No Panzer Pope

In CT, from the invaluable Uwe Siemon-Netto of UPI, who's a Lutheran btw

The tenure of this 78-year old Bavarian on St. Peter's throne may be a relatively short one but it is bound to bring surprises. Coming from the land of the Protestant Reformation, this allegedly doctrinaire Catholic has already made it clear by his very actions the journey out of the "tyranny of relativism," whose properties are suspended ethical principles, must be an all-Christian enterprise.

Almost unnoticed by the world's media looking for sensations at the memorial service for John Paul II, Ratzinger quietly communed Brother Roger Schutz, the Swiss Protestant pastor and founder of the vibrant ecumenical community in Taizé, France.

Benedict XVI, arguably the foremost Catholic theologian of our time, has always been an ecumenist, though never a fuzzy one. If he gives the Sacrament to a member of another Christian church—and Schutz was not the only one—he makes it abundantly clear he consider this person a fellow member of the mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church.

This is not the way narrow-minded blockheads behave.

There is nothing stiff, hard or dogmatic about Benedict XVI. He is, as those close to him have always insisted, simply a "coherent thinker," and coherence is precisely what the confused secularized world appears to be longing for.

It is well worth listening to the ecumenical tenor of his vision for faith to leave its ghetto by going public with a property that is intrinsically its own—the suffering God (a favorite expression by Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer) who is also judge.

"This God," Ratzinger wrote in a frontal attack on postmodern relativism, "is the God setting standards for us; the God whence we originate and where we shall return."

Now, there's been discussion about Brother Roger...for example on this board at Ship of Fools. A member of the board just up and emailed Taize and asked - is Brother Roger RC or what now? The answer is somewhat enigmatic:

Thank you for your email asking about Brother Roger receiving communion at the recent funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II.

Perhaps the simplest answer to your question is to share with you a quotation from one of Brother Roger's most recent books:

“Can I recall here that my maternal grandmother discovered intuitively what was like a key to the ecumenical vocation and that she opened up a way of working it out for me? Marked by the witness of her life and following her example, and while still quite young, I found my own Christian identity by reconciling in myself the faith of my origins with the mystery of the Catholic faith, without rupture of communion with anyone.”

With warmest good wishes,

Brother Thomas

Comments

[Sarahbellum]

In my recent readings about Taize, it said Brother Roger is a Catholic monk.

I cannot imagine any cardinal giving Communion to a non-Catholic execpt by mistake. Not that I agree with that stance, but it is one that seems to be pretty cut and dried.

[Sarahbellum]

In my recent readings about Taize, it said Brother Roger is a Catholic monk.

I cannot imagine any cardinal giving Communion to a non-Catholic execpt by mistake. Not that I agree with that stance, but it is one that seems to be pretty cut and dried.

[hieronymus]

This might fall under "provided they give evidence of holding the Catholic faith regarding these sacraments and possess the required dispositions" although other than that, it just seems confusing. Probably best not to read too much into it one way or another.

[Daniel H. Conway]

Why not hieronymus? If we are going to be "shrinking the Church" of sinful, contracepting Catholics, what are we to do if the future Pope knowingly offered Communion to a Prot?

I maintain that the conservative call for exclusivity and excomunication will play out by the rules of worldly power and privilege and easy acceptance and routine brushoffs of this episode does nothing to persuade me otherwise.

[hieronymus]

Daniel:

Huh?

[frank sales]

If he gave Communion to a non- Catholic, this might be one of the "surprises" that knowledgeable pundits predicted Benedict would have for conservatives. Incidentally, at a wedding rehearsal I went to 3 years ago, a Hungarian Jesuit priest advised me that at a celebratory event like a wedding, all participants, regardless of faith, were welcome to participate in Communion. Yikes!

[Jason]

"If the danger of death is present or other grave necessity, in the judgment of the diocesan bishop or the conference of bishops, Catholic ministers may licitly administer these sacraments to other Christians who do not have full Communion with the Catholic Church, who cannot approach a minister of their own community and on their own ask for it, provided they manifest Catholic faith in these sacraments and are properly disposed" (CIC 844 § 4).

[Ignacio]

La Razón newspaper of Spain reported on the day of JPII's funderals that Br. Roger had been received into the Catholic Church.

[Mark C.]

