{"id":2429,"date":"2013-02-26T23:02:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T23:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/vatileaks-not-at-center-of-popes-decision-priest-states\/"},"modified":"2013-02-26T23:02:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T23:02:00","slug":"vatileaks-not-at-center-of-popes-decision-priest-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/vatileaks-not-at-center-of-popes-decision-priest-states\/","title":{"rendered":"Vatileaks not at center of Pope’s decision, priest states"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Vatican City, Feb 26, 2013 \/ 04:02 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- An Irish theologian who is familiar with the life and thought of Pope Benedict XVI says his decision to resign was not because of Vatican difficulties.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe media keeps focusing on the Vatileaks as key element to his resignation, and I think that\u2019s absolute nonsense,\u201d said Jesuit Father Michael P. Gallagher, who came to Rome about 20 years ago to work for the Pontifical Council for Culture.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI\u2019m sure he was worried and shocked by it, but we take him on his word that his resignation is a call from God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tFr. Gallagher, who is rector of the Jesuit Collegio San Roberto Bellarmino, made his comments to CNA in a Feb. 25 interview.<\/p>\n

\tIn his opinion, Benedict XVI is the Pope with the highest intellectual formation the Church has ever had in its 2,000 years of existence.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cNo other Popes have published so many books before being elected,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBeing an intellectual comes with advantages and perhaps some disadvantages,\u201d Fr. Gallagher observed.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe loves his books, he loves writing, he loves thinking and he loves communicating his thoughts, and that\u2019s one of his great qualities,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\tAccording to Fr. Gallagher, Pope Benedict has a vision with two sides.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOn the one hand, he\u2019s worried about the world, about the culture, about the way we see ourselves today, which stems from his rationalism and being a German,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe other side is his fundamental passion to give what he calls his freshness to faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAlthough Pope Benedict headed the Vatican\u2019s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before becoming pontiff, Fr. Gallagher noted that during his pontificate \u201chis emphasis is not so much on doctrine at all, but faith as an encounter with the Lord, as an event and as a prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThat spiritual side to him hasn\u2019t been recognized so much,\u201d he asserted. \u201cHe said in an interview once that faith is the love story between God and humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tBut Fr. Gallagher, who has taught on Joseph Ratzinger\u2019s theology, is not surprised that the Pope is resigning on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI was expecting this,\u201d he remarked. \u201cI was surprised when it happened, but not surprised that it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe said in an interview with Peter Seewald very strongly that if a Pope was unable to go on serving the Church because of age or health that, not only did he have the right to resign, he had the duty to resign,\u201d he recalled.<\/p>\n

\tAccording to Fr. Gallagher, the Pope has had to fight against the secular media, who \u201ccontinue to look for scandal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThis is changing history and the feeling as to what a Pope should do when he arrives in a situation of weakness,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\tIn an interview with Irish television reporter who labeled Benedict XVI \u201cthe German shepherd,\u201d the Jesuit said, \u201cgive him time and you will see he is not only a gentleman, but a gentle man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI think I\u2019ve been proved to be 100 percent correct because of his humility and honesty, which made him offer his resignation, and (by) the non-dramatic and spiritual tone of it,\u201d said Fr. Gallagher.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhat I\u2019ve admired the most of it, which hasn\u2019t been seen by all the public, is the spiritual tone of his homilies which stem from his world vision of the Church,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\tFr. Gallagher wants the next Pope to have \u201cenergy to communicate Christ\u201d and to \u201ccare for the bureaucracy at the Roman Curia that isn\u2019t quite right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen someone has been in a place too long they tend to block things, and we need a Pope to cut through that and make the servants of the faith serve the faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vatican City, Feb 26, 2013 \/ 04:02 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- An Irish theologian who is familiar with the life and thought of Pope Benedict XVI says his decision to resign was not because of Vatican difficulties.<\/p>\n

\t“The media keeps focusing on the Va…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vatican"],"yoast_head":"\nVatileaks not at center of Pope's decision, priest states<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vatican City, Feb 26, 2013 \/ 04:02 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- An Irish theologian who is familiar with the life and thought of Pope Benedict XVI says his decision to resign was not because of Vatican difficulties. “The media keeps focusing on the Va...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/vatileaks-not-at-center-of-popes-decision-priest-states\/\" 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