Written by I am personally very sad and feel a great loss that the last and preeminent orthodox churchman of the Greatest Generation is no more, but immensely glad that Benedict XVI is at last free of this fallen world.
In the ensuing days (especially), months and year to come, his name, reputation and staunch Christological, moral and liturgical orthodoxy will be endlessly attacked by a hateful leftist media (both secular and religious); and his funeral will be a muted affair, presided over by his successor, a man who did all in his power to undermine Benedict’s breathtaking theological opus.
I believe Joseph Ratzinger was morally a very good (holy) man, a preeminent scholar (the greatest theologian to serve as Pope for perhaps 500 years) – but even his most fervent admirers (like myself) would have to admit that administrating the (terribly wayward and corrupt) Curia was not a talent nor a will he ultimately possessed.
An earthquake in the Roman Catholic Church (now that Benedict XVI’s immense intellectual shadow is no more) will now further splice open the wounds of division and heresy in Mother Church, championed by a progressive force that will show no bounds and will seek to utterly reject virtually every facet of the Great Tradition.
Francis, having (effectively) successfully undone the theological and liturgical legacies of his immediate two predecessors, will now continue to be at the helm of a sinking ship of chaos and a mutiny that he both overtly and subtly endorsed.
“…the greatest theologian to serve as Pope for perhaps 500 years.”
I loved Joseph Ratzinger for his brilliant mind, dedicated to articulating the unsurpassable and immutable fact of Jesus as the Christ — and for his innate holiness — and his love for all that is true, beautiful and good. My heart aches for what spiritual torment he must have been in as he witnessed the endless (accepted) attacks on orthodoxy and as he watched the Church’s rapid demise in his years of monastic retirement.
May the Triune God’s kindness and grace be given to Benedict XVI — and I pray that the Holy Angels mercifully ministered to the humble Joseph Ratzinger in his final hours on this side of the veil of tears.
Joseph Ratzinger, pray for us.
Image Credit: M.Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk | Flickr