Apr 14, 2008 7:03 pm US/Eastern
Shores Priest Shares Stories Of Pope Benedict XVI
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Pope Benedict XVI is the ninth German pope, and to a great many Americans--Catholic and otherwise--still very much an unknown world figure.
"He is very shy, but he radiates serenity, joy and hope," says Father Maurice Hogan.
Hogan, who serves in-residence at Saint Rose of Lima parish in Miami Shores, has known the pontiff for many years. Indeed, he worked closely with the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger for more than a decade on a pontifical biblical commission that would gather each year in Rome.
Ratzinger assumed the papacy three years ago, upon the death of the hugely popular, charismatic Pope John Paul II. Inevitably, as his visits to Washington, D.C., and New York draw near, comparisons between the two church shepherds are being drawn.
Father Hogan says, "Intellectually John Paul was a philosopher, and Pope Benedict is a theologian. Temperamentally, John Paul was outgoing, Benedict is shy."
Shyness aside, Pope Benedict earned a reputation under his predecessor as unbending on Catholic Church doctrine. He emphasized church opposition to abortion, artificial birth control, homosexual acts, and liberation theology that promoted political activism on behalf of the poor in Latin America.
The resulting image of stern authority did not begin to change until the death of John Paul in 2005.
Father Hogan observed, "He came across there as a person of quiet dignity, totally at odds with the picture often painted of him as an enforcer of the faith."
Drawing from his own experience on the aforementioned biblical commission, Father Hogan adds, "I am amazed he could sit and listen to opposing and sometimes heated exchanges. He was quite happy to listen to divergent opinions."
Now, Pope Benedict will have a chance to preach his message directly to an American audience. That, of course, primarily includes 60 million American Catholics rocked in recent years by the church sexual abuse scandal, and increasingly worried about shortages of priests, and a decline in Catholic schools nationwide. The pontiff's themes--say those who know the lifelong scholar--will revolve around love and hope, an affirmation they say that for all its troubles, the church remains a vibrant source of spirituality in the United States.
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