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On April 16, 2006, Pope Benedict celebrated Easter services in Rome, marking the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ:

• From the Vatican website, a recap ofHoly Week 2006 -- including the Holy Saturday homily of Pope Benedict XVI, in which he discusses the question: "Of what exactly does this "rising" consist? What does it mean for us, for the whole world and the whole of history?"

  The crucial point is that this man Jesus was not alone, he was not an "I" closed in upon itself. He was one single reality with the living God, so closely united with him as to form one person with him. . . . His own life was not just his own, it was an existential communion with God, a "being taken up" into God, and hence it could not in reality be taken away from him. Out of love, he could allow himself to be killed, but precisely by doing so he broke the definitiveness of death, because in him the definitiveness of life was present. He was one single reality with indestructible life, in such a way that it burst forth anew through death. . . . His death was an act of love. At the Last Supper he anticipated death and transformed it into self-giving. His existential communion with God was concretely an existential communion with Gods love, and this love is the real power against death, it is stronger than death. The Resurrection was like an explosion of light, an explosion of love which dissolved the hitherto indissoluble compenetration of "dying and becoming". It ushered in a new dimension of being, a new dimension of life in which, in a transformed way, matter too was integrated and through which a new world emerges.

  Benedict described the Resurrection as "a qualitative leap in the history of 'evolution' and of life in general," pointing the way toward a new life in Christ that is already "continuously permeating this world of ours, transforming it and drawing it to itself."
  

  This event manifests itself in the sacrament of Baptism, which is more than an act of "ecclesial socialization," of receiving people into the Church."It is also more than a simple washing, more than a kind of purification and beautification of the soul," said Benedict: "It is truly death and resurrection, rebirth, transformation to a new life":

  But what then happens with us? Paul answers: You have become one in Christ (cf. Gal 3:28). Not just one thing, but one, one only, one single new subject. This liberation of our "I" from its isolation, this finding oneself in a new subject means finding oneself within the vastness of God and being drawn into a life which has now moved out of the context of "dying and becoming". The great explosion of the Resurrection has seized us in Baptism so as to draw us on. Thus we are associated with a new dimension of life into which, amid the tribulations of our day, we are already in some way introduced. To live ones own life as a continual entry into this open space: this is the meaning of being baptized, of being Christian. This is the joy of the Easter Vigil. The Resurrection is not a thing of the past, the Resurrection has reached us and seized us. We grasp hold of it, we grasp hold of the risen Lord, and we know that he holds us firmly even when our hands grow weak. We grasp hold of his hand, and thus we also hold on to one anothers hands, and we become one single subject, not just one thing. I, but no longer I: this is the formula of Christian life rooted in Baptism, the formula of the Resurrection within time. I, but no longer I: if we live in this way, we transform the world. It is a formula contrary to all ideologies of violence, it is a programme opposed to corruption and to the desire for power and possession.

  
  
• At morning Mass in St Peter's Square, Benedict XVI returned to the ancient rite of the Resurrexit, used by Popes since the 1100s but only recently (and sporadically) restored; the ritual reinforces Peter's role as witness of the resurrection. [-- "Benedict, Witness of the Resurrection", Rocco Palmo, Whispers in the Loggia]
  

• Pictures from Rome, Good Friday 2006, courtesy of American Papist.
  

  

• Also from the Vatican website is Pope Benedict's Urbi Et Orbi Message ["to the city of Rome and the world"], in which the Holy Father reiterated his call to peace with specific attention to Darfur, Iraq, Israel and Palestine -- with respect to the latter, he affirmed both Israel's just right to exist in peace and expressed wishes that the international community would assist the Palestinian people . . . to build their future, moving towards the constitution of a state that is truly their own."
  

  Also, in a somewhat veiled statement that might allude to Iran's pursuit of nuclear power (and persistent threats made by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel and Britain), the Holy Father also drew attention to "international crises linked to nuclear power":

  . . . may an honourable solution be found for all parties, through serious and honest negotiations, and may the leaders of nations and of International Organizations be strengthened in their will to achieve peaceful coexistence among different races, cultures and religions, in order to remove the threat of terrorism.

  Benedict closed his message with a call to all nations to attend to that which is (or ought to be) the sum of every life:

  May the Risen Lord grant that the strength of his life, peace and freedom be experienced everywhere. Today the words with which the Angel reassured the frightened hearts of the women on Easter morning are addressed to all: Do not be afraid! ... He is not here; he is risen (Mt 28:5-6). Jesus is risen, and he gives us peace; he himself is peace. For this reason the Church repeats insistently: Christ is risen - Christs ansti. Let the people of the third millennium not be afraid to open their hearts to him. His Gospel totally quenches the thirst for peace and happiness that is found in every human heart. Christ is now alive and he walks with us. What an immense mystery of love! Christus resurrexit, quia Deus caritas est! Alleluia!

  
  

• The Risen SON: Easter Sunday - a timely quote from Ratzinger's Behold, The Pierced One, courtesy of the blog Eagle & Elephant; also, from pazdziernik, an excerpt from God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life on Tearing of the Temple Veil, from a talk at the Chrism Mass April 2,1980 in Munich.
  

• The Pope's Easter, by Daniel Henninger. Wall Street Journal April 14, 2006. The WSJ editor reflects on the Holy Father's stance against "the excesses of secularization and radical Islam.":

  If we still hold that the news reflects reality, we would be led to believe that Christians enter these final three days of Holy Week preoccupied with whether to credit the new Gospel of Judas that the hallowed National Geographic Society delivered unto the world this month, and whether to attend the imminent film version of "The Da Vinci Code,". . . My guess is that on this Easter Pope Benedict XVI, the new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, feels he has larger fish to fry.

  
  

Happy Birthday, Pope Benedict XVI!

Easter Sunday, April 16, 2006 also marked the 79th Birthday of our Holy Father.

