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By Gerald O’Collins, SJ

“Pope Benedict is 78 years of age. Father O’Collins, do you think he’ll resign at 80?” “Brian,” I said, “give him a chance. He hasn’t even started yet.” It was the afternoon of 19 April 2005, and I was high above St Peter’s Square standing on the BBC World TV platform with Brian Hanrahan. The senior cardinal deacon had just announced from the balcony of St Peter’s to a hundred thousand people gathered in the square: “Habemus Papam.” Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been elected pope.

Less than an hour earlier, white smoke pouring from a chimney poking up from the Sistine Chapel let the world know that the cardinal electors had chosen a successor to Pope John Paul II. The bells of Rome were supposed to ring out the news at once. But it took a quarter of an hour for them to chime in. When Hanrahan asked me why the bells hadn’t come in on cue, I pointed the finger at local inefficiency: “We’re in Italy, Brian.”

I was wrong. The keys to the telephone that should have let someone contact the bellringers were in the pocket of the dean of the college of cardinals, Joseph Ratzinger. He had gone into a change room to put on his white papal attire, and didn’t hand over the keys until he came out dressed as pope.

One of the oldest cardinals ever to be elected pope, after less than eight years in office Benedict XVI has now bravely decided to retire or, to use the “correct” word, abdicate. His declining health has made him surrender his role as Bishop of Rome, successor of St Peter, and visible head of the Catholic Christendom. He no longer has the stamina to give the Church the leadership it deserves and needs.

Years ago an Irish lady, after watching Benedict’s predecessor in action, said to me: “He popes well.” You didn’t need to be a specialized Vatican watcher to notice how John Paul II and Benedict “poped” very differently.

A charismatic, photogenic, and media-savvy leader, John Paul II proved a global, political figure who did as much as anyone to end European Communism. He more or less died on camera, with thousands of young people holding candles as they prayed and wept for their papal friend dying in his dimly lit apartment above St Peter’s Square.

Now Benedict’s papacy ends very differently. He will not be laid out for several million people to file past his open coffin. His fisherman’s ring will not be ceremoniously broken. There will be no official nine days of mourning or funeral service attended by world leaders and followed on television or radio by several billion people. He will not be lifted high above the crowd like a Viking king, as his coffin is carried for burial into the Basilica of St Peter’s. The first pope to use a pacemaker will quietly walk off the world stage.

In my latest book, an introduction to Catholicism, I naturally included a (smiling) picture of Pope Benedict. But he pales in comparison with the photos of John Paul II anointing and blessing the sick on a 1982 visit to the UK; meeting the Dalai Lama before going to pray for world peace in Assisi; in a prison cell visiting Mehmet Ali Agca, who had tried to assassinate him in May 1981; and hugging Mother Teresa of Calcutta after visiting one of her homes for the destitute and dying.

Yet the bibliography of that introduction contains no book written by John Paul II either before or after he became pope. But it does contain the enduring classic by Joseph Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity (originally published 1967). Both as pope and earlier, it was through the force of his ideas rather than the force of his personality that Benedict XVI exercised his leadership.

The public relations record of Pope Benedict was far from perfect. He will be remembered for quoting some dismissive remarks about Islam made by a Byzantine emperor. That 2006  speech in Regensburg led to riots and worse in the Muslim world. Many have forgotten his visit later that year to the Blue Mosque in Istanbul when he turned towards Mecca and joined his hosts in silent prayer.

Catholics and other Christians around the world hope now for a forward-looking pope who can offer fresh leadership and deal quickly with some crying needs like the ordination of married men and the return to the local churches of the decision-making that some Vatican offices have arrogated to themselves.

When he speaks at midday from his apartment to the people gathered in St Peter’s Square on 24 February, the last Sunday before his resignation kicks in, Pope Benedict will be making his final public appearance before the people of Rome. A vast crowd will have streamed in from the city and suburbs to thank him with their thunderous applause. They cherished the clear, straightforward language of his sermons and homilies, and admire him for what will prove the defining moment of his papacy—his courageous decision to resign and pass the baton to a much younger person.

