POPE-POURRI: 'Light' news items, anecdotes about Pope Benedict now

I was going to comment on an item in the day's RINUNCE E NOMINE, the Vatican website's regular outlet for routine resignations, nominations and reassignments within the Church, but I see Rocco Palma already did it in his blog (one of his last before taking the Holy Week off, according to him), as follows:

"...As a foreshadow (sic) to his impending distribution of dicastery assignments to the new members of the College of Cardinals created late last month, Benedict XVI named three members of that group who are widely seen as being among his closest allies to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, which handles issues relating to the 1988 indult -- and, informally, relations with the Society for St Pius X.

"The new members of Ecclesia Dei are Cardinals William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Jean-Pierre Ricard of Bordeaux, head of the French episcopal conference, and the Spanish primate Antonio Cañizares Llovera of Toledo.

"Cañizares is known as the "little Ratzinger" -- he became close to the pontiff as secretary of the doctrine committee of the Spanish bishops. At the Big Ratzinger's behest, Canizares was named a member of the CDF."

Both Levada and Ricard are, of course, also known to share the Pope's views on the major issues confronting the Church today.
(I dare not articulate my hopes for the Latin Mass, but is this yet another sign? No clue, of course, as to any decision re the SSPX 'schism'.)

There's already an asteroid out there in orbit named after him. Now they have named a precious little shell after him. Elena in the main forum first contributed the small item, and then Emma found the picture in an online paper.

Dentimargo ratzingeri

The World Malacological Museum [from malacology, the study of mollusks - I had to look it up!] in Cupra Marittima
(a town on the Adriatic coast of central Italy) has acquired a new rare shell recently discovered in Papua New Guinea. The museum has named it Dentimargo ratzingeri in honor of the Pope.

Tiziano Cossignani, museum director, said he has been meaning to name a new species after the Pope. The opportunity came with this shell, which is said to be one of only three known specimens of its kind in the world.
He called it a genuine rarity.

The shell is very pretty but it is also tiny, only about 5 millimeters long!

I wish horticulturists would also develop flowers to honor Papa. It would be nice to have a Rosa ratzingera in a
Laetare-rose hue. Didn't the florist near the Vatican tell Paparaxvi that Papa's favorite flowers were pink roses?...And a gardenia or jasmine in purest papal white...And a sumptuous purple orchid!...LutheranGuest, whatever happened to the Bayerische Rundfunk's project last year to find a mountain peak in Germany to name after the Pope? A mountain lake would be nice, too....And we shouldn't be content with just an asteroid. What about a star, or a moon?

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sweet shell for Papa and as rare as him!
we know how significant shells are in Papa's life so this rare find fits him so well!

Ratzigirl has an anecdote from her TV watching today. In a newscast that reported on this morning's Palm Sunday events in St. Peter's Square, they showed a brief interview with a lady who had been there.

TV journalist: So what did you think of this event?
Lady: It was splendid, he was splendid!
TV journalist (puzzled): The Pope is splendid?
Lady (decisively): Yes! He was splendid, truly exceptional!

And that - Ratzigirl and our other Italian sisters say - is typical of how most Italian journalists continue to disbelieve the obvious and abundant evidence of Papa's effect on the faithful.

We can only take heart from the fact that, judging at least from the year-one assessments we have seen so far, most English writers and Vatican-watchers have been generally positive about Papa, even though most start from the premise that "Oh look, 'God's Rottweiler' is actually a gentle Pope, the Pope of love!"

from the Pantzerkardinal base won't be able to continue in that mode for much longer. They 're already beginning to look like fools.

I noted the other day that during Papa's encounter with the Roman youth,
one of the young women asked him:
"...In other words, what do you expect of us, Holiness?"
And without missing a beat, the first line of his answer was-
"We all ask ourselves what the Lord expects of us..."

What a lesson in consistency, humility and never losing sight of the fact
that it's all about God, not him!

He did something similar again today. From the AsiaNews report
of the Palm Sunday events on St. Peter's Square:
At one point, a youth cried out:
“Viva il papa!” (Long live the pope!)
The pope quickly replied: “Let us now hail Our Lady,
with the prayer of the Angelus”.

