Pope Benedict XVI

I am glad we happened to be watching the noon news when the bells confirmed the Holy Smoke at the Vatican introducing to the world, a new Pope. "German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the strict defender of Catholic orthodoxy for the past 23 years, was elected Pope despite a widespread assumption he was too old and divisive to win election." Reuters sounds a little heavy handed with its word choice "too old and divisive."

The National Catholic Reporter, April 16, 1999 ends a rather lengthy article on Cardinal Ratzinger with this statement in reference to a Pascal quote: “A man does not show his greatness by being at one extremity, but rather by touching both at once.” If that’s the standard, then despite his intellect, his piety, his sense of purpose, all that makes him remarkable, history may not be so kind to Joseph Ratzinger after all."

That was written in 1999. If it foretells the future, Pope Benedict XVI may be in for a great test in our Post-Christian era.

The following was written yesterday: " From Ratzinger's record and pronouncements, his agenda seems clear. Inside the church, he would like to impose more doctrinal discipline, reining in priests who experiment with church liturgy or seminaries that permit a broad interpretation of church doctrine. Outside, he would like the church to assert itself more forcefully against the trend he sees as most threatening: globalization leading eventually to global secularization."

This new Pope certainly does need our prayers.