Gerald O’Collins received his Ph.D. in 1968 at the University of Cambridge, where he was a research fellow at Pembroke College. From 1973-2006, he taught at the Gregorian University (Rome) where he was also dean of the theology faculty (1985-91). Alone or with others, he has published fifty books, including Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction and The Second Vatican Council on Other Religions. As well as receiving over the years numerous honorary doctorates and other awards, in 2006 he was created a Companion of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AC), the highest civil honour granted through the Australian government. Currently he is a research professor of theology at St Mary’s University College,Twickenham (UK).

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Image Credits: Pope Benedict XVI during general audition By Tadeusz Górny, public domain via Wikimedia Commons; Church of the Carmine, Martina Franca, Apulia, Italy. Statues of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II By Tango7174, creative commons licence via Wikimedia Commons

The post The abdication of Pope Benedict XVI appeared first on OUPblog.

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Ronni Kahn Australian Hero of the Year 2010, Founder of OzHarvest  spoke about her special lunch with the Dalai Lama who had asked her to go on MASTER CHEF to promote giving food to the homeless and hungry.

Ronnie spoke passionately about her journey to establish a fleet of vans collecting excess meals and foods for the homeless, disadvantaged supplying now 354 charities.

She’s a dynamo getting Woolworths, ALDI & IGA on board. OzHarvest collects 20 tons of food every day distributing to Sydney, Canberra, Newcastle and Adelaide and opening in Brisbane on 1st September.

The luncheon hosted by Angela Mentis Executive General Manager NAB was warm, wonderful and dynamic with 20 amazing women there celebrating OzHarvest – Sandra Levy CEO Australian Film & Radio School, Natasha Stot- Despoja former Australian Democrats Leader and on Not For Profit boards, Annalise Law MD of Kanga Group and Telstra Woman of the Year  … and of course Ronni.

Annalise said that her company was supporting  Father Chris Riley and Kids Off The Street last week. My daughter and I were cooking dinner last week for teens in trouble, in an inner city  Kids Off The Street house. The stars were aligned and as the Dalai lama says:-

 

‘Our prime purpose in this life is to help others’

 

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Due to a mistranslation by one of the new acolytes, while a group of monks were watching the Dalai Lama on a CNN International rebroadcast of the Larry King Live show, several of them immediately lined up at Uncle Tam’s parlor in Katmandu to get their new Betty Page tattoos.

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Most likely we've all experienced loneliness at one time or another and it goes away.  However, when the feelings of despair, depression and sadness consume our entire being it's time to seek help.

Never Be Lonely Again - The Way Out of Emptiness, Isolation, and a Life Unfulfilled is a must read for anyone feeling hopeless.

Inspired by the teachings of the Dalai Lama (and a personal visit with), authors Pat Love, Ed.D. and Jon Carlson, Psy.D., Ed.D. have left no stone unturned in their quest to help you. 

This book will teach readers how to:

~  Find the necessary time to maintain friendships
~  Reach out to people when in need
~  Be truly present for a partner
~  Develop healthier behaviours that will nurture relationships
~  Be open to lasting, personal connections

In addition, Never Be Lonely Again asks five questions, when answered open and honestly, will change your life:

1. Who am I?
Your core values reflect who you are. Think about how you want the people you love to remember you, and then live each day demonstrating these characteristics and your life will take on a new direction and energy.

2. Am I connected?
You need three to five people in your close circle of contact—people who know you and pay close attention to you; in whom you can and do confide. If you improve the quality of your connections, comfort and contentment will greatly increase.

3. Am I living in community?
Invest in people outside your close circle of friends/family and you feel a true sense of well-being and belonging.

4. Are my talents being utilized in meaningful work?
Work doesn’t have to be the activity for which you get paid. Talents are something you enjoy doing—when you use them to benefit others you feel productive and useful, like you are earning your keep here on earth.

5. Am I living out the purpose of my life?
Chances are, if you concentrate on the other four questions you will answer yes to this question but it bears asking. Am I doing what I was put here on earth to do? What could I do that would make the answer to this question yes? Do it and your life will improve in every possible way.

Don't spend another moment caught in the loneliness trap, grab a copy of Never Be Lonely Again and let the healing begin.  You'll be glad you did.

