Benedict XVI - His Own Man

Pope John Paul II, soon to be Saint and mystic was a spiritual icon and pillar in these late post-Vatican II days. The shadow he cast on the Church is certainly a large one. His successor to the Throne of St. Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, however, is fashioning a very interesting papacy in his own right. Benedict, as Cardinal Ratzinger has always been his own man and as Holy Father is not caught up at all in the shadow of his predecessor.

Beginning with his Motu Proprio, Sacrosanctum Consilium in July of 2007, Benedict has tried to move the Church away from the failed reforms of Vatican II. By restoring the Tridentine Rite Mass to it’s rightful place in the Church’ liturgical life, Benedict is signaling once again that the Church’s liturgical development is organic. This is a beak, albeit unofficial with the artificial constructs of Vatican II, when the reform of the Mass was mandated by a Committee, rather than bearing the fruits of natural growth and development. Other changes are coming to the present Mass, including the dialogue parts of the Mass, that will reflect more faithfully the translations of the Original Latin

. On the ecumenical front, Benedict has reached out to the disaffected Pius X Society and most recently opened his arms to Anglicans, struggling with conflicts within their own faith.

Yes, he is his own man. Pope Benedict shows us that the Church is eternal. It is about continuity, not breaking with the past but incorporating the past into who and what we are today.