• Blogger 'New Catholic (Rorate Cali) posts Canon Georg Ratzinger's birthday message to his brother.
  

• And according to IOL.com, Pope got a chocolate surprise for his birthday as well:

  Pope Benedict XVI received a piano-shaped chocolate cake on Monday, prepared by students of the conservative Roman Catholic group Opus Dei for his 79th birthday on April 16, reporters witnessed.

  Benedict's fondness for the piano was noted when he had one installed in his quarters in the Vatican after becoming pope last April 19.

  
  
• Send Pope Benedict a birthday e-card, courtesy of William H. Sadlier, Inc. (Via Argent by the Tiber.
  

Also this week, the media turned its attention to the one-year anniversary of the Holy Father's pontificate, providing the opportunity for many a "talking head" and respective "men in Rome" to, er, do a little pontificating themselves.

• John Allen, Jr.: "The Last 12 Months" of Benedict XVI "Word from Rome" National Catholic Reporter March 31, 2006. As Allen wisely notes,

  Benedict is a supple thinker, and unpacking his approach on any given question requires nuance. Because his points of departure are the 2,000-year tradition of the church, coupled with his own judgments about the character of people under consideration, rather than the ideological categories of secular politics, his decisions will sometimes strike the outside world as surprising and out of character. Nor has his direction over the first year been entirely uniform, as if one can generalize from a single document or papal act to explain everything else.

  All this, however, constitutes an "insider" perspective, crafted from the point of view of devotees of the papacy and of Vatican politics. Generally speaking, that's not what secular media outlets are after. What they want to know is, in the "biggest picture" sense possible, what are the most striking or surprising aspects of Benedict XVI's first year, and what do they teach us about where things are going?

  It is in response to the latter inquiry that Mr. Allen directs his attention, organizing his reflections under five headings: "What Hasn't Happened" (a draconian crackdown on heresy along the lines of The Inquisition - "one would hear a great flushing sound across the Catholic world as all the dissidents and liberals were washed out of the system"); "Who's Paying Attention?" ("Papal aficionados", yes; "average Catholics", no); The Dictatorship of Relativism:("The beating heart of his pontificate can be expressed in three core concepts: truth, freedom and love. Truth, as the pope sees it, is the doorway a human person must walk through in order to be really free, meaning free to realize one's full human potential; and love is both the ultimate aim of freedom, and the motive for which the church talks about truth and freedom in the first place; Tough Love (with Islam, that is -- "Benedict XVI clearly wants good relations with Islam . . . yet he will not purse that relationship at the expense of what he considers to be the truth"); Benedict the Teacher ("Benedict is shaping up as a great teacher . . . [with] a remarkable capacity to express complex theological ideas with clarity and simplicity").

  Reaction to Allen's column from the ecumenical blog Mere Comments.
  

• Vatican vetter: The Benedict XVI File, in his own words Kansas City Star April 15, 2006. Bill Tammeus also interviewed John Allen Jr., in which the journalist repeated some of his earlier appraisal as well as some observations about the state of the Catholic Church in America ("I think sociologically there is no Catholic Church in the United States. What you have are multiple Catholicisms. And the question really facing Benedict, as far as the American church is concerned, is how do you bring those tribes into conversation") and interreligious relations ("Benedict clearly is committed to continuing the dialogue with other religions. On the other hand, I would say that Islam is actually one of the few areas of contrasts between Benedict and John Paul") and -- on a sadly comical-but-true note, the prospects of schism:

  The schism in the Catholic left is a multiphase process. First theres an internal schism, where you just walk around cursing people and (ticked) off at authority, even though youre going to church on Sunday.

  Then you self-select to be in a progressive parish, therefore reinforcing you in that choice, and you become even more alienated. Then what a lot of these people do is to spin off into another religious community, like becoming an Episcopalian.

  The Catholic right, when it goes into schism, it announces it. It finds a bishop.

  
  
• Faithful to the core, by Stephen Crittenden. The Australian April 15, 2006. According to Crittenden,

  "Benedict appears to have slammed on the brakes and even to be swerving off in a different direction entirely from his predecessor. . . . Anybody who thinks Benedict is a continuation of John Paul II is completely wrong. The former cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is a proper conservative. John Paul was neither a liberal nor a conservative but a revolutionary. And somehow, despite the biggest crowds and the biggest funeral in history, he has left the church exhausted and prostrate.

  Crittenden sticks to the same tortured hermeneutic of his February 2006 reading of Deus Caritas Est, proposing that Benedict is in part cleaning up the "damage" of Pope John Paul II's heavy-handed enforcement of the Church's moral teachings (see (Stephen Crittenden, Charles Curran, Rocco Palmo on 'Deus Caritas Est' Against The Grain February 2, 2006). As he did then, Crittenden again proposes that in Benedict's penning of Deus Caritas Est, "that soft splash you just heard at the back of the boat was Theology of the Body being tossed overboard, when just 12 months ago it was the focus of an entire Catholic academic industry."
  

  Crittenden goes on to speculate that Benedict's election was the result of a "deal" brokered with the progressive bloc "that [Benedict] would undertake to rule from the centre in a renewed spirit of collegiality with his brother bishops . . . In short, that he would bring to a close the age of Karol Wojtyla and an end to revolutionary Catholicism," -- a deal reflected in Benedict's cracking down on ecumenical movements close to his predecessor (ex. the Neo-Catechumenical Way). Crittenden suggests that Benedict's commitment to collegiality and unity will inevitably bring him into conflict with "the U.S. Catholic Right":

  The Wojtyla papacy thrived on . . . division, and the American Catholic Right supplied the venom and neurosis. John Paul II was their definite champion and they were able to zoom off to Rome to get whatever they wanted, especially in the later years. They always considered Ratzinger to be one of their supporters and they cheered at his election. But it is by no means certain that his view of the church and the world is the same as theirs.

