Benedict XVI. - some thoughts
Mm ... The Middles Ages have seen many Popes Benedict. I only select the the ones of the 14th and 15th century. In my opinion, Petrus de Luna (Benedict XIII.) is the most interesting parallel with the new pope.
Benedict XI. (+ 1304) - was Italian and was elected after the murder of Bonifatius VIII., he excommunicated the William of Nogaret (the chancellor of the French King) who was responsible for this act. He was pope only for one year.
Benedict XII. (+ 1342) - was French (or rather Occitan). He fought heretics,corruption and nepotism, he was very ascetic. And he reformed the regles of some of the orders.
Benedict XIII (+ 1423) - was Spanish (or rather from Aragon). As a cardinal, he supported Clemens VII. whose election caused the the Schism of Avignon. And he was the second pope in Avignon. He was an intellectual, and he was finally disposed by the council of Konstanz (1417). His opinion toward the idea of the council, that the lays could elect the pope to end the Schisma, is not quite clear.
For someone who is well informed about church history, the new pope can't have considered the last example, especially if you see it in relation with the calls for reforms in the church and the demands of the (German) lays to have more influence. In my eyes, it looks like a slightly ironical wink in their direction, like an insider wit. Of course, actual lays don't know so much anymore about the controversies of the 14th century. They might give them some arguments. But maybe, sometimes humans are forced to think things through, in their own time and with their own brains without taking inspiration from the ancestors.
P.S.: The portraits the television showed yesterday did not fill me with joy. I think what irks me more is his arrogance, not the arrogance of someone who knows much, but the arrogance of the priest who believes that he has sacrificed many things like family or personal life in the service of God, but also believes that having a vagina decides if you have the right for such sacrifices. (In the actual roman hierarchie, the only place for a woman with a vocation is the hostpital.)
Benedict XI. (+ 1304) - was Italian and was elected after the murder of Bonifatius VIII., he excommunicated the William of Nogaret (the chancellor of the French King) who was responsible for this act. He was pope only for one year.
Benedict XII. (+ 1342) - was French (or rather Occitan). He fought heretics,corruption and nepotism, he was very ascetic. And he reformed the regles of some of the orders.
Benedict XIII (+ 1423) - was Spanish (or rather from Aragon). As a cardinal, he supported Clemens VII. whose election caused the the Schism of Avignon. And he was the second pope in Avignon. He was an intellectual, and he was finally disposed by the council of Konstanz (1417). His opinion toward the idea of the council, that the lays could elect the pope to end the Schisma, is not quite clear.
For someone who is well informed about church history, the new pope can't have considered the last example, especially if you see it in relation with the calls for reforms in the church and the demands of the (German) lays to have more influence. In my eyes, it looks like a slightly ironical wink in their direction, like an insider wit. Of course, actual lays don't know so much anymore about the controversies of the 14th century. They might give them some arguments. But maybe, sometimes humans are forced to think things through, in their own time and with their own brains without taking inspiration from the ancestors.
P.S.: The portraits the television showed yesterday did not fill me with joy. I think what irks me more is his arrogance, not the arrogance of someone who knows much, but the arrogance of the priest who believes that he has sacrificed many things like family or personal life in the service of God, but also believes that having a vagina decides if you have the right for such sacrifices. (In the actual roman hierarchie, the only place for a woman with a vocation is the hostpital.)