In a moment of Palm Sunday levity, Pope Benedict decided to completely dowse Piero Marini in holy water when he wasn't looking. Later, when asked what compelled him to take this action, the Pope responded, "Because I thought the guy needed to lighten up a bit!"

[source: REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi]

www.americanpapist.com/2006/04/your-papist-picture-of-day-sunday-...

hehehehehe... oooooch, my sides hurt from laughing so hard!!!

Piero does look too serious all the time. He needs to smile more. However, I'm not sure getting unexpectedly drenched would achieve that effect.

How apropos that Monsignor Marini is quoted in the following piece, a translation of an article that appears in the Italian magazine Panorama this week. None of the secular names may be familiar to us, as they are all Italian celebrities.
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Cantina Tirolese
has become a cult place
By Monica Raucci

Among the pilgrim stops in Rome these days, there is one based on sausage and sauerkraut. After St. Peter’s, St. John Lateran and Castel Sant’Angelo, the pilgrim route also goes these days through via Vitelleschi 23.

Since it became known that this Roman restaurant, just a stone’s throw from the Vatican, was Cardinal Ratzinger’s favorite restaurant before he became Pope, it has become a cult place, not only for tourists and pilgrims from all over the world, but even for cardinals, ambassadors, politicians, show business personalities, journalists, football players, actors, and their associates.

Monsignor Piero Marini, the Pope’s ceremonial aide, writes in the guest book that he is pleased with the “great cuisine and excellent beer." Martin Diarmuid, Archbishop of Dublin, writes of “the varied personalities that I have encountered here”.

The most requested table is #4 [Which one is it really? In other accounts I read #6 or #8], the table used by Ratzinger and most requested by cardinals.

But even the secular and mundane world has decided the place is glamorous. Besides old habitues like Alberto Ronchey and Giuliano Ferrara, the past year has brought many new customers with well-known faces. From Toberto Castelli to Gianni Alemanno, from Clemente Mastela to Mario Adinolfi, from Silvio Orlando to Jonny Dorelli and Gloria Guida, from Marina Ripa di Meana to Giancarlo Magalli, few have resisted the pull. Is it the “spiritual” appeal or that of Tiroler Platt (Tyrolean platter), one of Ratzinger’s favorite orders, which goes a long way: two wurstels, a pork entrecote, a beef and pork sausage, sauerkraut and potatoes.

Magalli writes in the guest book: “How can you not praise a restaurant dove mangia papa il Papa? [where the Pope (il Papa) eats potatoes (papa).” And in this atmosphere of the sacred and the profane, the vernacular saying of the native Roman is often quoted: “Tanti auguri di core e di panza.” (Best wishes for the heart and for the belly)

Roberto Castelli, a state minister from northern Italy, who visited the Cantina on September 21, 2005, took due note of the date: “On the fall equinox, it is right to feast on food from a country that knows the cold. On top of the emotion of knowing that the Holy Father was often here.”

The dj Marco Baldini has the most “desecratory” message: “I could even kill for the goulash recipe.”

And then there are the tourists and pilgrims. By the thousands every month, they come by, if only to take a peek. They want to come in even if it is just to take one photo, and end up asking the owners, Manuela and Marco Macher, what Ratzinger’s habits were, eating and otherwise. Stories livened by an anecdote or two.

The most quoted is this: One day, Ratzinger read a notice on the wall of the restaurant saying, “LOST – 1 German shepherd!” He told the other customers present: “Don’t worry. It’s not me!”

It is said that in Muhlbach, the little town in the Alto Adige where the Pope’s mother was born, “religious” tourits are starting to outnumber the skiing crowd. Meanwhile, Cantina Tirolese is popularizing the mystique of sauerkraut!

Aldo Sergio Ottomanelli, the only actor-deacon we know of, a confessed ascetic, sits in front of a plate of Tyrolean dumplings and says: “Even if I cannot go to Bavaria, here at least I can smell the aromas that shaped the mind of a Pope.”

