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Posted Saturday May 27, 2006 at 12:01 p.m. CDT
Looking for The Word From Rome column? Here is a link to past columns.
Benedict offers spiritual and pastoral basics
This erudite, introverted pope is great experience for pilgrims
By John L. Allen Jr.
Krakow/Wadowice/Lagiewniki, Poland
Editor's Note: Read NCRonline.org daily for John Allen's reports on Pope Benedict XVI's trip to Poland May 25-28.
One thing that's become abundantly clear halfway through Benedict's May 25-28 Poland trip is that this erudite, introverted pope may be a great experience for pilgrims, but he's a constant source of heartburn for journalists.
The press thrives on grand gestures and hard-hitting policy talk, and so far Benedict has offered precious little of either. Indicative of this reality, many news stories today focus on comments made by papal spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls about Sunday's visit to Auschwitz, rather than anything the pope himself has said or done.
Sizzle is just not Benedict's style.
For example, had Benedict come to Poland and spontaneously decided to canonize John Paul II, it would have guaranteed global headlines. Similarly, had Benedict XVI sunk his teeth into the "neo-paganism" of the new Europe, attacking trends towards gay marriage, euthanasia, and runaway secularism, that sort of rhetorical red meat would also have generated a steady stream of news stories and editorial comment.
Pilgrims, on the other hand, who endure rain, cold, travel delays and brusque encounters with both security personnel and clerics, in general are seeking neither theatre nor charged political debate, but spiritual nourishment.
By and large, that crowd has seemed more content than the press corps with what they've seen and heard.
"We understand that John Paul and Benedict are different men," one young Polish woman said Saturday in Wadowice. "For me, I'm looking for a spiritual father, not a rock star."
That's a healthy attitude where Benedict XVI is concerned, because Mick Jagger he isn't.
While Benedict deeply reveres John Paul and has repeatedly said that he prays for his beatification, for example, Benedict is not a man of impulse, and was not about to short-circuit the normal process. It is as if he doesn't want to cheapen the eventual importance of John Paul's sainthood by giving any impression of cut corners or impetuousness.
(Not every Pole was as comfortable, it should be noted, with taking the long view. On the pope's route to Wadowice, there was the occasional banner urging santo subito, meaning "make him a saint now!" A large banner in the town square said that Wadowice is praying santo subito for "John Paul the Great.")
During his visit to the Sanctuary of Kalwaria, Benedict responded to comments by Cardinal Stanislaw Dzwisz of Krakow, the former private secretary of John Paul, hoping for swift action.
"I'd like to say that I too, like Cardinal Dziwisz, hope that providence soon grants us the beatification and canonization of our dear John Paul II," Benedict said, but without providing any timetable.
At the level of politics, while Benedict worries about various concessions to what he sees as a "dictatorship of relativism," such as legal recognition of alternative forms of the family, he sees such policy questions as symptoms rather than the heart of the disease.
At its roots, Benedict believes, the modern malady is a crisis of faith - faith in Christ, in the church, and hence declining passion for the sacraments, for prayer, and for living a life of moral purpose.
Hence what Benedict offers are usually the spiritual and pastoral basics, almost as if he wants to peel the modern situation back to the beginning of the divorce between faith and culture in the Enlightenment, and start again. Benedict is in that sense a man of the fundamentals, sort of the Vince Lombardi of the papacy - "four yards and a cloud of dust" rather than a lot of razzle-dazzle and trick plays.
In his remarks in Wadowice today, for example, the hometown of John Paul II, Benedict focused on the late pope's fidelity to his baptismal promises.
"Here is the profound awareness of divine grace, the unconditional love of God for man, that by means of water and the Holy Spirit places the catechumen among the multitude of his children, who are redeemed by the Blood of Christ," he said. "The way of the authentically Christian life equals faithfulness to the promises of holy baptism."
| More Trip Coverage | John Allen's preview of the papal trip: Benedict's concerns for Poland trip:.
May 25, The trip is launched: Benedict sets about reawakening Europe's Christian roots.
May 26, A social survey of Poland: Poles are staunchly Catholic but also independent.
May 26, The Pope's message in Victory Square and at Czestochowa: Faith is a gift but also a task.
May 26, Subtext to the pope's visit: Some interesting nuggets.
May 27, A great trip for pilgrims: Benedict offers spiritual and pastoral basics.
May 27, Exploring John Paul's roots: Benedict's visit to the Divine Mercy Sanctuary.
May 27, A look at the issues: Examining the trip thus far.
May 28, The pope's take on death camps: Attempting to slay God was Auschwitz's greatest evil.
May 28, The Poles' speical vocation: Pope tells Poles 'share the treasure of your faith'.
May 28, U.S.-Polish ties: Knights of Columbus opening Polish councils. |
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Benedict also refrained from the off-the-cuff banter for which John Paul was famous, especially in places such as Wadowice. Rather than egging on the crowds, Benedict's style is to allow cheers and chants to proceed for a few seconds at most, and then quickly initiate a prayer. (Yesterday at Czestochowa, at one point he actually put his finger to his lips asking for quiet).
Similarly, in his visit to Lagiewniki, where John Paul II in 2002 dedicated a new sanctuary to Divine Mercy inspired by St. Faustina Kowalska, Benedict XVI spoke of human suffering and the mystery of the Cross, not today's headlines.
"You who say in silence, 'Jesus, I trust in you,' teach us that there is no faith more profound, no hope more alive and no love more ardent than the faith, hope and love of a person who in the midst of suffering places himself securely in God's hands," he said, invoking the motto of the Divine Mercy devotion.
Benedict's passion for the basics was most evident in his session with young people at Krakow's Blonie Park on Saturday night, where he repeatedly returned to Jesus' words in the gospel about building one's house on solid rock as opposed to sand.
"Building on Christ means basing all your desires, aspirations, dreams, and plans on his will," the pope said.
Benedict warned the young people that making such a choice will often mean being rejected by the world.
"One does not need great mental acuity to be aware of the many ways of rejecting Christ, even on our own doorstep," he said. "Often, Jesus is ignored, he is mocked and he is declared a king of the past who is not for today and certainly not for tomorrow."
In this context, Benedict indirectly urged the youth to be people not merely of private faith, but to be willing to "go public."
"[Christ] is relegated to a storeroom of questions and persons one dare not mention publicly in a loud voice," he said. He warned them that "a strong faith must endure tests."
"Maybe it is easier to base one's life on the shifting sands of one's own worldview," he said, "building a future far from the word of Jesus and sometimes even opposed to it." Yet, Benedict warned, such a way of life will not survive the storms that will sooner or later crash against the house.
Finally, Benedict told the Polish youth that choosing Christ also means choosing the church.
"Do not be fooled by those who want to play Christ against the church," he said.
For thousands of young Poles struggling with questions about the meaning of life, Benedict's words were undoubtedly inspirational.
Many journalists, on the other hand, were grateful that Navarro-Valls handed them a story they could sell their editors.
[John L. Allen Jr. is NCR Rome correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org.]
May 27, 2006, National Catholic Reporter | 