Never Be Lonely Again is available at HCI Books and Amazon

1 Comments on Never Be Lonely Again - a Review, last added: 2/27/2011

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Many children have deep spiritual experiences that adults may not know how to validate (or even, sometimes, acknowledge in themselves). Books can give children a sense that their liminal, fragile, and ignored-by-most-grownups experiences are worthy and precious. I asked Whitney Stewart, author of the picture book biography Becoming Buddha: The Story of Siddhartha, to comment on this topic:

“I have a great deal to say on the subject of adults ignoring the ’spiritual’ experiences of children. When I was fourteen, I took a rafting trip with my best friend and her older siblings. We hit a rough patch of white water and the raft flipped. I was on the bow and I got trapped under the raft and in some tangled branches. I started running out of air and panicked for a period. Then suddenly my internal voice said, ‘Oh this is just death,’ and I relaxed completely. I ‘saw’ scenes from my whole life as if in one frame of a movie, and I felt bright light and deep peace. I stopped struggling. And I felt joy.“Then someone pulled me out of the water. I was choking, and I tried to talk about what had happened but no one was interested in listening. We had to portage the raft over rough riverbank.“This was one of several childhood experiences of something beyond myself that I have tried to understand. These ’sensed’ experiences led me to Tibet in 1986 and into Tibetan Buddhism. I chose to meet and write about the Dalai Lama because I wanted to understand his view of universal consciousness.“I now have a strong urge to teach children how to listen to their inner wisdom and connect to universal wisdom as they understand it. To me this connection can happen at any time in any place if the child is ‘listening’ in a full body-mind-heart way. My newest book on meditation shows kids simple ways to make this connection.“I could talk forever on this subject. But this is a start.”

Thank you, Whitney, for your thoughtful perspective. For a preview of Whitney’s book on meditation, including instructions and illustrations to get you (kids and grownups) started, click here. PaperTigers welcomes readers’ book recommendations and comments on the topic of spiritual books for children–and other topics as well, as always. See Whitney’s blog here.

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“Katrina did something to my psyche,” says New Orleans children’s writer Whitney Stewart. Along with her teenage son and her 87-year-old mother-in-law, and with a cast on her own injured ankle, she was rescued by helicopter late at night after five days stranded on the fifth floor of the Tulane Medical School building during the hurricane’s aftermath. It was “a crazy, chaotic, unsettling experience… We’d tried earlier to leave but our rescue boat had been overtaken by people with guns… After Katrina, I needed to do new things. I needed a new paradigm for New Orleans.”

Whitney is now learning to kayak and doing volunteer work with the public schools. On a whim, the former high school actor sent photos of herself, her guitarist son, and her geneticist husband to casting agents; her son landed a role in “Cirque de Freak,” to be filmed in New Orleans this year.

But this writer had an adventurous life long before Katrina. After trekking the Himalaya twenty years ago with her mom, Whitney, who’d discovered her affinity for the biographical form as a Brown undergrad, wrote biographies for children of the Dalai Lama, Aung San Suu Kyi, Deng Xiaoping, Mao Zedong, Sir Edmund Hillary, and the Buddha. Her love of travel has also led her to write two young adult novels that present kids’ eye views of New Orleans (Jammin’ on the Avenue) and San Francisco (Blues Across the Bay).

A primary concern is getting across the message of subjects like the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi. Her biography, Aung San Suu Kyi: Fearless Voice of Burma, is soon to be re-issued, with proceeds going to a non-profit that benefits the Burmese cause. “I’m amazed that so few people have heard of her,” Whitney told me.  She’ll tell us about meeting this brave Burmese woman in an upcoming guest blog. Stay tuned!

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If you like the use and abuse of language, then here are some fun sites to browse:

Apostrophe Abuse. My favorite of the lot, because, really, what's more annoying than a stray apostrophe?

Literally, A Weblog. This one has made the rounds recently, but it's too good to pass up.

Now here's an odd one: lowercase L. Its author is concerned with inappropriate usages of lowercase l.

A new, yet utterly compelling, language blog: passive-aggressive notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers. Really, can it get any better?

Enjoy!

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