The passing of any pope unleashes waves of news commentary, frequently with supporters clashing with critics in an attempt to help shape the narrative heading into the conclave to pick the next occupant of the Throne of St. Peter.
What about the passing of a pope emeritus? That would make things simpler, since there the current pope was still alive and in charge. Right?
Apparently not. The death of Pope Benedict XVI, if anything, seemed to raise the stakes in many lingering debates in Catholic life. My takeaway is that it represented the final, formal close of the era of St. Pope John Paul II, as well as that of Pope Benedict XVI, who, as Cardinal Ratzinger, had played a crucial theological role in support of John Paul.
Thus, this event — for many on the Catholic right and left — marked the end of the “Veritatis Splendor” era, with John Paul II’s emphasis on the defense of transcendent truths, and the open door into the Synod on Synodality era, with its modern Jesuit emphasis on dialogue and evolving doctrine.
The complex nature of this transition provided the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast (CLICK HERE to tune that in).
How complex? For a glimpse of the sweeping nature of this story, check this post from the Catholic listserv Big Pulpit — which circulates daily lists of URLs to news reports, blog posts, podcasts and other commentary on Catholic affairs.
The January 2 offering include a list of “The Top-10 Most Visited Links” about the death of Pope Benedict XVI. That was followed with the “Next-10 Most Visited Links.” Then there was “Another-10 Most Visited Links” and “The-Next-Another-10 Most Visited Links.” This went on and on for another screen or two, with a total of 80 must-read links for that day.
That’s all. Good luck reading all of that — plus countless other offerings in both the mainstream press and countless Catholic commentary sources.
GetReligion readers will not be shocked to discover that, for many journalists, the death of this orthodox theologian was primarily a political story.