Pavens sekretær, monsignore Georg Gänswein ble før helga intervjua av Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Jeg har lest en engelsk oversettelse av intervjuet, den tyske originalen fins her.
I intervjuet kan vi lese mange interessante ting av pavens arbeid, bl.a. om økumenikk og messefeiring:
PS: What impact can this pontificate have?
M Gänswein: A strengthening of faith and an encouragement of faith – and the consciousness that the Catholic Faith is something great, a gift from God, that’s however not forced on people but is supposed to be accepted freely. In that, there are great challenges that the Church has to face.
PS: For example?
MG: The «God question», the engaging of various forms of Relativism, the dialog with Islam, the strengthening of our own identity. The fact that a continent like Europe cannot live when its Christian roots are cut, because that means taking away its soul.
PS: The announcement of a desired «full and visible union» with the Orthodox churches was the first sensation of the «Ratzinger government». Isn’t that a rather illusory concept?
MG: That’s nothing sensational, that’s always been the declared goal. That a Pope who’s especially influenced this area theologically over the last years and decades formulates this explicitly should go without saying. Let’s not forget that the orthodox churches stand in Apostolic succession and therefore have a valid institution, the Eucharist and also the seven sacraments. What still needs to be clarified is the question of the primacy and the jurisdiction of the Pope. But it is a scandal that Christianity is still fractured. The restoration of the full unity of faith is certainly a great goal of the theologian-Pope.
PS: Will Pope Benedict rebuild the Papacy in favor of this unity?
MG: The question is asked wrongly. Ecumenism cannot be undertaken at the expense of the truth. A Pope can’t just rebuild, reorganize the Papacy to achieve certain goals faster. The important thing is that the Papacy helps to stay true to the demand of truth as regards this unity. ….
PS: It’s plain to see that so many priests of the new generation discover the spiritual, cultural and aesthetical treasures of the handed-down liturgy. With the new Motu proprio «Summorum Pontificum», an Apostolic letter of the Pope it has been stated that every priest may celebrate the Holy Mass also according to the earlier, Tridentine Rite. Will this bring new conflicts?
MG: The opposite is the purpose and goal. Conflicts are supposed to be ended, existing fractions and schisms overcome. With the Motu proprio a spiritual home has been opened to a lot of the faithful. I am convinced that the letter of the Holy Father to the bishops which was released together with the Motu proprio and in which the Pope explains the goals and motivations of the document at length is the right key to its proper understanding.