Below is some remarkable “raw footage” of the President’s visit at the Vatican yesterday (July 10) First a brief article:
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama arrived at the Vatican on Friday for his first meeting with Pope Benedict and what the White House says will be frank discussions on issues they agree and disagree on.
Obama arrived at the Vatican under tight security from the central city of L’Aquila, where he participated in the G8 summit. Much of the area around the Vatican was blocked off and cell phone coverage was jammed as his motorcade passed.
Obama was driven up to the San Damaso courtyard at the base of the apostolic palace where he was greeted by an honor guard of the Swiss Guard in full regalia Michelle Obama and their children Malia and Sasha were given a private tour of St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.
So what did the Pope say? Among other things he delivered a strong pro-life message to the President. Here is an excerpt from John Allen’s Article:
Pope Benedict XVI today used his first-ever meeting with President Barack Obama to deliver a strong pro-life message, even pointedly offering President Obama a copy of a recent Vatican document on bioethics. In effect, Benedict made clear that he backs the American bishops in their challenge to President Obama over matters like abortion and embryonic stem cell research.
It is not unusual for people who read encyclicals from a political viewpoint or to read a political viewpoint in to them. Such is surely the case with the latest Encyclical by Pope BenedictCaritas in Veritate. Clearly, it touches on the the much debated issue of social justice. While Church teaching in this matter isn’t all that complicated, the method of implementing it is debated. Should the poor be cared for by expansive Government programs, or by initiatives based more in the private sector? How are private property rights balanced with the universal destination of all goods? And so forth.
Some in the media see Caritas in Veritate as largely an affirmation of what we Americans would call Democratic (Party) social policies. Some lament this fact, others celebrate it. But honestly do you really think the Pope means to speak in such simple categories? As with most encyclicals the Pope (especially this one) speaks with careful nuance and balance which is often missed by the sound byte oriented media. The Pope is speaking from Catholic Social Teaching which has a trajectory and history well removed from American Politics. We need to be careful not to over simplify the Pope here.
Just to show how two authors (both conservative) come away with different impressions look at the following two quotes.
There is also rather more in the encyclical about the redistribution of wealth than about wealth-creation — a sure sign of Justice and Peace default positions at work. And another Justice and Peace favorite — the creation of a “world political authority” to ensure integral human development — is revisited, with no more insight into how such an authority would operate….It is one of the enduring mysteries of the Catholic Church why the Roman Curia places such faith in this fantasy of a “world public authority,” given the Holy See’s experience in battling for life, religious freedom, and elementary decency at the United Nations. …. The incoherence of the Justice and Peace sections of the new encyclical is so deep, and the language in some cases so impenetrable, that what the defenders of Populorum Progresio may think to be a new sounding of the trumpet is far more like the warbling of an untuned piccolo. George Weigel In National Review Online
To be fair, Weigel also finds thing to praise in the new Encyclical. Yet still it is clear that he struggles with what he sees as a big Government solution.
But now consider another reflection from the Catholic League that takes away a rather different notion from the Encyclical:
The best way to serve the poor, according to the pope, is not to create bureaucratic monstrosities that cripple the dignity of the indigent. “By considering reciprocity as the heart of what it is to be a human being, [the principle of] subsidiarity is the most effective antidote against any form of all-encompassing welfare state.” Similarly, the pope admonishes us not to promote “paternalist social assistance that is demeaning to those in need.” In other words, the tried and failed, dependency-inducing welfare programs that mark the social policy prescriptions of the poverty industry are seen by the pope as a disaster. Not exactly what those who work for HHS want to hear.Statement by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights
So here is the point. Be careful about simply accepting what one author or group says about how to understand this encyclical. It is carefully written and nunaced, based in a long tradition of Catholic Social teaching which cannot be said simply to affirm one or another political party here in the USA. Our is not the world the Pope lives in nor is it the template with which he thinks. We cannot reduce Papal teaching merely to American political categories. The Pope is Catholic
Reflecting on the Holy Priesthood, Pope Benedict draws highly from the writings of St. John Vianney who 150th Birthday is being celebrated this year too:
Here the teaching and example of Saint John Mary Vianney can serve as a significant point of reference for us all. The Curé of Ars was quite humble, yet as a priest he was conscious of being an immense gift to his people: “A good shepherd, a pastor after God’s heart, is the greatest treasure which the good Lord can grant to a parish, and one of the most precious gifts of divine mercy”.[3] He spoke of the priesthood as if incapable of fathoming the grandeur of the gift and task entrusted to a human creature: “O, how great is the priest! … If he realized what he is, he would die… God obeys him: he utters a few words and the Lord descends from heaven at his voice, to be contained within a small host…” Explaining to his parishioners the importance of the sacraments, he would say: “Without the Sacrament of Holy Orders, we would not have the Lord. Who put him there in that tabernacle? The priest. Who welcomed your soul at the beginning of your life? The priest. Who feeds your soul and gives it strength for its journey? The priest. Who will prepare it to appear before God, bathing it one last time in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest, always the priest. And if this soul should happen to die [as a result of mortal sin], who will raise it up, who will restore its calm and peace? Again, the priest… After God, the priest is everything! … Only in heaven will he fully realize what he is”. These words, welling up from the priestly heart of the holy pastor, might sound excessive. Yet they reveal the high esteem in which he held the sacrament of the priesthood. He seemed overwhelmed by a boundless sense of responsibility: “What use would be a house filled with gold, were there no one to open its door? The priest holds the key to the treasures of heaven: it is he who opens the door: he is the steward of the good Lord; the administrator of his goods … .
The words of St. John Vianney DO seem “excessive” by today’s standards. We tend to be a bit more cautious and sober in our speaking today. Today is my 20th Anniversary of Ordination to priesthood and I hardly think of God “obeying” me as I speak the words of consecration. And yet God does “obey” not for my sake but for the sake of his people. I have often thought, if I gave a good sermon, or taught effectively, or just saw anything go really well in my priestly activity it was not so much for my sake or my glory, but for God’s people and God’s glory. I have learned to ask that I preach and teach well and administer the sacraments effectively simply because God’s people deserve the very best. In the end I hope it is not God who obeys me but I who obey God and get out of the way so he can take over. Perhaps what St. John Vianney really refers to is a kind of subordinate obeying that God does. He inspires the Priest to ask for what he [Christ] wants, and in the end it is one Christ and one will, one obedience.
I want to show you a movie clip. I am no big fan of Hollywood, for lots of reasons. But I must say, it was a Hollywood movie that played a role in my discovery of a vocation to the priesthood. I went to this movie with my college girlfriend who also sang in Church Choir with me back in 1981. So here I sat in the theater with my girl and suddenly, in Dolby stereo rang out a choir singing the Kyrie from Viadonna’s Missa L’Hora Passa. And the camera panned into a scene from a solemn high mass in Latin (the movie was set in the 1940s). Robert DiNiro was the priest and he played the role of the priest perfectly. But strangely it was in a Hollywood movie that I first saw close up the dignity of the priest celebrant as he carefully pronounced the words of consecration. Yes I know it was an actor, but I saw for the first time displayed the power of what a real priest can do. I also beheld a liturgy beautifully celebrated which I must say, sadly, was not the usual case in my suburban parish church of the time. Well, I didn’t tell my girlfriend that evening, but for the first time the priesthood seemed attractive, from a movie, a Hollywood movie. I didn’t think of being a priest yet, but I had never thought of a priest as anything special before that night. Now I did. Here is the clip of what I saw and heard in 1981 (From the Movie True Confessions).
The following report gives highlights of Pope Benedict’s Corpus Christi Homily along with other activities of that day, this past Thursday. The video is about a minute and a half. Give ear to the Pope’s exhortation to faith and prayer.
Hmm….Not sure what to make of this latest edition of Gloria TV News. It presents a series of highly negative reactions by Jewish leaders to the Pope’s visit to Israel. Surely not all Jewish leaders are this negative are they? I just wonder, sitting over here in America if this is a balanced report of Jewish reaction or if there is something of a “European” thing going on here. Any ideas among any of you as to the tone of this report? If it is true it seems that some of the leaders are being extremely picky and are looking for an argument. (Granted there is one Jewish Leader quoted as denouncing all the negative attitudes but it is not clear what the majority reaction to the Pope’s visit is). I don’t know what to think of this, but here is the report:
