America is pleased to announce our formal partnership with Mirada Global, a multilingual Web site that brings together articles from Jesuit publications in North and South America. With the publication of each issue of America we will link to one article from Mirada Global.
Here is our latest offering, an examination of the “uncomfortable message” of Pope Benedict XVI:
It looks like one of the destinies that Benedict XVI, the theologian turned Pope at the age of 78, is similar to that of his predecessor Paul VI, who appointed him Archbishop of Munich, creating him cardinal in 1977- is that of being criticized by right and left alike even by those who profess themselves “Ratzingerians” and should therefore help him spread his message.
When he was elected Pope seven years ago, the media cliché that hung over Joseph Ratzinger —who had been Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for over twenty years— was that he was a conservative “panzerkardinal”, a rigid custodian of Orthodoxy who had allegedly “hindered” John Paul II’s push for innovation, hung over him, while in fact, remained and extremely loyal and compliant collaborator.
The imminent reconciliation with Lefebvrian traditionalists, preceded by the decision to liberalize the old Mass, cost Benedict XVI widespread dissent, even among some bishops: the Pope had intended favoring the possibility that the old pre-conciliar rite and the new post-conciliar rite could mutually enrich one another, by helping recuperate the sense of sacredness and the encounter with divine mystery in the Old Mass —at times too readjusted by slovenliness and by liturgic abuses— and the wealth of the Holy Scriptures introduced into the New Mass, into the post-conciliar mass. The attempt has only been partially successful because of certain reactions that didn’t always understand the Pope’s will but also because of the development of certain forms of aestheticism that bear no relevance to the essential elements of the liturgy.
But Benedict XVI has also been accused by those who expected him to be tough and implement “doctrinal rectifications”. He was also expected to reaffirm Europe’s Christian identity against Islam. While the left believe him to be stuck in the past and unable to read the signs of the times, the right considers him as too weak.
Also available in Spanish.
Other recent articles from Mirada Global:
The political relationship between Argentina and Chile:
Colombia, The Future of FARC
Pierre Emonet, S.J., on “The Jesuit Style”:
Nicaragua, A Letter to the Left
The case against the privatization of water supplies:
Peru, Christianity and Andean culture
Cuba, Between Deterioration and Hope
Brazil, Is it time for another ecumenical council?
Guatemala, An apology for torture:
Argentina, A tribute to the late writer Ernesto Sabato
President Obama in Latin America
Peru, Runoff for president
France, Banning the burka
Panama, Open mining ‘hell’
Chile, Overcoming the Crises in the Church
An appreciation of two Latin American poets
A look at rising food prices
Haiti, We should stop folling around in Haiti
Brazil, The floods of Rio de Janeiro
Brazil, For Brazil to Succeed
Argentina: A Country with Millions of “Superfluous” People?
Chile: Latin America According to WikiLeaks
Nicaragua: A Biological Cup D’etat
Like America, Mirada Global is for the general reader, not academics, and covers a variety of subjects, from religion and politics to culture and ecology. Criterio (Argentina), Mensaje (Chile) and Accion (Paraguay) are among the magazines that contribute content. (See the full list here.) Mirada Global is edited by Antonio Delfau, S.J., and features content in English, Spanish and Portugese. You can subscribe to their weekly email newsletter here.
This article appears in August 2 2010.
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