With Benedict we had a Pope who knew what needed to be done, but lacked the will to overcome the opposition, and who, perhaps, allowed himself to be bullied into a disastrous recommendation. An example of how intellect without courage is a blind alley.
PopeWatch: Most Disappointing Pope?
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Benedict is indeed a puzzling figure. I think your assessment is a good one.
Dear Friends- I hope Donald you don’t mind me posting this as I consider TAC as like my second family. And if you do then please remove my comment. I will completely understand.
My daughter and my family need prayers.
Can I ask everyone’s prayers for my 16 year old daughter who missed out on a deserved leadership position at school today. I know most parents say that their child deserved it but I wouldn’t be writing here if I thought the decision was not unjust.
My daughter is questioning every ounce of faith in right and wrong at the moment. She is completely gutted to say the least.
I had to pick her up from school in tears. Then only to have the school principal call me and ask me to come back so she can speak to my daughter. I felt her response was damage control. And I felt helpless.
Just as a background- my husband and I work our hearts out with no support to afford to send our kids to a school which teaches the Faith. Most days we are frazzled and exhausted (TAC is one of my only sense of community- don’t ask me why I can’t explain it- I just feel heard). The school is an independent Opus Dei school and I am really questioning my decision and have felt so naive after 11 years thinking we were doing the right thing by encouraging our daughter to give her all in service to her school. We are not Opus Dei and I went to this school. We feel she has been wrongly done by as has our family. And this after countless novenas and prayers and mass intentions that Gods will be done only to have her end up at this point in her senior schooling is devastating. And it’s devastating to see her like this.
I know many here are suffering from far greater things than a daughter missing out on leadership. But I would not be asking for prayers if my daughter was not in desperate need of them at this moment.
Thank you Don and all my friends and God Bless you and your loved ones infinitely.
Prayers on the way Ezabelle!
Thank you Donald. I appreciate this.
Mine are on the way. Guardian angels are the best. Hang in there. They are God’s Speed.
Thanks Philip.
A couple of months ago, I had a dream of Pope Benedict. He was seated on a throne and I was weeping at his feet and knee. He was wearing the robe of a monarch over his white cassock. Even with the white fur and ermine. It was torn and dirty. While I was weeping, he seemed like a person in a trance looking straight ahead over a terrible scene ( I don’t remember what it was).
Ezabelle -you strike me as someone who trust churchmen far too much.
Ezabelle – I spent a while as a seminarian.You would not believe how corrupt and dishonest things are on the inside. I strongly recommend you get away from Opus Dei – schools exist for 2 deceptive reasons: 1) so you and your family will be life-long donors and, 2) to turn your daughter into a voluntary worker. This would be a
very big mistake. Just get your daughter away from church structures and get an ordinary life and get married.
With Pope Benedict, there seemed to be two different character “qualities” at work: a certain despairing sense of resignation and an understanding of the Faith injured by some Modernist ideas.
He could stand up to evil men–he dismissed one bishop guilty of the unthinkable; disciplined Marcel Maciel. He was courageous to the extent that he went ahead with Summorum Pontificum and the Anglican Ordinariate.
And yet, we’re told that he once pointed to the door of the audience chamber at Castel Gandolfo and said (in so many words): “That’s where my authority ends.” I hope it’s not true, but it certainly rings true.
He wanted changes at Vatican II–he retreated from some of those positions, but he was never completely cured of his Modernist education and milieu. It was like a low-energy infection in an otherwise healthy body. More’s the pity!
Nevertheless, he was a veritable Innocent III compared to the present Pontiff.
Thanks Tom- you aren’t wrong. Just asking for prayers. Thank you
Ezabelle,
As I read through your posting, …I couldn’t help but think, “Oh brother, been there, done that”. I don’t know your family or school, yet it strikes me as typical.
Between school, Scouts, time in the Air Force, managing a business, or volunteering in my parish (K of C, in particular), I have heard tons about the need for leadership, the need for leaders. We spend lots of time and energy on leader development, gaining subject-matter knowledge and experience. We may possess ample training, education, experience, or vision. We may think we’d be fabulous for a role.
We too often run face on into….politics.
Hmmpphhh!! I recall when the Church used to profess being “pastoral, not political”. I believe that was 25-30 years ago. Things change, yet never change.
sigh And from having been a Scout, military officer, or manager, …I understand why. …Sort of…. I don’t like it much, yet there it is.
Always remember that…however divinely inspired, the Church too consists of humans. And…human organizations are human organizations. Whatever makes us qualified, someone else must answer a few nasty questions:
Do I believe this person will truly best suit this role right now?
…Would a different person most truthfully be better for some fool reason?
Suffice to say, that last can sting. Deeply.
I have come to consider how sometimes a decision to choose someone else can be God’s way of telling me, “Hey, bucko, that’s not quite the direction I need for you to go right now”. For whatever reason, …people simply aren’t prepared to follow the direction I wish to head. Or,
…and this can really sting…
the goals this organization seeks right now do not adequately suit YOUR needs.
Yes, the latter mostly merely restates the former, yet has been more helpful.
It’s a strange thing: Sometimes when I most consider a direction to be needed, ..the most accurate need is for me to back off and let the herd run.
Sometimes I’m being called more to prayer and different service than to action.
Thanks John.
Would a different person most truthfully be better for some fool reason? yes very true.
It’s like the theme of this post about Pope Benedict – a man with intellect but…the organisation needed a useful tool who wasn’t sharp enough to do a good job. The Church has felt “off” since. The devil loves confusion. We haven’t felt at peace as Faithful people in the Church since Pope Benedict stood down. We are still trying to make sense of it. Confusion. I pray we have Peace and Gods Justice is served in His own time and His own way.
I appreciate your wise and experienced words.
Ezabelle,
I have been praying for your daughter, you and your husband. We are not Opus Dei but we transferred our two sons from a parish school (Pro Life was Save the Baby Whales and Save the Earth was buying a square of Amazon rain forest. The plain clothes nun was nuts) to a highly recommended all male Opus Dei school 30 miles away in another state. The 8 grader lasted 6 weeks; he hated it. The younger son stayed for 6, 7, 8 grades. He was not a discipline problem; happy with friends and involved in their sports. I was not happy with some of the instructors because they didn’t know how to teach but was not vocal about it. Toward the end of grade 8 we told them in person that our son would not be attending their high school. That’s when it became miserable for our son. They tried to persuade him to persuade us, his parents, to stay for 9th grade. (The Catholic diocesan H. S. was 3 blocks from our home in VA, 1/2 the tuition. No more communting and balancing schedules with the two boys). They turned on our son and told him he wasn’t worthy of attending their elite H.S. They refused to send his record and a reference to the VA highs chool. After several phone calls, my husband went in to the front office and told them they would send the records and the reference would be positive. The hour before the VA h.s. started the school year both items were faxxed. Later we were told by a parent that it was because we weren’t Opus Dei. That parent wasn’t either but she was a PT and was able to obtain gyn workout gear at a huge discount.
Good luck, Ezabelle.
Thanks Cam.