The last word belongs to Mons. Fabio Fabbri, ecclesiastical counselor, and ambassador of Italy to the Holy See. On the guest book he writes, “Non c’e mistica senza mastica.” (The word play cannot be translated, but it means “There is no mystique without eating,’ where mastica refers to chewing.)

Here are Simone and Nan at Ratzi's table in Cantina Tirolese:

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Here is the translation of a story in the Mittelbayerische Zeitung about the new Papal exhibit in Pentling:


Bishop Mueller, Georg Ratzinger, Mayor Rummel and Curator Baumann at the exhibit.

PENTLING REJOICES:
'ONE OF US IS POPE"
By KarlHeinz Weigel

PENTLING, April 8, 2006 – “One of us is Pope - Encounters in Pentling” is the one-of-a-kind exhibition with personal possessions of Pope Benedict XVI, which opened Friday at the new Council House and will run till May 1. It may be visited daily, including weekends, from 1:00-6:0 p.m. [The exhibit will reopen in September for the Pope's visit to Bavaria].

The exhibit, an idea of Museum curator Dr. Maria Baumann, consists of about 50 objects, including handwritten notes by the Holy Father, sculptured images, crosses, a bishop’s miter, and icons as well as photographs. Many of the items were sent by the Pope himself from the Vatican.

The exhibit was opened by Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, along with Mayor Albert Rummel and the Pope’s brother, Mons. Georg Ratzinger.

“I’m feeling well indeed,” said the former Regensburg Choirmaster when asked about his health. “I am very excited about the exhibit. I will be seeing my brother after Pentecost.”

He added that the Pope has told him to stay in good heelth and that he hopes “no catastrophe will happen!"

The exhibit has seven parts - covering Joseph Ratzinger's life in Regensburg as professor at the University, as a parish priest in Pentling, as an Honored Citizen of his community, as a “Floriansjunger” and as Pope. Photos of Joseph Ratzinger’s various visits to Pentling as Cardinal were provided by the Regensburg journalist Horst Hanske.

The artefacts come from both private and official settings. The Pope sent several personal items from his own desk as well as pictures to Baumann by UPS last month.

“Pentling is for me, in the deepest sense, my home,” the Pope told a group of visitors from Pentling last summer at Castel Gandolfo.

The Pope has owned his house in Pentling for 36 years. He signed his letter “Your fellow citizen” when he sent his contributions to the exhibit

Rummel said in brief remarks that Pentling residents “consider it our sacred duty to keep Pentling worthy of the great honor of being the residence and home of the Holy Father.”

Bishop Mueller recalled the “indescribable joy” that he and Regensburg experienced shortly after the words “Habemus Papam” were pronounced at St. Peter’s on April 19,2005. He spoke of his acquaintance with Joseph Ratzinger since he came to Retensburg as a professor, and described him as a humble, modest, energetic and decisive man.

He said that the Pope’s visit in September was not about how many people he would attract but about a renewal of Catholic faith. He called the exhibit an element in the preparations for the visit.

He then pronounced a prayer that has been prepared for the visit, part of which says: “ Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen the successor of the Apostle Peter, Pope Benedict XVI, in his task as Universal Pastor, give your Church new strength so that she may give worthy witness of the Faith to the world.”

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Pope Benedict XVI yesterday gave an engaging twist to the familiar quotation attributed to John Paul II ("I called you and you came to me" - addressed to Catholic youth).

Here is an account from the Italian press of what took place at St. Peter's Square after yesterday's Mass and Angelus:

Most of the young people gathered expressed their “joy and desire to be together” at St. Peter’s Square yesterday for the Palm Sunday Mass and the handover of the WYD Cross and Marian icon from Cologne to Sydney.

Afterwards, one of them described it as “an experience to have and to share,” including the presence of Pope Benedict XVI, “the father of us all, the father of all the youth.”

In their hearts, some said they have “hope for a better future and having the strength to overcome difficulties.”

For many, it was important to have “precise points of reference along the way,” besides the fact that they know they must always be ready “to be of service to one’s neighbor.”

