VIENNA, September 5, 2005 (www.kath.net) - "One could say that the German Pope has stepped up to sort out, clean up, get things to work - and wipe out what is false and the defunct [in the Church]", says German publicist and Papal expert Peter Seewald in an interview with KATHNET.He analyzes for us the significance of Benedict's visit, for Austria and for Catholicism. Here is a transcript of the interview conducted by Maria Cavagno.
When did you last see Benedict XVI? And how did it go?
Our last meeting was in February 2006. He was attentive, amiable and simple, like always. But something was different. I find that he no longer hunches his shoulders forward like a protective shield as he once thought he had to.
My impression was that this was someone who is wholly with God and therefore has completely come into his own. And that's the way it is. Benedict has not only been imprinted by Christ but has allowed himself to be transformed. He has become a mystical adept, whose existence is virtually prophetic.
How would you characterize the Pope's relations with Austria?
Very personal and intimate. He is a neighbor by origin and by mentality, and speaks the same language. It also has to do with his family history. His father is from Lower Bavaria but his ancestors came from Upper Austria, and his grandmother and mother are from the South Tyrol.
The Pope himself, as everyone knows, grew up in the Bavarian-Austrian border area, under the influence of the the episcopal city of Salzburg. His bond to Austria is evident from the many holidays that he has spent there as professor, bishop and prefect of the CDF. I would say, that was not just out of love, but that (for him), it is a part of his homeland.
It appears that Benedict has a great affection for Mariazell. How did this come about?
As great as his intellectual abilities are, so is his heart towards the piety of simple folk. His mystical endowment has so far been fully undervalued. Ratzinger likes pilgrimages, especially to the classic Marian shrines. With their special flair, their moving humanity, their mystical aura, and lastly, the power of the saints which unites great and small.
He has been to Mariazell only once before, in 2004, as a cardinal, when he was invited by the European union of notaries to celebrate the Eucharist [during their pilgrimage], but he immediately loved the place. So he took the opportunity when the Austrian bishops invited him [for the 850th anniversary celebrations].
He publicly stated that he 'could not say No' to the invitation, which he considered providential. It is noteworthy that he has visited the important Marian shrines in all of his foreign trips so far: Altoetting, Czetochowa, Aparecida, and now Mariazell. [Seewald forgot to include Ephesus.] One might say, the shepherd brings his sheep together - and does it under the cloak of the Madonna.
What points do you expect the Pope to emphasize in his discourses for Austria?
The Pope is coming to strengthen Christians in their faith. The liturgical calendar gives him the opportunity to preach about the Incarnation of Christ. The Letter to the Colossians which will be read on Friday, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, says: "Christ is the image of the invisible God....everything is created through him and in him."
The following day, the Church celebrates, in the feast of Mary's nativity, the beginning of salvation which came to the world through the Incarnation.
On the whole, the emphasis in Austria will be similar to the Pope's Bavarian visit. It has to do with overcoming a deafness to God everywhere, to get a better look at the Creator and his world, at what really matters in life. Ratzinger is showing that faith is not opposed to reason, rather that it is basically an expression of reason.
And that it is worthwhile to recognize anew the total relevance of the Gospel. That it must no longer be treated with suspicion, but as Revelation which provides us with answers for life. Faith is not a system of theories, but a personal relationship with God. This question has become central again today - after decades of erroneous 'development' among some clergy, theologians and even the laity.
After the Brazilian visit, the Austrian trip is the second and last foreign trip this year. What differences and resemblances do you see?
The difference lies in the occasion and the magnitude. In South America, the Pope opened the 5th General Conference of Latin American and Caribbean Bishops, a historic church assembly representing 40 percent of the world's Catholic population.
It dealt with answers for challenges like the new sects, but most of all, the social and economic problems of the Latin American nations. An observer judged later that "the Pope had taken the marginalized peoples into his arms". At the end of the conference, no less than a 'continental mission' was decided. 'Mission' is also a task in the western hemisphere, but naturally with a different emphasis.
In Europe, we are experiencing two parallel currents. First, there is a considerable decrease in Christian consciousness, not just in public life but even among families.
Add to this that the in the next 10 years, the Catholic Church will experience an unparallelled quantitative collapse. In that time, something like one-third of believers, priests and religious now alive will die without being replaced.
At the same time, however, we are beginning to see a powerful renaissance of tested values and forms, which many scientists think may well surpass the medieval Renaissance.
And it is being unleashed by fear of the cultural and moral decline of civilization as we know it, as well as terror over possible catastrophes of apocalyptic proportions. All systems are breaking down at the same time. And so the question is: How have we come to this, that mankind with all its enormous economic and technological progress, feels so profoundly threatened?
And what does that mean for the Church?
A lot. This Renaissance also makes itself felt through a new interest in Christianity. There is a tremendous longing for wholeness, for salvation. Those who have kept away are ready once again to look into what their own ancestral religion has to offer.
