Pope

Edward Pentin writing for the National Catholic Register:

VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has followed Pope Francis in writing a letter to a prominent Italian atheist in an attempt to engage non-believers in a dialogue about the faith.
The 11-page letter, extracts of which were published in Monday’s edition of the Italian daily newspaper, La Repubblica, is addressed to Professor Piergiorgio Odifreddi, an Italian mathematician, popular science writer and a member of the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics.
The Pope Emeritus was responding to a book Odifreddi wrote in 2011 titled Dear Pope, I’m Writing to You. The book was a critique of certain arguments and lines of thought found in the Benedict’s theological writings, beginning with his 1967 volume, Introduction to Christianity, and including his book Jesus of Nazareth that he wrote as Pope.

Now that news was cool enough, but the content of what he wrote is quite stunning.

But that hasn’t stopped Benedict XVI, who doesn’t hold back in revealing what he thinks of Odifreddi’s work. “My opinion about your book is, as a whole, rather mixed,” he says. “I profited from some parts which I read with enjoyment, but in other parts I was astonished at a certain aggressiveness and thoughtless argumentation.”

He notes that several times, Odifreddi refers to theology as science fiction, and says that in this respect, he is “surprised that you feel my book is worthy of discussion.” He responds by making the case for theology with four points.

First, Benedict asks: “Is it fair to say that ‘science’ in the strictest sense of the word is just math? I learned from you that even here, the distinction should be made between arithmetic and geometry. In all specific scientific subjects, each has its own form, according to the particularity of its object. What is essential is that a verifiable method is applied, excluding arbitrariness and ensuring rationality in their different ways.”

Second, he says that Odifreddi should “at least recognize that, in history and in philosophical thought, theology has produced lasting results.”

Third, he explains that an important function of theology is “to keep religion tied to reason and reason to religion.” Both functions, he adds, “are of paramount importance for humanity.” He then refers to his famous dialogue with the atheist and sociologist Jurgen Habermas, in which he showed that there are “pathologies of religion and, no less dangerous, pathologies of reason.”

“They both need each other and keeping them constantly connected is an important task of theology,” he adds.

Fourth, Benedict says that science fiction exists in the context of many sciences. He explains that he sees science fiction in a good sense when it shows vision and anticipates “true knowledge.” This is “only imagination,” he says, “with which we search to get closer to reality,” and he adds that a “science fiction [exists] in a big way just even within the theory of evolution.”

I just love this so much. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI takes a pejorative and dismissive swipe at theology and then engages the idea of science fiction in the limited scope that applies. I find it interesting he called theology “science fiction” and simply not just fiction. So much of SF takes scientific concepts in a speculative fashion. Plus really theology is rightly the queen of the sciences. Besides SF fans often comment on how SF gets some things right in the speculation of the future. The same goes for speculative theology which can get something right leading to the development of doctrine or lead to speculations that turns out to be simply incorrect.

Benedict then refers to the work of the prominent atheist Richard Dawkins. “The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins is a classic example of science fiction,” he says, and recalls how the French Nobel Prize winner and molecular biologist Jacques Monod inserted sentences into his work that, in Benedict’s view, could only have been science fiction.

We’ve seen so many “Richard Dawkins Slams Pope” headlines I say turnabout is fairplay here.

Read the whole thing: which also discusses priestly sex abuse and the Pope’s efforts regarding this “scorge of suffering.”

So what is up with the Pope and the Pope Emeritus dialoguing with Italian atheists quite publicly? Prominent atheists from other countries will soon be clamoring to be lightly rebuked in a papal fashion.

Strangely my odd imagination conjures these two popes singing “Anything you can do” as a duet.

Anything you can be
I can be greater.
Sooner or later,
I’m greater than you.

No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can. No, you can’t.
Yes, I can,
Yes, I can!

Anything you can preach
I can preach deeper
I can dialogue anyone
better than you.

(Vatican Radio) In a style that seems to have become almost signature of the current pontificate, Pope Francis stepped out of yet another scripted session to engage in a spontaneous question-and-answer period with hundreds of children and teens.

The papal audience in the Paul VI Hall with students, teachers and staff of Jesuit grade schools and high schools on Friday became a friendly dialogue between the 76-year-old pontiff and the young people.

The students, who had come from six Italian cities and one school in Albania, were passing time singing a Christian rap song, when the Pope entered the hall unannounced. At his sighting, they immediately erupted into cheers and applause.

In response, it seems, Pope Francis decided to put his five-page written message aside.

“I prepared a text, but it’s five pages! A little boring,” he said to the young people, who responded with laughter and applause.

He proposed to give a short summary and then take questions from the students instead. (source)

The one question not even mentioned in this report from Vatican Radio was of course the only part the media concentrated on.

One of the most touching moments came when Teresa, a bright-eyed redhead no more than six, asked Francis flat out if he had wanted to be pope.

Francis joked that only someone who hated himself would ever want to be pope. But then he became serious: ‘‘I didn’t want to be pope.’’ (source)

I guess for many outside of the Catholic Church and unfortunately too many within see the papacy in terms of power and control. Kind of a President of the Catholic Church. So it is somewhat shocking to people to think that someone would not aspire to such a position. No doubt though that in the history of the Church the worst pope’s were indeed those that wanted to be pope and did see it in terms of prestige an power.

Still for the media and many others this is a surprising thing. Which just goes to show that once again they haven’t been paying attention. I don’t remember picking up on Pope Benedict XVI coat of arms with the bear of St. Corbinian and the multiple times he tried to retired as prefect of the CDF. Blessed John Paul II reportedly went to the august 1978 Conclave, stating that he was not at all fit to become pope and was elected to his own surpise. He hesitated quite some time before uttering the traditional “Accepto”. Maybe it is really hard to imagine service over personal desires now that radical individuality is the norm. If we use the term “public servant” at all we often use it with more than a dash of sarcasm.

Now since we don’t have an actual transcript of this event there are some questions regarding some of the coverage that is hard to definitively answer. Although I put my money on negative spin.

For example Vatican Radio’s article reported:

“I have a need to live among people.” he said. “If I were to live alone, perhaps a little isolated, it would not be good for me. … It is my personality. … It is not an issue of personal virtue, it is only that I cannot live alone.”

Other media outlets reported that it was to “preserve his mental health” or for his “psychiatric” health.”

Still there were way more interesting answers he gave in this question and answer session.

When a student doubting his faith asked for words of encouragement, the Pope likened the faith to a long walk. “To walk is an art,” he said, “To walk is the art of looking at the horizon, thinking about where I want to go but also enduring the fatigue. And many times, the walk is difficult, it is not easy… There is darkness… even days of failure… one falls… But always think this: do not be afraid of failure.

“Do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking, what is important is not avoiding the fall but not remaining fallen. Get up quickly, continue on, and go,” he said to applause. “But it is also terrible to walk alone, terrible and boring. Walking in community with friends, with those who love us, this helps us … get to the end.”

and

In response to a question by a teacher about the role of Catholics in politics, the Pope said participation in politics is a Christian obligation.

“We, Christians, cannot ‘play Pilot’ and wash our hands. We cannot,” he said. “We must participate in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity because it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics.”

“It is not easy; politics has become too tainted. But I ask myself: Why has it become tainted? Because Christians have not participated in politics with an evangelical spirit? … To work for the common good is a Christian duty, and many times the way in which to work towards it is through politics.”

Update: Zenit provides a full translation.