MikeLigalig.com

The other side of Benedict XVI


by Aloysius Lopez Cartagenas
02/27/2013

In the summer of 1999 I was in a small group which was invited to a meeting with the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Little did we know he would later become Benedict XVI. We were all rectors of theological seminaries from different places in the world, and ours was the duty of training future priests and, in a certain way, future bishops as well. His was the duty to ensure the correctness of church teachings in these institutions.

All of us were very anxious. Based on portrayals we heard, we could not help but imagined him to be an ogre of a man and expected God’s Rottweiler to lecture us on orthodoxy. But we were all proven wrong.

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Humble is the leader who does not think and feel he is indispensable. To the whole world Benedict XVI has admitted that “his strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” Clearly, unlike many bishops and priests that I know, he does not see his office as a privilege, a status or an entitlement. His is the office of strengthening his fellow bishops, not to lord it over them (1 Peter 5:3). That is why he did not hang on to it and for all his defects he is able to publicly ask for pardon.

Wise is the leader who thinks not of his own good but only the good of the entity he represents. Benedict XVI considers his resignation “a decision of great importance to the life of the Church.” To continue exercising the ministry he inherited from Peter in such a very inadequate personal circumstance would only bring harm than good for the whole church.

It's a lesson for some Filipino bishops and priests who in their old age and obvious inadequacy would rather seek for extension in office or permanence in assignment. They virtually identify the church’s common good with their own personal status and are clueless that their people are unnecessarily bearing the brunt.

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His resignation is unprecedented in the modern history of the papal office. Most modern popes consider themselves "father of God’s family" and paternity cannot be resigned. On two occasions John Paul II considered the possibility. But he did not after having concluded that a pope could not resign “except in the presence of an incurable illness or an impediment” that would prevent the exercise of the office.

Nonetheless, Benedict XVI’s resignation will hopefully set a precedent in a church accustomed to having popes ruling for life or bishops leading for decades. He is telling us that the office and its demands have priority over the human capacities or personal agenda of the office-holder.

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Benedict XVI’s action may be a small step in stripping the papal office of the ensnaring mystique and unnecessary burden it has accumulated through the years. Nonetheless, his resignation may provide a stable ground from which the church can make a giant leap.

His surprise resignation places the office of Peter in an irreversible trajectory where it can be construed in a way more attuned to a world radically changed almost 5 decades after the Second Vatican Council. - Rappler.com

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The Pope is very old. He retired from the works of the Lord. He is Pope Emiretus. He is receiving  32 thousand  Eu every month. At old, he is happy living in a free life than die old in the service of God, as what most Pope did.

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For those who have not read the writings of His Holiness, Benedict XVI, I would liken it to a fresh spring breeze. He is an eloquent writer, and the message of God is so profound. He has given us so much , to the whole Church, through his writings. Generations , many unborn generations will read his writings and wonder in awe at his profound message. He answers each question I had in his three part series on Jesus Christ and the Importance of Doctrinal Truth.

He is a saint in our times. Truly. May God bless him always, all the days of his life.



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as for the monetary figure, here's a believable one, the source/s of which i can share as well--

italian media speculations:

Pope Benedict XVI who announced his resignation from office with effect from February 28 will be paid a pension of 2,500 euros a month, or about $3,340 according to several Italian media outlets, which quoted the amount of the pension usually paid to bishops.

The head of the Catholic Church does not officially have an income and doesn’t really get paid, the Vatican has said repeatedly in response to inquiries from the press over the years, adding that “he has his every need provided for by the Holy See”.

The Italian press however said, “but we know what Benedict will make once he relinquishes the papacy on Feb. 28. He will be paid a pension of 2,500 euros a month, or about $3,340".

There is no precedent for a papal pension. The last one to resign was in 1415; everybody else died in office but there are cases of retired bishops, and the pope is officially also the bishop of Rome.

The Vatican press office did not confirm the amount, but a spokesperson said that the pope’s needs, as well as those of whatever staff he might choose to retain in the Vatican monastery he is retiring to, “will be met.” (http://www.porscheclassy.com/2013/02/pope-benedict-to-earn-3340-retirement.html)


still, this is pure media speculation and not an official information.  it had to be taken in context.  and there's a whale of a difference between 32,000 euro and 2,500 euro.

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Thanks for the correction, Isles.

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more about a retired pope's "pay", in comparison with an average american's retirement pay...

Pope Benedict’s retirement package

By Sam Eyoboka with Agency reportMarch 2, 2013

After Pope Benedict XVI retires, he will get a 2,500-euro pension, a home in the Vatican, and other amenities. How does his retirement package compare with others?

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the 264th successor of Pope Peter and the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, who made his final farewell Thursday evening, is likely to have a much better retirement package than most American seniors, according to a CNBC contributor.

The retired pontiff is expected to receive a monthly pension of 2,500 euros ($3,266), which is near the maximum a person could receive on US Social Security, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.

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The Roman Catholic Church will cover the expenses of Pope Emeritus Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger, and will give him a Vatican home with cooked meals and housekeepers, the report said.

A big nest egg is not something the Pope emeritus has to worry about. The Roman Catholic Church will cover his living expenses, provide him with a spacious home inside the Vatican and pay for everything from cooked meals to housekeepers, according to The Telegraph.

Such services are not available to the typical American senior, unless he or she pays for an assisted living facility or resides in a nursing home, Johnson said.

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When he stepped down on Thursday, he said that he was glad to be “surrounded by the beauty of creation,” reported The Associated Press. “I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on this Earth,” he added.

Next Monday, cardinals will meet to determine the next papal conclave to elect the new pope.

“May the College of Cardinals work like an orchestra, where diversity—an expression of the universal church—always works toward a higher and harmonious agreement,” Benedict said, according to AP.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/

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Hehehe...

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We hope that no one strikes a discordant note.

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Remember this on Hans Kung: Why I Am Staying Catholic?

http://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=69176.20

Quote from: islander on February 27, 2013, 10:08:07 AM

unimaginable.  makahahadlok.  kun pari pa ko, adto na lang tingali ko sa pongkay mag-parish priest nungka adto ko i-assign sa magisterium nga maglurat lang ko kanunay.

Hahahaha. Tinuod jud. Bahalag bright pa ko, they can have the job. Ari na lang ko uban ni Tampolano ug Tampolano kay naa pay room for mortal men. But I love listening when they come up with stuff... because I used to come up with stuff also at different stage in my life. In fact, as a sinner like everybody else, I also come up with heretical and questioning thoughts that nobody will ever get to hear. That's the provilege of being not part of the theological forum bwahahaha. Our friend Alloysius Cartagenas in now one of them and he gets criticized to the max even for a beautiful article he wrote defending Pope Benedict XVI's resignation, bwahahaha. And this guy is one I have my highest respect and whose opinion I always seek...

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Amen!

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This is his work... as posted by Ms Isles

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