Disclaimer: An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed one of Pope Benedict’s quotes to his book ‘The Spirit of the Liturgy,’ however this quote actually originated from his book ‘God and the World: a Conversation with Peter Seewald.’ This article has been updated to reflect this correction.
On December 31st, 2022, at the age of 95, Joseph Ratzinger, better known to the world as pope Benedict XVI, and later as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, reached the last hour of his earthly life. Letting out his last breath, he reportedly said the words “Signore, ti amo” (“Lord, I love you”) before passing into eternal life with the Father. Like any man occupying the heights of power, he was not without controversy. He was loved by many and hated by many others. Still, in light of this, I view his life worthy of remembrance and recognition.
Prior to ascending to the papacy, Ratzinger had made a name for himself as an ardent defender of Catholic orthodoxy. Weathering the tempest in the Catholic Church in the late 20th century, Ratzinger had served as prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) between 1982 and 2005. He defended the faith by reaffirming Church teachings in numerous declarations and documents. During his tenure as prefect, Pope St. John Paul II selected Ratzinger to oversee the formation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This great corpus helps to articulate the orthodox Catholic faith in concrete terms for everyone to understand.
He was more than a theologian though; he was also a pastor who sought to make God’s love evident to everyone. In one of his first homilies as pope, Benedict proclaimed without hesitation, “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” His first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), expounded the Christian notion of love and showed how the Church can be an instrument of God’s love in the world through charity. In his second encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth), which touched on contemporary social issues, Benedict reiterated that God’s love must be paired with God’s Truth. He wrote in the encyclical’s introduction “To defend the truth, to articulate it with humility and conviction, and to bear witness to it in life are therefore exacting and indispensable forms of charity.” For Benedict, defending Truth was showing love.
Benedict’s life was also deeply liturgical. Somewhat paradoxically, he was born on Holy Saturday, the day we Catholics commemorate Christ dead in the tomb, and he died during the Christmas season, while we celebrate the birth of Christ. He sought to bring the beauty of the Church’s liturgy to everyone. As pope, his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum declared that all priests of the Latin Rite had the right to say the Traditional Latin Mass, according to the 1962 missal of pope John XXIII, which he declared had never been abrogated. In his book God and the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald he lamented that “Anyone who nowadays advocates the continuing existence of this liturgy [the Traditional Mass] or takes part in it is treated like a leper; all tolerance ends here.” Benedict simply wanted to let those who loved the old liturgy know that they had a place in the Church.
I think it appropriate that the Holy Cross community remembers Benedict XVI as a fellow crusader. For what was he if not a crusader for truth and love? The life, writings, and deeds of Pope Benedict give witness to the incarnation and the love God gave the world through his Son, Jesus Christ.