Pope Benedict's 2011: Father Lombardi's assessment

The Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, reviews this past year for Pope Benedict and the Vatican, describing it as a calm yet busy and intense year filled with great events and important messages for the future.

Speaking in an interview with Vatican Radio’s Italian section, Father Lombardi spoke first about the Pope’s foreign visits which, he said, are always an important reference point. Singling out his visits to Germany and to Spain, Father Lombardi said the Pope’s keenly-awaited papal trip to his German homeland clearly showed the Holy Father’s desire to speak about the primacy of God in our society, despite the highly secularised context which prevails in Europe today. Father Lombardi said he was convinced that the Pope’s key-note address to the German parliament in Berlin on this same theme will remain one of the most important discourses of his pontificate.

By contrast, Father Lombardi said the papal visit to Spain for the World Youth Day in August was a trip that witnessed the great vitality of the faith and its future. He noted that the Pope reflected at length on his visit to Madrid and its themes during his address to the Roman Curia just before Christmas. Father Lombardi said the World Youth Day gathering provided Pope Benedict with many valuable indicators for the New Evangelisation. In this way, he continued, whilst the visit to Germany was used to warn about the need to return to the fundamental values of the faith, the trip to Madrid displayed the positive side of the Church’s living presence in today’s world.

Turning to the papal trip to Benin in November, Father Lombardi said this apostolic visit showed the Church’s ability to speak to the African continent from an African point of view and he said the Pope was much struck by the joy and vitality of its people. He also praised the concluding document of the Synod of Bishops for Africa which was presented by the Pope to the continent during the papal visit. Many commentators, even non-Catholic ones, Father Lombardi noted, have described this papal document as one of the finest ones that exist today dealing with the issues facing Africa and tracing guidelines for its future.

Asked for his assessment about the Pope’s pilgrimage to Assisi in October marking the 25^th anniversary of Pope John Paul’s visit there to pray for world peace, Father Lombardi said the Assisi gathering and the theme of inter-religious dialogue were one of the main themes of this past year. He also noted that Pope Benedict didn’t just do a simple repetition of the 1978 Assisi gathering but went one step further by also inviting non-believers to the event. This was described by Father Lombardi as an important opening to new horizons and went hand in hand with the theme of broadening the church’s dialogue with all people who are sincerely searching for truth as exemplified by the Court of the Gentiles initiative launched earlier in the year.

Looking at papal documents released in 2011, Father Lombardi singled out the Motu Proprio “Porta Fidei,” with which the Pope proclaimed the Year of Faith starting from October 2012. This, he said, is a theme that is closely linked to that of New Evangelisation. Another important document that will be released shortly is coming from the Doctrine of the Faith and will provide guidelines to help prepare for this Year of Faith. 2012 will also see the keenly awaited Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelisation which he described as one of the key events of the coming year. Father Lombardi also mentioned the Pope’s pastoral visit to Cuba and Mexico scheduled for next Spring and said Pope Benedict was eagerly looking forward to this trip.

Another papal first in 2011 was Pope Benedict’s conversation with 12 astronauts on board the International Space station through a special audio and visual link-up. Father Lombardi said this was an amazing event showing that the Church does not fear research and scientific progress but instead looks upon it favourably, as long as it is intended for the wellbeing of humanity.

Asked for his assessment about the Beatification of Pope John Paul on May 1^st, Father Lombardi said this great and extremely important event was a source of great joy throughout the universal Church. He described the beatification of the late Pope as a step on a continuing journey, noting that many people are already looking ahead to his canonization and are hoping it will come soon.

Finally looking at Pope Benedict’s continuing role as a catechist at his Angelus and general audiences and through the publication of his latest book in the Jesus of Nazareth series, Father Lombardi said the Pope was a person who attached deep importance to his role as a theological and spiritual teacher. He described the Pope’s latest book on Jesus as a testament to the Holy Father’s personal love for Christ and said they were keenly awaiting the third and final book in this series, dedicated to Christ’s childhood.

Asked to sum up the year as a whole, Father Lombardi said 2011, like every year for the papacy, was a very busy and intense one that saw the Church present throughout the world and facing up to the problems that history puts in its way. Compared to the preceding years that saw the Church buffeted by crises and tensions, Father Lombardi ended by saying that 2011 was a very beautiful and positive year with important messages prompting us to look ahead.

(Summary by Susy Hodges of Father Federico Lombardi’s original interview with Sergio Centofanti of the radio’s Italian section).