Let us not forget the precedent of Vladimir Soloviev, who was acknowledged by Pope Leo XIII as a Catholic and received Catholic sacraments, yet was not forced to renounce the Russian Orthodox Church, which he continued to worship in.

[JB]

I had heard Bro. Roger became a Catholic several years ago. Perhaps he simply doesn't want to say it because he still feels "protestant" as well and being the ecumenical fellow he is doesn't dwell on distinctions.

[Ed]

The Methodists in my wife's Methodist Church seem to consider me a reasonably acceptable Methodist, my denials notwithstanding.

[Tom]

Getting a photo op with the then Cardinal would not be a grave necessity. I'm sure if Brother Roger is a Protestant (I have no idea) he could find one of his churches in Rome somewhere.

I also have no idea if the now Holy Father would have known who he was, one way or the other, either.

[Eileen R]

Tom, Ratzinger and Bro. Roger are old friends.

Mark, can you point us to any more info on Soloviev?

[dennis]

On Soloviev, I higly recommend his book "The Russian Church and the Papacy", available from Catholic Answers Press in a fairly recent edition (which includes an excellent forward by Cardinal Schonborn).

As the book's editor, Fr. Ray Ryland, notes in the back cover blurb: "Seldom, if ever, has this Catholic Doctrine of the Church [Papal Primacy] been stated more eloquently..."

Ryland further summarizes Soloviev's basic argument as this:
1. Christ himself instituted the universal jurisdiction and infallible teaching authority of the Papacy as a gift to the Church
2. Apart from the Papacy, the Eastern Churches will remain disunited national and ethnic churches
3. Thus, only through union with the Papacy can the Eastern Churches become truly Catholic and rise above narrow national and ethnic concerns.

Soloviev's book "War, Progress, and the End of History" is also readily available, and is quite brilliant and prohetic regarding the state of the world and Church today.

[Samuel J. Howard]

Boy, I hope if I recieve communion from the Holy Father they won't say "Unitarian recieves Eucharist". (I converted several years ago, but it's not the kind of thing you can do a Lexis-Nexus search on.

[Sainte Beuve]

The response from Taize says it all. Brother Roger has not become Catholic but has reconciled within him the eucharistic faith of the Catholic Church. This isn't the first time that he, or other brothers of Taize, received holy communion in Rome either. And yes, he is an old friend of Benedict XVI.

[Tom Leith]

I am given to understand that Roger Schutz has converted to the Faith, and that this is not necessarily a public act. Taize may have its reasons for being cagey about it -- their response does not "say it all".

[Ignacio]

I heard this morning on the rado in Spain that yesterday night, in the middle of a night pray in Taizé, a woman stood up and killed father Roger.

I am completely shocked about this news as father Roger is the one that has helped me find my path in my spiritual life.

Descanse en paz. Rest in peace.

[johan smit]

I am very saddened and shocked about the news of the death of Frere Roger,true pacifist disciple and friend of the Lord.
Thank you,Frere Roger and companions for the springtime you gave to the Church,for your example of love and peacemaking/reconciliation.
Thank You,Lord,for this man You gave us.
Like his Master Jesus,he loved and so went unprotected amongst people of all kinds:the disciple is not above the Master.The Bible says.

Paix,Pax,Shalom,Salaam,Peace,

[anchoress]

I too have just heard the shocking news of the murder of Br Roger; that is why I came to this site. So far there is nothing online about is and the Taize website is down. Taize has been a lifeline to me during many hard years. Men like Br Roger are simply above denomination; a position I am honoured to share also. I rejoice that the Pope sees this. Yes, thank and praise Jesus for this great man He sent us. This world is the poorer for him passing...

[sharon d.]

There's more information at this site, Open Book, on the main page; this post is long-archived. Also more info at http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2005/08/taize-founder-murdered.html

[tinpads]

I saw brother Roger just a day before his sad end came. It is sad that a peaceful, holy and ailing man in his 90s should be killed. What was going on in the woman's mind, and why did she charge at the founder of all the people. Brother Roger, the Brothers, the Taize community, the Taize prayers and meditative songs have touched me in a personal way many many times.
I do not know which denomination he is from, or how much of catholicism he had accepted. But I believe that we had a saint in him, who is in heaven right now, praying for all young people and families he touched by his vocation.