Papal plea for reconciliation
The new pope may not be as divisive as he was as a cardinal

April 20, 2005
iranian.com

PARIS -- As a puritan takes control of the church, it may be actually beginning of a new journey of Cardinal Ratzinger 'Dominus Iesus' fame to Pope Benedict XV 'Pacem Dei munus.'

I was wondering why Cardinal Ratzinger of Germany elected Pope Benedict XVI as his Papal name, it was expected that the next Papa would be John Paul III. After the great term of John Paul II it would have required a lot of guts from a man who lived under his shadow as chief enforcer of puritanical doctrine. Ratzinger has a long record of controversial remarks on Islam, Buddhism, politics, and social issues such as homosexuality.

As a cardinal he has rooted out what he believed is heretical thinking in the books of Catholic theologians and suspended their license to teach in Catholic universities. Joseph Ratzinger, 78, Dean of the College of Cardinals, led the Pope's funeral. He was raised in Bavaria under the shadow of the Nazis and most expect that he will wage a battle against the liberal forces of reform.

The British nun Lavinia Byrne left her religious order after refusing orders from the CDF to pulp her book which discussed the issue of female priests. A church source said yesterday: "Cardinal Ratzinger doesn't want a pope as right wing as Pope John Paul II. He wants a Pope more right wing than Pope John Paul II. There were a lot of things which the Pope chose to do against the wishes of Cardinal Ratzinger."

In 1986 the Pope John Paul II gathered together representatives of all faiths including a North American Indian shaman for a meeting in the Italian town of Assisi. Ratzinger was bitterly opposed to the conference on the grounds that it could promote "relativism" - the philosophy that all religious beliefs are of equal value. In 2000, as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith (CDF) - the successor to the Inquisition - Ratzinger angered ecumenists and leaders of different faiths when he published a church statement, 'Dominus Iesus', in which it was stated that only the Catholic Church was a genuine church.

What a hard-line Cardinal, but what a u-turn, within minutes of the selection as a Pope, he chooses his name as Pope Benedict XVI, who wrote an encyclical pleading for international reconciliation, Pacem Dei munus and as a Cardinal Chiesa's in association with Rampolla, was the architect of Leo XIII's relatively liberal foreign.

Ensconced in his Papal name is message of u-turn on Puritanism, an olive branch for liberals and peace for the conservative factions of the church, and greater message of reconciliation to the world at large. The new Pope may not be as divisive as he was as a Cardinal.

Artificial contraception has been a bane of the church for hundred of years but AIDS related cases need some definite revivalism. Condoms for AIDS patients may be acceptable in his new papacy. I will not be surprised as I am writing this that new Pope will be a lot different and he will try to stamp his authority on doctrinal matters very early on in his papacy, he is an old man and he will like to leave a legacy.

Papal names reflect 'Papal theological and doctrinal tendencies' that are expected to emerge, by that standard going by Pope Benedict XV name, Cardinal Ratzinger after 20 years of doctrinal work and as "the enforcer of the faith" may be willing to make a new u-turn that of a peace maker, Pope Benedict XVI is a choice name clearly indicating cutting from the shadow of Johan Paul III and will to surface as a fresh individual , today I thought it would be appropriate to revisit his predecessor's life that of Pope Benedict XV; Pope Benedict XV, born Giacomo della Chiesa, (November 21, 1854 -- January 22, 1922) was Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 1914 to 1922; he succeeded Pope Saint Pius X.

Chiesa was born in Genoa, Italy, of a noble family. He acquired a doctorate of law in 1875, after which he studied for the priesthood and then the training school for the Vatican diplomatic service; most of his career was spent in the service of the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XV (Reign: 1914-1922) Mariano Cardinal Rampolla was a friend and patron, employing him as a secretary on being posted to Madrid and subsequently upon being appointed Secretary of State. During these years Chiesa helped negotiate the resolution of a dispute between Germany and Spain over the Caroline Islands as well as organising relief during a cholera epidemic. When Rampolla left his post with the election of Pius X, and was succeeded by Merry Cardinal del Val, Chiesa was retained in his post.

But Chiesa's association with Rampolla, the architect of Leo XIII's relatively liberal foreign policy and Pius X's rival in the conclave of 1903, the new ultra-conservative regime suspicious of him. He was soon moved out of the diplomatic service and the centre of Church power in Rome, on 16 December 1907 becoming Archbishop of Bologna.

On 25 May 1914 Chiesa was appointed a cardinal and, in this capacity, on the outbreak of World War I -- with the papacy vacant upon Pius X's death on 20 August -- he made a speech on the Church's position and duties, emphasising the need for neutrality and promoting peace and the easing of suffering. The conclave opened at the end of August, and, on 3 September 1914, Chiesa was elected Pope, taking the name of Benedict XV.

His pontificate was dominated by the war and its turbulent aftermath. He organised significant humanitarian efforts (establishing a Vatican bureau, for instance, to help prisoners of war from all nations contact their families) and made many unsuccessful attempts to negotiate peace.

The best known was the Papal Peace proposal of 1917, but both sides saw him as biased in favour of the other and were unwilling to accept the terms he proposed. This resentment resulted in the exclusion of the Vatican from the negotiations that brought about the war's end; despite this, he wrote an encyclical pleading for international reconciliation, Pacem Dei munus. In the post-war period Benedict was involved in developing the Church administration to deal with the new international system that had emerged.

In internal Church affairs, Benedict calmed the excesses of the campaign against supposedly modernist scholars within the Church that had characterised the reign of St. Pius X. He also promulgated a new Code of Canon Law in 1917 and attempted to improve relations with the anticlerical Republican government of France by canonising the French national heroine Joan of Arc. In the mission territories of the Third World, he emphasised the necessity of training native priests to replace the European missionaries as soon as possible.

In his private spiritual life, Benedict was devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and of all the modern Popes was the most fervent in propagating the wearing of the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, endorsing the claim that wearing it piously brings "the singular privilege of protection after death" from eternal damnation, and giving an indulgence for every time it was kissed.

Benedict XV died of pneumonia at the age of 67 in 1922. Although one of the less remembered Popes of the twentieth century, he deserves commendation for his humane approach in the world of 1914-1918, which starkly contrasts with that of the other great monarchs and leaders of the time.