Pope Emeritus Benedict

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I have been very interested in the discussions on Pope Francis. I love this man and under his Petrine Ministry I believe that the development of Aboriginal Theology is a real “do-able”.

What I wanted to say in this thread is that I think Benedict’s work in focusing our church on both the deposit of faith and living the faith in a post-consular church (Vatican II) world has done much to anchor us between the charismatic Popes JP II and Francis BUT it seems to be under-estimated simply cause Benedict XVI was not a charismatic leader in the sense that the pope before and after him were…yet he has done much that upon reflection we will begin to understand as time unfolds.

It seems to me that Pope John Paul II was a mover and a shaker leading the church forward with his “be not afraid” motto…and then we had a rest, a time of internal reflection and clarification under Pope Benedict and I think we are anchored again and so the Holy Spirit is now asking us to focus on the direction he is guiding Francis towards; a church reclaiming inclusivity, a church working to be more flexible and one that balances the letter and spirit of the laws and so forth…

Thoughts?

Bruce Ferguson
Trickster (indigenous symbol for conversion/transformation)
 
I think that you nailed it. 👍

Unless if by inclusivity you mean acceptance of the gay “lifestyle” and abortion, then I think that you have misread the Holy Father completely. 😉
 
trickster said:
Thoughts?
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We have more important things to worry about than all of that, like what God has placed in front of us right now, here, today, this moment.

Things like getting up on time, being nice to the people we work with, working hard at our job, washing the dishes after dinner as if Christ were to eat off them next, studying scripture, praying, not looking around at the pretty girls at Mass…

That’s my thought.

-Tim-
 
Pope Benedict was the necessary rationalization of the post-conciliar age and, dare I say, one of the greatest Catholic thinkers of the era. However, I’ll simply say history has a tendency of forgetting individuals like Benedict; any memory of him will be negative since he’s already associated with the sex scandals under JPII and I’m sure any shortcomings of Francis will be attributed to him in retrospect in history.

That’s life 🤷, luckily we don’t live life for other humans’ approval.
 
I agree a lot with the OP and I don’t think he will be forgotten because of the humility shown in his resignation. The resignation will intrigue historians enough to look carefully at his papacy. His reputation as a theologian will also not be forgotten.
 
I think it would be really cool if Francis and Benedict said a address together.
 
trickster said:
I have been very interested in the discussions on Pope Francis. I love this man and under his Petrine Ministry** I believe that the development of Aboriginal Theology is a real “do-able”.**

What I wanted to say in this thread is that I think Benedict’s work in focusing our church on both the deposit of faith and living the faith in a post-consular church (Vatican II) world has done much to anchor us between the charismatic Popes JP II and Francis BUT it seems to be under-estimated simply cause Benedict XVI was not a charismatic leader in the sense that the pope before and after him were…yet he has done much that upon reflection we will begin to understand as time unfolds.

It seems to me that Pope John Paul II was a mover and a shaker leading the church forward with his “be not afraid” motto…and then we had a rest, a time of internal reflection and clarification under Pope Benedict and I think we are anchored again and so the Holy Spirit is now asking us to focus on the direction he is guiding Francis towards; a church reclaiming inclusivity, a church working to be more flexible and one that balances the letter and spirit of the laws and so forth…

Thoughts?

Bruce Ferguson
Trickster (indigenous symbol for conversion/transformation)
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I somehow doubt that the development of “Aboriginal Theology”, whatever that might be, will be much of a priority or even of interest to the Holy Father or to most theologians…
 
Mike30 said:
I somehow doubt that the development of “Aboriginal Theology”, whatever that might be, will be much of a priority or even of interest to the Holy Father or to most theologians…
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I agree. Completely.
Pope Francis’ focus is clearly the poor and other Franciscan emphasis’ such as humility.

He is not a theologian as we tend to think of them. He interests lie in serving others, not development of theology
 
MorEphrem said:
Pope Benedict was the necessary rationalization of the post-conciliar age and, dare I say, one of the greatest Catholic thinkers of the era. However, I’ll simply say history has a tendency of forgetting individuals like Benedict
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Yes, unfortunately I have to agree. Benedict XVI will most likely go down in history as one of the “forgotten” Popes, along with Pius XI and Benedict XV. An interesting tidbit is that all three of those named were more scholarly than the norm. I guess scholarship and intelligence don’t play well to the masses, not to mention the press. 🤷
 
Luigi_Daniele said:
I think that you nailed it. 👍

Unless if by inclusivity you mean acceptance of the gay “lifestyle” and abortion, then I think that you have misread the Holy Father completely. 😉
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Hey Luigi (I love that name 🙂

I am not sure where you read “gay lifestyle” into my thoughts? Certainly rethinking strategic approaches to try sharing the church’s message about the core value of life’s dignity to a new audience is a valid discussion, but I don’t think too many catholics translate that into changing what the church has stood for since the time Jesus himself.

So, where would you suggest I misread the Holy Father?

Bruce
Trickster
 
TimothyH said:
We have more important things to worry about than all of that, like what God has placed in front of us right now, here, today, this moment.

Things like getting up on time, being nice to the people we work with, working hard at our job, washing the dishes after dinner as if Christ were to eat off them next, studying scripture, praying, not looking around at the pretty girls at Mass…

That’s my thought.

