Some Catholics will or may not remember much about the papacy of Benedict XVI, but what they won’t forget is how it ended: His sudden announcement that he was resigning — the first pope in 600 years — and his dramatic departure left the Church in uncharted territory.
But for some, the very fact that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became pope came as a surprise.
Vatican watchers predicted that after the death of John Paul II, the College of Cardinals would elect someone like him, a warm, pastoral pope. But perhaps a non-European would better reflect the changing demographics of the Church. The fact that they chose a German, who spent most of his career outside the parishes and within the rarefied world of Vatican politics, surprised some and worried others. However, Ratzinger’s predecessor and mentor paved the way for him by naming him prefect of the Congregation of Faith.
The Vatican entrusted him with the application of ecclesiastical doctrine and the discipline of the clergy. As a consequence, he was one of the few cardinals who was in regular contact with the other cardinals. Furthermore, John Paul II further improved his odds by naming him dean of the College of Cardinals, tasked with voting to elect a pope where he had to guide the cardinals in a rare process.
From the start of his pontificate, Benedict XVI made it clear that he was not going to win a popularity contest. For decades he had fought against what he called relativism: the flexibility of the principles of the Church in favor of a modern society. For Benedict, the Church had to stand firm, even if it meant losing some Catholics who thought the Church should become more liberal.
If the Church were smaller, he often said, at least it would have the true defenders of the faith. But at the same time, and perhaps it was a contradiction, he himself was faced with a kind of moral relativism. As scandal descended on the Church and priests on both sides of the Atlantic were accused of sexually abusing young people and children, it became clear that Benedict, as a cardinal, had ignored what was going on or failed to discipline clergy accused of pedophilia. .