This means
that he has had nearly seven years now to develop the leitmotivs of his Papacy,
which we can summarize by looking at the themes he has spoken about. This also
means that this blog has a lot of ground to cover if we are going to get caught
up to the present day!
John Paul
II popularized these audiences while developing the topics the Church needed in
that time, particularly the Theology of the Body, which he explained every
Wednesday for over five years. Looking back on Pope Benedict’s last seven
years, which are the themes that have guided his reflection for the Church, and
what is his contribution to the teaching of the Church?
It’s clear
that Pope Benedict XVI picked up where his predecessor left off – both in the
size of the crowds attending and in his topics. The last theme John Paul II was
a running commentary on the Liturgy of the Hours: the Psalms and Canticles used
in Vespers. Pope Benedict delivered the last 35 audiences on the topic,
concluding it ten months into his Papacy, on February 15th, 2006.
A month
later, after a few audiences dedicated to the topic of the Church, he began his
first original cycle of audiences, on the Apostles and first disciples. Over
the next eleven months, he gave a “spiritual mini-biography” of all those who
made a real firsthand experience of Christ, transmitted this knowledge to the
first Christian communities and began the first work of evangelization.
Over the
next four years, he dedicated most of the audiences to the theme of the lives
of the saints. Each saint has a particular lesson for our Christian life, and
they show us that normal people of all times and walks of life can become
saints – and that means you and me as well! 83 of the 108 audiences on the
lives of the saints dealt with the Church Fathers, both of antiquity and of the
Middle Ages, who had a decisive role in how the Church developed historically
and doctrinally until the present day; by studying the lives of these key
saints, we understand the Church as it is today in a deeper way. He also
dedicated 16 audiences, between September 1st, 2010 and January 26th,
2011, to the topic of “Women of the Middle Ages”, refuting the view that the
Church does not give women the credit and importance that they deserve.
The Holy
Father also took two important “breaks” in his development of the lives of the
saints: one during the Year of St. Paul (20 audiences from July 2008 to
February 2009), and another during the Year for Priests (eleven audiences from
June 2009 to June 2010). During the Year of St. Paul he stressed Paul’s
experience of Christ, theological insights and zeal in the effort of
evangelization, and throughout the Year for Priests he underlined the
importance of meaning of the priesthood, helping the faithful appreciate their
priests and restoring the fervor of priests themselves and their public image,
under attack in these very difficult years. We can also expect several
audiences dedicated to the topic of faith during the upcoming Year of Faith:
October 11, 2012, to November 24, 2013.
Beginning
on May 4th, 2011, the Holy Father began a series of catecheses on
Christian prayer, which he is still developing nearly every Wednesday. He has
considered prayer from various angles – prayer in the life of every Christian,
methods of prayer, the different types of prayer, prayer in the Scriptures
(above all the Psalms), and the prayer of Jesus. The Holy Father clearly sees
the importance of prayer, and in addition to living his own prayer life
fervently, he wants to invite the universal Church to do the same, knowing that
the Church will be as strong as the prayer life of each of its members.
This list
gives us an insight into what is in the heart of our Pope: “From the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks.” All of what he says goes back to the same
themes: the need to make a personal experience of Christ’s love and to grow in
holiness by contemplating this love in prayer and living a strong sacramental
life, which will bring us to transmit Christ to the others, following the
example of saints past and present.
By Colin Gore
Editor's Note: For more information on the past teachings of the Holy Father we recommend visiting this website: http://catechesisofthepopes.wordpress.com
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