Posted on 04/20/2005 6:49:36 PM PDT by BlessedBeGod
He twirls his rosary ring, pacing back and forth like a professor in his cabana by the pool at Ave Maria University.
The Rev. Joseph Fessio has been repeating himself for almost three hours now, proudly talking to journalists by phone from all over the world, sharing stories of his friendship and admiration for Pope Benedict XVI, elected Tuesday to succeed Pope John Paul II who died earlier this month.
"I want people to know what a saint we have. He's good, good," says Fessio, the AMU provost, while inhaling a bowl of bean salad before his next interview. "I'm so full of joy."
By 4 p.m., he has 20 unheard messages on his cell phone. He needs to return calls to People magazine, the Washington Post and CNN. He organizes his interviews with the help of three AMU employees recruited to field phone calls and he's reminded periodically to take sips of water so his throat won't dry from talking too much.
Fessio is so popular this day that you'd think he was the one named the new pope.
He jokingly calls himself a hot media property because he's one of the few, perhaps the only person in America, who can speak of the new pope as people speak of old classmates. Their friendship dates back to the early 1970s, when Fessio was pursuing his doctorate in then-West Germany.
He studied under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and was intrigued by the man who is now the leader of the world's 1 billion Catholics.
Ratzinger, a cardinal for the past 27 years, worked closely with Pope John Paul II, making him a popular choice to lead the church.
"I thought about him right from the beginning because he was so friendly with Pope John Paul," says Joseph Friel, of Bonita Springs, who serves as Grand Knight for the St. Leo Catholic Church's council of the Knights of Columbus.
"I know he can't do what Pope John Paul did because they said no one will match him."
Fessio says Pope Benedict XVI will continue Pope John Paul II's legacy.
With the bowl of salad, now empty, Fessio says, "God bless," to a reporter in Rome and hangs up the phone. He falls into his chair. He's got more than 25 journalists to call back and is trying to digest his late lunch. The last free moment he had was around 1 p.m. when he toasted with champagne to celebrate the announcement of the new pope with three close friends. They toasted the pope's health.
Fessio says he's ready for another journalist.
"Do you need to do anything first?" asks Michael Dauphinais, AMU associate dean of faculty, who serves as Fessio's agent this day.
"I wanna call Cardinal (Christoph) Schonborn," Fessio says.
And just like that, he did.
He dialed the cardinal's phone number and, after three rings, Schonborn of Austria picked up his cell phone in Vatican City. Fessio first greets him in German.
"This is so wonderful! What a gift for the church, what a gift for the church!" Fessio says, shaking his right fist in victory. "You must stand by his side, stand by his side ... I won't ask you how you voted because I don't want you to break your seal, so I'm gonna take a guess."
Schonborn also studied with Fessio under the now former cardinal. Their relationships grew after graduation and the two have since kept in touch. Schonborn, Fessio and Ratzinger see each other at least once a year.
Fessio is also editor and founder of Ignatius Press, the exclusive publisher of the 12 books written by the former cardinal.
Fessio says Schonborn told him that after the pope made his first appearance Tuesday from the St. Peter's Basilica balcony, he turned to Schonborn and said, "We must keep our friendship."
Fessio speaks highly of the pope just as one would of a relative: kind, gracious, soft spoken, thoughtful. He brings presents to Fessio whenever they meet.
"He's everything I'm not," Fessio chuckles.
Father Fessio is a good man -- my parents do a lot of work for him. And Ave Maria University is probably shaping up to be a great place to get an honest-to-goodness Catholic education.
How is it going to be next time the boss is in town?
I was wondering how Fr. Fessio was feeling about this - on second thought, I guess there really wasn't anything to wonder about!
But I haven't heard anything about him for a long time, so I was glad to see this article. I hope things get a little easier now that he probably has firm support from the Vatican.
Father Fessio has done a great deal to support orthodoxy in the Catholic Church, with his influential magazine, Catholic World Report, and his excellent book publishing business, Ignatius Press.
He is a Jesuit, but one of the good ones. Needless to say his superiors have given him a hard time. I'll bet this will be a shot in the arm for him. Or maybe his superiors will just get madder than ever, since the Jesuit Order as a whole seems determined to commit suicide.
Zactly. My folks know him and feel the same about him and Ave Maria. One of the few Catholic colleges left where you can get a Catholic education.
I once heard a good joke about the Jesuits
"Both the Jesuits and the Dominicans were partly constituted to combat the heresies of their days; for the Dominicans it was the Cathari, for the Jesuits it was the Protestants.
So, what is the difference between them?
The difference is... there are no more Cathari."
I'm just kidd'n of course, there are lots of Good Jesuits out there. Fr. Hardon used to speek at my parish all the time.
Fr. Fessio, Fr. Hardon, Fr. Vincent Miceli...three of the great Jesuits of the 20th/21st Centuries.
I don't think Fr. Fessio has had a moment's rest the last three weeks.
You all may wish to watch Meet the Press tomorrow. Here's the lineup. Should be some fireworks:
Meet the Press – Live from NBC Rome – 9:00a.m. Sunday 4-24-05.
Fr. Joseph Fessio, Provost of Ave Maria University, Publisher of Ignatius Press
Fr. Thomas Bohlin-U.S. Vicar of Opus Dei
Joseph Bottum, Ed. “First Things”, Contrib,Ed. “The Weekly Standard”.
Sr. Mary O’Neill – Mt. St. Agnes Theol. Ctr. For Women.
Thomas Cahill – Author, Biblical Scholar.
Jon Meacham – Newsweek Magazine.
EJ Dionne – Washington Post.
BTTT
Good for you. It's a very promising university, and a great time to be there.
One of our graduate students at NYU told me he was heading off to the Pontifical University in Rome this year. The times they are a changing.
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