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Let Benedict be Benedict

by Pia de Solenni 

It’s difficult to do communications for someone I don’t advise or even know. But over the past few weeks, I have been asked a lot of questions, on air and off, about the statements and actions made by some leaders in the Catholic Church regarding the sex abuse scandals. 

Yet amid the confusion, it seems apparent to me that Pope Benedict has taken an unprecedented lead in handling the issue. He started in 2001 even before he was pope when he was head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and he became, in essence, the Vatican point person on all sex abuse cases. In assuming this role, he was not removing the responsibility from local bishops; but rather providing for a venue or format whereby the Vatican would be aware of each case. The immediate jurisdiction was and is still the local bishop’s.

In 2005, during his homily for the College of Cardinals gathered to elect a pope after the death of John Paul II, then-Cardinal Ratzinger presented several key themes. The first was the full weight of evil and how that is countered by Christ’s love. At the time, many were struck by the fact that he would even bring up the topic of evil in such a context. To my mind, it suggests that he understood all too well the challenges facing the Church both from within and without.

He also spoke of a “dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desire.” This was first understood more in the context of intellectual matters. Nevertheless, it also speaks to the topic of evil and to the sex abuse scandals since persistent sin can also be described in the same way.

Yet, as Cardinal Ratzinger pointed out in the same homily, the remedy to both the problem of evil and the dictatorship of relativism is found in Christ, in our friendship with him and in our love for him. Not to be confused with trite sentimentalism, Ratzinger was talking about the life of every Christian: a life of going forth and bearing witness to Christ.

Make no doubt about it, this is particularly difficult given the challenges of the sex abuse scandals. But Ratzinger enunciated the Church’s vision of the priesthood: “We are priests in order to serve others. And we must bear fruit that will endure.”

Remember, this is the same man who was called the Pope’s Rottweiler, based on the assumption that his approach in matters of doctrine precluded any communication of tenderness.

But it was this man, as Pope Benedict, who in 2008 met with victims of sex abuse during his visit to the United States. In my last piece, I cited The Boston Globe’s reaction: “a dramatic move likely to alter forever the image of his pontificate.”

Despite the media’s short term memory, Benedict continued these meetings in Australia the same year, later in Rome when he met with some Canadian victims, and most recently in Malta this past weekend.

John Allen relates the reactions of two of the victims in a recent column. One said, “For a long time I haven't gone to Mass, and I had lost the faith. Now I feel like a convinced Catholic again.” Another explained that he had now made his peace with the Catholic Church.

Every priest, whether a pastor, bishop, or pope, should have as his primary concern the salvation of souls. Pope Benedict’s actions show that he is working to bear the fruit he referenced in his homily for the cardinals: “[L]ove, knowledge, a gesture capable of touching hearts, words that open the soul to joy in the Lord.”

In his coverage of the Malta visit John Allen commented that the Vatican’s approach seemed to be “let Benedict be Benedict.” I couldn’t agree more.

Pia de Solenni is a moral theologian and cultural analyst who writes from Seattle, Wash. She can be reached via Facebook and Twitter. (Her website is getting a prolonged makeover and is currently offline.) 

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(The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.)