  
  

  

• Challenging Crittenden's portrayal on B16's pontificate as one inherently in conflict with his predecessor is Edward Stourton, who evaluates Ratzinger's career as Prefect, "John Pauls trump card" The Tablet January 4, 2006:

  John Paul made the most significant appointment of his pontificate in late November 1981, as political storm clouds were gathering in Poland. The rapport established between Karol Wojtyla and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the conclaves of 1978 had flourished following John Pauls election, and in early 1980 we find the then Archbishop of Munich expressing admiration for the new popes championship of traditional Catholic teaching.

  It was not, he explained during a radio interview, within the popes power to change what had been handed down to him: It is the popes duty, he said, to preserve the faith intact for our time, and to criticise the ills of Western society.

  According to Stourton, John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger

  "came to know one anothers minds very well indeed; for more than 20 years the two men would meet each Friday in private to discuss the CDFs work, and there were regular Thursday lunches at which the conversation ranged more widely over a variety of topics in a freewheeling manner."

  One may wonder if a Prefect who collaborated so closely with his Pope would, in the words of Crittenden, "bring to a close the age of Karol Wojtyla"? -- While we can certainly expect differences in their approach, I don't believe it will be a radical de-emphasization of orthodoxy (and obedience to the Magisterium) that Crittenden and co. anticipate, nor a wholesale abandonment by Benedict XVI of John Paul II's theology of the body.
  

  

• Likewise, it would appear that Ernesto Cardenal begs to differ as well. The 81 year old former Sandinista Minister of Culture (and ex-priest) gave two talks in Austria, in which he issued the warning:

  Pope Benedict XVI is continuing the course of his predecessor, who already was a disaster for the Church and turned back the clock 100 years. The current Pope was the main force behind the pontifical politics of his predecessor. I think, he will be the same, or even worse.

  (Via "Look what the cat dragged in" The Cafeteria Is Closed March 17, 2006).
  

• Behind the throne of the iPod pope, by John Cornwell. The Sunday Times April 16, 2006. Cornwell examines "the ultra-orthodox Bavarian theologian, known for two decades as 'Gods rottweiler' and once a member of the Hitler Youth . . . [who] rallied his brother cardinals to choose him at the conclave," pauses to mention papal right-hand Msgr. Ganswein's stint at an Opus Dei university ("the self-flagellating extreme conservative Catholic group"), gives a shout-out to Rocco Palmo ("for a taste of Georg-fever and pin-up pics"), adopts Crittenden's thank-God-he-hasn't-booted-the-liberals approach with a jab at Fr. Neuhaus ("an influential and vociferous hardline Catholic conservative . . . who pontificates like an alternative pope from the pages of First Things"); notes the "expansive girths" of Benedict's "kitchen cabinet" (Angelo Scola, William Levada and Christoph Schonborn -- "like Caesar, Benedict does not favour 'lean and hungry' prelates about him"), chastises Benedict for failing to meet the call of his own encyclical ("despite Benedicts almsgiving rhetoric he has gone silent on the issue") but ends with cautious praise for his inclusive approach ("by concentrating on unconditional love in his first encyclical, he appears to be invoking an image of the church as a big tent with room for all perspectives"). Yick.
  

• Of course, when it comes to acerbic commentary about the Pope, Cornwell has some competition. Amy Welborn posts evaluations of Benedict XVI's pontificate from Hans Kung and Charles Curran, with appropriate responses from the Commentariat. From the Swiss theologian,

  "Benedict must choose between an eventual retreat to the pre-modern, pre-Reformation world of the Middle Ages, or a forward-looking long view which will take the Church into the post-modern universe that the rest of the world entered for quite some time."

  God help us all if Kung's wish is granted. A reader of Open Book responds:

  The thing about Kung and Curran (and this would apply to hundreds of other "thinkers") is the absolute predictability of what they are going to say. I mean, not only the substance, but the almost word-for-word nature of what is produced. This was especially striking about Kung's "effort." The man is crowding 80 (!) and he's happy to put out this standing still vs. moving forward vs. return to pre-Reformatiion days garbage. "Und I am tired today [he's addressing his secretary] zo, lizzen, just rrrrelease article number 4 to ze press, okay, Helga?"

  
  
• Blessings all round from the iPod Pope, by "leading Catholic writer" Peter Stanford. The Guardian April 16, 2006.
  

  At this point I have to say every appraisal of Benedict's pontificate by the Mainstream Media (with the exception of John Allen, Jr.) seems to me a repetitive copy of its neighbor: as before, Benedict's "inclusivity" is heralded, and used as a bludgeon against "the divisive policies on matters of personal and sexual morality" by John Paul II and conservative / traditionalist Catholics (Fr. Neuhaus, again).

  Stanford coos(?) over Benedict's fashion sense ("the hem . . . hovered somewhere just below his knee, exposing his dainty feet in white plimsolls and making him look more like a mincing Hercule Poirot than Supreme Roman Pontiff") and Msgr. Ganswein ("Known to Vatican colleagues at 'Don Georgio', to the Italian media as 'the Black Forest Adonis'") . . . and finally gets around to pondering "but does this new style papacy have any substance?" -- he questions some of "the monsignori [in] the bars and restaurants that surround the Vatican" and concludes:

  "There remains undisturbed that fundamental antipathy to change in Catholicism, a reluctance at the highest level to tailor the ideals it preaches for human behaviour with a corresponding understanding that individuals' lives usually fall short of moral perfection."

  Suffice to say there's little here that differentiates The Guardian's take on Benedict's pontificate from that of Crittenden, Cornwell and Crossan. However, between Stanford and Cornwell, I have to wonder if "iPod Pope" was purely coincidental? plagiarization? collaboration? -- Or maybe they got it from Rocco.
  