Though most of the youth were from Rome and other parts of Ialy, there were also large delegations from Germany and Australia, host countries of the 2004 and 2008 World Youth Day celebrations, along with groups from France, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Croatia.

Many of them elected to stay on even after the long celebration and the Angelus. The square continued to resound with applause, drum rolls, and occasional shouts of acclaim for the Pope, who reciprocated with an unprogrammed gesture.

After returning to the Papal apartments (having prayed the Angelus on the Piazza this time instead of from his study window), he showed himself at the study window to acknowledge their cheers. They responded with a huge ovation.

“I wish you all a good Sunday and a good lunch,” he said.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he added, referring to a scheduled audience with some 5000 university students Mondah morning at Aula Paul VI. The students are holding their 39th annual meeting inspired initially by St. Josemaria Escriva Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei.

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In this week’s magazine of the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung, papal biographer and journalist Peter Seewald answers some questions about the Pope.

1. Is he lonely at the Vatican?

Can’t imagine that: In the papal household there are four lay sisters, a valet and two private secretaries. When he looks out the window on Sundays, in the first 5 months as Pope alone, he could greet 600,000 of the faithful – a record number. And he also takes time some nights to spend a few hours in his old home.

2. What does he miss most?

John Paul II, walking through the streets of Borgo Pio, vacations with brother Georg in Bad Hofgastein.

3. Does the Pope have burdens?

He goes to confession, because he is “just as weak as other men.” Ratzinger has never smoked, he drinks wine and beer in 'homeopathic' doses at most. He has made a bet on
a drink at least once: An Irish journalist was convinced that this German cardinal would end up in Peter’s Chair one day. Much later, he received a letter with a bottle of Old Bushmills Irish Whiskey saying “His Holiness remembers the bet.”

4. What's with the dark rings around his eyes?

Wojtyla was 58 when he became Pope – he was young and strong. Ratzinger was 78, and by nature, was never a Hercules. As Pope, he heads the biggest organization in the world!

5. Is Benedict doing anything different?

Yes, in subtle thoughtful ways. He has done away with the obligatory hand kissing, he replaced the tiara (symbol of earhly power) on the Papal coat of arms with a simple Bishop’s miter, and has given up the title “Patriarch of the West” as an ecumenical gesture. Synods have been reduced in length, speeches have been cut down. Wojtyla was used to speaking in the first person, Ratzinger has started to use the pronoun “we” again in order to highlight the idea of collegiality.

6. What are his themes?

He holds tradition to be very important and he wants to shake Christendom out of its lethargy. One of his favorite words is ‘purification” – above all, for the Church itself. He considers Jesus as someone who promotes self-questioning – a feel-good Church contradicts this. And he considers the goal of ecumenism to be “the re-establishment of full and tangible unity” among the Christian churches.

7. In what ways does he differ from John Paul II?

Much less than most people think. “I hear him and I see him speaking,” he has said. “We are close together now in a new way.” Rarely has a Pope stood at the beginning in such a spotlight, yet in the shadow of his predecessor’s giant legacy. But Ratzinger has managed to bring about a seamless fusion of two Pontificates, which no one had thought possible.

8. What is a typical day like for the Pope?

He gets up around 6 a.m., he celebrates Mass in the private chapel, eats breakfast and proceeds to work. On Wednesdays there is the general audience; on Sundays, the Angelus. He gives Communion lessons, visits the sick, baptizes babies, receives ambassadors, heads of government, rabbis. Unlike Wojtyla, he rarely has guests at mealtime, and he goes to bed earlier.

9. One sentence to describe him?

“He knows how to shoot down fools” (according to football coach Giovanni Trapattoni)
[The German equivalent of the saying “He doesn’t suffer fools gladly.”]

10. A sentence from Benedict?

“Strive for goodness, not for gain.”

11. What is the meaning of the encyclical “Deus caritas est”?
It serves as the keynote to his pontificate. Der Spiegel described it as “a song in praise of love”. In this encyclical, the Pope urges the liberation of eros from its imprisonment in self-indulgence and (says) that man’s acceptance of his physical nature finds its rooted-in-creation form in the indissoluble bond of marriage between a man and a woman.

