Yuku free message boards

The Pope went back to his old stomping grounds at the University of Regensburg today, but apparently it wasn't of great interest to photographers. I did not see the broadcast of his lecture and have been able to find only a video snippet of the Rector's introduction and not a single snapshot of the Pope. Perhaps later. However, the lecture itself is challenging and gives a taste of what it must have been like to be in Herr Dr. Professor Ratzinger's classes.


Tip for photos of the Pope at the university from Budwud. Thanks much. From Mexico Siempre Fideli website

I haven't had time to digest the lecture yet or to edit it in a coherent way, but here's the beginning and the link for the rest: CNA-Papal lecture


Faith, Reason and the University
Memories and Reflections

Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a moving experience for me to stand and give a lecture at this university podium once again. I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn. This was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves. We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties. Once a semester there was a dies academicus, when professors from every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university, making possible a genuine experience of universitas: the reality that despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason - this reality became a lived experience.


Regensburg University-Audi-Max Dieter Piesch

The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties. It was clear that, by inquiring about the reasonableness of faith, they too carried out a work which is necessarily part of the "whole" of the universitas scientiarum, even if not everyone could share the faith which theologians seek to correlate with reason as a whole. This profound sense of coherence within the universe of reason was not troubled, even when it was once reported that a colleague had said there was something odd about our university: it had two faculties devoted to something that did not exist: God. That even in the face of such radical scepticism it is still necessary and reasonable to raise the question of God through the use of reason, and to do so in the context of the tradition of the Christian faith: this, within the university as a whole, was accepted without question.

I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by Professor Theodore Khoury (Mnster) of part of the dialogue carried on - perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara - by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both. It was probably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than the responses of the learned Persian. The dialogue ranges widely over the structures of faith contained in the Bible and in the Quran, and deals especially with the image of God and of man, while necessarily returning repeatedly to the relationship of the "three Laws": the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran. In this lecture I would like to discuss only one point - itself rather marginal to the dialogue itself - which, in the context of the issue of "faith and reason", I found interesting and which can serve as the starting-point for my reflections on this issue.


Sculpture? at the University of Regensburg Wolfgang Ruhstoerfer

In the seventh conversation (. . . controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the jihad (holy war). The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: "There is no compulsion in religion". It is one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threaten. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Quran, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the "Book" and the "infidels", he turns to his interlocutor somewhat brusquely with the central question on the relationship between religion and violence in general, in these words: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached". The emperor goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. "God is not pleased by blood, and not acting reasonably . . . is contrary to Gods nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats... To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death...".

The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to Gods nature. The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality. Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazn went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it Gods will, we would even have to practise idolatry.
As far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we find ourselves faced with a dilemma which nowadays challenges us directly. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts Gods nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true? I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: "In the beginning was the logos". This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts with logos. Logos means both reason and word - a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance. The vision of Saint Paul, who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream saw a Macedonian man plead with him: "Come over to Macedonia and help us!" (cf. Acts 16:6-10) - this vision can be interpreted as a "distillation" of the intrinsic necessity of a rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek inquiry.

* * * *


From Mexico Siempre Fideli website


This inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of the history of religions, but also from that of world history it is an event which concerns us even today. Given this convergence, it is not surprising that Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe. We can also express this the other way around: this convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe.

* * * *

From Catholic News Agency

Excerpts from Address of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI at the Celebration of Evening Prayer
(Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 18.30, Regensburg Cathedral)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ!

We are gathered here Orthodox Christians, Catholics and Protestants to sing together the evening praise of God. At the heart of this liturgy are the Psalms, in which the Old and the New Covenant come together and our prayer is joined to the Israel which believes and lives in hope. This is an hour of gratitude for the fact that we can pray together in this way and, by turning to the Lord, at the same time grow in unity among ourselves.


Pope shown in the former St. Ulrich church, now housing a religious-items museum, on his way to the ecumenical service. (AP Photo/Maurizio Brambatti, Pool)

Among those gathered for this evenings Vespers, I would like first to greet warmly the representatives of the Orthodox Church. I have always considered it a special gift of Gods Providence that, as a professor at Bonn, I was able to come to know and to love the Orthodox Church, personally as it were, through two young Archimandrites, Stylianos Harkianakis and Damaskinos Papandreou, both of whom later became Metropolitans. At Regensburg, thanks to the initiative of Bishop Graber, further meetings occurred: during the symposia on the Spindlhof and with scholarship students who had studied here. I am happy indeed to recognize some familiar faces and to renew earlier friendships.

In a few days time, at Belgrade, the theological dialogue will resume on the fundamental theme of koinonia in the two aspects which the First Letter of John indicates to us at the very beginning of its first chapter. . . . I hope and pray that these discussions will be fruitful and that the communion with the living God which unites us, like our own communion in the faith transmitted by the Apostles, will grow in depth and maturity towards that full unity, whereby the world can recognise that Jesus Christ is truly the One sent from God, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world (cf. Jn 17:21). So that the world may believe, we must become one: the seriousness of this commitment must spur on our dialogue.


At left is Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller and at right is head of the Greek Orthodox church in Germany, Metropolitan Augoustinos. REUTERS/KNA-Bild/Wolfgang Radtke/Pool

I also extend warm greetings to our friends of the various traditions stemming from the Reformation. Here too many memories arise in my heart: memories of friends in the Jger-Sthlin circle, who have already passed away, and these memories are mixed with gratitude for our present meetings. Obviously, I think in particular of the demanding efforts to reach a consensus on justification. I recall all the stages of that process up, to the memorable meeting with the late Bishop Hanselmann here in Regensburg a meeting that contributed decisively to the achievement of the conclusion. I am pleased to see that in the meantime the World Methodist Council has adhered to the Declaration.

