THREE BENEDICTS AND A LUIGI

WHO MAKES THE RULES

Benedict XV

Benedict XVI

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, who celebrated his 84^th birthday three days ago on the 16^th April, was elected Pope six years ago today on the 19^th April 2005. He took the name of Benedict XVI. He claimed that he chose the name from Benedict XV, who was Pope between 1914 and 1922, and Saint Benedict of Nursia, who lived at the turn of the 5^th and 6^th century, and was canonised in 1220. Saint Benedict wrote a book of precepts for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. It is known as ‘The Rule’. Since the seventh century the rule was also adopted by communities of women.

Saint Benedict writing The Rule

The Rule of Saint Benedict has 73 chapters covering the four kinds of monks, the qualifications of an abbot, the tools for good work, unhesitating obedience to the superior in all things lawful, moderate use of language, the 12 degrees of humility, regulations of the dormitory, kitchen rota and loads of other stuff. It is a blueprint for setting up your own convent or monastery, enabling good works of all kinds, or indeed isolation from the horrors of the secular world. 

Chapter 57 enjoins humility on the craftsmen of the monastery, and if their work is for sale, it shall be rather below than above the current trade price. Clearly Benedict had good capitalist principles at heart – undercut the competition.

It is quite a list of do’s and don’ts.  I was particularly struck by the enjoinder for absolute obedience to the superior in all things lawful as included in Chapter 5, which prescribes prompt, ungrudging, and absolute obedience to the superior in all things lawful, "unhesitating obedience" being called the first degree, or step, of humility. Chapter 7 divides humility into twelve degrees, or steps in the ladder that leads to heaven:(1) Fear God;(2) Substitute one's will to the will of God;(3) Be obedient to one's superior;(4) Be patient amid hardships;(5) Confess one's sins;(6) Accept oneself as a "worthless workman";(7) Consider oneself "inferior to all";(8) Follow examples set by superiors;(9) Do not speak until spoken to;(10) Do not laugh;(11) Speak simply and modestly; and (12) Be humble in bodily posture.

The Rule naturally specifies a graduated scale of punishments for contumacy, disobedience, pride, and other grave faults: first, private admonition; next, public reproof; then separation from the brothers at meals and elsewhere; and finally excommunication (or in the case of those lacking understanding of what this means, corporal punishment instead). So if you happen to be a stubborn little monk who refuses to unhesitatingly obey authority, if a private word won’t do it, you get told off in front of everybody. If that doesn’t work you go to bed without supper, and if you persist in truculence, you're excommunicated, providing of course you understand the implications of excommunication, failing which you get beaten up. There is something rather simplistic in this method of dealing with anti-social behavior within the monastery or indeed nunnery. How does one communicate a full understanding of the implications of excommunication? It is of course much easier to understand a beating, and I have no doubt many a ‘superior’ was more than happy to dole out corporal punishment, claiming he did not believe the excommunicate’s true understanding of their position. Superiors can be like that.

Does Pope Benedict XVI run the Vatican by The Rule? One hopes not. As to his other inspiration Benedict XV, he had his hands full with the First World War. He was born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa. It is said that as Pope he focused on humanitarian efforts to lessen the impacts of the war, such as attending prisoners of war, the exchange of wounded soldiers and food deliveries to needy populations in Europe. After the war, he repaired the difficult relations with France, which re-established relations with the Vatican in 1921. During his pontificate, relations with Italy improved as well, as the Pope now permitted Catholic politicians led by Don Luigi Sturzo to participate in national Italian politics. But he was also a believer in rules.

It is fair to say that the Catholic Church has the oldest continuously functioning legal system in Western Europe, predating the common and European civil law traditions. Since the first century these ‘canons’ (rules) had expanded into a highly complex and paradigmatic legal system and by the 19^th century, over a period of 1800 years, the body of legislation included over 10,000 rules.

Cover of the 1917 Code of Canon Law .

Pope Benedict issued in 1917 the first ever Code of Canon Law of the Roman Catholic Church, the creation of which he had prepared with Pietro Gasparri and Eugenio Pacelli during the pontificate of Pius X. The new Code of Canon Law is considered to have stimulated religious life and activities throughout the Church.

The more significant act, in my view, was Pope Benedict's permission for Catholic politicians to participate in politics, and in particular Luigi Sturzo.(pictured left).

Don Luigi Sturzo was an Italian Catholic priest and politician. Known in his lifetime as a "clerical socialist," Luigi Sturzo is considered one of the fathers of Christian Democracy. Don Luigi was one of the founders of the Partito Popolare Italiano in 1919, but was forced into exile in 1924 with the rise of Italian Fascism. He was a committed anti-fascist who spoke out on the incompatibility of Catholicism and Fascism in such works as Coscienza cristiana, and criticized what he perceived to be “filo-fascist” elements within the Vatican.

He was in exile in London from 1924 to 1940 (and later New York from 1940 to 1946). Also in 1924 he started to publish the newspaper Partito Popolare Italiano. Don Luigi published over 400 articles (published posthumously under the title Miscellanea Londinese) critical of fascism, and later the post-war Christian Democrats in Italy. Beginning in 1941, he cooperated with agents from the British Security Co-ordination, the Office of Strategic Services, and the United States Office of War Information, providing them with his assessments of the political forces with the Italian resistance movement and radio broadcasts to Italy.

It is clear that he did not always see eye to eye with his superiors in the Church, by the very fact that he was forced into exile and they remained in situ. He was a committed humanitarian all his life and clearly did not always unhesitatingly obey his superior. His conscience yes, but not his superior. 

So who makes the rules?