12. Who does the Pope pray for?

It depends on what is happening in the world. For peace in Iraq, for the victims of Bad Reichenhall [where the collapse of the roof on an ice-skating rink killed dozens of Germans), for Abdul Rahman [the Catholic convert from Afghanistan]. In this month of April, one of the
Papal prayer intentions is that women’s rights may be respected in all parts of the world.

13. What does he dislike most?

Improvised, do-it-yourself Masses.

14. What is he doing with the iPod that was given to him?

Ratzinger is completely without technical abilities. I cannot imagine how an iPod can help him. He would much rather play something on his old piano, preferably Mozart, Bach and Palestrina.

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From Canadian Catholic News, an interesting appraisal of Pope Benedict by the Apostolic Nuncio to Canada:

Apostolic Nuncio
celebrates the Pope's teaching
By DEBORAH GYAPONG
Ottawa

While Canada's apostolic nuncio describes the late Pope John Paul II as the world's greatest spiritual leader in the last quarter century, the Vatican's ambassador also sees a wonderful continuity in the papacy of Benedict XVI.

"For me, he (Benedict) is a kind of St. Augustine of our time," said Archbishop Luigi Ventura as he reflected on the year since John Paul's death April 2, 2005.

"His gift to me is the gift of teaching, this kind of deep insight into the culture."

Benedict displays not only erudition, but he is "a man of deep wisdom" who has the ability to simplify complex truths, to take "simple words" to describe "great things" and thereby "making them accessible," he said.

"He is watering the roots of the faith."

In an interview at the Apostolic Nunciature (Vatican's embassy) in Ottawa March 29, Ventura said the personalities of the two men could not be more different.

Pope John Paul II was media-friendly. His training as an actor helped him to face the crowds. He had a strong, baritone voice that rang out over St. Peter's square.

John Paul was an authority figure, not through political power or strength, but through his faith and the fact that "he kept his style as a man."

While Ventura does not know Benedict as well personally as he did John Paul, he has not been surprised he has not lived up to the negative image as a Vatican enforcer.

He admits the image was "not so positive," but it came with the job as prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that Benedict held as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger since 1981.

Ventura said Benedict turned down the job two or three times. He believed his vocation was teaching and he was happy as a university professor in Munich. But out of obedience, he eventually accepted the call.

Benedict's personality is warm, Ventura said, and the common people in the Church sense this. He said he was surprised during a recent Rome trip to see the size of the crowds to hear the pope pray the Angelus on Sundays.

Benedict, however, is a shy man who is not as media-friendly as his predecessor.

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Just take a look whose picture is on the top of this Message Board:
members3.boardhost.com/Oranjes/
and if you roll down you'll find some comments, but that's a different kind of board.

How odd to find the Pope illustrating a message board by fans of royalty! Obviously the members consider the Pope "royalty", because they not only have his picture at the top of the message board- they also include his schedule (via link tot he vatican website) for the week! The picture of him that they use certainly looks very "royal" - too bad the titles cover his face!

Found on the Polish site for Papa's upcoming visit:

Book Autographed By Benedict XVI
Fetches 11,000 Polish Zloty
Fódz 2006-04-11 22:08:34

Nearly 80,000 Polish zloty was raised during an auction "Painted With Hope." The auction, which sold ostrich Easter eggs, paintings, and other art works, was organized on April 10 in Fódz by the Catholic Association of the Disabled of the Archdiocese of Fódz.

A book by Joseph Ratzinger, "The Europe of Benedict: In the Crisis of Cultures," with an autograph of Benedict XVI, fetched the highest price of 11,000 PLN.

The proceeds from the auction will go to the rehabilitation of the 8-year-old Michal Sroczynski. "It was a miracle the child did not die in the fire. The boy was saved by his grandfather, who several days later died of extensive burns incurred. Over 80% of the boy’s body was charred. He was comatose for a month. So far he has had 12 surgeries and grafts in a Katowice hospital. There are more to come," says Fr. Piotr Kosmala, chaplain of people with disabilities.

