Benedict XVI, Benedict XV, and St. Benedict

In a recent reflection on his choice of a papal name, "To Reflect on the Name I Have Chosen," His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI mentioned both Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) and St. Benedict of Nursia (480-547). The former, Giacomo della Chiesa, served as a diplomat for the Vatican before being made a Cardinal by Pope Pius X in 1914, just prior to his election as pope. His was one of the rare voices of sanity, though largely unheeded by heads of state, during the ravages of the "War to End all Wars" (1914-1918). The latter, author of the Rule of St. Benedict, was the founder of western monasticism, a stalwart and godly ascetic renown for his spiritual combat against the forces of darkness (see the image of the well-known and richly indulgenced St. Benedict crucifix and medal below, right). His was one of the rare voices of luminous clarity amidst a Mediterranian Europe overrun by half-civilized pagan and Arian hordes, a Europe falling back into barbarism during the fifth century.

Benedict XV called for peace and reconciliation amidst a war-torn Europe in the early twentieth-century. By referencing him, Pope Benedict XVI shows us the nation-transcending universality of the Catholic Church, ever solicitous of the wellbeing of all peoples, reiterating the prominent note struck by the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. St. Benedict of Nursia was a spiritual warrior, declaring "Prefer absolutely nothing to Christ" (Rule 72,11; cf. 4,21). By referencing him, Pope Benedict XVI shows us where alone we find true peace, reconciliation, and wellbeing. Many people seem surprised to find that Pope Benedict XVI, who has been so reviled by the media in some quarters as some sort of an authoritarian monster, should also be a soft-spoken gentleman with--surprise!--human sentiments like charity and compassion! One report recently even enthused, as though it were unbelievable, "God's Rottweiler loves cats! Benedict XVI's penchant for felines." On the other hand, it comes as no surprise to those who truly understand their Catholic Faith that one should find the qualities of intransigence in the cause of doctrinal and moral fidelity combined with compassion and sensitivity in the same individual. As someone once said in analogous circumstances, "Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, and tolerance in the face of tyranny is no virtue."