Happy Birthday Holy Father!

ON APRIL 16, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate his 80^th birthday. Three days later, April 19, will also mark his first two years on the Chair of Peter, and the Church will remember both these events.

Even though two years at the helm are barely sufficient to formulate an accurate balance of any pontificate, in Benedict’s case we can assert that his tenure has so far achieved significant results.

The Bishop of Rome quietly yet firmly points out that the value of ‘revealed truth’ and the logic of natural law have remained unscathed by all the subtle arguments put forth by materialistic scientists, consumerism and moral relativism. Like a light that shines in the darkness, Benedict XVI is a source of inspiration for millions of believers who refuse to be deceived by what is merely apparent truth.

A Vatican insider

“Benendict XVI is an extraordinary gift from God in this age of unbelief,” says Archbishop Mario Rizzi, a Vatican insider who happens to share the same age as our Pope.

“His election to the See of Peter is proof positive that the Holy Spirit guides the Church and sees to it that the right men at the right moment be placed at its helm. Unbelievers will doubtless smile at these assertions, but we know just how true they are”.

Monsignor Rizzi has inside knowledge of the problems rocking the Church. He is specialised in the troubles faced by the Oriental churches in Islamic countries. He has spent a good part of his life in the Congregation for Oriental Churches, and was the first apostolic Nunzio in Bulgaria after the fall of Communism in that country.

After John Paul’s pontificate many believed that the Church was in need of a young pope with sufficient strength and authority to direct into the right channels the considerable energies unleashed by the Polish Pope. Therefore the election of a 78-year-old cardinal was seen as a sign indicating that the Church was in need of a pause to reconsider its spiritual priorities, and Ratzinger was merely seen as a transitional figure.

Things, however, turned out differently. Contrary to all expectations, the German Pope has not been afraid to thrust himself at the forefront of the fight against aberrant ideologies.

A few questions

“In today’s world,” says Monsignor Rizzi, “Catholics are called to live their faith as sheep among wolves. The message sent out by the mainstream media is simply hostile to our faith, and many of the faithful are losing their bearings. The Church, however, is not a political party or a multinational company; she is not even a charitable association, however noble such organisation may be. The Church is an institution established by Christ Himself with the express purpose of handing down His spirit and His teachings. Her task is also that of preserving them intact through the centuries amid a hostile world, and the German pontiff is taking this task very seriously”.

What do you think is the greatest battle this Pope will have to face?

“He has to fight not just one, but many, battles, because the pontiff cannot afford to leave any front unattended. However, one of Benedict’s primary objectives is unity between the various Christian Churches, especially between Catholics and Orthodox. This was the dream of John Paul II as well”.

“The rupture between the two Churches took place in 1054. A first attempt at reunion was made at the Council of 1274, which failed, unfortunately. So a new Council is necessary, one which Benedict would like to promote”.

Is it true that Ratzinger was born on an Easter Vigil?

“It is indeed. Benedict was born on April 16, 1927, which was a Holy Saturday. In his autobiography Milestones - Memoirs 1927-1977, he writes that in his family he was often reminded of the fact that he was born on the last day of Holy Week, on the eve of Easter Sunday. He was, in fact, baptised the day after his birth with the water which had just been blessed during ‘Easter night’; to be the first to be baptised with the new water was an important harbinger of things to come. So Ratzinger has always felt that he has a particular mission to fulfil”.

A Vatican journalist

Arcangelo Paglialunga is a senior Vatican journalist, and a great lover of classical music. During one of my meetings with him I discovered that he had often conversed with Cardinal Ratzinger on classical music. In the mornings Mr Paglialunga would often reach the Vatican press room on foot, and on his way there he would share part of the journey with the German Cardinal, who was on his way to the Offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. During the brief walk, “we often talked about classical music,” Mr Paglialunga told me. “Ratzinger would share with me his abiding enthusiasm for Mozart, while I would tell him of Don Lorenzo Perosi, about whom I had written a detailed biography. Ratzinger knew this Italian composer of sacred music very well because Maestro Perosi had studied at Regensburg, where the Pope’s brother was Chapel Master”.

Besides music, Ratzinger also loves literature. Benedict has been an avid reader since his boyhood, when he was especially fond of the Catholic French writers of the early 20th century, Claudel, Peguy, Bernanos, Mauriac, and the Russians Dovstoievski and Tolstoi.

Andrea Tornielli

“To meet Pope Benedict XVI is a very emotional experience,” says Andrea Tornielli, a Vatican expert, and author of a biography on Pope Benedict XVI.

“The first time I met him was at the airport. I had to interview him, but he was full of commitments and couldn’t set aside a spare moment for me, so we decided to meet there. He was then Prefect for the Congregation of the Faith; he was, therefore, the second-highest authority in the Vatican.

“When I met him I was surprised to find a gentle, humble and loving person. He was waiting in line at the check-in counter, dressed as a clergyman with a suitcase in hand, but mixed in with the crowd just like any other normal ordinary traveller. I have always been struck by this attitude of humility and absolute simplicity in all the encounters I’ve had with him.

“In 1999 he revealed that he was a member of an association of organ donors. He is certainly the first pontiff to belong to any such organisation”.

Lucio Brunelli

“His mnemonic capacities are incredible,” says Lucio Brunelli, a Vatican expert for RAI, the Italian national television network. “He remembers the names even of people he has met just once. He is always gentle and sympathetic with us journalists. Sometimes, when he drives through the crowd on the papamobile (the car the pope uses to move about during events), I sometimes say to him, “Have a nice day, Holy Father,” and he replies, “Have a nice day too, Lucio.” This is the way he treats all us journalists. During his short summer vacation in Valle d’Aosta, one of us fell gravely ill. Every day the Pope would ask us about his health.

“There are Cardinals who often dine outside the Vatican. They love to meet important, influential people in order to broaden their connections and power. I never noticed Cardinal Ratzinger behave in this way. He has never sought the company of influential people, he doesn’t know what mundane life is. When he was a Cardinal he used to spend his Sunday afternoons in his apartment in the company of his secretary, Cardinal Mayer, who is also German. They used to listen to classical music or play games like chess or draughts.

“He is very fond of honey. He owns a small cottage in Germany which he bought many years ago with the intention of spending his retirement there. I went to see the place when the Pope had returned to Germany for his papal visit. I spoke to his next-door neighbour who looks after his garden for him. From him I learned that the Pope keeps some beehives in order to have a supply of genuine natural honey. Even on that occasion the neighbour had prepared for him some jars of honey which the Pope collected before returning to Rome.

With these few brief and simple sketches, dear reader, we hope to have brought closer to your hearts the figure of this aged, but gentle and scholarly pope.

On behalf of all the members of Saint Anthony’s worldwide family, and of the friars and staff of the Messenger of Saint Anthony, we wish Pope Benedict a happy birthday. We pray that God may strengthen and guide him in his continued service to the Church in the spirit which unites us all.

Happy birthday, Holy Father!