In front of the remains displayed under the bronze canopy by the Italian sculptor Bernini, in the basilica of San Pietro in Rome, a man was on his knees in a sign of recollection. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is not a Catholic, but on 3 January 2023 he wanted to be present to personally pay homage to Benedict XVI, pope emeritus who died on Saturday 31 December 2022 and whose funeral is taking place today, 5 January. Orbán and Benedetto knew each other and apparently valued each other.
The funeral of Joseph Ratzinger, pope from 2005 to 2013 before his sensational resignation, is not a state event. Only Italian and German officials are officially invited. Yet, like Orbán, many political and religious leaders have decided to come and bow, in a private capacity, before the body of Francis I’s predecessor. It is a ballet that takes the form of a tribute to the conservative conception of society and the church embodied by the former cardinal Ratzinger, who ascended the papal throne under the name of Benedict XVI.
The role of representing Hungary on 5 January, however, was left to President Katalin Novák. The funeral was also attended by Polish President Andrzej Duda, another conservative exponent, as well as the archbishop emeritus of Hong Kong, Joseph Zen, whose passport is kept by the Chinese authorities, but who has obtained special authorization to leave the country. Critical of Pope Francis’ policy on China, the prelate is famous for having contested some of the liturgical reforms introduced by the current pontiff. His presence in the Vatican confirms that Ratzinger had become the tutelary figure of a conservative world contrary to Francis’s approach, considered too tied to social issues, starting with migrants, and little to theology.
Representing France was Gérald Darmanin, minister of the interior also in charge of religions, while the United States, despite being led by the Catholic Joe Biden, have only sent the ambassador to the Vatican.
Catholic temple guardian
Yann Raison du Cleuziou, of the University of Bordeaux, points out that Ratzinger, an esteemed theologian and an important figure of the twentieth century church, had attracted the attention of the conservative world well before his election as pope. As prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, he presented himself as guardian of the Catholic temple, “intellectual lookout to defend the orthodoxy of the faith”, explains Raison du Cleuziou.
His positions were much appreciated by conservatives, starting with the note in 2000 with which he supported the primacy of the Catholic Church over the others as “the only legitimate heir of the revelation incarnated by Jesus”, or from a text in which he specified what should be the behavior of Catholics in public life. After his election as pope, Benedict XVI intervened more decisively on liturgical questions, above all with the liberalization of the possibility of celebrating the Mass in Latin, limited following the Second Vatican Council.
It is precisely on these liturgical issues that the first thrust of the conservative camp against Pope Francis came. Benedict XVI’s body was still warm when Georg Gänswein, his personal secretary, granted a very significant interview to a German conservative newspaper, explaining that his mentor had been “heartbroken” by the apostolic note with which Francis had discussion of his decision to expand the possibilities for celebrating mass, much appreciated by conservatives. Some of the “Ratzingerians” recall that the pope emeritus had become a symbol despite him, but they recognize that, with his stances, he was an important figure for all those who wonder about the future of the church.
In the Holy See, some are also asking questions about the (relative) modesty of Benedict XVI’s funeral. Shouldn’t they have been celebrated as a state funeral? Why always refer to his status as pope emeritus despite having served as pope for eight years? Because on the remains of him was not left the cloak, the famous scarf that only popes have the right to wear and that therefore would have belonged to him too? In the organization of the funeral some conservatives have seen an admission of Francis’ weakness, in their opinion worried that a different ceremony could galvanize his opponents. Yet the conduct of the funeral, with the exception of a few details, is that of a pope in activity.
The January 5 event could be exploited by conservatives, but it also marks the end of an era. According to Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology and religious studies at the University of Villanova, in the United States, with the death of Benedict XVI the conservative camp in the Vatican “lost a leader, a figure to unite around. Today no personality emerges that can serve as a symbol or embodiment.”
But Faggioli adds that the church has also lost a “moderator”, a man who with his presence was able to appease the ardor of those who would like the church to return to a much more conservative version of thought and customs. For this reason, many are now predicting a difficult conclusion to Francis’ pontificate.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)