This Week Pope Benedict Lays out His Play Book For the United States Catholic Church

Many do not realize it but he did. I posted during the week about how the VATICAN SECRETARY OF STATE Cardinal Bertone was present at most of the Knights of Columbus Convention. Let me say that is highly significant. He did not just fly in and fly out. When the Vatican's version of Condoleezza Rice is hanging out in Nashville for a few days we should take notice. When the Vatican Secretary of State talks Pope Benedict is talking. His "major Speech" he did was indeed major.

Whispers in the Loggia has has doen a excellent job of covering this.

This is the post he did on that incredible speech that has excerpts and has a link to the full text.

As the the Loggia notes in the Introduction:
In his foreseen "major" speech in Nashville, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone SDB offered the most significant message of Benedict XVI's pontificate to the church in the United States. The audience in the room may have been the top leadership of the Knights of Columbus, but it's real target goes wider -- much wider -- than that.When taken with the address of B16's hand-picked representative to the States, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, at last year's November meeting of the US bishops, now in open view is Rome's desired playbook for the American Catholic future. And, by the looks of it, it all revolves around one word: "Yes."Of course, as it's really Benedict who's doing the talking when Bertone speaks, read closely and read it all....Again, read closely.

I so much agree. What I was struck by was how so MUCH Pope Benedict this speech is. In fact so much of this is contained in the Pope's recent book Jesus of Nazareth.

There is so much here. In the section of the Cardinal speech called Friendship and Joy: The Key to Understanding Pope Benedict XVI- the Cardinal says:
Finally, I must say a word about two recurring themes in Pope Benedict’s teaching which are absolutely essential for the “animation” of “the entire lives of the lay faithful”: friendship and joy. These, I believe, are the keys for grasping Pope Benedict’s thought on what it means to translate faith into action.The words “friendship” and “joy” echo continuously throughout his preaching, especially when he addresses himself to young people as they prepare to gather for the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney.

According to Pope Benedict, “friendship” and “joy” have God as their primary reference. The Holy Father never tires of reminding us that God is near, that he is our friend, and that he is constantly speaking to us about the most essential things in life. He accompanies us on our journey through this life, in our joys and sorrows, and – as a Good Shepherd who cares only for his flock – he never abandons us.At the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne, His Holiness said this to the young people present: “A true revolution can take place only by radically turning to God without reserve; he alone is the measure of all that is just, while at the same time existing as love eternal. And what could possibly save us if not love?”Love is the source of the Holy Father’s inspiration in all that he undertakes, and especially in his commitment to dialogue. He has spoken with countless lay persons, listening attentively to their practical ways of reasoning.

He truly follows the agenda he set for himself at the beginning of his pontificate: “My true program for governing the Church is not to carry out my own will or pursue my own ideas, but to place myself together with the entire Church in listening to the Word of the Lord, discerning his will, and allowing myself be led by him, because he alone will guide the Church through this phase of history.”The Holy Father always teaches with clarity and precision, and with a spirit of humility and encouragement. He wants everyone to understand how beautiful and fulfilling it is to be a Christian, to experience a personal, living encounter with a life-changing “event,” to meet the One who opens a whole new horizon and gives life a new, decisive direction. It is precisely for this reason that even the commandments are never too burdensome for us if we are abiding with Christ.

Wow. TO me that just screams the words of St Augustine that the Pope has a special devotion too as a Saint and as a Theologian.

There is much there about the American Church. Read it all as he says carefully. I think Pope Benedicts trip to the USA is going to be a humdinger. But we Catholcis here should not wait for him to come here to direct us before starting to act. HE is speaking now.

Let me leave this post with this part of the speech:
The Holy Father underlined the unique challenges posed by the contemporary world to the lay vocation during his Pastoral Visit to Brazil. Noting that America is a “continent of baptized Christians,” he asserted that “it is time to overcome the notable absence – in the political sphere, in the world of the media and in the universities – of the voices and initiatives of Catholic leaders with strong personalities and generous dedication, who are coherent in their ethical and religious convictions.” The Pope insisted strongly that it is necessary for Christians who are active in these social and cultural milieus to strive to safeguard ethical values. Above all, he said, “Where God is absent – God with the human face of Jesus Christ – these values fail to show themselves with their full force, nor does a consensus arise concerning them. I do not mean that non-believers cannot live a lofty and exemplary morality; I am only saying that a society in which God is absent will not find the necessary consensus on moral values or the strength to live according to the model of these values, even when they are in conflict with private interests.” In short, being a Catholic in the world today takes courage; yet it takes no more courage than it did when Jesus called his first disciples in Galilee.

Amen to that. More later.