The Wisdom of Resignation

"The Church is one, holy, catholic, and apostolic; and sinful." Claretian Father Paulson V. Veliyannoor, CMF, PhD, in Bible Diary 2013, reflection  for February 26, 2013

I have not been a great admirer of Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout my adult life, he has represented many negative aspects of Catholic theology and practice. My image of the man shifted a few years ago, when I came across a passionate defense of individual conscience written by Joseph Ratzinger in 1967, after the close of the Second Vatican Council. In it he said:

“Over the Pope as expression of the binding claim of ecclesiastical authority, there stands one’s own conscience which must be obeyed before all else, even if necessary against the requirement of ecclesiastical authority. This emphasis on the individual, whose conscience confronts him with a supreme and ultimate tribunal, and one which in the last resort is beyond the claim of external social groups, even the official Church, also establishes a principle in opposition to increasing totalitarianism.”

To my knowledge, Ratzinger/Pope Benedict never altered or renounced that definitive statement. I and countless other conscientious Catholics have quoted him repeatedly and held him to ownership of that theological position.

Why Benedict has decided to do on February 28, 2013, what no pope for seven centuries has done, is open to speculation (and runaway imagination). Whether it be for health and stamina reasons, as he publicly claims, or because an intransigent Vatican bureaucracy led him to throw in the towel (or both), I do admire this pope for handing over the office to a new and (somewhat) younger leader. That's not easy for power-for-lifers to do.

We Catholics who must watch from the sidelines are witnessing the beginning of the end of an  irrelevant structure of church leadership and governance. That system has allowed an all-male, celibate, and elite class of senior citizens to lay spiritual and moral burdens on their fellow religionists that they themselves have never borne. Rather than lament the passing of this archaic and,  in many ways, unjust system, Catholics who hold fast to the core beliefs of our faith find in this evolution the movement of the Holy Spirit. The truth of the Good News of Christ resides in the entire people of God. It is in that Body of Christ on earth that we find hope in the present turmoil surrounding the election of Benedict XVI's successor.

The Holy Spirit has forever been the people of God's "ace in the hole" and source of sure hope; "she" is the antithesis of the Vatican power structure that repeatedly mars the Roman Catholic "brand." 

I hope for, but do not expect, a saintly revolutionary leader in the mold of John XXIII to arise from this conclave. What I pray for is a leader who will begin the process of inner conversion in Rome, one who will take seriously his title as "servant of the servants of God." 

Our Catholic Church, like all other Christian churches and all other-than-Christian faith traditions is burdened with the millstone of fallible human nature. We Catholics will never get this "church thing" completely right. What we pray for is that we just won't keep getting it so terribly wrong. Yes, we're going to mess up the mission of Christ; but let's do it less and less, and in a spirit of humility and ongoing repentance.

Come, O Holy Spirit! 

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of 
|The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story

saintoflorenville.com 

alfredjgarrotto.com

(c) 2013 by Alfred J. Garrotto

"Sagrada Familia: Favorite Church Comes Alive"

Image by Wolfgang Staudt via Flickr

Here's what some pretty famous and knowledgeable people have said about my favorite church in the whole wide world, the newly consecrated but not yet completed Basilica of La Sagrada Familia (the Holy Family) in Barcelona, Spain . . . .

George Orwell: one of the most hideous buildings in the world. 

Salvador Dali:"superbly creative bad taste."

Disclaimer: I haven't seen every church in the whole wide world, so let's say, my favorite among those I have visited. I also exclude my own parish church which has been and remains a beloved home to all my family.

I first visited the construction site in May of 1964. By then work had been in progress for 88 years. All I saw at that time was the massive shell of what had been the dream and passion of one man, Catalonian architect Antoni Gaudi i Cornet (1852-1926). The young architect (31) received the commission to build this church in 1883, after his predecessor resigned only one year into the project. Gaudí's concept wedded the human and divine. He labored at the task until his untimely death in 1926. The circumstances of his death make a great story in themselves. He was run over by a tram on a Sunday morning while walking home from Mass. For some time, he lay in a coma without anyone knowing  who he was. His remains are buried in the church's crypt.


