Pope Benedict has taken a deliberately low-key approach in his first 100 days in office. Has the Rottweiler become a puppy, asks Michael Collins.
By now the figure of Benedict XVI, with his shock of white hair, has become familiar to many people. After his rapid election to the papacy at the fourth ballot on April 19th, the new Pope has now been 100 days in office.
Benedict marked out the direction of his pontificate at a Mass concelebrated with the cardinals the day after his election. "My sole concern is of proclaiming the living presence of Christ to the whole world," he declared. For this he recognised the need for bishops and the Bishop of Rome to work in close harmony, a clear reference to collegiality. He also pledged to work with all Christians for the implementation of the Second Vatican Council, which marks the 40th anniversary of its conclusion this year. His subsequent dropping of the papal tiara from his coat-of-arms was a gesture indicating his desire to emphasise the importance of his role as Bishop of Rome rather than head of a corporation. "Theological dialogue is necessary," he continued. "The investigation into the historical reasons for the decisions made in the past is also indispensable." Not by accident is Benedict the first professional theologian to become Pope in several centuries.
The new pontiff promised to do everything in his power to promote the fundamental cause of ecumenism. His inaugural Mass embodied modifications to the liturgy foreseen by Vatican II. The imposition of the pallium, a woollen stole worn by archbishops to symbolise their role as pastors, and the fisherman's ring, identifying the Pope as Peter's successor, underlined his pastoral role.
Speaking in Bari in southern Italy on May 29th, the Pope pledged to seek an end to the disputes which had divided the Catholic and Orthodox churches for almost a millennium. The response from the Orthodox side was promising. Alexi II, the Patriarch of Moscow, hailed the new Pope as "a man of the highest integrity, a fine scholar and steeped in tradition". The Patriarch seems keen on fostering relations with the new Pope, which had deteriorated towards the end of Pope John Paul's papacy. This may have something to do with Benedict's nationality, but Alexi evidently believes that he is dealing with a fine theologian in tune with his own orthodox beliefs.
In mid-June, Benedict dispatched Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's chief ecumenist, to Moscow. The motive was a return visit to Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, president of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, who had attended Benedict's inauguration Mass. Next autumn another high-ranking diplomat, Archbishop Giuseppe Lajolo of the Secretariat of State, will visit Moscow in a further gesture of goodwill.
In an interview last year with Le Figaro, Joseph Ratzinger opposed the entry of Turkey into the European Union. In his view, Turkey, with its Islamic culture, has little to do with Europe, traditionally seen as Judeo-Christian. In impromptu remarks last Sunday, following recent terrorist attacks, the Pope downplayed the division between Muslims and Christians. "These men represent a minority, not all Islam," he said. When he travels to Cologne next month for World Youth Day, Benedict will host young Muslims at the archbishop's residence. The visit to a synagogue during his stay will be an indication of his desire to improve Jewish-Christian relations. The visit of a Bavarian Pope, in the 60th anniversary year of the end of the second World War in which some six million Jews died in Christian Germany, will certainly attract worldwide attention.
People need time to get used to change. Having had Pope John Paul II at the helm for 26 years, time is needed for adjustment. The first 100 days were spent settling in. Curia officials felt a smooth transition, as the new Pope had been in the Vatican for 24 years and was a close collaborator with John Paul II, whom he has fast-tracked for beatification. Pope Benedict quickly filled the position he vacated as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with the American William Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco. Well-known and trusted by Ratzinger, Levada will occupy the highest position of any American in the Vatican.
Pope Benedict has decided to wait until the summer is over before he begins to announce the reshuffling of the Curia, the government of the Church. Several officials are well over the mandatory retirement age of 75, including the 77-year-old Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State. The Pope is also likely to appoint a new Master of Liturgical Celebrations, replacing Archbishop Piero Marini who has held the post since 1987. He has made no secret of his disappointment with many liturgical developments since Vatican II, "the degradation of liturgy to the level of a parish tea party and the intelligibility of the popular newspaper".
Although as Head of State Benedict receives political leaders regularly, he does not engage as actively as Pope John Paul II. His addresses are spiritual rather than temporal. The Zimbabwean bishops were surprised during an audience that Pope Benedict did not deliver a strong condemnation in light of the oppressive measures of President Mugabe. When Italy faced a referendum in June on assisted procreation, Benedict kept his remarks to a minimum, apart from delivering a supportive message to the Italian bishops for their policy of abstention. Likewise, while the Spanish parliament was debating a host of legislation including same-sex marriage and embryonic research that same month, he stopped short of any direct interference in the workings of a democratic state. One wonders if John Paul would have been so reserved.
If the Pope has largely failed to win over the Italian and international media, he appears to be winning over the crowds. People are fascinated by his sincerity. They react well to the elderly gentleman. Vatican officials have noted a large increase at papal audiences and ceremonies following the Pope's election, but this may be as much to do with the publicity generated in April and the subsequent holiday period. Publishers are rubbing their hands with glee as Joseph Ratzinger's books are reprinted and translated into new languages. When he appears in public, he speaks in several languages - with authority. "The Pope must not proclaim his own ideas," he remarked at St John Lateran on May 7th. "Rather he must constantly bind himself and the Church in obedience to God's word."
At the end of June he presented a shortened form of the Catechism, as a resource for parents, teachers and those who wish to have access to the doctrines of the Church.
Joseph Ratzinger turned 78 three days before his election. The new Pope is acutely aware of the limitations of his health and energy. At his election, he was 20 years older than when Karol Wojtyla became Pope.
Unlike John Paul, he does not regularly invite guests to meals, preferring to eat with his small circle of collaborators as he has always done. Only on a few days a week does he invite guests to his early morning Mass in his chapel. Each day Benedict spends hours at his desk. He still writes by hand, in minuscule German, and gives these to Ingrid Stampa, his Bavarian personal assistant, to edit and produce. On his recent vacation in the northern Italian Alps, the pontiff brought nine boxes of books with him. A voracious reader and prodigious writer, he is already at work on his first encyclical and a book.
Benedict has also indicated that his foreign travels will be kept to a minimum. When Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon wrote to him in July inviting him to Israel, the Pope explained that he had many tasks, but that such a visit would receive high priority. He also told Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, Pope John Paul's private secretary, that he intends to visit Poland next year. Benedict has hinted that any apostolic visits will be closeto home and of short duration. His first trip outside Rome, to Bari to close the Eucharistic Congress, lasted less than five hours. A day trip to Istanbul is being considered for November 30th, the feast of St Andrew.
What may we now expect, given the hints of the past three months? Benedict XVI has chosen a low-key start to his pontificate. The day before his election, he warned of the various ideologies which he believes have beset the world. The most insidious, he declared, was relativism. Without any compass by which to live one's life, values have no meaning. Benedict the theologian is intent on teaching clearly the Gospel message. There have been many words and promises but as yet few concrete gestures. Apart from his dislike of Harry Potter, which he probably never read, the media has found nothing worthwhile to complain about. Has the Rottweiler become a puppy?
The World Youth Day, his meeting with 800,000 young people in Germany on August 21st, will test his power of appeal to the new generations. The rest remains to unfold.
Fr Michael Collins is the author of Benedict XVI - Successor to Peter, published by Columba Press