Historical Context
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Pope Benedict XVI:a papal timeline
"I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome" [Full Text]
Pope Benedict's Address on Resignation of the See of Rome
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**Although some of their appointments **
Not Benedict’s appointments. They have turned around the U. S. Bishops to a great extent. Yes, there are still some older Bernardin Boys or Jadot’s Tots in there. But they will be reaping their reward soon.
Remember the quote????
“The walls of hell are paved with the skulls of Bishops.”
Not a great reward, huh?
BXVI has done everything possible to shift it. He also returned to the formula of the 2/3 vote (instead of the 50%+1 that JPII had instituted), so hopefully that will slow them down.
Cdl Scola might be fine personally, but I think any Italian would probably still be too embedded in the centuries of insane curial tradition to make the changes necessary. The whole system has to be rebuilt, because JPII (as he became incompetent, which I think actually happened long before most people realized it) was completely overwhelmed by the curial wolves and they then effectively prevented BXVI from completing projects that should have been easy to accomplish simply because to do so might have impinged on their perks and power.
I just hope we don’t get the African who wants to establish a “global economic authority.” Like Africa, which lives entirely on foreign aid, knows anything about global economics? Or the Vatican, which lives entirely on donations, has any idea?
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