Archbishop of Sydney

Sixth Sunday of Easte

St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney
Jn 14:15-21

By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
1 May 2005

Since my last Mass here in the Cathedral on Easter Sunday, we have experienced the death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

In this sermon I want to begin by asking you all to pray for and support the new Pope.  I am sure you will because the office of the papacy is vital to the life of the Catholic Church.

The election of Pope Benedict XVI is a clear affirmation of Catholic identity.  As I claimed to the press on a couple of occasions the Cardinals were always going to elect a Catholic!  The choice also reflects a general endorsement of the policies of John Paul II.

Like the previous Pope, Pope Benedict grew up during World War II, but he was, reluctantly and unwillingly, on the other side.  His election as a German by the Cardinals is a clear sign that the Second World War is finally over and that we can turn over that terrible page of history.

There are other differences from John Paul II.  Pope Benedict has less experience running a Diocese (he was Archbishop of Munich), but he has spent more than 20 years in the Roman Curia and is much better known at the start of his pontificate than John Paul II was.  As a new Pope he is twenty years older than his predecessor was and he will not travel as much overseas.

Pope Benedict XVI brings a safe pair of hands to the papacy.  The best energies of a Church can be spent struggling over doctrines of faith and morals.  Think of the enormous amounts of contrasting energy and deep personal hurt generated in the Anglican Communion over the ordination of women and active homosexuals.

There have been periods in Catholic history which have seen such unproductive struggles e.g. in the fourth and fifth centuries over the divine and human natures of Our Lord and the full divinity of the Holy Spirit.

Indeed the enduring split after these discussions was one factor which made the Moslem expansion easier.

Time will tell what will happen in this next pontificate, but the proponents of radical doctrinal change have no reason for optimism in Pope Benedict XVI.  Please God this will mean that we shall be able to get on with the difficult task of practising what we preach, handing this on to the next generation and offering the person and message of Christ in a comprehensible and attractive manner to the non-Catholics around us.

I repeat that the new Holy Father deserves our prayers and support.  I am sure he will be much loved by Catholics throughout the world as they come to know him.

Earlier I welcomed participants of the Carnivale Christi to this Mass, a programme of Christian art and culture put together by a group of young Catholic laymen and women.  It is a fine initiative.

I am sure it would have the blessing of the new pope.  He is a German theologian, a wonderful example of the best high European and Catholic culture, the author of many books and papers, who has dialogued publicly with secular i.e. non-religious politicians such as the President of the Italian Senate, Maurizio Perla, and leading secular philosophers such as Habermas.  He is also a competent pianist, whose favourite composers are Mozart and Beethoven.  Can we claim that only good people like Mozart and Beethoven?  I could not find the quotation in my files but if memory serves me right the Russian Communist tyrant Lenin, responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, said that he did not like listening to Beethoven’s music because it made him think kindly thoughts!

Catholicism cannot be reduced to a collection of philosophical principles, much less to a set of mathematical equations.  Catholicism is a religion which appeals to the heart as well as the mind.  It is a call to worship the one true God, a call to faith, hope, love and service, centred on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  It is intensely personal.

These same gospel truths are expressed in many different cultures.  Last night I was with the Maronite Catholics from Lebanon, another vibrant and different culture, professing of course the same one Lord, one faith and one baptism.

This process is sometimes called “inculturation” by theologians.  This does not mean that the distinctive Christian message is submerged by the surrounding culture so that it disappears, but that the culture itself is developed and refined; used to better express Christian truths and ways of living.

No institution has made a more profound contribution to Western life than the Catholic Church.  There have been many other important contributors such as the Protestant Reformation, the Enlightenment, the French and American Revolutions, the spectacular developments in science and technology; but I stand by my claim.  We have a seven day week, Sunday is still a day of rest for many, and we have public holidays at Easter and Christmas.  Even basic features of life like marriage, man, woman and children, the concern of social justice are linked strongly to Catholic and Christian influence.

All this has been beautifully expressed in art; very publicly since the fourth century.  In Rome the old Pope was buried and the new Pope welcomed in St. Peter’s Basilica, built over more than a 100 years by a succession of brilliant architects and artists.  The Cardinals met in the Sistine Chapel surrounded by the genius of Michelangelo.  Over the centuries painters, sculptors, artists, writers and scientists too have laboured to reveal the secrets of God’s creation and indeed share in his creative work, by producing works that are good and beautiful.

There are different types of art, high and low, but great art is usually accessible to the people.  In the last few days we have heard talks on Mel Gibson’s The Passion, a preview of the film on the life of Mother Teresa and productions of T. S. Eliot’s masterpiece Murder in the Cathedral recounting the terrible church-state clash between King Henry II of England and Archbishop Thomas Becket of Canterbury, murdered by four Knights in his own Cathedral.  As an omen that we live in quieter and easier times I watched yesterday’s production with Premier Carr and his wife Helena.  It was not even like the alleged showing of Yes Prime Minister to a joint group of politicians and bureaucrats in Canberra, where the two groups often laughed at different times!

So we thank God that the followers of Christ over the centuries have produced so much beauty, like this Cathedral, like the glories of Church music which we hear each week from our choir, the ritual itself of the Roman rite of Mass – ranging on to plays, films, paintings, writings.

Carnivale Christi celebrates all this, this appeal to our imagination, our memory, our mind and heart.

Finally, a word about today’s Gospel.  The link between love and the commandments is the basis of all social life.  Peace and prosperity are the fruit of right living and prerequisite for the arts to flourish.  The Ten Commandments are indispensable; the virtues and vices they represent are real and powerful.  One great contribution of the late Holy Father was to stress again and again the central linkage of truth and freedom.  Genuine freedom is only found in truth.

Let us ponder that, thank God for the long tradition of Christian culture and never forget the foundational role of the Ten Commandments.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.