In his entrance into and departure from this transitory world Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI displayed exquisite sensitivity to liturgical time. Born and baptized on Easter Eve of 1927, he died within the octave of Christmas 2022 on the day of his predecessor Sylvester, in the womb of a perishing twelvemonth from which a new year of plenteous grace is set to spring. Only by divine gift may a Christian’s earthly existence be bracketed in this way between the saving mysteries of Christmas and Easter.

On the death from great old age of a theologian who in his writings has so fruitfully accompanied my own spiritual pilgrimage, I have nothing to add to two online publications written and issued at significant junctures of the late Pope’s career. The only piece of my writing that ever went, as they say, ‘viral’, was a defence of Ratzinger issued at Passiontide 2010, when the world’s attacks on this faithful German shepherd were raging with great fury. I find one unfortunate stylistic infelicity in ‘The Dictatorship of Relativism strikes back—and goes nuclear’ The dictatorship of relativism strikes back—and goes nuclear — LOGIA but see no reason to revise any of its judgements. And when Benedict XVI shocked Church and world with his (apart from the case of Celestine V) unprecedented abdication, at the behest of the then head of Lutheran Church—Canada I produced an Appreciation that can now serve as an Obituary in the shape of a little article ‘Thoughts on the Retirement of the Professor Pope’ Thoughts on the retirement of the Professor Pope - The Canadian Lutheran. Happily, a prominent believing German Protestant journalist has arrived at similar conclusions in a little piece published today to which I refer those who share my eccentric love of the German language.

Strikingly, in his homily at the Mass for his inauguration as Pope, Ratzinger invited those present to ‘pray that I do not flee for fear of the wolves.’ The death of one of the few Popes to have been a major theologian may presently loosen tongues concerning the riddle of what all went on in and lay behind Ratzinger’s humanly understandable decision to lay down his papal office on account of advancing age and its accompanying frailties. It is hard for the informed and well-meaning outsider to shake off the impression that, just as earthly rulers and their regimes have been toppled by bloody coups d’état, so shady operators including but not limited to the ‘St Gallen Mafia’ staged a veritable coup d’église that led to the ascent onto the papal throne of a Wolf in wolves’ clothing. Just as the abdication of Celestine V was followed by the reign of that very nasty piece of work Boniface VIII and three very rocky centuries for the papacy, so likewise an epoch of great turmoil appears in place for the worldwide Roman Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict’s long-serving private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, just stated the obvious fact that his successor’s undoing of his own work through issuance of Traditionis Custodes ‘broke his heart’. RORATE CÆLI: Gänswein: “I believe it broke Pope Benedict’s heart to read [Traditionis custodes].” (rorate-caeli.blogspot.com) …If Frankenstein Bergoglio had any manners or sensitivity (which he doesn’t), he would recuse himself from Benedict/Ratzinger’s public funeral this coming Thursday in St Peter’s Square.

Rest eternal grant unto Thy servant Joseph, o Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him; and may those in search of theological instruction and illumination have recourse to the rich literary legacy he has left behind him. Dear reader, if you have any Ratzinger books on your shelves, ‘Tolle, lege!’ You might like to start with a Spiritual Testament released today, already available in English translation. RORATE CÆLI: “My Spiritual Testament” - Benedict XVI (rorate-caeli.blogspot.com)

Postscript

Anyone scrutinising this posting will notice that sentences have been added since 31 December.

Permit me to draw your attention to some further items worthy of attention.

First, the Bishop of the SELK, chief shepherd of the Old Lutherans of Germany, The Rt Revd Hans-Joerg Voigt, in whose honour a festschrift was published last month, just issued a delightful and heartwarming tribute to Joseph Ratzinger on the website of the International Lutheran Council: https://ilc-online.org/2023/01/05/on-the-death-of-benedict-xvi/

Secondly, writing in the Magazine First Things, George Weigel has made some of the points I endeavoured to get across in my defence of Benedict back at Passiontide 2010: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2023/01/letters-from-rome-2

Thirdly, in the New York Times Ross Douthat speaks of the last decade as the ‘first afterlife’ of Benedict XVI, not referring to the status medius as such but to the years in which Ratzinger’s legacy was clouded by his promise not to interfere in his successor’s magisterium or governance of the Church. Now that the Bergoglian muzzle has been removed, Ratzinger, like the great theologians and Church Fathers of the past, may henceforth exercise his influence to the full: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/01/opinion/pope-benedict-xvi-catholic-church.html