• Writing for USA Today, Eric J. Lyman believes "Benedict's appeal moves beyond 'caricature'", confounding the stereotypes of both the right and the left and inviting a new type of "fan base":

  Benedict's popularity differs from that of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, who was accorded almost rock star status by the legions of banner-waving young fans who turned out to see him. By contrast, Benedict's admirers seem to be older, quieter and more introspective.

  "I loved John Paul and I love Benedict, but the personality of each man appeals to different sides of the faithful," says Carlo Angelo Sanzio, 43, a worker at a coffee bar who says he has attended most of the Sunday Masses at the Vatican over the past 10 years. "The people here now are less likely to shout and cheer (than those who came to see John Paul) and are more likely to pray and reflect. My friends say you would come to experience John Paul, and you come to listen to and learn from Benedict."

  People have been coming to listen to Benedict in large numbers. The crowd at the pope's Easter celebration Sunday held under clear skies and in cool temperatures was an estimated 100,000, according to the Carabinieri, one of the police units that provide security at Vatican events. Even Benedict's routine Sunday Masses attract crowds of about 25,000 in good weather, which is similar to the numbers that came to see John Paul before he became ill in the final years of his life. . . .

  "To the extent that the pope's popularity can be judged by straight numbers, the numbers have been growing," police Sgt. Antonio Caldaroni says.

  Benedict's meeting with Hans Kung is mentioned, but without the typical fawning adulation accorded to the latter; likewise, congrats to Lyman for contrasting JPII with B16 without succumbing to the urge to lambast John Paul II's Catholic teaching on sexuality.
  

• Benedicts surprising first year, by Kieron Wood. Sunday Business Post (Ireland). April 16, 2006.
  

• One year on, Pope Benedict confounds critics, by Philip Puella. Boston Globe April 17, 2006.
  

• Assessing Benedict XVI's First Year, Zenit News Service interviews Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican-watcher for the newspaper Il Giornale, and author of Benedict XVI, Custodian of the Faith.
  

• Religion & Ethics Newsweekly: One-Year Anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI - PBS Television's March 22, 2006 interview with (who else, but) John Allen Jr. [Extended version here].
  

In Other News

• On April 3, 2006, Benedict celebrated the first anniversary mass for Pope John Paul II, and in a homily recalled the great faith and witness of his predecessor:

  It was faith, of course, that was at the root of this total offering of himself. In the Second Reading that we have just heard, St Peter too uses the image of the gold tested by fire and applies it to faith (cf. I Pt 1: 7). In fact, in life's difficulties it is especially the quality of the faith of each one of us that is tried and tested: its firmness, its purity, its consistency with life. Well, the late Pontiff, whom God had endowed with multiple human and spiritual gifts, in passing through the crucible of apostolic labours and sickness, appeared more and more as a "rock" of faith.

  To those who had the opportunity to be close to him, that firm and forthright faith was almost tangible. If it impressed the circle of his collaborators, it did not fail during his long Pontificate to spread its beneficial influence throughout the Church in a crescendo that reached its highest point in the last months and days of his life.

  It was a convinced, strong and authentic faith - free of the fears and compromises that have infected the hearts of so many people -, thanks partly to his many Apostolic Pilgrimages in every part of the world, and especially thanks to that last "journey", his agony and his death.

  
  
• April 2006 saw the english publication of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which Pope Benedict XVI presented back in June 2005. Amy Welborn gives her first impressions of the Compendium:

  The interest and the yes, dare we say excitement, are totally justified. It is strikingly organic and deeply rooted. It is totally focused on the task at hand: communicating the fundamentals of the Catholic faith in a way that is completely accessible, comfortably confident. There is an ease about it, clarity and simplicty that is the essence of good teaching.

  Jimmy Akin gives his first thoughts as well, illustrating its merits with some comparisons of the Compedium and the original Catechism's treatment of the doctrine of original sin.
  

  See also A Catechism for the Culture of the Image, by Sandro Magister (L'Espresso May 7, 2005).
  

• Consistory 2006 Summary complete list of American Papist [blog] posts on the 2006 consistory. March 2006. (See also the listing of 15 new cardinals created by Pope Benedict Vatican Information Service. March 24, 2006.
  

  On March 24, 2006, Pope Benedict reminded the Cardinals of their calling:

  May the scarlet that you now wear always express the caritas Christi, inspiring you to a passionate love for Christ, for his Church and for all humanity. You now have an additional motive to seek to rekindle in yourselves those same sentiments that led the incarnate Son of God to pour out his blood in atonement for the sins of the whole world. I am counting on you, venerable Brothers, I am counting on the entire College into which you are being incorporated, to proclaim to the world that Deus caritas est"

  
  
• On March 15, 2006, Pope Benedict initiated a new round of Wednesday catechesis, focusing on the relationship between Christ and His Church. Via Amy Welborn. The text of the Holy Father's Wednesday audiences are available at the Vatican website.
  

• Reorganization begins in Roman Curia Catholic World News. March 11, 2006. Benedict XVI made his first major changes in the organization of the Roman Curia, with two mergers of existing pontifical councils. According to Catholic World News:

  The Pontifical Council for Migrants and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace have been temporarily merged into one unit, to be headed by Cardinal Renato Martino.

  Similarly the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue has been temporarily merged with the Pontifical Council for Culture, with Cardinal Paul Poupard, the current head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, to head the combined effort.

  With the mergers, two top positions in the Roman Curia are eliminated. Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of Cardinal Stephen Fumio Hamao, who had been president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants. Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, who had been president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, had already received a new assignment in February as apostolic nuncio to Egypt.

  Rorate Caeli relays some speculation from the European press on motives behind a promotion:

  Both Korazym and Andrea Tornielli in today's edition of Il Giornale remind their readers that Fitzgerald was the highest authority in that scandalous interreligious meeting in Fatima, in 2003, whose star was none other than Jacques Dupuis, SJ, highly praised by Fitzgerald at the time as the man who had provided the "theological basis" for interreligious dialogue. Dupuis, as is well remembered, was condemned by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (2001) and was the most important individual theologian who forced the same Congregation to issue one of the most important documents of the previous pontificate, the declaration Dominus Iesus (2000). Il Foglio also regards this as the overwhelming motive for the promotion of Fitzgerald.

