.- One
year after the death of John Paul II and the beginning of the
pontificate of Benedict XVI, Vatican analyst Sandro Magister has
offered an evaluation of both papacies, highlighting the similarities
and differences in style of the two popes.
In an interview
with the Spanish daily, El Correo, Magister offered a brief analysis of
the first year of Benedict XVI’s pontificate, noting that the Pope “has
inaugurated a very particular style, substantially based on words.”
Benedict, he stated, “acts as a sort modern-day doctor of the Church,
teaching what he believes to be the central element to be defended and
appreciated: Christian truth.”
According to
Magister, the response to this new style has been “unexpected,
surpassing all expectations.” The proof lies in the high numbers
of attendance at St. Peter’s, “greater than for John Paul II, double or
even triple,” he added.
“And what is
most important is that people listen to him with great
attentiveness. He is a Pope who speaks and is truly listened to,
in contrast somewhat to John Paul II, who people came more to see than
to hear. He attracts attention, and in any case, he inspires
respect for his serenity and depth,” he wrote.
Asked about
changes in the Curia, Magister pointed out that “they have been few and
measured, but they have already set a course that will be followed in
the coming months.” “The naming of his successor to the Doctrine
of the Faith, William J. Levada, indicates that this congregation will
again become the central institute of the Curia, under the direct
control of the Pope.”
“Levada”, he
said, “does not have the role of protagonist, but rather of executor of
orders. This is returning the office to what it was before Paul
VI, who made the Secretary of State the central focal point of the
Curia. Therefore I see the Secretary of State losing power in the
future.”
The Italian
journalist also pointed to important changes in two other
dicasteries. “At the Congregation for Divine Worship, which deals
with issues very dear to the Pope, such as the liturgy, he has named a
completely unknown bishop of Sri Lanka who is very close to him, and he
has relieved Fitzgerald as president of Inter-Religious Dialogue
because of his different vision especially with regards to Islam.”
Magister also
underscored the Pope’s openness to dialogue and debate, noting that he
is “very willing to meet with people and have serious
discussions.” “The number of people he meets with daily is less
than that of John Paul II, but the meetings last longer and are
richer,” he adds.
Benedict XVI
“speaks and discusses with many people, at the audiences, at the synod,
with the bishops. But later, he makes the decisions personally
and alone, and that’s why we are almost always taken by surprise.”
Continuity and complimentarity
Asked his
opinion on the pontificate of John Paul II one year after his passing,
Magister responded that the late Pope “was sometimes a genius at laying
out great perspectives, he wrote great titles. Benedict XVI, on
the other hand, is writing the story behind the titles.”
“But there is an
element of continuity,” he said: “John Paul II returned the Church to
the center of public life and Benedict XVI wants to build the capacity
of the Church to communicate with the world upon this foundation of
great visibility.”
Magister also
noted that Benedict XVI is continuing the dialogue begun by John Paul
II with other Christians and with different groups inside the Church,
“but in a much more selective way. He appreciates the positive in
each movement, but he has no problem calling them to a new
discipline. He has done so with the Neocatechumenate.”
“With other
Christians, the Pope wants to highlight not so much that which unites
them but that which separates them, thus underscoring the uniqueness of
Roman Catholicism. He is not proposing that we find common ground
and leave the divisions in parenthesis, but rather he is going to the
heart of the divisions in order to see which road to take from there,”
Magister said.
Lastly, Magister
noted that Benedict has a unique strategy in dealing with other
religions. “When he met with Muslims in Cologne, it was not at a
mosque, but at the bishop’s residence , with a large cross behind him.”
Vatican analyst evaluates pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI
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