Cardinal: Pope Benedict was a synodal anti-anti-modernist

At the presentation of his 13th volume of Opera Omnia in Milan

Cardinal Koch argues that Ratzinger was synodal and opposed to anti-modernism

At an event held at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, the 13th volume of Joseph Ratzinger's Opera Omnia – Benedict XVI, entitled In Dialogue with His Time, was presented. It brings together previously unpublished interviews with the Pope and German theologian.

The work was introduced by Professor Pierluigi Banna and Lorenzo Fazzini, head of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana. The event featured a dialogue between Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, and Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of Vatican media, moderated by Piero Luca Azzaro, translator and director of Opera Omnia.

Synodality in Ratzinger

During the presentation, Cardinal Koch emphasized that "with God, great things always begin small, even for the transformation of faith in today's society, it is important not to worry about numbers, but about salvation." In his remarks, he underscored the depth, complexity, and relevance of Ratzinger's thought, which escapes the ideological simplifications that pigeonhole him as a mere representative of conservatism.

One of the focal points of the dialogue was synodality. Koch recalled that Benedict XVI "has always been a strong supporter of synodality," in the original sense of walking with, as Saint John Chrysostom already expressed. For Ratzinger, this dimension is not opposed to hierarchy, but rather the two coexist: "The Catholic Church is hierarchical and synodal at the same time." Quoting Cyprian of Carthage, the Cardinal noted: "Nothing should be done without a bishop, nothing without the advice of priests, nothing without the consent of believers."

The volume includes excerpts from which Ratzinger, as early as 1969, denounced the persistence of a monarchical ecclesial model, advocating a gradual transformation toward greater participation and consultation, through less centralized forms of discussion. In this way, he anticipated an ecclesial vision open to the diversity of contexts and realities.

Cathcon:  The Cardinal forgets thar Ratzinger was considered an arch-liberal at the Council and drafted Cardinal Frings speech which smashed the power of the Curia.  Such revolutionary talk always has unintended consequences.

Rejection of Anti-Modernism

Ratzinger, both as a theologian and as Pontiff, rejected the anti-modernist retreat, instead advocating for constant dialogue with the contemporary world. As Koch recalled, "the believer carries within him a non-believer, and vice versa," as he wrote in Introduction to Christianity. Therefore, dialogue with those who doubt or do not believe is fundamental: "Faith confirmed in reflection is always open to dialogue, while ideology is closed in on itself."

Another central theme was the vision of the future of the Church in secularized societies. Ratzinger advocated for a "freer and poorer" Church, disengaged from power structures. Koch recalled the Pope's words in Freiburg, where he affirmed that the loss of privileges helped the Church become less worldly. This process, he explained, does not imply a withdrawal from the world, but rather greater credibility in its witness and mission.

His Dialogues with Journalists

The presentation concluded with a reflection by theologian Elia Carrai, who emphasized that Ratzinger's dialogues with journalists show how Christian truth "is revealed in history and becomes an object of verification by humankind." People who live their faith, he added, "demonstrate that a truly human life is possible," making the Christian message understandable to contemporary people.

Ratzinger, far from narrow-minded, reveals himself in this new work as a lucid, modern interlocutor deeply rooted in tradition, capable of sustaining the dialogue between faith and reason, Church and world with coherence and openness.

Source

Background  The then Cardinal Ratzinger in his Principles of Catholic Theology considered Gaudium et Spes (Vatican II's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World) a counter-syllabus to the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX.  Source for this

He did however criticise some of the sections of Lumen Gentium as "downright Pelagian".

See also the importance of the Oath against Modernism and how second wave modernism led to the Second Vatican Council in the links at the end of this post. 

As the Church is being dissolved by post-modernism and the world positively runs towards the post-modernistic abyss, as a result of this path mapped by these sympathies with modernism, the stakes could not be higher.