The directions of Benedict XVI’s papacy continue to exercise commentators. But they are consistent with his gift for symbolism and his emphasis on the ethical dimensions of culture.
When Cardinal Ratzinger became Pope, astute commentators, both those who admired and those who disliked him, remarked on his intelligence. They did not believe his predecessor unintelligent, but Ratzinger’s intelligence seemed quicker and more able to engage with complexity. All wondered how he would deploy this gift.
A year later, we are better able to judge. Although he continues to puzzle those who place him in simple categories, patterns, surprising to some, are becoming visible within his papacy.
Many expected that after the activism of John Paul II, he would be apolitical. Yet recently he addressed the Australian Ambassador on the need to ask forgiveness in indigenous reconciliation. Some saw his words as admonishing Mr Howard that he should say sorry. The judgment was crude.
The Pope did not look at the plight of indigenous people in terms of administration or of politics. He saw it through the lens of culture. Indigenous deprivation represents a wound in the relationship between Aborigines and other Australians. Because it so affects human relations, it is also a moral issue. To the reality of divisions between human beings, corresponds the moral ideal of reconciliation, which is realised only when people ask and receive forgiveness.
For the Pope, the business of politics is to enable and give structure to this cultural and ethical demand. So, the Pope’s words about reconciliation had political implications for Australian public life. But they did not amount to a political strategy.
In being ready to reflect on aspects of national culture, and in analysing confidently the moral dimensions of culture, Pope Benedict resembles his predecessor. Both men are convinced that the Catholic Church can and should address public moral issues, and that as Bishops of Rome they have a unique responsibility.
They differ in the era of church life that is their natural home. John Paul II’s world was the post-Reformation Church, seen from a Polish perspective. He interpreted Vatican II in continuity with this church. His understanding of the role of the Pope in the world also belonged to that period.
Pope Benedict is rooted in the Catholic Church before the Reformation. In his academic dissertations, he examined the church that Augustine and Bonaventure portrayed. By studying their texts, he sought