  
  
• T.S. O'Rama of Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor expresses his gratitude for a Pope:

  Personally, we have a history - I read his books seven or eight years ago and in his very familiarity it was like the ascension of a family member to the throne of St. Peter. A father became the Holy Father.

  He seemed to me the realist to Pope John Paul IIs dreamliness and his frankness allowed me to trust. He wasnt afraid to be controversial in that Age Before Controversy, the era before blogs and polarization. :-)
  

  But the primary appeal is that he is a Scripture scholar and that is charismatic in and of itself since Scripture = Christ = charisma. Scott Hahns ministry prepared the ground for American Catholics to appreciate Pope Benedict, giving us a craving for the experience of scripture and catechesis that Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, is uniquely gifted to satisfy.

  
  
• Cardinal Ratzinger, Biblical Exegesis, and the Church, by Stephen Hand (Traditional Catholic Reflections & Reports - TCRNews.com):

  On January 27, 1988, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, dropped something of a large bomb on the neo-modernist Biblical establishment. The Cardinal, theoretically the second most powerful man in the Church, delivered the Erasmus lecture for that year in New York City (1) , sponsored by the Rockford Institute Center on Religion & Society [directed in the 1980's by Fr. Richard J. Neuhaus], entitled Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: On the Question of the Foundations and Approaches of Exegesis Today. Needless to say, any lecture given by the head of what was formerly known as The Holy Office and which promised to be examining and critiquing the very foundations of modern exegesis (which today is completely identified with the so-called historical-critical method) was bound to raise eyebrows and cause no little commotion.

  The Cardinal did not disappoint. Surrounded by both friends and foes (including the American exegete Raymond Brown) the Cardinal delivered the most trenchant critique of the erring philosophical and theological presuppositions which lay behind the historical-critical method since the early days of the Pontifical Biblical Institute founded by Pope Leo XIII. . . .

  The full text of the address "Biblical Interpretation in Crisis: On the Question of the Foundations
  and Approaches of Exegesis Today" is available online, courtesy of the site Christendom Awake.
  

• Responding to the case of a man in Afghanistan facing the death penalty for convertion to Christianity, retired diplomat Peter Laurie delivered a blistering broadside against "right wing fundamentalism" of all stripes (Nation News April 2, 2006). One of the targets of his criticism was none other than Cardinal Ratzinger, for having defended fundamentalism as "eminently reasonable" in his homily to the college of cardinals in his famous homily a year before.

  In If you're going to call Pope Benedict a "fundamentalist"..., Carl Olson of Insight Scoop demonstrates the value of understanding what you're talking about.
  

And on a lighter note . . .

• Cambio. Guy Sylvester (Shouts in the Piazza) discusses "a time honored tradition of the Vatican":

  Namely, getting the Pope to exchange the zuchetto on his head for the one you have presented to him. This used to be a frequent occurrence at Papal audiences. In fact, in the days of Pope Pius XII (of happy memory) some zuchetti barely stayed on his head for a few seconds before being switched again with yet another being held up by an enthusiastic member of the faithful.

  Eventually, the custom waned and for much of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II hopeful zuchettos-switchers were politely told no. . . .

  A friend of Sylvester's managed to celebrate the tradition, with the assistance of Mons. Ganswein and a photograph to document the occasion.
  

• "He looks like the nicest guy you'd never want to get on the wrong side of." - The Many Faces of Benedict XVI Shrine of the Holy Whapping April 16, 2006.
  

• In honor of the World Youth Day planning meetings being held in Rome this week, Pope Benedict decided to opt for a more contemporary hair style . . . -- PPOTD! (Papist-Picture-of-the-Day) American Papist April 5, 2006.
  

Previous Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI Roundups in 2005: 4/11/05; 4/15/05; 4/18/05; 4/23/05; 5/01/05; 5/21/05; 6/6/05; 6/25/05; 7/10/05;7/14/05; 7/25/05; 8/15/05; 9/12/05; 9/27/05; 10/26/05; 11/29/05; 12/21/05; 2/05/06 and 3/11/06.

• Speaking after a concert given at the Sistine Chapel on Saturday, June 24, Pope Benedict XVI called for an authentic updating of sacred music that takes into account the tradition of the Church (Zenit News):

  "Sacred polyphony," the Holy Father said Saturday after a concert held in his honor by the Domenico Bartolucci Foundation, "especially the so-called 'Roman school,' is a legacy that must be carefully conserved, maintained alive and made known."
  

  It will be of "benefit not only to scholars and enthusiasts, but to the ecclesial community as a whole, for which it represents an inestimable spiritual, artistic and cultural heritage," the Pope said, after the concert in the Sistine Chapel.
  

  "An authentic updating of sacred music cannot occur except in line with the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian Chant, and of sacred polyphony," the Pontiff added.

  The members of the Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas will no doubt be overjoyed at the news.

  For detailed background on the concert and the significance of its conductor, maestro monsignor Domenico Bartolucci, see A Change of Tune in the Vatican And Not Only in the Secretariat of State, by Sandro Magister. www.chiesa June 27, 2006, while Get Religion examines the usual disconnect between what was said and what's being reported by the mainstream press (Pope demands end to crappy church music June 30, 2006):

  Pope Benedict XVI has harshed on guitars in Mass, according to various media reports. I dont see why you need the Pope to tell you that if you walk into a sanctuary and see a drum riser where the altar should be that you may want to get the heck out of dodge, but I guess some of us do need a bit of guidance. . . .

