Shepherding the Universal Church

"Benedict is quietly making his mark" says the International Herald Tribune

Take a closer look:

The first seven months of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate had been so quiet, lacking a single defining act, that a thought began to nag: Was it possible that Benedict, 78, so contentious as a cardinal and so full of ideas, would turn out a mere caretaker pope?

He seemed to raise the possibility himself.

"My personal mission is not to issue many new documents," he told a television interviewer last month. Rather, he wanted to assure that the many works of Pope John Paul II were "assimilated, because they are a rich treasure."

Then Tuesday, the first major document of his pontificate leaked out, banning most gay men from the priesthood. For many church experts, the document was an overdue sign that Benedict would, in fact, be an active pope - though perhaps quieter, more deliberative and more surprising than many expected when this very subtle man who had been called "God's Rottweiler" by his critics took office.

"The previous pope was characterized by great symbolic gestures," said Sandro Magister, one of Italy's leading Vatican analysts. "Benedict XVI is not looking for symbolic acts.

"John Paul II wrote headlines," he said. "Benedict is writing the novel."

One Roman Catholic layman with ties to the Vatican, speaking anonymously because he does not want to endanger those ties, said, "The impression is that he is not, let's say, governing too much.

"But nevertheless, changes are happening," he said.

On one level, the document on gay seminarians would appear to be a strong opening move, very much in the character of Benedict, who as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger served for two decades as John Paul's conservative defender of the faith.

It seemed to confirm expectations among liberal Catholics that the pope is aiming at doctrinal rigidity and among conservatives that doctrine would finally be observed.

But as many church experts point out, the document about gay seminarians was begun under John Paul as long as a decade ago. They also note that it was issued slightly at a distance - not from Benedict personally, but through the Vatican department in charge of Catholic education.

Many experts say Benedict's first encyclical, scheduled for release in early December, is likely to be more illuminating. The few hints that have leaked out suggest that it will not address contentious social issues like abortion or euthanasia but will be a meditation on returning Christ to the center of church and human life.

One thing seems certain about Benedict's rule:

Although he remains deeply conservative - and has strongly affirmed John Paul's positions against abortion, homosexuality and secularism - he will not be easy to pigeonhole.

A case in point was Benedict's decision to invite the Reverend Hans Küng, the liberal Swiss theologian barred by John Paul from teaching in Catholic schools, for a four-hour chat and dinner at the summer papal palace.

John Paul refused for years to meet with Küng. The meeting with so prominent a liberal dissident, whom Benedict has known for decades, seemed all the more notable given his earlier meetings with high-profile conservatives like Oriana Fallaci, the Italian writer critical of John Paul for not being tough enough against militant Islam.

"Considering the shrewdness with which this pope moves, there is no doubt that these are important signs, if not easily decipherable," the Italian newspaper La Stampa said in September.

Pope John Paul the Great worked very hard to remind the world that the Church would remain as a witness to the Truth. Pope Benedict XVI works hard to ensure that the world understand how committed a witness she remains. If people look to understand this Pope by looking through the tired paradigm of secular (read "Euro-American") politics, they will fail to comprehend him in the slightest. That's not how this Pope--or any Pope--operate. Pope Benedict XVI has described himself as a laborer in the vineyard of the Lord. His commitment to the Church is that she always place Christ at the center of her being: worship, formation, identity. Benedict offers the world Christ.

To the extent that the political implications of his message are liberal or conservative is the extent of how Christ corrects the world's secular excesses. No one's political sacred cows are safe from goring if they do not graze on the good grass of Reality. Natural law--as an expression of who God and his creation are--matters. The sanctity of all human life matters. Complementarity of the sexes matters. The inalienable dignity of all humanity matters. The just ordering of society matters. Solidarity with the poor and marginalized of all societies matter. Subsidiarity as the cornerstone of well-ordered society matters. Family, community and free association of all persons matter. When any ideology says any of them don't, it's wrong. It's origin on the political axis of our time is irrelevent.

No one will understand any pope if he views him simply as another Statesman or politician. If you truly want to understand any Pope--and especially Benedict XVI--then understand this: Popes are shepherds. Just ask the first one:

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."
16 He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."
17 He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Popes do as our Master has commanded. That's why they're called Vicars of Christ. And Christ told all of them, through his testimony to the first one, to feed and tend his lambs and sheep. In other words, shepherd them for the Good Shepherd.

How does that translate into the terms the world understands?

It means Popes take revelation seriously. They don't see it as a mere construction of human knowledge derived from past-down traditions. It doesn't mean they use it as a justification for their own worldly power. It certainly doesn't mean they cheapen it by turning it into a political platform. It means that they accept revelation for what it is: God's demonstration of his will for our lives.

It means that Popes act in order to present this revelation to all and to safeguard it from human attempts to misinterprete it into nonsense. Popes accept seriously their grave responsibility for the souls entrusted to the Church. He knows well that Christ lives among his people in the Church. He understands that he needs to nourish those people on the food Christ has given them--himself. He therefore acts in the ways that nurture and mature the Church, so that her members can more profoundly become who she already is: the Bride of Christ.

It means that Popes work to help the Church carry out her mission in the world: to bear witness to Christ and draw all to him. This means speaking out against injustice to certain parties at certain times. This also means calling her members--and authorities--to account. This means clarifying her doctrine and pastoral ministry. This means exercising the Pope's office as teacher and final authority.

This is what it means for a Pope to be a shepherd. Understand this if you want to truly understand who Pope Benedict XVI is and what he's accomplishing. Any other paradigm fails to grasp the entire picture.