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Faith Alive!- No. 14 STORIES Mar-31-2008 (625 words)
The extraordinary attention accorded Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict’s coat of arms includes a simple bishop’s miter instead of the traditional tiara. (CNS artwork/Catholic Press Photo) |
By Joseph F. Kelly
Catholic News Service
Popular media have focused unrelentingly on Pope Benedict XVI, parsing his every word, jumping on his every sentence -- all this to a man who personally shuns publicity and would have preferred a quiet life, retiring in his 80s to his home in Germany.
Three times during his years in the Vatican, then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger offered his resignation to Pope John Paul II, who refused to accept it.
Pope Benedict's coat of arms does not include the traditional tiara, just a simple bishop's miter. He is a true intellectual who makes his points in scholarly arguments rather than in the "sound bites" so beloved by secular media.
Why, then, the excessive attention to this unassuming man?
The reasons are legion, but here I suggest three. First, and most simply, the pope is a world leader, so there is no way the media cannot focus on him.
But so excessively?
The second reason is his predecessor. Pope John Paul II, who became pope at 58, determined to make the papacy a force in the world. He traveled indefatigably, and his many trips gathered media attention. He had a gift for the grand gesture.
For example, when Pope John Paul II announced a new saint, he would do so during a visit to the saint's homeland, a striking compliment that guaranteed local Catholics would turn out in enormous numbers.
Even during his funeral, television commentators compared Pope John Paul II's popularity with young people to that of a rock star (perhaps not the most felicitous comparison).
So for over 27 years the media have become accustomed to a pope who attracted widespread attention. Naturally the media apply the same standards to Pope Benedict, who has chosen to work quietly, to do things that do not gain publicity and sometimes even work against it.
For example, the Vatican recently announced that standards for recognizing saints and elevating sainthood candidates to "blessed" will be tightened up. As such, there could be fewer massive crowds cheering on the local favorite.
Pope Benedict continues a longstanding papal tradition of hard work and careful administration that makes a real difference but not in a way that many people would notice. Thus, to say things about Pope Benedict XVI, the media must endlessly investigate everything he says, finding "news" in the smallest items.
A third reason for the unrelenting attention is poorly veiled hostility.
Pope Benedict XVI has cited relativism as a threat not just to the church but to civilization. Relativism contends that there are no core values, nothing that is intrinsically right or wrong; rather, everything depends on how a person looks at it. Those who do take a stand are often labeled defensive or prejudiced.
The media often point out that the pope served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office, the former Inquisition, etc. This, of course, is meant to imply that the pope opposes freedom of expression and that his "oppressive tendencies" led to his "insulting" Islam.
Sadly, I suspect that much of the attention given to the pope is a search for his supposed flaws, not an appreciation of the man or his work.
Some years ago I wrote a biographical article about Pope St. Celestine I (422-432), a decidedly uncharismatic man who labored unremittingly for a decade.
He dealt with missions to areas of the Roman Empire overrun by barbarians, with North African bishops who resented papal authority and with an emperor in Constantinople who wanted to run the church. Few people have heard of him, but he was a great pope.
May God help his current quiet, efficient successor to be great in service too.
(Kelly chairs the Department of Religious Studies at John Carroll University in Cleveland.)
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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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