-Tim-
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Those are beautiful thoughts TimothyH and rather Catholic…good on you 🙂

Bruce
Trickster
 
MorEphrem said:
Pope Benedict was the necessary rationalization of the post-conciliar age and, dare I say, one of the greatest Catholic thinkers of the era. However, I’ll simply say history has a tendency of forgetting individuals like Benedict; any memory of him will be negative since he’s already associated with the sex scandals under JPII and I’m sure any shortcomings of Francis will be attributed to him in retrospect in history.

That’s life 🤷, luckily we don’t live life for other humans’ approval.
Click to expand...
MorEphrem…I agree with you partly…cause I am not sure the sex scandals will stick to Benedict over the long period. These scandals have existed before and after Benedict…they began to emerge in the last days of JP II who was too sick a the time to deal with them…

I also thought that I have never thought about why the Holy Spirit brought JP I on the scene and let him be Holy Father for only one month…that is something I need to do some reflection on… he was a man of loving words and reminds me greatly of Francis…any thoughts on that?

Bruce
Trickster
 
AndyP2010 said:
I agree a lot with the OP and I don’t think he will be forgotten because of the humility shown in his resignation. The resignation will intrigue historians enough to look carefully at his papacy. His reputation as a theologian will also not be forgotten.
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Thank you Andy…and I think all of us appreciate the work and thought Benedict put into his writing; hope he continues to write…I agree with your thinking on this.

Bruce
Trickster
 
adawgj said:
I think it would be really cool if Francis and Benedict said a address together.
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Wouldn’t it though… I also hope that Benedict writes a few more books before he goes home…

Bruce
Trickster
 
Elizium23 said:
They did write an encyclical together, does that suffice for you?
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elizium23, correct me if I am wrong Elizium…I don’t think Benedict and Francis wrote it together, my understanding is that Benedict wrote most of it while he was in the Petrine Ministry Office (being the pope and all), Francis simply edited it to reflect what the Spirit was messaging through our new pope and sign off on it.

I think that Benedict’s great theological knowledge would do great service to create a theological foundation (in addition to church teaching, tradition and all that stuff) for the teaching of Francis…Benedict has a lot to offer still…

Who knows eh…

bruce
Trickster
 
Mike30 said:
I somehow doubt that the development of “Aboriginal Theology”, whatever that might be, will be much of a priority or even of interest to the Holy Father or to most theologians…
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Well Mike30, one never knows where the Holy Spirit will lead the Holy Father, does one? Just to add to my “gut feelings” on this… recently the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops held their annual meeting and explored how they could localize Francis’ call to re-engage with the marginalized in Canada.

One of the top priorities of the Canadian bishops and the Canadian Church is to reconnect and recommit to working with our people…so that - Mike30 - is kind of hopeful and yeah… I think it might even be do-able…

One must not take a pessimistic view…but I appreciate your sense of “probability”…and while I don’t see Francis taking a lead on this, there is nothing in the man’s belief system that would oppose the development of an aboriginal theology that links aboriginal spirituality with the fullness of the Church, much as JP II encouraged us in Ft. Simpson to explore…

Take care Mike30

Bruce
Trickster
 
Marie5890 said:
I agree. Completely.
Pope Francis’ focus is clearly the poor and other Franciscan emphasis’ such as humility.

He is not a theologian as we tend to think of them. He interests lie in serving others, not development of theology
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Hi Marie… I hope you see my response to Mike30; there are indications that the pope may be open to the development of new theology. On his interview on the plane back from Brazil as an example, he was asked about the role of women in the church and I have to look up the exact words, but he indicated something to the effect “there needs to be more theology on this” (being the role of women…he dismissed the ordination of women as something the church has already spoken on).

Further, he is an American (from Argentina) and there is a significant indigenous population; in fact most Latin Americans have indigenous blood, so again, I think that the notion of aboriginal theology is not out of line with how our church works…and it is quite consistent with what you characterize as Franciscan values…etc.

take care Marie
Bruce
trickster
 
trickster said:
Well Mike30, one never knows where the Holy Spirit will lead the Holy Father, does one? Just to add to my “gut feelings” on this… recently the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops held their annual meeting and explored how they could localize Francis’ call to re-engage with the marginalized in Canada.

One of the top priorities of the Canadian bishops and the Canadian Church is to reconnect and recommit to working with our people…so that - Mike30 - is kind of hopeful and yeah… I think it might even be do-able…

One must not take a pessimistic view…but I appreciate your sense of “probability”…and while I don’t see Francis taking a lead on this, there is nothing in the man’s belief system that would oppose the development of an aboriginal theology that links aboriginal spirituality with the fullness of the Church, much as JP II encouraged us in Ft. Simpson to explore…

Take care Mike30

Bruce
Trickster
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I still don’t think it will ever be explored. Maybe I’m wrong, wouldn’t be the first time, but the whole idea just sounds somewhat pantheistic and New Age to me.

Sorry to say that, because I know you have been backing this idea for a long, long time.

Even though the indigenous population in Argentina is considerably higher in Argentina than in the United States and Canada combined, the Holy Father never made a move in that direction at all at any point during his time there.

I just don’t see it happening.🤷.
 
Hi Trickster!

My goodness, are you still pushing for aboriginal Catholicism of some sort or another? 🙂
 
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