  
  For more on Pope Benedict's views on music, see Music and Liturgy: Excerpts from The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, courtesy of Ignatius Press, and Pope Benedict XVI on Sacred Music, additional excerpts compiled by St. Michael's Catholic Church in Auburn, Alabama.
  

• Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, a member of the International Theological Commission, recently presented 8 Keys to Reading Joseph Ratzinger's Work at the closing the first course of Specialization in Religious Information, organized by the University of the Holy Cross (Zenit News, June 25, 2006).
  

• On June 23, 2006, Pope Benedict explained to the archdiocese of Genoa, Italy, reasons for appointing Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. as secretary of State (Catholic News Agency, June 23, 2006):

  During the three years Cardinal Bertone has led the diocese, the Holy Father tells the faithful in his letter, "you have learned to appreciate those gifts and qualities that make him a faithful pastor, especially capable of combining pastoral care and doctrinal wisdom.
  

  "It is precisely these characteristics, together with the mutual understanding and trust we developed over our years of shared service at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that have induced me to choose him for this exalted and delicate task in the service of the Universal Church at the Holy See.
  

  "I know that I have asked a great sacrifice of Cardinal Bertone; and I know that the sacrifice of the faithful entrusted to his care in Genoa is no less, but I am certain that his affection and his prayers for your community will be brought 'ad Petri sedem.' The history of your diocese demonstrates your generous fidelity to the Vicar of Christ, to which I appeal also by virtue of the name I chose for my own Petrine ministry: the name of the last Genovese Pope, so devoted to the 'Madonna della Guardia.' To her I entrust you all in this moment of change, delicate but full of grace, because 'in everything God works for good with those who love Him.'

  
  Meanwhile, Richard Owen of the London Times notes some lamentation of the appointment: "Critics said that putting a Ratzinger-Bertone alliance at the top of the Vatican hierarchy meant that the Church would be in the hands of "arch-conservatives" at a time when many Catholics, especially in the Third World, are calling for reform." (Pope promotes 'hardliner' in reshuffle of his top team June 22, 2006).
  

• On June 21, 2006, Pope Benedict was made "honorary citizen" of Regensburg, Germany (Source: Zenit News).
  

• Pope Benedict will travel to Valencia, Spain next month for the World Meeting of Families. Zenit News Service interviewed Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City on Benedict's concern for the renewal of the family (Zenit News. June 11, 2006):

  His decision to attend the World Meeting of Families is a public affirmation of the invaluable worth he places on the family. We have already seen in just the year since his election that renewing the family is a priority of his pontificate.
  

  His first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, gives much attention to the love between a man and a woman, how human love, especially eros, must be connected to divine love and the good of children, and the important role of love in the public life.
  

  And since the family is the first school of love, we can infer that a healthy family is essential to a healthy society.

  
  

• In late May 2006, Pope Benedict devoted his weekly audience to the topic of the primacy of St. Peter. Teresa Polk (Blog by the Sea) provides us with a roundup of links to B16's addresses and commentary.
  

Elsewhere . . .

• It came as no suprise that, with the death of Pope John Paul II, vociferous critics of the traditionalist right turned their sights on Pope Benedict, with groups like the comical Novus Ordo Watch predicting the worst. Pope or Heretic? An Evaluation of Benedict XVI and "trueCatholic.org" touting the alleged Heresies of Anti-Pope Benedict XVI.

  In Pope or Heretic? An Evaluation of Benedict XVI, Jacob Michael of LumenGentleman Apologetics, examines some of the quotations from Benedict (whether Pope or Cardinal Ratzinger) which are cited as "proof" of heresy, and finds them wanting. According to Jaconb,:

  . . . the problem lies in the "hermeneutic of suspicion" that so many well-intentioned Catholics fall into; a kind of cynicism that takes a defensive approach to any Church document issued after the reign of Pope Pius XII. Heresy hunting is easy; words by their very nature require interpretation, and most words can be bent, twisted, and taken to conclusions that the speaker or author never intended. As a former Protestant, I am more than well-acquainted with this fact; this "hermeneutic of suspicion" is the grid through which I learned to read the Catholic Church's teachings. The worst possible motive is always assumed; if something can be interpreted in either a good sense or a bad sense, the bad sense is presumed to be the sense intended, and false conclusions are drawn. . . . It is not difficult to see this principle at work in the way some choose to receive and deal with the council, and especially with papal teachings and actions. . . .

  Concludes Jacob: "I have yet to see a quote that wasn't ripped from its context, squeezed through the filter of deep suspicion, interpreted in the worst possible light, and isolated from other statements within the body of Benedict XVI's work." As it was for John Paul II, so it is for Benedict XVI. Pray for the Pope, and his enemies as well. (Article via Rorate Caeli).

  In Benedict XVI and the "Real Presence", the blog Hallowed Ground diffuses a charge that Benedict "once taught against the practice of eucharistic adoration and has even promoted heresy with respect to the Real Presence" with further citation from his writings.
  

• Series of Reflections on Deus Caritas Est Since early May, L'Osservatore Romano has been running a series of reflections on Benedict XVI's first encyclical, with contributions by Cardinal Renato Martino, Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, Bishop Rino Fisichella, Cardinal Angelo Scola and Archbishop Paul Cordes. Zenit News Service has a roundup of commentary with the highlights.
  

• Orthodoxy and Islam: Benedict XVI Prepares for His Trip to Turkey, by Sandro Magister. www.chiesa June 16, 2006.
  

• A new volume published in Italian by Libreria Editrice Vaticana gathers key phrases pronounced by Benedict XVI in the first year of his papacy. Pensieri Spirituali (Spiritual Thoughts) gathers phrases chosen from his encyclical, homilies, meetings and audiences, and from moments when he spoke without notes. [Source: Zenit News. June 13, 2006].
  

