WARSAW–The surprise announcement that Pope Benedict XVI planned to abdicate due to advanced age and failing health electrified the world and for days overshadowed most other news. Poland was no exception. In fact, Poles had reason to react to the news in a special, more intimate way than most.
The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had on more than when occasion demonstrated a soft spot for Poles and Poland. That stemmed from the fact his long-standing friendship and association with the Poles’ beloved native son, Pope John Paul II, whom he served with the utmost loyalty and dedication. His visits to Poland before and after being elected pope filled him with great admiration for the Poles’ fidelity to their Catholic faith – something he could not say about his native Germany.
When in 2005 Benedict XVI succeeded former Kraków Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, the world media suggested that he would have a hard time filling the shoes of his charismatic Polish predecessor and that his pontificate would remain in John Paul’s shadow. That was yet another example of today’s sensation-seeking media trying to force everything and everyone into a stereotypical, secular mold, where rivalry, personal ambitions and self-advancement reign supreme. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also reflected that mind-frame when he said: “It certainly was not easy to be the successor to our countryman, the great Pope John Paul II.” But Benedict XVI was never in competition with his predecessor. The 265th pope, a pious and devoted churchman, saw himself as a humble worker in Christ’s Vineyard serving God and man as best he knew how. The late Polish Pontiff’s secretary Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz put it this way: “John Paul II opened the Church to the world and opened the world to the Church, Benedict XVI has deepened that process.”
Like his Polish predecessor, the German-born pope has staunchly defended Christian values coming under attack in the West by growing personal egoism, secularization, moral laxity and relativism. But in addition to continuing his predecessor’s mission, he announced a policy of “zero tolerance” towards pedophilic priests — a painful issue that had overwhelmed the ailing John Paul II in his twilight years. Benedict also lifted the excommunication imposed on followers of the Lefebvrist movement of traditionalist anti-Vatican II Catholics and granted greater prominence to their beloved Tridentine (pre-Vatican II) mass.
Poles are especially grateful to Benedict for his fast-track beatification of Jan Paweł Drugi. The machinery leading to his canonization has already been set into motion, although no date has yet been set. The meek, mild-mannered and soft-spoken Benedict has also helped to soften the negative image of Germans still prevailing especially among many older Poles. Benedict XVI could therefore count on a warm welcome when visiting his predecessor’s homeland.
He was always enthusiastically cheered at St Peter’s Square by groups of Polish pilgrims who have continued to flock to the Vatican in considerable numbers following the death of their beloved JPII. And the feeling has been mutual. The outgoing pope always spoke highly of Poles and Poland, expressing public admiration for their courage, spirit and strong Catholic faith. He learned how to pray and deliver short sermons in Polish and never failed to address Polish worshipers in their native tongue. During Benedict’s pontificate Polish continued to be one of the Vatican’s top languages.
The announcement of Benedict’s abdication triggered immediate speculation as to who would succeed him as the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. Italians were hoping one of their cardinals would ascend St Peter’s Throne following two non-Italian pontificates. Many Vatican watchers predict an American pope, but others expect the southern hemisphere to provide a successor. An estimated two-thirds of the world’s Roman Catholics now live in Latin America, Africa and South Asia.