Encore of Interview with Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope B16)

Introduction

Raymond: I’m Raymond Arroyo. He may have the toughest job in the Church. He is the Vatican's chief protector and promoter of Catholic doctrine, second in power only to the Pope, and certainly one of the most important men in the Roman Catholic Church today. Yet, after 22 years, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has assiduously avoided interviews. But tonight, for the first time in an exclusive interview, he sits down with me to discuss the future of the Church, the clerical sexual abuse scandal, and the papacy of John Paul II. He also talks for the first time about the persistent rumors that he may retire. We talked with the Cardinal several weeks ago in Rome.

Interview

Raymond: First of all, Your Eminence, thank you for having us here. It’s a great honor to be with you. In your book, God And The World, you talk about a crisis of faith. And you, more than anyone, should know the state of this Church. You get reports every day. Where does this crisis of faith stand now? Are things improving?

Cardinal: Yes, it’s improving in a certain sense. Also, our situation generally, I think the situation of the Western World, is an increasing of relativism, the idea all is equal and we do not know anything clear about God; and so, all faiths are equal and so on. This is a general impression in the world of today and this also is temptation for us as Christians. But, I think on the other hand, in many people there is a real desire to have concrete contact with Christ, with the presence of Our Lord. So, I would say the youth of the Church is improving the situation because they will not simply do what all people are doing; so really be in contact with the Lord and sharing the faith of the Church. So, I would say, generally the situation of the Western World is not improving about the faith, but in the Church, the youth of the Church, we can see that there is a new beginning.

Raymond: Signs of hope there that are being planted.

Cardinal: Yes.

Raymond: Let's talk for moment about the Second Vatican Council, and particularly the implementation of the Council. You have written so much about this, and talked so much about this. For people of my generation, I suppose the thing that most stands out from the faith too of our fathers and grandfathers is the liturgy, the Mass. You've spoken about the reform of the reform, reforming the reform. How do you see that actuating? How do you see it concretely taking shape as we move forward?

Cardinal: Generally, I would say it was not well implemented; the liturgical reform, because it was a general idea. Now, liturgy is a thing of the community. The community is representing itself and so with the creativity of the priest or of the other groups they will create their own liturgies. It is, more the presence of their own experiences and ideas than meeting with the Presence of the Lord in the church. And with this creativity and self-presentation of the community is disappearing the essence of liturgy. Because in essence we can go over our own experiences and to receive what is not from our experience, but is a gift of God. And so, I think we have to restore not so much certain ceremonies, but the essential idea of liturgy – to understand in liturgy, we are not representing ourselves, but we receive the grace of the presence of the Lord with the Church of the heaven and of the earth. And the universality of the liturgy, it seems to me, is essential. Definition of liturgy and restoring this idea would also help to be more obedient to the norms, not as a juridical positivism, but really as sharing, participating what is given to us from the Lord in the Church.

Raymond: And that sense of sacrifice and worship that you’ve talked about so eloquently, how do you see that being restored concretely? Will we see a return to the ad orientem posture, facing the East, the priest facing away from the people during the Canon, a return to the Latin, more Latin in the Mass?

Cardinal: Versus orientem, I would say could be a help because it is really a tradition from the Apostolic time, and it’s not only a norm, but it’s an expression also of the cosmical dimension and of the historical dimension of the liturgy. We are celebrating with the cosmos, with the world. It’s the direction of the future of the world, of our history represented in the sun and in the cosmical realities. I think today this new discovering of our relation with the created world can be understood also from the people, better than perhaps 20 years ago. And also, it’s a common direction – priest and people are in common oriented to the Lord. So, I think it could be a help. Always external gestures are not simply a remedy in itself, but could be a help because it’s a very classical interpretation of what is the direction of the liturgy. Generally, I think it was good to translate the liturgy in the spoken languages because we will understand it; we will participate also with our thinking. But a stronger presence of some elements of Latin would be helpful to give the universal dimension, to give the possibilities that in all the parts of the world we can see “I am in the same Church.” So generally, popular language is …

Raymond: A good thing.

Cardinal: …a solution. But some presence of Latin could be helpful to have more experience of universality.
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