• From the Vol 9:2 -- Spring 2006 edition of LOGOS: Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture: The Church and the Secular Establishment: A Philosophical Dialog between Joseph Ratzinger and Jrgen Habermas, by Virgil Nemoianu. [.pdf format]
  

• Lajolo and Kasper, Two New Additions to Team Ratzinger www.Chiesa June 7, 2006. Sandro Magister profiles archbishop Giovanni Lajolo, Secretary for Relations with States (or the Vatican's foreign minister) and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, discussing how their thought has developed in relation to "new course charted by pope Ratzinger."

  Those familiar with the RatzingerFanClub's archive will remember the frequent intellectual disputes between Ratzinger and Kasper on ecumenism (provoked by the publication of Dominus Iesus) and ecclesiology (see our special compilation on The Ratzinger-Kasper Debate). Consequently, to hear Magister speak of "the new ratzingerian course" charted by Kasper and a convergence of thought, particularly on ecumenism, is indeed an occasion for hope. Magister covered this same issue back in March 2005, in which he described an address by Kasper as "a cold shower for the Church's left wing." (Kasper and Kolvenbach, Converts to the Neocon Way www.Chiesa March 8, 2005).
  

  Incidentally, the Ratzinger Fan Club, was inspired by the outcry over Dominus Iesus, rallying in defense of the Cardinal against the vehement criticism of Cardinal Ratzinger which followed. Earlier this month, Gerald Augustinus (Closed Cafeteria) reminds us just what was so important about that document).
  

• Even the Pope has Rights: The Vatican and Copyright Privileges, by Philip F. Lawler. Ignatius Insight May 2006. The editor of the Catholic World Report provides much-needed clarification on a topic about which there was much confusion and misinformation:

  In January a Vatican correspondent for La Stampa, Marco Tosatti, had received a bill from LEV, demanding payment of 15,000 pounds (at the time, about $18,400) for the use of material by Pope Benedict. Not coincidentally, it was Tosatti who led the editorial charge when La Stampa criticized the Vatican for asserting control of the Pope's intellectual-property rights.

  But Tosatti's use of Pope Benedict's written work was not a matter of a simple quotation or two. The Italian journalist had published a book entitled The Dictionary of Pope Ratzinger, composed almost entirely of the Pope's spoken and written words. In his preface to the book, Tosatti had assured readers: "Everything you will find here, beyond this introduction, comes from the pen or the voice of Joseph Ratzinger." In short, Tossati had tried to do precisely what he now charged Vatican officials with doing: make a profit by publishing the Pope's work.

  Lawler clarifies the nature and demands of the copyright policy of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana (LEV) and its affect on papal press and journalism.
  

• Benedict Contra Nietzsche: A Reflection on Deus Caritas Est, by Benjamin D. Wiker. Crisis May 9, 2006:

  Deus Caritas Est is a declaration of war, and it is loaded with ammunitionmuch of it stealth in design, and of such power that the Church under Benedict XVI will certainly be the Church Militant. For while on the surface Benedict only seems to be offering a theological platitude, that God is love, hidden to the hasty eyes of the press, buried in the intricacies of his philosophical and theological analysis, obscured from all but those initiated into Benedicts inner circle, he really is declaring that God is love.

  It will become clearas we dig into the encyclicalthat a more dangerous and constructive idea for our culture could not be imagined. Its a brilliant strategy on Benedicts part to hide so explosive a truth under a simple truism.

  
  
• Meekness and courage of the Pope in Poland: Benedict XVI in the land of Karol Wojtyla, by Marco Tosatti. 30 Giorni [30 Days] May 2006. "Of Benedict XVIs visit many different images remain in the memory: from the homage to his predecessor to the human warmth of the crowd. From the defense of Tradition to the solicitude of the visit to Auschwitz. An account by the Vatican expert of La Stampa."
  

  Also on trip to Poland: Pope Benedict's Apostolic Journey to Poland (May 25-28, 2006) - Compilation of papal addresses and photo gallery from the Vatican website.
  

  The American Papist of course offers a magnificent and extensive roundup in The Great Poland Post of 2006, while we took a concentrated look at Pope Benedict XVI, Auschwitz, and the Nature of Anti-Semitism Against The Grain May 30, 2006 (and will likely devote another post to follow-up discussion of the issue).
  

• The Story of Joseph Ratzinger: "The difficult years", by Gianni Valente (in collaboration with Pierluca Azzaro). 30 Giorni [30 Days] May 2006. "Former colleagues and students speak of Professor Ratzinger on the theological campus of Tbingen. Where his unrepentant adhesion to the reforms of the Council was put to the test by clerical triumphalism and middle-class foot-dragging."
  

• Pope to India; India to Pope - Interesting discussion on Amy Welborn's Open Book on Pope Benedict's May 18, 2006 address to Amitava Tripathi, India's new ambassador to the Holy See (in which he noted "the disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions [in India], including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom"); the indignant protest of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP); and the papal appointment of Cardinal Ivan Dias, formerly the Archbishop of Bombay, to Prefect of Evangelization of Peoples.
  

  If Cardinal Dias' personal opinion of Dominus Iesus is any indication, he is a man after Benedict's heart and the perfect guy for the job (Source: AmericanCatholic.Org:

  . . . Speaking to reporters in Rome shortly after [Dominus Iesus] was released, the then-archbishop said, "It is a reaffirmation of what we believe and what we think," namely that "Jesus is the only savior of the world."

  "We have a right to say who we are, and others can accept it or not," he said.

  Giving strength to the suspicion that the document was prompted particularly by the interreligious efforts of Asian theologians, and especially those working in India, he said clarity was needed in countries where the vast majority of people are not Christian.

  Sandro Magister has more:

  As the new prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the pope has called an Indian, cardinal Ivan Dias, 70, who has been archbishop of Bombay for ten years, but before that served at the secretariat of state and as a diplomat in many countries, including Albania (his last diplomatic post), and before that South Korea, Ghana, Indonesia, and Sweden, without counting the dozens of countries he followed as a Vatican observer, including Russia, China, Vietnam, and South Africa. He has learned many languages, speaking eighteen fluently having some familiarity with others.