It was the fifth public sale of this kind. Last year’s one fetched 44,000 PLN. "I was a bit apprehensive at first as there were fewer people than usual. Still, those who did come were just great," observes Fr. Kosmala.

The asking price of all the works – ostrich Easter eggs and paintings – was 200 zloty. Each was sold for a higher price. An Easter egg made by Danuta Muszynska-Zamorska, featuring an image of a child holding a kitten, fetched 7,000 PLN.

Still, the auction’s record is held by the Ratzinger book. Its asking price was 24.50 PLN, the bookstore cover price. It was bid up fiercely to eventually reach the price of 11,000 zloty. The highest bidder was a deputy to the Polish Parliament, Piotr Misztal, the most active participant in the vendue.

Also from the Polish site, this very sensible open letter to his countrymen by Dariusz Kowalczyk, S.J., dogmatic theologian and Provincial of the Wielkopolsko-Mazowiecka Province of the Society of Jesus:

Benedict XVI’s pilgrimage to Poland provides an opportunity for the strengthening of our faith mainly in the ecclesial dimension. This means, among others, that our love to the Church and the Pope may become more profound. Such a more profound attitude will be marked by a transition from the kind of thinking: "We love the Holy Father, since he is our great compatriot," to the attitude: "We respect and love the Bishop of Rome, since we look at him with faith as the Christ’s Representative."

I expect much of Benedict XVI’s homilies and sermons. I like his style of writing and speaking very much, as it is convincing thanks to its inner cohesiveness and power of logical argumentation.

I would very much like Poles to prepare themselves for the pilgrimage, for instance by reading at least one book by Joseph Ratzinger. I would recommend interviews with Cardinal Ratzinger: “The Ratzinger Report", “Salt of the Earth", or “God and the World". May we really listen attentively to what the Pope is saying. I hope that we will not deafen his words by our chanting “Bene-detto!"

Benedict XVI is not a man of the media in the sense of John Paul II, but he possesses his own genuine, inner light which makes a lot of people attend the audiences and the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square. This number of the faithful is on the rise. I have no doubt that we will welcome the Pope in large numbers and with joy.

Naturally, one cannot but mention John Paul II in such moments, but I trust that these memories will not consist in unwise comparisons between “our" Pope and “this" Pope. Benedict XVI himself frequently recalls his predecessor and will no doubt do this also during his visit to Poland. Let us remember, however, that this pontificate is not only the continuation of the preceding pontificate. Benedict XVI has got his signature style and his focus in preaching.

The Pope likes Poles and will most probably feel at home among us. We need to remember, though, that he is nearly 80. He is not as young as John Paul II in the early years of his pontificate. Let us allow him to make proper use of his physical strength during his stay in Poland. Let us allow Benedict XVI to be himself and let us draw on his spiritual and intellectual wealth.

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Here is a translation of a review that appears in the April 15, 2006 issue of STERN, the German newsmagazine, about a documentary to be aired thisweek to mark Pope Benedict's first year as Pope.
---------------------------------------------------------------

In the footsteps of Cardinal Ratzinger
By Esteban Engel

The German-French cultural channel ARTE is presenting a documentary on the Pope for Easter. The transformation of Joseph
Ratzinger to Pope Benedict XVI is presented as an intellectual adventure.

From “God’s Rottweiler” to “Wir sind Papst!” (We are Pope!) – One year after the election of Benedict XVI, the man on Peter’s Chair still poses many questions for the public. Whether as “Panzerkardinal” or darling of the masses, the first German Pope since the Reformation awakens hopes as well as doubts among observers and the public.

The documentary by Arte is entitled “Der raetselhafte Papst” (The puzzling Pope) and will be first aired on Holy Saturday, April 15, at 21:35.

For the 52-minute film, Ludwig Ring-Eifel and Thomas Schroeder interviewed admirers and critics of the Pope, his colleagues during his long career, philosophers and Vatican experts, filming in the places associated with the Pope.

Most puzzling above all to the film-makers is Ratzinger’s transformation from theological hardliner to a media-effective Pontiff, who was able to cast a spell on a million youth in Cologne.

