Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Anchoress

Home
Catholic
Loving Benedict & other Catholic things

Loving Benedict & other Catholic things

Last updated on: March 16, 2017 at 11:27 pm by Elizabeth Scalia

Loving Benedict & other Catholic things 2017-03-16T23:27:45+00:00 Elizabeth Scalia

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Benedict XVI, speaking sweetly and gently, on his upcoming trip to America

As I am mostly sleeping due to my most recent attack of “killer anemia” – which had been well-controlled for a good while – a friend popped to deliver a package of toffee, some of the incredible toffee I’ve written about here. The package was a free sample from the folks at the Toffeehouse who graciously (and classily) thanked me with a whole pound of what they call “the dangerous stuff” – and it really is dangerously delicious and easy to pig out on – little bites of heaven!

As we munched we talked about the upcoming visit of Benedict XVI to DC and NYC. Neither of us got tickets in the lottery, so we won’t be seeing him. I have a contact at Catholic University of America who is going to look through the tsotches for sale and buy me a “pope in a soap on a rope” if he finds it (meant for a gift – I could never shower with the Holy Father!) and my friend mentioned that she’d only recently come to liking Benedict. “I believed the media at first,” she said, “I thought he’d be a disaster. But I’ve been reading his Jesus of Nazareth, and I love him; he’s so down-to-earth.”

I feel that way, too, about Benedict. As I’ve written before:

[Benedict] is warm, pastoral, approachable, quite paternal, and as easy to glean as a dear old uncle sharing fellowship over a cup of tea.

John Paul was a mighty pipe organ, dramatic, transcendent, soul-rattling – almost overwhelming. He brought you to your knees, before God in hushed awe. Benedict is a piano being played by a musician who plays for love of the music, and he draws you into his sphere, to sing along in praise.

Oriana Fallaci – self proclaimed “Christian Atheist” said she came to love then-Cardinal Josef Ratzinger through reading him, as related in this piece by Tunku Varadarajan:

I feel less alone when I read the books of Ratzinger.” I had asked Ms. Fallaci whether there was any contemporary leader she admired, and Pope Benedict XVI was evidently a man in whom she reposed some trust. “I am an atheist, and if an atheist and a pope think the same things, there must be something true. It’s that simple! There must be some human truth here that is beyond religion.”
[…]
The scant hopes that she has for the West she rests on [Benedict]. As a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI wrote frequently on the European (and the Western) condition. Last year, he wrote an essay titled “If Europe Hates Itself,” from which Ms. Fallaci reads this to me: “The West reveals . . . a hatred of itself, which is strange and can only be considered pathological; the West . . . no longer loves itself; in its own history, it now sees only what is deplorable and destructive, while it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure.”

“Ecco!” she says. A man after her own heart.“Ecco!” But I cannot be certain whether I see triumph in her eyes, or pain.

And now Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia brings us yet another woman who read her way into loving Benedict.

Linda Cacpal, religious education coordinator at St. Elizabeth Parish in ‘Aiea, wasn’t always a fan of Pope Benedict XVI.

I decided I needed to know more about him because I didn’t like him, as Cardinal Ratzinger,” explained the ‘Aiea woman, 55. “I was a grad student then (earning a master’s of divinity) and my view of him was very rigid. It must have been the Holy Spirit telling me, ‘You cannot go on as (religious education) coordinator and not liking the Holy Father.”
[…]
Now with two tall columns of books at her desk — many by or about Benedict — she recalled doing her first Google search of his name in July 2005.
[…]
Not long after, she was at Kahala Mall, waiting to meet a friend, a gift card from Borders burning a hole in her pocket. She walked to the store and inquired about writings by Ratzinger.

“First name?” the clerk asked, tick-tick-ticking at the keyboard.

When he heard her response, his face lit up, she said, and he responded: “Oh, Papa! Right over here.”

That started her softening stance. Then, she picked up “Milestones & History of Christianity.”

“I really started to like him,” she said. “His style of writing, his whole life, he can write poetically, positively, graciously.”
[…]
Much came through the writings that spoke to her, namely, how he tried to resign, but Pope John Paul II wouldn’t let him: “He’s a good Christian soldier. His words and actions express what he writes. He always talks about the cross being the most radical symbol of love.”

Capal is a dialysis patient who is going to treck from Hawaii to NYC to see Benedict – she could surely use prayers. You’ll want to read the whole thing.

Sissy Willis is another woman who loves Benedict, and while showing us a teddy bear I madly covet, she writes:

We stumbled onto him while googling the identification of that limited edition Hermann Spielweren Pope Benedict XVI teddy bear the other day, the one whose warmth, humanity and cuddliness reminded us the Holy Father himself.

Cuddly Benedict…whenever I see the man I want to make him a cup of hot tea and ask him what he’s been reading, lately. He is much more beloved than acid-penned Tina Brown ever anticipated.

Ten of the Dominican Nuns at Summit, NJ will be leaving the cloister to attend his Mass in NYC:

For the 6 sisters in the novitiate the opportunity to attend the Holy Father’s Mass, to be with him and show him our support, is just awesome beyond words! They never dreamed that in giving up all things to follow Christ, He truly does reward with the hundredfold!
One sister in the community said, “It’s not that we are going to SEE the Holy Father. If that were the case, we would stay home and see a lot more on television. We’re going to BE with the Holy Father, to pray with him, to show him our love and support, to unite with a part of the Mystical Body of Christ in this corner of the world, and to be a witness to the joy of consecrated life.”

He’ll be praying at Ground Zero, which is sure to offend some.

