Liberals change attitude towards Benedict XVI

Only seven months after his election to the See of Peter, Benedict XVI seems to be gaining the respect and trust of those who must have been shocked by the news of his accession last April 19. It will be recalled that even here, in this "conservative" country, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger's election was described by an admittedly controversial religious as a "bad joke". Now theologians of world stature are openly admitting that Benedict XVI is not the man they had feared he would be.

Leonardo Boff, the Brazilian liberation theologian and former Franciscan priest, has admitted that Benedict XVI "has begun his papacy with a strong defence of the values of the Second Vatican Council and seemed determined to reverse the centralisation of authority under John Paul II." He also spoke well of the Pope's positive attitude to inter-religious dialogue. Boff said that he was looking forward to Pope Benedict's first encyclical, which is expected to be published on the feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8).

It will be recalled that Boff, the champion of liberation theology, had clashed openly with Cardinal Ratziner, his former tutor, who used to describe liberation theology as "a particular form of heresy that did not play by the rules". In 1984 the then Fr Boff was summoned to Rome following the publication of his work, Church, Charism and Power: Essays in Militant Ecclesiology. In 1985 he was silenced for a year, and when he was silenced again in 1991 by Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Boff decided to leave the priesthood.

Another no less prominent theologian who often crossed swords with Cardinal Ratzinger and who was himself also silenced (in 1979) Hans Küng recently had a private meeting with the Pope. Although, according to reports, they did not discuss moral or doctrinal issues, Küng, who had once accused Ratzinger of running the Congregation like a branch of the KGB (the dreaded Soviet secret police), has described his recent meeting with the Pope as "friendly". He also had words of praise for the Pope's efforts to promote dialogue among religions.

Commenting on these developments, the Catholic Herald (November 11) wrote that "we have what appears to be a shift in liberal Catholic theology". But it then adds: "Will it last? Those with long enough memories will recall that the election of John Paul II was greeted with enthusiasm in liberal quarters. John Paul was after all, a champion of the workers and a fierce defender of human rights... It took several years before liberals realised that, while the Pope shared some of their social concerns, he had no time for their ecclesiastical agenda... Before his (Ratzinger's) election he was seen as an arch-conservative; now he is portrayed as more tolerant and open minded than his predecessor."

The editorial adds: "No doubt there is an element of wishful thinking in the liberal interpretation of Pope Benedict... But no one is suggesting that Josef Ratzinger has become a liberal since his election. What they are saying, rather, is that... Benedict XVI is also their Pope. We pray that he remains so."