“I still cannot grasp his character,” says Ring-Eifel. Although his cameras got as far as the Papal chambers, it was not possible to arrange for an interview during the allotted production time.

From the young theologian who advocated an opening of the Church to the world in the Second Vatican Council, Ratzinger became a critic of liberation theology and then the highest guardian of the faith in the Catholic Church.

When Ratzinger first appeared in public as the new Pope shortly after he was elected, the black garments of the Defender of the faith were to be seen under his white Papal robes. [It was a sweater, he was feeling cold - nothing symbolic about that!]

“Of course he is dogmatic, but what else is the Church about but dogma?” asks Alain Finkelkraut. The French philosopher, who is Jewish, is fascinated by the Pope’s timelessness – “The Holy Spirit has resisted the Zeitgeist,” he comments, and finds that a good thing. Finkelkraut is one of the most stimulating among those interviewed.

Mostly, it is the “abrupt” transformation from introverted Progfessor to media darling that raises a lot of questions.
Peter Sloterdijk says that Ratzzinger “re-programmed’ himself from a a Church autocrat into a Pope. “When God bestows an office, he also grants knowledge – and charisma,” he adds.

But some professional Vatican watchers are not satisfied. Luigi Accatoli, Vatican correspondent for Corriere della Sera says that with the German Pope succeeding the popular John Paul II, the journalists’ work has become more difficult.
[This misrepresents Accatoli somewhat, as his articles about Benedict have mostly been positive and has even given talks in praise of him .]

Fr. Eberhard von Gemmingen, who directs the German service of Vatican radio, warns against expecting from Benedict the sort of media appearances that Wojtyla made familiar. German Bundestag President Norbert Lammert says briefly, “ He is not someone amenable to prediction.”

The Pope does not “talk much.” Cardinal Karl Lehmann says, “In Rome, it is a good thing that one does not talk too much.”

He says that the Pope has behaved in the past year like a good German parish priest: “One year to observe, to listen, and then he decides,” says the chairman of the German Bishops Conference.

The Pope’s former colleague Hans Kueng says his hopes have been dampened, and thinks the Pope has been arrested in time
“within the old Church”.

Sloterdijk counters, “The Pope needs to be spiritually 2000 years old... He must be immune to the passage of time.” Fr. Von Gemmingen adds, “He must remain mysterious.”
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The problem with TV documentaries is that one seeks to present or develop a line of thought that is supported by brief soundbites in place of solid arguments.

The German parliamentarian made the "safest" and most noncommittal evaluation by simply saying this Pope is unpredictable. It's an adjective that turns up in most of the
first-year reviews about Benedict so far.

If they cannot identify their idea of a pattern in what he has said and done in the past 12 months, then 'unpredictable' is as safe and neutral a word as they can come up with. But unpredictable is good because they can never take him for granted.

The more incisive analysts have judged rightly that this Pope is his own man, he does not hesitate to show this, he knows his own mind, and he will let us know, by word and deed, what he thinks at the appropriate time.

But it's all part of the phenomenon of Benedict XVI - and the Catholic Church as an institution - that the whole world is discussing the attributes, the achievements and the potential of a man who is 79 years old as they would discuss some other world leader in his prime. It's a discussion that was halted prematurely - in terms of current attributes and potential - for John Paul II by illness.

I must credit this review for one thing - the writer is probably the first journalist to describe Benedict as the "darling of the masses," something almost none of his colleagues has been prepared to say so far, even if they report and acknowledge the record crowds that Benedict attracts.

It is not clear to me, however, whether the documentary itself uses the term. It would be wonderful if it did, wonderful that two German film-makers would have the balls to go against 'conventional thinking' in the media, where most writers convinced themselves from the very beginning that no one, but no one, could conceivably match John Paul's attractions.

They turned John Paul's mediagenic personality into a stereotype itself, forgetting that charisma is always individual, and thefore manifests in different ways; and that, to quote from Monsignor Comastri's introduction to a new book on Benedict's first year as Pope, "God does not like clones.'

