Delighted but shocked!

Watching the video of our two Holy Fathers sharing brotherly and mutual consolation was a great joy for me – BUT it was a real shock to see how frail dear Benedict has become in such a short time. The contrast was much greater than the nine or ten years age difference would seem to suggest. Please pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict. I no longer have any doubt as to the wisdom of his decision to abdicate.

About Schütz

I am a PhD candidate & sessional academic at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. After almost 10 years in ministry as a Lutheran pastor, I was received into the Catholic Church in 2003. I worked for the Archdiocese of Melbourne for 18 years in Ecumenism and Interfaith Relations. I have been editor of Gesher for the Council of Christians & Jews and am guest editor of the historical journal “Footprints”. I have a passion for pilgrimage and pioneered the MacKillop Woods Way.
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6 Responses to Delighted but shocked!

  1. Joshua says:

    Do pray for dear Benedict – he is no doubt praying very much, not least for himself during what he himself has acknowledged to be the last part of his life’s journey, but also for the Church and us all. Seeing him walk with such a slow and shuffling gait, even when assisted by a cane, reminds me of my own late father, shortly before his eventual falls, collapse, ambulance ride to hospital, consignment to a nursing home, and death…

    • Schütz says:

      I was thinking tonight how undignified the final part of our journey can be. It can be faced with great dignity – and John Paul II showed us that – but there is an indignity about it to be borne. I started watching a movie on YouTube “Karol the man the pope” (bit of a b-grader, but it has a sound track by Ennio Morricone), which opens with the dying pope. Watching the start is not a bad way to come to terms with the experience of the last few days.

  2. jules says:

    Seeing them together was so beautiful, and all I could think of was “family” and they being the wise elders. The church is our family, and know wonder that the head is called PAPA ! God bless them both.

  3. Gareth says:

    Does anyone think from the side and with glasses on, Pope Francis looks a tiny bit like Pius XII

  4. jules says:

    Yes, both have a ‘roman nose’ . Pius however was a lot leaner.

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