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| Die Pummerin läutet zum Abschied von Papst Benedikt XVI. [Bild: kreuz-net] |
On the evening of the 28th of January in the year of the Lord 2013, a Pontifical Mass for the end Benedict XVI’s Pontificate was given in a completely filled Cathedral and Metropolitan Church, St. Stephen in Vienna by the Apostolic Nuncio of Austria, Archbishop Peter Zurbriggen for the end.
The Liturgy -- the Novus Ordo -- was meagre; the vestments were unlovely; the musical arrangements could have been better arranged; what was certainly a noteworthy cause for joy were the words of the Nuncio, who praised the deeds of Benedict XVI. and at the same time remained in no way thoroughly empty and inert.
In the German National Church in Rome, at the grave of Pope Hadrian VI.: there is an inscription which reads significantly, that even the best man of the time, in which he is put, will leave an important mark on his efforts. Zurbriggen noted that this is applicable in a certain way also for Benedict XVI., who was called to the Papal throne in difficult times for the Church.
The Nuncio cited Benedict’s speech on the present Dictatorship of Relativism, against which the Pope has ever encouraged to reach for Christ, that very trust in God, to which Jeremiah also called upon, from which the reading of the Mass was chosen.
Interpretation of Vatican II
The three Encyclicals of the Pope were mentioned, his work on “Jesus of Nazareth” and Benedict’s efforts toward the correct understanding of Liturgy and for the correct interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, which also must not be meant as a break, according to which it is completely different, as it has been near to the almost 2,000 years before that.
So it is also even misleading to speak of a Pre-Conciliar and a Post-Conciliar Church. Every false interpretation of the Council has brought us to each crisis, in which the Church today finds itself, as the Nuncio clearly formulated: and he still significantly noted, that for us, the true value of the Council, and every true and valid Council, will only then be solved, when the modernist rubbish heaped till now has been thrown out.
At 8 o’clock in the evening, shortly before the Consecration, the Nuncio stopped, as the solemn silence within the Gothic Cathedral the bells began to toll to signal the beginning of the elevation, at the same time of the voluntary end of this Pontificate. Tears welled up in the eyes of some. Doubtless a historical moment.
Link to kreuz.net..