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Famiglia Cristiana, Italy's most widely-circulated magazine, has a Pope Benedict special issue this week to mark the first year of his Papacy. Fortunately, they have made all of the articles available online. I will translate the most important ones and maybe excerpt from the rest, but here's the line-up:

The Pope of love and joy - Interview with Cardinal Ruini
The sincere kindness of an expert in humanity - by Cardinal Bertone
His 'concrete gestures' for Christian unity - by Enzo Bianchi, head of the Bose community
A man of words who sows deeply - by Andrea Riccardi, head of the Sant'Egidio Community
For the young people, he is already their father - by Don Paolo Giuletti
A Pope who advocates the new Pentecost - by Chiara Lubich, head of the Focolari movement
"Viva Karol" aNd "Go, Joseph!" - by Alberto Chiara
Benedict and the Paolini, apostles of the avant-garde - by Alberto Bobbio
He shows us the truth - by Luigi Alici

Here is the Editor's Note that introduces the special:

BENEDICT, POPE OF LOVE
On the road of joy

The encyclical Deus caritas est has not only characterized these last few months. The theme love of God has been the profound mirror of this pontificate and has confounded every programmatic consideration proposed by ill-advised commentators one year ago when they painted the new Pope as “the guardian of the faith,” “the mastiff of orthodoxy,” almost as if this was a heartless man who would be a cold and rigid Pope, someone who had emerged from the dark dungeons of what many still insist on calling the ex-Holy Office.

But a mind and free intellectual like Joseph Ratzinger always defies prefabricated and preconceived concepts. In the ample service that we present in the pages of this special, two cardinals who know him well speak of him, and confirm how muich the world, and at times, even the Church itself, has judged him so mistakenly.

This year, Benedict XVI has offered the world the image of a humble Church which places itself at the service of the faithful, which indicates the road for them to follow and which seeks out men and women as individuals to speak to and to take by the hand along the chosen road. But the Pope has not stopped simply at indicating the parth with extended arm and pointing finger.

He has made the first steps and waits, he has shown in so many speeches that there is still much to do in translating the gifts of faith into the language of today’s culture.

He has used the past year to show that there is logic in faith, that it is not a folly for visionaries, not something reserved for people who are psychologically unstable. In the encyclical, he cited one of the German philosophers who is among the so-called “masters of suspicion,” those for whom faith poisons life, so that even if one has faith, you should not show that you believe in God lest you end up poisoning even your neighbor’s life! Today, in this world, even in Italy, there are many who think the same way.

Instead, Benedict tries to teach the reasons for faith. He did this masterfully during his session with the youth in St. Peter’s Square last week. He has shown time and again that he is very concerned most especially about the crisis in truth, and he has done this most with young people, a sign that this a strategic theme for him.

He has invited us to recognize the power and trhe substance of the faith, namely God’s love, in the ways through which this has been taught by the doctrine over centuries. In Cologne, he spoke of a “revolution” that is needed in order to liberate the true kernel of the faith from the incrustations if centuries. It could be the key to the first year of his pontificate, the criterion against which to measure many of the words that Pope Benedict XVI has said.

He has been able to gather naturally the legacy of John Paul II’s long Papacy. But one year after Wojtyla’s death, he also said that that legacy meant to move ahead! If even gestures and images can tell us something, it must be noted that he celebrated the Mass to mark his predecessor’s death anniversary in a red chasuble embroidered with shells, the symbol of pilgrimage, as well as a natural instrument for carrying water, thus implying both refreshment and satisfaction of thirst, as well as moving forward. Benedict proposes a missionary Church.

Father Sorge writes in the latest issue of Aggiornamenti sociali, the magazine he edits for the Jesuits of Milan: “At the start of the third millenium, Benedict XVI has assembled the Identikit of a rejuvenated Church: which proposes social doctrine without imposing it; which practices social charity without political ends, free of ideologies and parties; which “serves” without ulterior motives, not even of proselytizing; that is always actively working but also always in prayer. This is the Church as the family of God who is love.”

Best wishes, Benedict XVI.

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