A new pope must face old problems

Los Angeles Times ^ | 30 December 2005 | George Weigel

[A.A. Cunningham]

A new pope must face old problems
By George Weigel

December 30, 2005

POPE BENEDICT XVI has celebrated his first Christmas as bishop of Rome, giving his blessing "to the city and the world." His retired brother, a priest and distinguished choir director, came to stay with him; perhaps the Ratzinger brothers played Mozart duets on the Steinway that the piano company recently donated to the papal apartment. And now, the pontiff may be engaged in a little post-Christmas relaxation. Yet for some who were most enthusiastic eight months ago about the choice of Joseph Ratzinger as pope, this Christmas season has continued a period of waiting — some becoming a bit impatient — for Benedict XVI to fulfill more of the promise of his election.

(snip)

But something more was anticipated — that the new pope would take in hand, and soon, a reform of the personnel and practice of the Roman Curia, the Catholic Church's central bureaucracy. More than a few of the cardinals who rallied to support him in one of the shortest conclaves in modern history did so because they believed Ratzinger, having spent more than two decades in the Curia, would know what was broken and would fix it.

That may yet come. The pope is a careful, prudent man, not given to impulsive action or premature decisions. At the same time, it was precisely because he was not a product of the current Curial system, but rather a scholar who had to struggle to get things accomplished within it, that his supporters expected him to bring to the papacy a well-developed sense of where changes, even dramatic ones, need to be made in both structure and personnel. Those supporters are waiting, now a little anxiously, for serious change to be implemented.

[A.A. Cunningham]

This is the piece that Hugh Hewitt mentioned yesterday during his interview with Father Fessio.

[sitetest]

Thanks for posting this.

[Nihil Obstat]

I think I heard something like 26 US bishops are eligible for retirement next year.

[jocon307]

"Now comes the hard part for this man who wanted nothing more in April than to be spending this Christmas season back home in Bavaria."

I like Weigel, generally, but this seems quite a bit of mind reading.

I like this Pope a lot, I feel proud as a Catholic of Bavarian heritage, I have great hopes for him. I think one thing we can all agree on is that the RC Church is the biggest beaurocracy (I can never spell those French words, so if it's wrong, sorry, sorry for all other misspellings too, while I'm at it), and nobody is going to turn that ship around on a dime in eight months.

May God bless our Pope, may God bless Bavaria, and may God bless America.

[Lady In Blue]

I agree with you, 100%! Hewitt also said something to the effect that Weigel was testy in talking about what the Holy Father should be doing. I thought when I heard that, who is Weigel to presume to advise the Holy Father on anything,including when and what he should be doing.