Quote of the Day
Whatever one's thoughts about Pope Benedict and the man Joseph Ratzinger behind the Petrine Office, the sight of his final leave taking from the Vatican today was a deeply moving experience. His beloved secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, was in tears and no doubt the relationship between them is a tender one. I don't begrudge Benedict the comfort of this personal, intimate friend in his declining years. What I object to is the glaring contradiction of a deeply repressed gay man in an evident homoerotic relationship with a younger companion who has expended so much energy attacking gays within and without the Church. In the past the couple has been the object of campy gay jokes, quite understandable in light of the fact Benedict exhibits many of the characteristics of a gay man in profound denial. However, now is not the time for derision or sarcasm, the situation is simply too sad for words. Instead the departure scene today struck me as the final unfolding of a tragedy, both a personal one for the man behind the office and a universal one for the church as a whole. How did we get this far and what will happen now, we wonder, as we wait for the next turn of events. One feels an unbearable sadness for the never ending cycle of denial and self deception that seem to mark the Vatican culture surrounding the office of the Papacy. One accepts this situation in a spirit of faith, that the Spirit knows what she is about in purifying the church through one contradictory trial after another. Yet we long for respite and for some sign of hope for the institution that carries the Catholic Christian mystical tradition. . . .
Related Off-site Links:
As Pope Departs, Discord Remains at Vatican – Rachel Donadio (New York Times, February 28, 2013).
The Complex Legacy of Benedict XVI – John L. Allen Jr. (National Catholic Reporter, February 28, 2013).
Now Gathering in Rome, a Conclave of Fallible Cardinals – Laurie Goodstein (New York Times, February 26, 2013).
A Vatican Spring? – Hans Küng (New York Times via The Progressive Catholic Voice, February 28, 2013).
Heart Burn and Hope Lead to Zero TV – Colleen Kochivar-Baker (Enlightened Catholicism, March 2, 2013).
Two Popes, One Secretary – Andrew Sullivan (The Dish, February 27, 2013).
Is Pope Benedict Gay? – Terence Weldon (Queering the Church, March 23, 2012).
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Benedict and Georg
Benedict and Georg Redux
Gay Men in the Vatican Are Giving the Rest of Us a Bad Name
Quote of the Day – February 11, 2013
Homosexuality and the Priesthood
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