DC Metro has yanked a Bobblehead Benedict ad that I thought was pretty funny. It was yanked more for product licensing concerns than anything else, but Jules Crittenden has other thoughts.

The Washington Post – gearing up for Benedict – seems shocked to find real Catholics who actually practice their faith. The press has its share of Pauline Kael’s, doesn’t it?

Deacon Greg highlights a program that is bringing Catholics home

It’s back to bed for me.

Previous Post

April 10, 2008

"Teenage" America says "yeah, whatever."

Next Post

April 10, 2008 Best little-league game ever!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category "Remaking" Ourselves 'Remaking' America 9/10 Mindset 9/11 trials Abortion ACORN Adoration Advent Advent 2008 Advent 2009 Advent 2010 Alternative Energy Alternative Media America American Catholic Church American Church American Genius Ameridolatry ANCHORESS BOOKSHELF Anglican-Roman Reconciliation Answers & Questions Anti_Semitism Archbishop Hilarion Ayn Rand Bad Mass Barack Obama Baseball Benedict Benedict & Islam Benedict in UK Benedict XVI Benedictine Bill Whittle Birth Control Blogs and Blogging Blogs and Blogging Bloodless Coup Bobby Jindal Bookchat Breitbart Bride at every wedding... Bride at every wedding... Buckley Bullies Bush Bad? Bush Good Buster Capitalism Catholic Fiction Catholic Vocations Catholicism Celibacy Chaput Charitable Stuff Chesterton Chile Chris Christie Christians in Exile Christine O' Donnell Christmas Christmas Gift Ideas Church Hates Science? Church hates women Communion of Saints Compline Conclave 2013 Confession Constitutional Stuff Conversion Crisis & Opportunity Critical Thinking Crooks and Liars Crucible of Faith Cuba Culture of Life Culture of Life/Death Culture of Treason? Dancing Death Dialogue re Islam Dick Meyer Divorce and Remarriage DOJ Domestic Terrorism Dominican Order Don't try me too high Dowd Dumb Democrat moves Dumb GOP moves Economic woe Education Egregious Harry Reid Elder Son Elder Son's Sweet Girlfriend Elderly Election '10 Election '12 Election '16 Election 2004 Election 2006 Election 2008 Election 2010 Election 2016 Elena Kagan Elitism Embryonic Stem Cell Research End Times? English language Enhanced Interrogation Erosion of Rights Eucharist Euthanasia Exorcism Extraordinary Synod Facebook Faith Faith and Reason Faith Friday Faith Perspective Faithful Friday Fascism Again Fascism in America Fatima FCC Feminism Film First Things Forgiveness Fr. James Martin Francis and Islam Francis in America Frassati Fred Thompson Free Speech? Freedom of Worship FutureChurch Global Pandemic GOP Congress Haiti Head Covering Health Care Here and Queer Hermits Heroes Hitchens Holy Spirit Holy Week '09 Holy Week '10 Hoo-Hah & BS Hoo-Hah & BS Icons Illegal Immigration In The Arena Interviews Interwebz Iran Uprising Iraqi Christians ISIL ISIS Islamic State Islamification/Islamofascism Islamification/Islamofascism Isra-El It's all about me! Me! ME! James Burke Jerry Lewis Jesus Christ Joblessness John Boehner John McCain John Paul II John XXIII Juan Williams Just Words Katrina/Rita King is a Fink Latin Mass Leadership Lectio Divina Lent Lent '08 Lent '09 Lent 2010 Lent 2011 Limbaugh Listen to Lizzie Litigious Society Liturgy Liturgy of the Hours Mainstream Media Manliness Marriage Mary Media Excess Medical Merton Michelle Obama Mighty John O' Connor Misc. Miss Ella Missionaries Mitt Romney Monasticism My brother S My Irish Aunties Mystic Monks Nanny Statism Nature NEA Neri New Media Newman Noonan Notre Dame NPR Stuff Nun News Obama Bad? Obama Good? Obama White House Oil Spill Online Retreat '08 Online Retreat Days Oratory Orthodoxy Our Hillary! Parenting Passionists Patheos Patheos Book Club Patrons Paul Ryan Penance Penn Jillette Philosophy PJTV Podcasts Poetry Politics-free zone Pop Culture Pope Emeritus Pope Francis Prayer Predictions Priesthood Pro-Life Public Sector Unions Purgatory Questions about Catholicism Quotes of the Day Quoting the News Race in America rants Recipes Remarried Catholics Reposts by request Retreat thoughts Rome Rudy Giuliani Russia Saints Sarah Palin Scandal Scott Brown SCOTUS Scriptural stuff Secularism Send in the clowns Serving up hot links Sexuality Sherrod Shroud of Turin Sisters and Nuns Social Entrepreneurship Social Media Social Security Socialism doesn't work Sports and Faith Stem Cells Strange Gods Suffering Synod Tea Parties Tea Party Terri Schiavo The 9/11 Commission The Catholic Answer The Constitution The Desert The Fourth Estate The Pelosi The Perpetual Adolescents The Rosary Third Party? Timothy Dolan Touch of evil TSA Tsunami TV/Pop Culture/Music TV/Pop Culture/Music Twitter Uncategorized Unemployment Unintended Consequences US Military Vaginal Musings Vatican Vespers video faves Vile Joe Biden Voter Fraud War by Litigation War on Terror War, What it good for? Why can't weeee be ... World Youth Days Year of Faith Year of the Priest

Select a Month August 2016 July 2016 April 2016 March 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 August 2004

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Judas Thomas Peter John