A piece I wrote on July 17th, 2007 in the now defunct Kenya Times. I fished it down from the archives today as a response to those who say the Pope brought changes in his brief stint as the leader of the Catholic Church
By Nzau wa Musau
THE drama of life gets interesting with every turn of the script leaf. The lead actors, forced by time, are constantly reinventing their roles to fit well into the unfolding drama. This is very interesting especially to a detached observer.
Take the case of Pope Benedict XVI who has now reasserted the Catholic Church’s primacy under the sun and declared other Christian splinter denominations as wounded and not full churches of Christ.
Now that was very interesting for a number of reasons. First it came from the absolute head of the 1.1 billion member global church with deep-rooted history of involvement in human affairs.
Secondly, it comes from a seasoned, time-tested and venerated theological scholar, indeed a professor, who understands the implications of both his utterances, actions and moves in the drama of life as being played under the sun.
Thirdly and most interesting is that the reassertion of the Church’s primacy negates the spirit of the 1962-1965 Vatican II council that led to the church shedding that arrogance which hitherto had placed it on cross swords with other denominations and faiths.
The three-year old Council, opened by Pope John XXIII in October 11, 1962 and closed by his successor Pope Paul VI on December 8,1965 is again, historic for more than one reasons.
It not only substituted Latin for the native languages but also modernized the church to go with the times. It made peace, and this is very important, with the Jews, previously regarded as outcasts for slaying Jesus.
Also, Vatican II council, regarded as the 21st Ecumenical Council in the Church’s history softened its hard-line stance on Protestants, Muslims and other non-Christians by setting up a strategic ecumenical framework.
Previously, all these were regarded as “heretics”, those whom in those dark middle ages were consumed in “splendid autos-da-fes”.
The Council came against this background of the Church losing favor with an evolving humanity for its arrogance and plain terms.
In Brothers Karamazov, Russian novelist Fydor Dostoyevsky insinuates that the Church had so much entrenched itself as world authority that its leadership would object to the second coming of its subject Jesus Christ, ostensibly to continue enjoying authority.
He makes mention of Jesus landing in a Seville neighborhood where a “heretic witch” as they went, is being burnt and is confronted by a stiff-necked Cardinal, whom Fyodor calls “the grand inquisitor”.
“Why have you come to meddle with us? And why are you looking at me silently and so penetratingly with your gentle eyes?”, he tells the son of man.
He goes on to tell off the gentle smiling Jesus for rejecting the only “absolute banner” which would have seen all men worship him alone and “incontestably” as offered by Satan during the epic temptation in the wilderness.
“So we have corrected your great work and have based it on miracle, mystery and authority, and men rejoiced that they were once more led like sheep”, he adds.
Besides this dark past, the church loss of modernity track had reached proportionate heights hence the conceiving of the idea of the Council during the feast of conversion of St. Paul in January 25, 1959 before a college of cardinals.
Thereafter followed what Pope John termed as “three years of celestial grace” during which the church profoundly soul-searched and examined itself as regards modern conditions of faith, religious practice and the whole issue of Catholic vitality.
Incidentally, Pope Benedict XVI himself played a central role in forcing the reforms that revolutionized the church, as it were, coming in as a Peritus in Roman terms or a theological consultant in our own terms.
Then a 35 year old and only known as “Father Joseph Ratzinger”, the future Pope was viewed as a reformist alongside radical modernist theologians like Hans Kung and Edward Schllebeckx.
Besides him, three other people who would take a central place in the church by wearing the papal vestments included a cardinal who went by the name Battista Giovani, later to become Pope Paul VI (who closed the Council), Bishop Albino Luciani, later to become Pope John Paul I and Bishop Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II who preceded Pope Benedict XVI.
During the Council and as expressed in Pope John XXIII’s opening speech, the church attested to more than nineteen-century history “characterized by clouds of sorrow and trials. Quoting ancient Simeon’s announcement to Mary mother of Jesus that her child’s sign shall be “contradicted”, the Pope admitted the competition the church was facing was sanctioned from above.
The truth of the Lord remains forever even as ages succeed each other and opinions of men exclude each other. And part of that Godly truth as told by Simeon in Luke 2:34 was that Jesus would be opposed.
Other than concentrate on condemnation and branding of non-Catholics, the Pope said it was the church’s duty “as a loving mother of all, benigh, patient, full of mercy and goodness towards brethren separated from her” to actively pursue unity.
The unity, he proposed, would be pursued through what he described as “triple ray of beneficient supernal light”, which basically is the unity of all Catholics, unity with rebellious offshoots and unity in esteem and respect for non-Catholics.
In essence, Pope John set the pace for the three-year old Council in which participants like Pope Benedict XVI would shed their arrogance and pursue world unity. It is therefore with confidence that Pope Paul VI while closing the Council would have the courage to pronounce:
“From this Catholic center of Rome, no one, in principle, is unreachable.No one is a stranger. No one is excluded. No one is far away”.
Fast forward four decades later, and the man who helped in that important shift is or appears to be negating the very spirit of the venerated Council by not only rubbing non-Catholics the wrong way but also strongly reasserting the traditional Catholic identity.
“He thinks the world is his classroom”, Fr Tom Reese, a US Jesuit author and senior fellow at Woodstock Theological Centre at Georgetown University was recently quoted saying of the former Professor.
Without necessary agreeing with this critic, it evidently appears that either Pope Benedict XVI is deliberately and strongly turning back the Catholic clock or he gets himself into trouble unnecessary.
Only time will tell.
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