Editorial

The challenge facing Pope Benedict

Peter Westmore

Contents - Mar 2006 - Buy a copy now Editorial: The challenge facing Pope Benedict - Peter Westmore Documents: Benedict's first encyclical 'Deus Caritas Est' speaks to the heart of the Faith - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World Archbishop Hickey: how to address the crisis of faith - Archbishop Barry Hickey Mass: How can differences over the Liturgy be resolved? - Fr John O'Neill Liturgy: Eucharistic faith: why the Mass needs re-enchanting - Alvin F. Kimel Jr Modernism: 'New Church' not true Church: what modernists believe - Pastor Remotus Vocations: Dominican Sisters: religious vocations continue to rise in Nashville - Tracey Rowland The distribution of Holy Communion past and present: an historical survey - Fr Sebastian Camilleri OFM Media: Archbishop Hickey presents the Christian message on TV - Daniel Tobin Letters: The Fortified School - Chris Hilder Letters: The Eucharist - Jim Howe Letters: Adore 2006 in Brisbane - Tim Wallace Letters: New Age - Richard Congram Letters: Intelligent Design - Peter Barnes Letters: Canadian Lectionary - Matt Walton Letters: St John Vianney - Maureen Wright Letters: Guitars - John Daly Letters: Elitism - Jeff Harvie Letters: Relic of the '70s - Don Gaffney Letters: Vaccines and abortion - Judy Law Letters: Gender neutral - P.F. Gill Books: 'The Case For Marriage' by Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher - Kerrie Allen (reviewer) Books: Edith Stein Discovered: A Personal Portrait, by Pat Lyne OCDS - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Black Robe And Tomahawk: Fr Pierre-Jean De Smet SJ (1801-1873) - Michael Daniel (reviewer) Books: Golden Priest, Wooden Chalice, by Fr Tim Norris - Michael Gilchrist (reviewer) Books: Stimulating reading from AD Books Reflection: Bringing Christ's love to the bereaved: a ministry for Catholic parishes - Fr Dennis Byrnes

Benedict XVI's first Encyclical confirms his outstanding capacity to put forward a Christian alternative to a culture which rejects moral absolutes and has elevated personal choice into primacy of conscience.

The core of the challenge he faces is that today, Catholics are more powerfully influenced by what they see on TV, hear on radio and read in newspapers and magazines, than they are by what he teaches. This certainly applies to lay people, probably to most priests and, one suspects, to many bishops.

John Paul II attempted to overcome the influence of the secular culture by speaking directly to the faithful, through an exhausting program of missionary journeys to every corner of the world, by-passing the filter of the mass media. His visits gave tremendous encouragement to the faithful, and gave the Church a moral authority which it had not had for many decades.

Unfortunately, he had little long-term impact on the beliefs and practices of the majority of Catholics who had drifted away from or abandoned the practice of the faith. Even for practising Catholics, what were once regarded as defining characteristics of believers - regular prayer and Confession - have largely disappeared.

Not surprisingly, as Archbishop Hickey observes (see page 7), the views of Catholics on moral issues are little different from those of the rest of society.

In human terms, it is not certain there is any solution to this problem; but if there is, it will depend on a rediscovery of the Church's teachings and faithful adherence to them. But this will not happen if there continues to be confusion about what the Church teaches and practises.

The challenge for Pope Benedict is to ensure that the Church's administration, from the Curia in the Vatican to local dioceses, and ultimately to each parish and school, is singing from the same hymnal.

Benedict XVI is well-placed to bring about this change. Before his election as Pope, he served for 23 years as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome. He is therefore far better placed to deal with the complexity of the Curia and reshape the Church's administration than John Paul II, who became Pope in 1978 after being Archbishop of Krakow in Poland.

We must pray for Benedict in the difficult times which lie ahead.

Peter Westmore is the Publisher of AD2000.