From the beginning, Sagrada Familia was declared an "expiatory church." I had never heard the term until this week. It means that construction was entirely dependent on private donations and proceeded only when and as long as  money was on hand (no wonder it's taken so long). Gaudí was known to go out on the street and beg for money during his lunch breaks (siestas).


I visited Sagrada Familia again on July 18, 2008. This time I was able to study the magnificent front and rear facades of the church and tour the construction site's interior perimeter. "Thrilled" is too tame a word to describe my feelings. At a time when Americans and Europeans--even believers among us--are reluctant to call any space "sacred," that is exactly what Gaudí envisioned. The nearly finished building fits that definition for me and for most of the millions who flock to Barcelona each year to experience in actuality what the great architect only envisioned.

On November 7, 2010, Pope Benedict XI consecrated the church in the presence of 6,500 people inside the structure and many thousands of Barcelonans and pilgrims who jammed to streets around the exterior of the complex. In his homily Benedict described Gaudí's vision for the church that will be completed in 2026 (the centennial of Gaudí's death. 

"[He] accomplished one of the most important tasks of our times: overcoming the division between human consciousness and Christian consciousness, between living in this temporal world and being open to eternal life, between the beauty of things and God as beauty. Antoni Gaudí did this not with words but with stones, lines, planes, and points. Indeed, beauty is one of mankind’s greatest needs; it is the root from which the branches of our peace and the fruits of our hope come forth." 

For the best views of the magnificent interior, I recommend the full 3-hour video of the consecration ceremony. Even if you don't watch the whole ceremony and Mass (who would besides this old blogger?), you can skip ahead to watch some of the finest and most breathtaking television camera work I've ever seen.


Below are some of my own 2008 photos of not-yet-opened interior and the two (of the eventual three) completed facades: The Birth of Christ and The Passion of Christ.

Above: Main Entrance Facade--The Passion of Christ

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

 Nave ceiling: Trees reaching to the stars 

Even today, only some of the the
stained glass windows are in place.

The Nativity (Birth of Christ) Facade

Shepherds Worship the Christ Child

In a future post, I will share more about Antoni Gaudi's life and work.

Images (c) 2008 Aflred J. Garrotto

See also October 1, 2015 Sagrada Familia documentary post.

Related articles

• Pope dedicates Barcelona's iconic Sagrada Familia (cnn.com)

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Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of the suspense novel,

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story.

A Prayer for Renewal of the Roman Catholic Church

Lord Jesus, I lift my saddened spirit to you in humility and faith—also in great hope and trust that your Spirit is guiding my beloved Roman Catholic Church. I believe this, even as the fires of the sex abuse scandal lick around the feet of Pope Benedict XVI.

Lord, bring the triumphalism of our pope and hierarchy to its knees. Let the secrecy and protectionism that shroud your Good News and saving mission in the world end. Give light to our Holiness, Eminences, and Excellencies who have lost their way. Turn their inevitable humiliation into a grace that will purify our defective Church and heal it of its sins. May your gospel no longer be muddied by holy, but empty, words that coddle scandalous behavior in preference to virtue and fidelity. For only by acknowledging their current blindness can our leaders return to their apostolic roots and restore the Body of Christ to full health and vigor.

Lord, inspire our Holy Father to take responsibility for the current rebuke and ridicule that has fallen on our heads. Let him declare a period of “Universal Repentance,” as the King of Nineveh did, when the humbled prophet Jonah called for confession and reparation. And from the sackcloth of this top-down admission of guilt, raise up a newly baptized and cleansed Church to bask in the glory of your divine Light.

Finally, let the renewal for which I pray begin in me. I make this earnest prayer with confidence in the guiding presence of your most Holy Spirit. Amen.