by Daniel Klimek December 3, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI held a general audience this week in which he revealed a side of himself which is very real but, unfortunately, quite unknown to many who receive their information about the Pope from the secular press: he revealed his mystical side.
The mystical side of the Pope came out this Wednesday when Benedict admirably spoke of Julian of Norwich, a medieval English mystic and visionary, as well as when he gave an enthusiastic shout out (on the same day) to Croatian pilgrims from the village of Medjugorje, where six modern visionaries have reported experiencing the supernatural phenomenon of Marian apparitions since they were children in 1981.Pope Benedict spoke of Julian of Norwich—who is considered one of the greatest English mystics in history and the first woman to write a book in the English language—with great affection, citing her work “Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love.” Julian, who lived between the years 1342-1416, was an anchoress in the town of Norwich who experienced mystical visions of Jesus Christ when she was 30. Her visions resulted in revelations that were recorded as theology in her book on Divine Love.
Julian’s revelations on Divine Love, Pope Benedict explained, present "an optimistic message based on the certainty that we are loved by God and protected by His Providence. [Julian] compares divine love with maternal love. This is one of the most characteristic messages of her mystical theology. The tenderness, solicitude and sweetness of God's goodness towards us are so great that to us, pilgrims on the earth, they seem as the love of a mother for her children.
"Julian of Norwich understood the central message of spiritual life: that God is love. Only when we open ourselves totally to this love, only when we allow it to become the one guide to our existence, does everything become transfigured and do we find true peace and joy which we can pass on to others."Pope Benedict’s reflections on Julian’s mystical theology show us how well-versed the Pope is in the deepest elements of Christian spirituality. Interestingly, we see the sublime beauty and power of mystical language reflected in the Pope’s own writings. His encyclical “Spe Salvi” (Saved in Hope) demonstrates the deeper dimensions of the Pope’s mystical reach. Speaking about the afterlife, the greatest of all otherworldly realities, the Pope used beautifully mystical and powerful language, poetic and profound in its stylish and sensitive depth, describing the reality of the hereafter:
“To imagine ourselves outside the temporality that imprisons us and in some way to sense that eternity is not an unending succession of days in the calendar, but something more like the supreme moment of satisfaction, in which totality embraces us and we embrace totality—this we can only attempt. It would be like plunging into the ocean of infinite love, a moment in which time—the before and after—no longer exists. We can only attempt to grasp the idea that such a moment is life in the full sense, a plunging ever a new into the vastness of being, in which we are simply overwhelmed with joy. This is how Jesus expresses it in Saint John’s Gospel: ‘I will see you agin and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you’ (16:22).”
The Pope describes the celestial afterlife, the reality of heaven, in the language of a euphoric and endlessly joyous mystical encounter, the language exuding the profundity of his thought on these deeper, spiritual realities. Throughout his writings, including his most recent encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (God is Love), the Pope has used mystical language and theology to describe the reality of God, the spiritual union with the Divine which we all need to seek and nourish in our lives.
It is his appreciation for deeper spiritual realities, for the mystical dimensions of Christian faith, which no doubt aroused an enthusiastic shout out from the Pope to pilgrims from Medjugorje. During his general audience on Wednesday, the Pope joyously acknowledged Croatian pilgrims from that famous Bosnian village responsible for the longest set of Marian apparitions, daily visionary encounters with the Virgin Mary, in Church history.
“I greet all Croatian pilgrims,” Pope Benedict said, “and especially those from the parish of St. James, Medjugorje! Your pilgrimage to Rome is part of the way of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Therefore, in hope, be evangelizers of God’s love in your nation. Praised be Jesus and Mary!”
The Marian apparitions in Medjugorje have meant so much to millions of Catholics, as well as to Pope Benedict’s dear friend and great predecessor, John Paul II, that (earlier this year) Pope Benedict made sure to take the judgment of the apparitions away from the bishop of Mostar and place it under an international commission headed by the Holy See, an unprecedented move in Church history dealing with mystical phenomena. Once again, the groundbreaking decision reflected well on how seriously and sincerely Pope Benedict takes these powerful mystical matters.
It is easy to stereotype Pope Benedict—and unfortunately much of our mainstream media do—as a strict Church dogmatist or pedant without a deeper spiritual, and especially mystical, side. It is easy to make this (untrue) stereotype because for decades, before becoming Pope, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger worked as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope John Paul II. The CDF, arguably the most important office in the Roman Curia, has the tough job of defending the faith and morals of Catholicism within the Church when sacred doctrines are being challenged or attacked. At times, this requires disciplining renegade priests or theologians guilty of apostasy – which is an important, though not a popular nor a pretty, job. It is the very job that got Cardinal Ratzinger labeled (somewhat pejoratively) as “the pope’s rottweiler” by the secular press. This label, this overly stereotypical image of him, is something that does not do justice to who the real Joseph Ratzinger, the real Pope Benedict, is: a humble and a sincere man with a deeply spiritual side who exudes great courage in his convictions on faith and culture.
His beautifully mystical writings, as well as his deeply appreciative regards (expressed this week) for two great mystical events of Christian history—the visionary revelations of Julian of Norwich as well as gratitude for visiting pilgrims from a village famous for unending Marian apparitions—show us the deeper side of Pope Benedict. They show us that he is much more than a doctrinal defender of the faith—an important role in itself—explaining that Benedict XVI is someone deeply committed to the mystical tradition of the Church as well. Those who know him best and who read his work acknowledge the Pope as a man of a deep faith, a strong spirituality and a very sincere prayer life that reflects a reverence toward the mystical. Those who do not know him and do not read his works neglect these meaningful, often ignored, realities about the man—choosing to portray a caricatured image of the German pontiff instead, one that has little to do with reality and a lot to do with misunderstanding, misunderstanding the life of a spiritual being.
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