At the establishment of our constitutions,
the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous;
that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal
gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office;
that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only,
pass silent and unheeded by the public at large;
that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little,
the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction,
before any one has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm
has been busily employed in consuming its substance.
In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.
Thomas Jefferson
The Pope Resigns
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| Courtesy of CatholicVote |
Dear Brothers,
I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. In order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
John Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) is perhaps my favorite pope.Yes, John Paul II was a charismatic, beloved, saintly predecessor, an impossible act to follow. But this man possesses a first-rate mind, yet is humble and a great listener; people have underestimated and misjudged him, e.g., as an alleged insider in the "good old boy" Curia when John Paul II failed to confront the sex abuse scandal. He will be the first Pope in centuries to resign from office, based on age or health; what an extraordinary example, not just for the Church but secular leaders like FDR, Ted Kennedy, and Robert Byrd whom stood for election with serious health issues. The pontiff has subordinated his personal ambition to the need of the faithful for younger, healthier leadership.
Tom Hoopes has written a good post of the ways this gentle Pope has swerved popular misconceptions of him. I'll excerpt a couple of them here:
Visiting Cologne’s Synagogue.
Time magazine reporter Jeff Israel described what happened when Pope Benedict XVI, newly Pope, visited the synagogue in Cologne, Germany. What he had to say was profound, he said, but what Pope Benedict did was show that there was something new here. He didn’t have Pope John Paul II’s charisma, but he had a gentle, calming, impressive presence:
“There was something happening that went beyond words,” wrote Israel. “It was in the way the Pope listened so intently to his hosts. It was the warm, two-hand embrace he shared with the young rabbi. It was in the somber cadence of his voice as he recounted Nazi atrocities, and the utter silence in the synagogue to hear his every breath.” Pope Benedict XVI got a standing ovation.
His Meetings With Victims of Sexual Abuse.
I remember the day we were covering Pope Benedict XVI on his trip to America, and he met with abuse victims in an unpublicized event. His spokesman, Lombardi, said that it was a tearful and personal meeting. It was further evidence of the deep feelings of this man against what he had called “the filth” that needed to be cleansed from the Church. He would also meet with sex abuse victims in many of his travels. It dawned on people: He is passionate about this on a very personal level.Finally, we have a concise, well-written summary of Pope Benedict by Francisco University's theology department interim chair Alan Schreck:
Upon his election as pope, some predicted that Pope Benedict XVI would be a polarizing figure, continuing his long-held role as the Catholic Church’s chief doctrinal defender and ‘censor.’ Pope Benedict certainly did not avoid controversy in the pursuit of truth, engaging in honest and serious dialogue with other religions and with modern culture, unafraid to challenge the ‘dictatorship of relativism.’ Yet Pope Benedict was deeply committed to promoting reconciliation: among Christians, among nations, and with those alienated from the Catholic Church.30 Pieces of Silver
From Joshua Mercer
The list of Democrats who were once pro-life but abandoned women and children in order to grab political power is sadly very long:Ted Kennedy, Al Gore, Dick Durbin, Dick Gephardt, Dennis Kucinich……and now Rep. Stephen Lynch.For sample prior pro-life quotes from Al Gore, Jesse Jackson, Ted Kennedy, and Bill Clinton, see here. Lynch is running against fellow Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Markey for the remainder of Secretary of State Kerry's former Senate term ending next year. .Mercer isn't including a number of pro-abortion choice Catholics-in-Name-Only like Mario Cuomo, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi... And even with 5 Catholic SCOTUS Justices, Roe v Wade remains on the books.
Word of the Day: Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is an organizing principle that matters ought to be handled by the smallest, lowest or least centralized competent authority. Political decisions should be taken at a local level if possible, rather than by a central authority. The principle of subsidiarity was developed by German theologian Oswald von Nell-Breuning. His work influenced the social teaching of Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo Anno and holds that government should undertake only those initiatives which exceed the capacity of individuals or private groups acting independently. Functions of government, business, and other secular activities should be as local as possible.I should note that subsidiarity is a salient concept in a Catholic-based economic philosophy called distributism, which seeks a third way between socialism and capitalism, with a more comprehensive distribution of property ownership. I have briefly referenced a dispute between the proponents of distributism and Tom Woods, one of my favorite (Catholic) Austrian School economists/historians. A summary of the dispute is beyond the scope of this post: let me simply say that I favor Woods' perspective, here is one essay where Woods discusses the alleged fallacies of distributism.
Musical Interlude: My Favorite Groups
The Supremes, "I Hear a Symphony". Probably my favorite Supremes' tune.
