4.24.2005
What's in a Name?
From Ratzinger to Benedict XVI
Frankly, being the light-weight Protestant I am, I wondered why Cardinal Ratzinger took that particular name. Fortunately, I ran across the answer, and it's a pretty good one. The following text is taken from an interview of Father Joseph Fessio, Chancellor/Provost to Ave Maria University in Florida, who has been a good friend and student of Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI for over 30 years. The interview was conducted by Hugh Hewitt, and you can read the whole exchange at Radioblogger. It is well worth the read if you want to know more about this amazing and faithful follower of Christ.
HH: Do you expect this to be a time of renewal under this new Pope for the American and the worldwide Catholic Church?
JF: I do. He chose the name Benedict. It's very significant. You know, Benedict was a young man in the worst days of the crumbling Roman Empire. It was corrupt and decadent from within. And it was being attacked from without, and Benedict did not stay in the city where he was magistrate, the city of Rome, and try to change it, try to improve it. He left with the simple desire of giving himself to God in prayer. Others joined him and they offered God worship and honor and praise and glory. He built a monastery to do that. They consecrated their lives to the Lord, and that monastery bred others and others until finally by 1200, there were 40,000, 40,000 Benedictine monasteries in Europe. That's like having 1,000 in every state in the Union. And those monasteries preserved Greek and Roman culture, they educated generations of young men and women, they laid the foundations for the great Cathedrals of Europe for the Christian nations of Europe. They were the ones that led to Medieval Christendom, this great civil and social society that gave glory to God. And I think that's why St. Benedict's called the father of Europe.
HH: Yup.
JF: And I think that Cardinal Ratzinger has chosen this name partly because he wants to lead the way to the re-Christianization of Europe and the evangelization of the world. And he wants to do it through prayer.
From Ratzinger to Benedict XVI
Frankly, being the light-weight Protestant I am, I wondered why Cardinal Ratzinger took that particular name. Fortunately, I ran across the answer, and it's a pretty good one. The following text is taken from an interview of Father Joseph Fessio, Chancellor/Provost to Ave Maria University in Florida, who has been a good friend and student of Cardinal Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI for over 30 years. The interview was conducted by Hugh Hewitt, and you can read the whole exchange at Radioblogger. It is well worth the read if you want to know more about this amazing and faithful follower of Christ.
HH: Do you expect this to be a time of renewal under this new Pope for the American and the worldwide Catholic Church?
JF: I do. He chose the name Benedict. It's very significant. You know, Benedict was a young man in the worst days of the crumbling Roman Empire. It was corrupt and decadent from within. And it was being attacked from without, and Benedict did not stay in the city where he was magistrate, the city of Rome, and try to change it, try to improve it. He left with the simple desire of giving himself to God in prayer. Others joined him and they offered God worship and honor and praise and glory. He built a monastery to do that. They consecrated their lives to the Lord, and that monastery bred others and others until finally by 1200, there were 40,000, 40,000 Benedictine monasteries in Europe. That's like having 1,000 in every state in the Union. And those monasteries preserved Greek and Roman culture, they educated generations of young men and women, they laid the foundations for the great Cathedrals of Europe for the Christian nations of Europe. They were the ones that led to Medieval Christendom, this great civil and social society that gave glory to God. And I think that's why St. Benedict's called the father of Europe.
HH: Yup.
JF: And I think that Cardinal Ratzinger has chosen this name partly because he wants to lead the way to the re-Christianization of Europe and the evangelization of the world. And he wants to do it through prayer.
4.16.2005