The agreement on justification remains an important task, one not yet fully complete: in theology justification is an essential theme, but in the life of the faithful today it seems to me it is only dimly present. Because of the dramatic events of our time, the theme of mutual forgiveness is felt with increased urgency, yet there is little perception of our fundamental need of Gods forgiveness, of our justification by him.

Our modern consciousness in general is no longer aware of the fact that we stand as debtors before God and that sin is a reality which can be overcome only by Gods initiative. Behind this weakening of the theme of justification and of the forgiveness of sins is ultimately a weakening of our relation with God. In this sense, our first task will perhaps be to rediscover in a new way the living God present in our lives.

Let us now hear what Saint John was saying to us a moment ago in the biblical reading. I wish to stress three statements present in this complex and rich text. The central theme of the whole letter appears in verse 15: Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. . . . We know who God is through Jesus Christ, the only one who is God. It is through him that we come into contact with God.

In this time of interreligious encounters we are easily tempted to attenuate somewhat this central confession or indeed even to hide it. But by doing this we do not do a service to encounter or dialogue. We only make God less accessible to others and to ourselves. It is important that we bring to the conversation not fragments, but the whole image of God. To be able to do so, our personal communion with Christ and our love of him must grow and deepen. In this common confession, and in this common task, there is no division between us. And we pray that this shared foundation will grow ever stronger.

And so we have arrived at the second point which I would like to consider. This is found in verse 14, where we read: And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. . . . The author of the Letter says of himself: We have seen (cf. 1:1). Because he has seen, he can be a witness. This presupposes that we also succeeding generations are capable of seeing, and can bear witness as people who have seen. Let us pray to the Lord that we may see!

* * * *

And so we come to the third word, of our text (1 Jn 4:9), which I wish to stress: agape love. This is the key-word of the whole letter and particularly of the passage which we have heard. Agape does not mean something sentimental or something grandiose; it is something totally sober and realistic. I attempted to explain something of this in my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est. Agape (love) is really the synthesis of the Law and the Prophets. In love everything is fulfilled; but this everything must daily be filled out. In verse 16 of our text we find the marvellous phrase: We know and believe the love God has for us. Yes, man can believe in love. Let us bear witness to our faith in such a way that it shines forth as the power of love, so that the world may believe (Jn 17:21). Amen!


Blessing at the end of the service. (AP Photo/Maurizio Brambatti, Pool)

Read the complete text here:
CNA-Ecumenical Vespers

From Associated Press Online

Benedict sheds image of dour theologian
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 13, 1:55 PM

He may seem stiff and shy at times, but Pope Benedict XVI has delighted fellow Bavarians by wading into crowds and kissing babies, shedding the image of a dour theologian from his quarter-century at the Vatican.


Kissing babies AFP/DDP/Thomas Lohnes)

He is not only growing into his job after 17 months in the papacy, but appears to enjoy it.

In the most personal day of his homecoming visit, he knelt in prayer Wednesday at the graves of his parents and sister while his older brother -- his only close living relative -- leaned on a cane beside him.

During the stop at the Ziegetsdorf cemetery just outside Regensburg, Benedict knelt on a red velvet kneeler before a white tombstone engraved with a cross and the names of his parents, Joseph and Maria Ratzinger, and his sister, Maria Ratzinger. He looked straight ahead with his hands clasped.


At the cemetery with brother Georg . (AFP/Pool/Wolfgang Radtke)

It was a somber moment in an emotion-filled six-day visit for the 79-year-old pope

* * * *

Benedict has shaken hundreds of hands, ranging from Chancellor Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Protestant minister, to the humblest of Roman Catholic pilgrims. And he takes the time to chat.


Meeting the neighbors in Pentling (AP Photo/Wolfgang Radke, pool)

At Marktl am Inn, his birthplace, he raced from his car to press the flesh of villagers as a worried-looking Vatican security chief Domenico Giani tried to stay beside him.

* * * *

Gerd Eder, 50, a motorcycle salesman from Regensburg, said the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger seems "significantly more tolerant, though I may be wrong. I think he is very, very aware of his task. I think he has got his public image from the charisma that any pope has."

Those who work closely with Benedict are convinced he has changed. "He feels much freer than before," Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Austria told a group of American reporters after the pope celebrated Mass in Altoetting, his favorite pilgrimage spot. "Happy is perhaps not the right word but he seems to be enjoying himself."

Although they stiffly shake hands in public, Benedict is particularly solicitous to his 82-year-old brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger. They had planned to retire together in Bavaria and Georg, who has been ailing, now is rumored to be planning to move to Rome.


Brothers together (AP Photo/Diether Endlicher)

In his memoirs, Benedict says he took a job teaching theology in Regensburg in part to be closer to Georg, who conducted the cathedral boys' choir there. Vatican officials said Benedict changed his plans Wednesday morning so he could go directly to his brother's home and walk with him to a nearby chapel, where the pope blessed an organ.

* * * *

Benedict called Wednesday for harmony in his diverse and sometimes fractious church, saying that "like a church organ" it needs to remain in tune. He made his remarks as he blessed the new organ at Regensburg's Alte Kapelle, or Old Chapel. He made a comparison to the church, saying that "if organ pipes are out of tune, dissonance ensues and the result is unbearable."


The organ in the Alte Kapelle (AP Photo/Wolfgang Radtke, Pool)

"Now this is an image of our community in the church," he said, standing before the altar amid the chapel's gilded and white rococo decoration. "Just as in an organ, an expert hand must constantly bring disharmony back to consonance so we in the church, in the variety of our gifts and charismas, always need to find anew, through our communion in faith, harmony in the praise of God and in fraternal love," said Benedict, a skilled pianist.

* * * *
___
Associated Press reporters Vanessa Gera, Geir Moulson and David McHugh in Regensburg contributed to this report.