Pope emeritus Benedict XVI has written a letter to the president of the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, ahead of an international symposium of theologians discussing his view of the Church.
In it, the Pope emeritus remembers the unexpected calling of an Ecumenical Council by Pope John XXIII and says that although there were many doubts at the time, “a new council proved to be not only meaningful, but necessary.”
Benedict XVI states that in Vatican II, the question of the Church in the world becomes the central question of ecclesiology. Prior to that, the Church was understood as both strictly an institution and later as only a mystical body.
Today, he writes, the “positive power of the Council is slowly emerging.”
The message is the first public statement from the Pope emeritus since he responded to allegations of mishandling four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich in a message given by his personal secretary.
JM
