On June 29, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated his 70th year of priesthood. His successor, Pope Francis, wished him well. He thanked this “contemplative in the Vatican” for his “credible witness” and his “gaze, constantly directed towards the horizon of God”. Though marked in a low-key manner, this anniversary is significant and deserves greater attention.
Firstly, Benedict XVI – Joseph Ratzinger – is one of the most accomplished theologians and thinkers of the past century. Secondly, he is a historical figure whose work has the potential to challenge us out of our stupor – if and when, we allow it to. Thirdly, his priesthood roughly coincides with the most formative periods of Europe’s recent history.
Ratzinger was convinced of his call to the priesthood. As he was returning home after the war, he heard music and prayers marking the feast of the Sacred Heart. He was moved to tears: “The heavenly Jerusalem could not have appeared more beautiful to me at that moment. There was no longer any doubt about my calling. I knew where I belonged.”
In a conversation with his biographer, Peter Seewald, he admitted that he felt that God wanted something from him that “could only be attained by my becoming a priest”. This journey was tumultuous right before it started.
He first travelled to join the seminary with his brother in 1946. The train was packed with refugees, soldiers and peasants and the seminary in Freising was in the French occupation zone. Parts of the seminary were used as a military hospital. However, in the book-length interview ‘The Last Testament’, he recalls that “despite the intrusiveness – where the atmosphere of war was still somehow in the air – there was a joy that we were now together”.
The war years were difficult for the Ratzinger family. Anti-Nazi sentiment ran through the family. Though he was conscripted into the army, he eventually deserted and returned home. However, he was taken into custody by the US Army and life in the camp was difficult, with prisoners often sleeping on the bare soil with no blankets.
The Nazi dictatorship tolerated the Church since they couldn’t afford to antagonise such a powerful force, lest this damages the war effort. Nonetheless, the Church itself was harassed and “it was completely clear that, after the war, the Catholic Church was first in line to be eliminated by the Nazis”.
On the one hand, there was the mythology of the Third Reich with its emphasis on racial doctrines and, on the other hand, Catholic Christianity, which seemed “somewhat contemptible” due to its Roman and Jewish origins. He reflected on these times too: “As long as you had to fear that the Third Reich could win, it was clear that everything, all of life, would then be destroyed.”
Ratzinger’s life cannot be understood without looking at his vocation to the priesthood and at the war conditions that shaped his experience- André DeBattista
The seminary and the priesthood were two places where Ratzinger flourished. In the seminary, he experienced an atmosphere which was “biblically oriented, working from Holy Scripture, the Fathers and the liturgy” in an atmosphere which was “very ecumenical”.
As a priest, he saw himself as a forward-thinking individual who “wanted to renew theology from the ground up and, thereby, form the Church in newness and vitality”. The ‘modernity’ he envisioned was neither revolutionary nor new: “We wanted a new era of piety… which drew on the original sources – and was new and contemporary precisely because of this.”
Ratzinger’s life cannot be understood without looking at his vocation to the priesthood and at the war conditions that shaped his experience. In this, the Church has several lessons which it could draw upon.
He is often accused of being uncompromising – God’s Rottweiler – yet, he also had first-hand experience of what happens when the Church tries to compromise with the spirit of the age. Conversely, a Church that is ready to accommodate the spirit of the age to retain its position and privileges will lose itself sooner or later.
He understood early on that mere “institutional guarantees are of no use unless the people are there to sustain them with their own inner conviction”. In this regard, truth is neither negotiable nor redefinable according to the latest fad or fashion.
His search for truth is rooted in the reality of Christ. For Benedict XVI, Jesus is not an abstract figure to be explored only in academic circles. As his biographer rightly points out, “Ratzinger’s basic assumption was that the message of Jesus not only makes the world more comprehensible but also makes life clearer and more uncomplicated”.
The Eucharist lies at the heart of his ministry and life of the Church, for it is a direct and tangible encounter with the living Christ. Now 94, frail and unable to stand for the whole 30 minutes, Benedict XVI still concelebrates daily Mass from his wheelchair.
One of his last public appearances was for the 65th anniversary of his ordination. On that occasion, he had preached a homily on the meaning of eucharistomen – thanksgiving – the Greek word from which the word ‘Eucharist’ is derived.
He said: “The cross, suffering, all that is wrong with the world: He (Jesus) transformed all this into ‘thanks’ and, therefore, into a ‘blessing’. Hence, He fundamentally transubstantiated life and the world and He has given us and gives us each day the bread of true life, which transcends this world thanks to the strength of His love.”
He prayed that the Church truly contributes to the “transubstantiation of the world so that it might not be a place of death but of life: a world in which love has conquered death”.
This is a lesson that he undoubtedly learned and tried to impart through his priesthood and service to the Church. For this, many remain grateful.