Steinfels on Benedict XVI

The final part of the Steinfels article I featured in my post earlier today bears quoting here:

Some people have already written off Benedict XVI, while others are rushing almost to canonize him. Pending a clearer sense of his own vision of the world and of the priorities such a vision suggests, both reactions seem premature.

In a televised interview eight years ago, cited in John Allen's book "Conclave" (Doubleday, 2002), one high-ranking Catholic official gave a rather minimal view of what Catholics should automatically assume about a newly chosen pope. Asked whether "the Holy Spirit plays a role in the election of the pope," the official replied, "I would not say so in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the pope, because there are too many contrary instances of popes the Holy Spirit would obviously not have picked."

"The Spirit's role should be understood in a much more elastic sense," the official added. "Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined."

That official was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Michael P.