They realize that amidst the storms of globalization and 'turbo-capitalism', the Catholic Church has shown itself to be the only firm shelter and safe harbor. And that is a fact not to be under-estimated in turbulent times.
Within the Catholic church itself, we are experiencing with Benedict the start of a historic hour, a change in paradigms. The old paradigm was: If we do not accommodate ourselves to secularized society, then we will lose the flock. The result was self-secularization, a demystification, and ultimately, a desanctification.
The new paradigm is: It is not the world that has oriented itself towards the Church through this 'ingratiation', but the Church towards the world. But when the Church gives up what is most holy in it, then she gives herself up. The holy disappears, certainties dissolve, and its blessings dwindle.
This analysis, heretofore the thinking only of a minority, now becomes applicable worldwide, with an intellectual and theological genius like Joseph Ratzinger at the helm in Rome. This is extremely important. Because until now, there seemed to be resignation over the critical condition of the church. Now, that is no longer simply accepted.
There will be appropriate corrections, a pruning back towards simplicity, especially in Church institutions, so that they can flourish again. That is why a battle against false gods has also started within the Church. And Benedict has achieved this feat without unleashing further fragmentation and polarization, as many had feared.
In summary?
One could say that the German Pope has stepped up to sort out, clean up, get things to work - and wipe out what is false and defunct. That also goes for ecumenism.
Anyone who goes along with the Pope must join him now, not on 'Saint Never'! A great part of Protestantism has obviously become unreachable. Anti-Catholicity now seems to have become an indispensable element of their self-definition.
On the contrary, the reunification process with Orthodoxy is quantitatively very promising and qualitatively near at hand.
"We have almost everything in common," the Pope rejoiced recently. "Above all, we share the earnest hope for unity. From the bottom of my heart, I pray that this dream can soon be realized."
How do you think Austrian Catholics will receive Joseph Ratzinger in their homeland?
Majority will sincerely rejoice, others will dismiss him, as they have done till now. But doubtless there will be something of a Benedict effect. The Pope's encyclical reached more than a million in print, his Jesus book is sold around the world, and in Rome he is breaking records for audiences.
With Ratzinger, one must not see a single meaning in everything, because even non-believers see this special ambassador of Jesus more and more as an inspiring mediator of sense, a bearer of hope, who talks about the prospects for a new future. And so the question will not be how many listen to him, but how many are ready to follow him.
Not least within the Church, where there is an extremely persistent attitude of rejection among diehards, for whom things must always be as they are, who will uncritically hold on to their behavior patterns even if these have led them astray in the past.
How can Benedict XVI build a bridge to those who look at this visit with skepticism?
By inviting them to come to him with the same openness with which they have always challenged the Church. Because this Pope is able to address circles which were previously unreachable. His style - of humility and dialog, but also of clear words - his intellectual brilliance and his reaching out to his interlocutors will find a sympathetic reception.
The Church has become a topic for public discussion, and the Christian faith has been newly discovered as a subject and a possibility. Church dropouts have decreased, and attendance at seminaries indicates a changed trend. And the very fact that the head of the Catholic Church could displace Harry Potter from the top of the bestseller lists is a spectacular sign.
John Paul II paved the way for this movement. He was himself Mr. Bombastic. Specifically, it was his attitude rather than what he preached that people accepted. Now, one can say that, in the ways in which Wojtyla and Ratzinger differ, they complement each other perfectly.
Benedict is an unlikely 'personality', often somewhat like a doll. But the more his 'personality' recedes, the more what he says comes to the foreground.
What would you ask the Pope first if you could interview him now?
We see that life on this planet has reached a certain cusp. We no longer have all options available. It has come down to either-or. A few days ago, Benedict formulated some thoughts about the ecological - but above all the spiritual - climate catastrophe during the youth meeting in Loreto, and made a dramatic appeal for a change in lifestyle.
He said: "Go against the current! Do not heed the self-serving and insinuating voices, the voices of the mass media, who tout a lifestyle of arrogance and violence", a lifestyle of 'success at any price', which is all about 'appearance and possession', not about 'being'."
That was also a powerful criticism of the media, that nobody else would have dared. The protection of creation, he continued, has become a burning task. One must 're-forge a firm bond between man and the earth' - 'before it is too late', he added.
Perhaps it's a dumb question but I would like to know how much time we have left.
Are you going to follow the Pope's Austrian visit yourself?
Bavarian TV has invited me to work with them in their broadcasts from Mariazell and Vienna. So I will be on site, and I look forward to the associated impressions and stimuli. But a consolidation, such as this Pope is carrying out, is not a state spectacle. The real activity takes place in silence, unseen.
Still it is a thrilling and, above all, worthwhile process that is undreamt of. I think that Benedict XVI heard God's words a long time ago, similar to what St. Benedict and before him, Francis of Assisi, had heard:"Go, rebuild my house that, as you can see, is threatened with ruin."
Photograph: © Alessandra Benedetti/Corbis April 21, 2005