  But even though this skill is very much adapted to his role, it is not the only reason why Benedict XVI chose him as the new prefect of Propaganda Fide. Much more influential was the fact that cardinal Dias, who has an excellent understanding of the Eastern religions, has never surrendered to that relativism of faiths that Ratzinger condemned in 2000 with the most important of his actions as the cardinal custodian of doctrine, the declaration Dominus Iesus.

  As archbishop of Bombay, Dias has on a number of occasions complained of the fact that the Jesuits, excessively enthusiastic supporters of interreligious dialogue, play the master in the seminaries of India. His goal was to evangelize and convert, and each year he administered many baptisms. Before the last conclave he was listed among the candidates for the papacy, but in reality he was one of Ratzingers most resolute supporters.

  (The New Curia of Benedict XVI Looks toward Asia. www.Chiesa May 26, 2006; via Domenico Bettinelli, Jr.).
  

• Pope Benedict, the Holy Grail and El Cid, by Robert Duncan. Spero News July 6, 2006. "Truth is, Benedict has a tough row to how in Valencia. He doesn't only have to worry about just the Holy Grail, but the whole Cathedral for that matter is fraught with imagery . . ."
  

On a Lighter Note . . .

• Fr. Andrew Greeley:"Give B16 A Break!" - Jimmy Akin wonders, "is it just me or does it seem to anyone else that Fr. Andrew Greeley -- priest, novelist, sociologist, Catholic progressive -- is mellowing in his old age? A few months ago, he was in the press defending Francis Cardinal George of Chicago against unfounded allegations of apathy on the priest abuse issue; now he's come out swinging for Pope Benedict XVI."
  

• Just another day at the square with some friends . . . San Peter's Square, that is, as Pope Benedict XVI leads a liturgy of Vespers on the eve of Pentecost Sunday. June 3, 2006. Argent by the Tiber has some great photographs, both of the Holy Father and the crowd's reaction.
  

• Shouts in the Piazza has a great photo and caption of the Holy Father Outside the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.
  

• Baby Benedict gets Letter from Pope "The personalised note on Vatican headed-notepaper arrived on baby Benedict's doorstep after officials in Rome learned the tot had been named after the Pope, with whom he also shares a birthday." Lancanshire Evening Post June 28, 2006.
  

• That's One Happy Pope - serene in the peace and love of Christ. Inspiring photos from Closed Cafeteria.
  

• Another Pope Forum - Amy Welborn, longtime follower of The Papa Ratzinger Forum, announces her discovery of The Ratzinger Forum -- not exactly "run" by yours truly, the forum took on a life of its own with the election of Pope Benedict XVI and pretty much runs itself. Forum participation requires a (free) EzBoard account registration and formal application to the RFC Forum -- requiring a bit of patience, but verification measures were instituted due to some extremely perverse attempts at sabotage by those irate over the new Pope.
  

  Amy also points us to a darling photograph of the Pope's visit with the Polish president and a great video of the Pope with the Polish president's family and 3-year old granddaughter. Speaking of kids, Amy has another link to a photo and .mp3 of Jeremy Gabriel - the Canadian boy who sang for the Pope in May 2006.
  

• Rocco Palmo on the question of who does the Pope root for in the World Cup?:

  . . . the Pope, together with his trusty secretary, Msgr Georg Ganswein, and the four laywomen of the Memores Domini who assist in the papal apartment, will be spending Tuesday night watching the World Cup semifinal pitting the German pontiff's native side against the Italians.

  This news comes from no less a source than Ganswein, who told the ADNKronos news agency that, indeed, Germany-Italy "is at the center" of discussion and interest in the papal apartments. A big-screen television is being brought in just for the occasion, to boot.

  But who's the Ratzi-Bear rooting for? While Ganswein readily admitted to waving the flag for Germany, and the MD contingent are hard-core Italy fans, he made it known that "The Pope is always impartial and will have as great a heart on Tuesday for Germany as for the team of blue," a reference to the Italian side.

  
  

• And now for the latest bit of sheer idiocy from the "Catholic" fringe: What does Pope Benedict XVI have in common with President George Bush, Prince William, Paul McCartney, Bill Clinton, Metallica, The Beatles, and Spiderman?!? (Source: PrisonPlanet.com)?
  

  Pope Benedict XVI stands accused by the "Most Holy Family Monastery" of giving [the] El Diablo satanic sign [scroll down]:

  Below we see Benedict XVI giving El Diablo (the devil) sign. This satanic gesture is popular among Satanists and satanic rock groups. Many give this satanic hand gesture without knowing it because theyre taken over by the evil spirit. Some point out that the devil sign is similar to the hand gesture for I love you in sign language. Thats true, but thats probably because the inventor of the deaf signing system, Helen Keller, was herself an occultist . . . Some believe that she designed the I love you sign to correspond with the devil sign so that one making it would be saying that he or she loves Satan.

  Regardless, we believe that below Benedict XVI is giving the devil sign the double devil sign, in fact and that he knows what hes doing.

  Yeeeeeaaahhh.
  

That's all for this edition, folks. Be sure to check out regular coverage of Pope Benedict XVI by Michael Rose of the Papa Ratzi Post; coverage of Vatican affairs by Whispers in the Loggia and Shouts in the Piazza; John Allen Jr.'s Word from Rome and Sandro Magister (www.Chiesa).

Previous Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI Roundups:
4/11/05; 4/15/05; 4/18/05; 4/23/05; 5/01/05; 5/21/05; 6/6/05; 6/25/05; 7/10/05 7/14/05; 7/25/05;
8/15/05; 9/12/05; 9/27/05; 10/26/05; 11/29/05; 12/21/05; 2/05/06; 3/11/06; 4/18/06 and 5/24/06.