A Tribute to Benedict XVI's Final Day as Pope: The Regensburg Address

Source

Susan of Ironic Catholic asked her fellow Catholic bloggers to post a small tribute to Benedict XVI's final day as Pope.

I think it's fitting with Benedict XVI's academic background that I quote from his Regensburg Address, which dealt, among other things, with the perennial issue of the relation between Faith and Reason, Fides et Ratio:


The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur - this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time. "Not to act reasonably, not to act with logos, is contrary to the nature of God", said Manuel II, according to his Christian understanding of God, in response to his Persian interlocutor. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.

- James V. Schall's book on the Address.

Pope Benedict's XVI's final tweet

                                                          HT: Aggie Catholics

Aristotle on the Natural Law

"It will now be well to make a complete classification of just and unjust actions. We may begin by observing that they have been defined relatively to two kinds of law, and also relatively to two classes of persons. By the two kinds of law I mean particular law and universal law. Particular law is that which each community lays down and applies to its own members: this is partly written and partly unwritten. Universal law is the law of Nature. For there really is, as every one to some extent divines, a natural justice and injustice that is binding on all men, even on those who have no association or covenant with each other. " -- Aristotle, Rhetoric, 1.13.1373b5
(HT: David Oderberg, "The Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Law")

How to Become a Pope

This seems like an excellent short video explaining the conclave, the election of a new Pope (HT: Lisa Hendey):

I haven't read the comments, but this being YouTube, you can probably imagine what lies in store.

Will the Next Pope be Catholic?

My friend Bryce looks at the "shocked, shocked" New York Times reaction to Pope Benedict's belief that Catholicism is true, while Get Religion looks at several newspapers bringing up the possibility of a new progressive pope. 

I think the answer to the suggestion that the election of a new pope might bring a change in Church teachings on "pelvic issues" like abortion, contraception and same-sex marriage is clear...

HT:  The Hermeneutic of Continuity 

HT: Creative Minority Report

Fr. Dwight Longenecker gives a more detailed explanation of  why some journalists are misreading Pope Benedict's resignation. 

Pope Benedict XVI to Resign

From the Pope's Declaration on Vatican Radio:

well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on 19 April 2005, in such a way, that as from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.
Dear Brothers, I thank you most sincerely for all the love and work with which you have supported me in my ministry and I ask pardon for all my defects. And now, let us entrust the Holy Church to the care of Our Supreme Pastor, Our Lord Jesus Christ, and implore his holy Mother Mary, so that she may assist the Cardinal Fathers with her maternal solicitude, in electing a new Supreme Pontiff. With regard to myself, I wish to also devotedly serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer. 

From the Vatican, 10 February 2013 

BENEDICTUS PP XVI

Please pray for Pope Benedict while reaches the final days of his office. May God bless him.

Star Trek Into Darkness Super Bowl Trailer

We get a few more glimpses of the villain...

Goodreads 100 Books Meme

I noticed Mrs. Darwin and Brandon both recently posted a Goodreads 100 Books Meme, so I thought I'd join in on the fun, even though I'm definitely not as well read. If nothing else, the meme should give me some ideas for a reading list.




Books I've read
Books I started but didn't find interesting enough to continue
Could be interested to read
If I were handed this, I'd look for the nearest cereal box as an alternative
Book I haven't read
* Book I own and haven't read

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Catcher in the Rye
Fellowship of the Ring
Pride and Prejudice*
Harry Potter and the Philsopher's Stone
Romeo and Juliet
Jane Eyre
1984
Hamlet*
The Hobbit
Brave New World
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Great Gatsby
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Fahrenheit 451
Wuthering Heights
Alice in Wonderland*
The Secret Garden
Green Eggs and Ham
Little Women
Of Mice and Men
The Handmaid's Tale
Lord of the Flies
The DaVinci Code
Frankenstein*
Dune
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Gone With The Wind
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
A Wrinkle in Time
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Slaughterhouse Five
Anne of Green Gables
Twilight
Where the Sidewalk Ends
The Little Prince
Memoirs of a Geisha
The Princess Bride
The Picture of Dorian Grey
The Hunger Games
Sense and Sensibility
The Golden Compass
Dracula
The Color Purple
The Kite Runner
The Odyssey*
Anna Karenina
And Then There Were None
Interview with the Vampire
The Book Thief
One Hundred Years of Solitude
The Count of Monte Cristo
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The Joy Luck Club
Little House on the Prairie
The Giver
Life of Pi
Rebecca
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Ender's Game
A Tale of Two Cities
The Stranger
East of Eden
Les Miserables
The Bell Jar
Lolita
The Road
The Time Traveler's Wife
A Prayer for Owen Meany
The Stand
Catch-22
The Sun Also Rises
The Pillars of the Earth
Crime and Punishment
The Good Earth
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Help
Watchmen
Lonesome Dove
Water for Elephants
Outlander
American Gods
The Poisonwood Bible
My Sister's Keeper
The Master and Margarita
The Notebook
Like Water for Chocolate
Beloved
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Invisible Man
A Game of Thrones
The Fountainhead
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Ulysses
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle
The Brothers Karamazov
The House of the Spirits
Fight Club
Middlesex
Interpreter of Maladies