{"id":31905,"date":"2011-09-28T20:52:40","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T20:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/theanchoress\/?p=31905"},"modified":"2017-03-04T04:25:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T04:25:54","slug":"benedicts-triumph-in-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2011\/09\/28\/benedicts-triumph-in-germany\/","title":{"rendered":"Benedict's Mustard Seed in Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>It got almost no coverage in the mainstream media<\/strong> \u2014 and what coverage there was generally was of the \u201cprotesters will greet the pope\u201d variety that prefaced his enormously successful visit, last year, to the United Kingdom \u2014 but Pope Benedict XVI was quietly impressive and persuasive in Germany, last week.<\/p>\n

The world may little have noted it, but the truth is, all of Benedict\u2019s papal visits have been those very quiet triumphs. A few years back Spengler, writing in the Asia Times, characterized Benedict<\/strong><\/a> as saying, \u201cI have a mustard seed<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, and I\u2019m not afraid to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s quite right. Benedict is a small and humble mustard seed, and in time, we\u2019re going to see huge and healthy new growth born of his tireless evangelizing.<\/p>\n

Peter Seewald, the German journalist<\/strong> and former atheist, encountered that mustard seed when he interviewed then-Cardinal Ratzinger for God and the World<\/strong><\/em><\/a> \u2014 a long discussion that was transcribed word-for-word (and according to Seewald, virtually unchanged in editing) that resulted in both a fascinating book and Seewald\u2019s own conversion. His follow-up conversation with Ratzinger-as-Pope, Light of the World<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, showed the mustard seed still potent. Now he writes of Benedict\u2019s visit to Germany<\/strong><\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201c[Benedict\u2019s success was] a small miracle\u2026shortly before [he arrived] there was a very aggressive, anti-clerical assault by the media.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of this brings to mind George Orwell\u2019s \u20181984,\u2019 in which an imaginary enemy, a nightmare, is created in order to scare people.\u201d \u201cAnd yet,\u201d Seewald noted, \u201cdespite all of this incredible effort by the media, an innumerable amount of people stood up and refused to be deceived.\u201d
\n [\u2026]
\nIt\u2019s as if they were saying that everything would be wonderful and orderly in the world if the Vatican just ceased to exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were all witnesses to something much greater. Where were all the masses of critics and protesters? They never showed up. And yet 350,000 people made great sacrifices in order to personally listen to the Pope and to attend Mass with him. Millions watched on television. The Pope\u2019s books are selling faster than ever \u2026 And undoubtedly never before has so much intelligence, wisdom and truth, so much of what is fundamental, been heard in Germany.\u201d
\n[\u2026]
\n[The media] work like crazy in a state of antagonism against the Pope\u2026to see Benedict XVI \u201cwalk through the ferocious pack of media dogs without losing his composure for one second\u201d was amazing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This brings to mind Tim Muldoon\u2019s really excellent column this week<\/a><\/strong>, about what Catholicism actually is:<\/p>\n

Many media outlets delight in targeting the Pope. A host of critical theories have Catholicism in their crosshairs. Those who would decry structures of power are likely thinking about the Church. The Catholic Church is the big bad bogeyman for every conceivable ill in the Western World, because it has had the most formative influence on our civilization.<\/p>\n

But Catholicism is not, fundamentally, an ultramontane institution. Its hierarchical structure, its history, its social structures, its money, its patrimony of art and architecture\u2014all these are in service to something much more fundamental. The Church of 2011 has a radical continuity with the stripped-down underground Church of 111: it is all about the love of God. In preaching Christ crucified and risen, it is telling its story of being surprised and delighted that God is real and present. In building cathedrals, painting frescoes, copying manuscripts, erecting dioceses, sending missionaries, composing Glorias, establishing schools, and electing popes, it is drawing together a family of those who have been seized by love for the world through responding to Jesus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The world, and the worldly, don\u2019t \u201cget\u201d it,<\/strong> because despite the material trappings that can be so distracting but which have their purposes, the church is not worldly; it is not of the world and does not belong to the world. She is a system supernatural, existing within the material, and to stand outside and sneer \u2014 while easy \u2014 only enhances all that one cannot \u201cget\u201d about it.<\/p>\n

Over at OSV, John Norton<\/strong> makes a point of directing you toward the meat and potatoes<\/strong><\/a> of all the good stuff Benedict delivered while in Germany, and which you only saw in Catholic media or not at all. It\u2019s well-worth your reading!<\/p>\n

More here<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Rocco Palmo<\/strong> with the definitive Benedict-in-Germany post<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n

Related: Rocco reminds<\/strong> us that 33-years ago was elected our FIRST Pope John Paul \u2014 and he really did have a wonderful smile and way<\/strong><\/a>. It was kind of great to see him, again!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It got almost no coverage in the mainstream media \u2014 and what coverage there was generally was of the \u201cprotesters will greet the pope\u201d variety that prefaced his enormously successful visit, last year, to the United Kingdom \u2014 but Pope Benedict XVI was quietly impressive and persuasive in Germany, last week. The world may little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[293,4826,4828,4831],"class_list":["post-31905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alternate-media","tag-benedict-xvi","tag-bookchat","tag-catholicism"],"yoast_head":"\nBenedict's Mustard Seed in Germany<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It got almost no coverage in the mainstream media -- and what coverage there was generally was of the "protesters will greet the pope" variety that\" \/>\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\/theanchoress\/2011\/09\/28\/benedicts-triumph-in-germany\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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