{"id":2438,"date":"2013-02-27T19:41:00","date_gmt":"2013-02-27T19:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/atheist-nobel-prize-winner-mourns-popes-retirement\/"},"modified":"2013-02-27T19:41:00","modified_gmt":"2013-02-27T19:41:00","slug":"atheist-nobel-prize-winner-mourns-popes-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/02\/atheist-nobel-prize-winner-mourns-popes-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Atheist Nobel prize winner mourns Pope’s retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Lima, Peru, Feb 27, 2013 \/ 12:41 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- An atheist Peruvian author has praised the spiritual and intellectual stature of Pope Benedict XVI and said that his departure is a loss for the cultural and spiritual life of the world.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI don\u2019t know why Benedict XVI\u2019s abdication has been such a surprise,\u201d said Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel laureate in literature and a self-proclaimed atheist opposed to the moral teachings of the Church.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAlthough it is unusual, it was not unpredictable,\u201d he said of the Holy Father\u2019s announcement earlier this month that he would be resigning on Feb. 28 due to advanced age and declining strength.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cYou could tell just by looking at how fragile he was and how lost he seemed among the crowds in which his office required that he immerse himself,\u201d Vargas Llosa said in a column published by the Spanish daily El Pais.<\/p>\n

\tThe Peruvian author observed that the Holy Father\u2019s \u201cprofound and unique reflections were based on his enormous theological, philosophical, historical and literary knowledge, acquired in the dozen classic and modern languages he commanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tWhile they were \u201calways conceived within Christian orthodoxy,\u201d the Pope\u2019s \u201cbooks and encyclicals often went beyond the strictly dogmatic and contained novel and bold reflections on the moral, cultural and existential problems of our times,\u201d Vargas Llosa reflected.<\/p>\n

\tHe went on to note that Benedict XVI\u2019s papacy spanned \u201cone of the most difficult periods that Christianity has faced in its more than 2000 year history.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe secularization of society is progressing with great speed,\u201d he said, \u201cespecially in the West, the citadel of the Church until relatively just a few decades ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cBenedict XVI,\u201d Vargas Llosa added, \u201cwas the first Pope to ask forgiveness for the sexual abuse that has taken place in Catholic schools and seminaries, to meet with victims\u2019 associations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe Holy Father also convened \u201cthe first Church conference devoted to listening to the testimonies of the victims themselves and to establishing norms and rules to prevent such evils from occurring again in the future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\tIt would therefore be a mistake to celebrate the Pontiff\u2019s resignation \u201cas a victory of progress and freedom,\u201d the author explained.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cHe not only represented the conservative tradition of the Church, but also its greatest legacy: that of the high and revolutionary classic and renaissance culture that, let us not forget, the Church preserved and spread through its convents, libraries and seminaries.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

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

Lima, Peru, Feb 27, 2013 \/ 12:41 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- An atheist Peruvian author has praised the spiritual and intellectual stature of Pope Benedict XVI and said that his departure is a loss for the cultural and spiritual life of the world.<\/p>\n

\t“I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-americas"],"yoast_head":"\nAtheist Nobel prize winner mourns Pope's retirement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lima, Peru, Feb 27, 2013 \/ 12:41 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- An atheist Peruvian author has praised the spiritual and intellectual stature of Pope Benedict XVI and said that his departure is a loss for the cultural and spiritual life of the world. “I ...\" \/>\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\/atheist-nobel-prize-winner-mourns-popes-retirement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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