He’s a Leader, Too

As Benedict XVI celebrates his seventh year in the Chair of St. Peter (and his 85th birthday) this week, Marco Tosatti at Vatican Insider offers some information  you’re not likely to hear from most media outlets, detailing some of the quietly transformative work this pope has been accomplishing. Against those who believed this would be merely a “transitional” papacy, Tosatti notes, it might be more accurate to call this a ‘foundational’ period for the Church:

What many cardinals expected to be a transitional papacy is in fact turning into something quite different. It is turning into a foundational kingdom, created by someone who seeks to work silently, persistently and deeply.

How? Not many are aware of the fact that a great deal of Benedict XVI’s time and effort is spent on mysterious work which does not and should not attract the media’s attention but is fundamental to Church life: this is in order to prevent giving the media any negative reasons to start focusing on it any time soon.

Benedict XVI is adamant that the strength – and weakness – of the Church is found first and foremost in the dioceses, [ . . . ] He studies every dossier prepared for the three candidates in each diocese, he examines the course of studies and professional experience of potential future bishops and finally takes a decision. Indeed, he often asks for other candidates to be presented to him if he is not satisfied by the individuals who have been shortlisted. It is a tedious and not particularly glamorous task, but one for which the Church of the next few decades will be very grateful to him.

While attempts to dismiss any papacy as “transitional,” it seems, are almost guarantees of that not being the case (c.f. John XXIII’s critics, utterly thrown off course by his call for a new council), one could be forgiven for wondering, especially given the contrast with John Paul II’s rockstar style, how Benedict’s dramatically different temperament matches up.

But in a week of coverage, much of which is sure to be either generically retrospective or gleefully judgmental (a Reuters article I came across yesterday made sure to note, in its final paragraph, that his papacy had been “besieged” by the sexual abuse crisis—a claim which, aside from its mild bias, is not exactly accurate), it’s refreshing to read a piece that takes a longer view. For Benedict has not only been doctrinally consistent and intellectually sharp, as his apologists often note, but he has, indeed, been a leader , and this may be the most under-appreciated aspect of his reign. In any event, it’s worth being reminded that history (the long arc of which Benedict clearly works with an eye toward) often takes time to settle; trends do not emerge instantaneously, and changes which appear small, unremarkable, or even imperceptible often uncannily have the most lasting impact.