{"id":512,"date":"2008-03-28T08:09:04","date_gmt":"2008-03-28T08:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html"},"modified":"2008-03-28T08:09:04","modified_gmt":"2008-03-28T08:09:04","slug":"pope-prognostication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html","title":{"rendered":"Pope Prognostication"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you want to know what the Pope might say while he’s in the US, Rocco says, you might take a look at what Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has said in his appearances, particularly to the Knights of Columbus last summer.<\/a>
\nThis article by Fr. Gerald O’Collins, S.J.\u00a0in America <\/em>is quite nice – linking Easter, Peter, and Benedict:<\/a><\/p>\n

In recent years ecumenical contacts between Catholics and other Christians have underscored the realization that authentic unity can be realized only in confessing the truth of faith. How best can we express that unity and truth? The essential truth of Christian faith could be formulated by saying, \u201cThe crucified Son of God is risen from the dead to give us his Holy Spirit.\u201d The paschal mystery says it all. It is the basic truth to be maintained and passed on by all Christians. They have been baptized into Christ\u2019s death and resurrection (Rom 6:3-4) to live together through the power of the Holy Spirit as the new Easter people of God.
\nWhat more could we expect from the bishop of Rome than that, like Peter, he strengthen the whole church\u2019s faith in Christ\u2019s resurrection? How could he better serve the unity of an Easter people than by proclaiming insistently the event that brought the church into being: the resurrection of the crucified Jesus? The pope must also lead the church with the loving authority of a chief pastor and be a model for all worshipers in celebrating the sacraments. But his great task for all the world is to announce that Christ is risen. Nothing can or should ever count against the power and joyfulness of that unique message.
\nOne picture of St. Peter has fixed itself forever in my mind: a huge 17th-century painting of Peter\u2019s martyrdom. The painting had been taken down from a church and brought for restoration to the studio of an Italian friend of mine. It shows two soldiers using ropes to pull Peter upside down onto a cross. The saint looks stiff and old, but his face is calm and peaceful. Two cheerful little angels watch the scene as Peter faces death and prepares to meet his master in glory.
\nClassical painters aimed to express the final character and significance of those they portrayed. They wanted to lead us to the reality and identity of the persons they had chosen to represent. That old painting of Peter in my friend\u2019s studio in Rome catches the apostle\u2019s courage in the face of death. Originally martyr<\/i> (a Greek word) meant \u201cwitness.\u201d Peter the great witness became Peter the martyr. He could face martyrdom with such serenity because he had faithfully witnessed to his master\u2019s victory over death. He knew that Jesus had died but was now alive forever. In that resurrection Peter found his destiny and final identity.
\nWhen he was elected pope, Benedict XVI found his own final destiny and identity. A serene figure in white, he faithfully preaches the Easter faith that holds us all together. When I see him proclaiming the resurrection, he reminds me of another figure also dressed in a white robe: the angelic messenger sitting in the empty tomb of Jesus and announcing to Mary Magdalene and her companions: \u201cHe has been raised\u201d (Mk 16:5-6).
\nIn a few weeks Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in the United States. May he continue to fulfill fruitfully his vocation as Peter\u2019s successor by announcing to the whole world the unique good news that is Christ\u2019s resurrection from the dead. We could desire nothing greater for Benedict XVI than that he continue to show himself to be an Easter pope for an Easter people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want to know what the Pope might say while he’s in the US, Rocco says, you might take a look at what Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has said in his appearances, particularly to the Knights of Columbus last summer. This article by Fr. Gerald O’Collins, S.J.\u00a0in America is quite nice – linking…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPope Prognostication - Via Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Prognostication - Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you want to know what the Pope might say while he’s in the US, Rocco says, you might take a look at what Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has said in his appearances, particularly to the Knights of Columbus last summer. This article by Fr. Gerald O’Collins, S.J.\u00a0in America is quite nice – linking…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Via Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-03-28T08:09:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"awelborn\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope Prognostication - Via Media","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope Prognostication - Via Media","og_description":"If you want to know what the Pope might say while he’s in the US, Rocco says, you might take a look at what Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone has said in his appearances, particularly to the Knights of Columbus last summer. This article by Fr. Gerald O’Collins, S.J.\u00a0in America is quite nice – linking…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html","og_site_name":"Via Media","article_published_time":"2008-03-28T08:09:04+00:00","author":"awelborn","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html","name":"Pope Prognostication - Via Media","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-03-28T08:09:04+00:00","dateModified":"2008-03-28T08:09:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/#\/schema\/person\/aea2dcda1635c9c2d6030d9c7595725a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/2008\/03\/pope-prognostication.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope Prognostication"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/","name":"Via Media","description":"Amy Welborn","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/#\/schema\/person\/aea2dcda1635c9c2d6030d9c7595725a","name":"awelborn","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/9f2\/9f2100183464289fedc5b8a621c15110x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/9f2\/9f2100183464289fedc5b8a621c15110x96.jpg","caption":"awelborn"},"description":"Amy Welborn was born in 1960, the only child of a now-retired professor of political science, a teacher-librarian-artist mother,deceased since 2001, was a teacher, librarian and artist. The Catholicism comes from her side. Amy grew up in a number of places - Indiana - Washington, DC - Lubbock Texas - Arlington, Virginia - DeKalb, Illinois - Lawrence, Kansas - and Knoxville, Tennessee, where the family settled in 1973. She attended Knoxville Catholic High School, then the University of Tennessee where she majored in history. She received an MA in Church History from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote a thesis on the changing role of women in 19th century American Protestantism, and the ways Scripture was used to justify those changes. She worked as as a teacher in Catholic high schools and a Parish Director of Religious Education and started writing for the diocesan press - the Florida Catholic - in 1988. Amy has written columns for Our Sunday Visitor and Catholic News Service at times over the past twenty years. Her articles have been published in venues ranging from Our Sunday Visitor to the New York Times to Commonweal. She has written 17 books. 18, if you included the as yet tragically unpublished novel. Amy has five children, ranging in age from 26 to 4 and was married to Michael Dubruiel, who died unexpectedly in February 2009. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/author\/awelborn"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/viamedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}