For Conservative Catholics in U.S., Pope Benedict's Death Is Loss of a Hero - The New York Times

The decease of Pope Benedict XVI Saturday sent a wide question of mourning done the American church. At the University of Notre Dame successful Indiana, a azygous doorbell tolled for 15 minutes astatine the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

But his decease held peculiar meaning for the blimpish helping of American Catholicism: It represented the nonaccomplishment of their unofficial figurehead, a shadiness beingness whose power they followed adjacent aft helium resigned successful 2013 and Pope Francis became the church’s planetary leader.

While helium mostly faded from nationalist beingness since his unexpected retirement, the erstwhile pope — whose aboriginal estimation arsenic a firebrand erstwhile earned him the nickname “God’s Rottweiler” — remained a leader to galore theological conservatives, who viewed him arsenic a standard-bearer for a benignant of doctrinal committedness and rigor they saw lacking successful the religion nether Francis.

In caller years, the blimpish helping of American religion enactment has been gaining power, and has clashed openly and often with the country’s 2nd Catholic president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and the talker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, implicit the contented of abortion.

On Saturday, during a abrogation successful St. Croix, Mr. Biden released a connection that said helium and his woman “join Catholics astir the world, and truthful galore others, successful mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” adding that the pope “will beryllium remembered arsenic a renowned theologian, with a beingness of devotion to the church, guided by his principles and faith.”

Mr. Biden remembered Benedict’s comments during a 2008 sojourn to the United States and White House, wherever the pope noted that the “need for planetary solidarity is arsenic urgent arsenic ever, if each radical are to unrecorded successful a mode worthy of their dignity.”

Ms. Pelosi, a Democrat of California who is besides Catholic, expressed her admiration of Benedict’s spirituality and recalled welcoming the pope to Washington successful 2008 and visiting him astatine the Vatican the adjacent year.

“Paul and I articulation our chap Catholics successful mourning the passing of Pope Benedict XVI: a planetary person whose devotion, assistance and hopeful connection stirred the hearts of radical of each faiths,” she wrote successful the statement, referring to her husband.

Benedict’s promotion of Catholic leaders, including Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, helped signifier the quality of religion hierarchy successful the United States astatine its highest levels. Parts of the American church, including the younger procreation of priests, person agelong held Benedict “in an awe bordering connected reverence,” said George Weigel, a blimpish Catholic commentator and writer of “To Sanctify the World: The Vital Legacy of Vatican II.”

Catholics marque up astir 20 percent of each U.S. adults. The religion has grown increasingly polarized successful the past fewer years, and the faction that has opposed Pope Francis’ docket has strengthened.

At their yearly gathering successful November, U.S. bishops chose arsenic their apical leaders Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, who was named by Benedict to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, and Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, who was elevated to his relation by Benedict. Both person prioritized an absorption to termination and person taken blimpish stances connected an array of societal issues.

Benedict “continued passim his agelong beingness to beryllium an effectual teacher of the faith,” Archbishop Broglio said successful a statement. “It volition instrumentality galore years for america to delve much profoundly into the wealthiness of learning that helium has near us.”

Benedict’s theological writings and power arsenic Joseph Ratzinger, erstwhile helium was Pope John Paul II’s right-hand man, made him 1 of the astir ascendant forces to signifier the civilization of the existent American priesthood.

No 1 was much important successful helping John Paul II crook the religion to the right, said David Gibson, manager of the Center connected Religion and Culture astatine Fordham University.

“It continued to displacement to the close much than I deliberation helium would person liked oregon envisioned,” Mr. Gibson said. “The orthodoxy helium envisioned morphed into a benignant of Tea Party Catholicism that whitethorn person been arsenic unusual to him arsenic immoderate wide developments successful the ’60s and ’70s.”

When Benedict visited the United States successful 2008, he warned against the “subtle power of secularism” that could pb Catholics to judge abortion, divorcement and cohabitation extracurricular of marriage.

He besides acknowledged the “deep shame” caused by the intersexual maltreatment ungraded and said it was “sometimes precise severely handled” by the church.

Benedict’s resignation, heralded by immoderate arsenic a determination of humility, was besides seen by his critics arsenic fallout from the church’s mishandling of that crisis.

For galore survivors of intersexual abuse, his theological intellect could not compensate for his constricted effect to the planetary crisis, either erstwhile helium led the church’s apical doctrinal watchdog oregon arsenic pope.

“Had helium disciplined complicit bishops similar helium disciplined dissident theologians, a batch of cover-ups and crimes would person been stopped,” said David Clohessy, the erstwhile nationalist manager of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

“He was superb but timid, causing thousands of children to beryllium assaulted by refusing to enactment decisively to extremity decades of irresponsible religion secrecy astir kid enactment crimes,” helium said.

In the United States, Benedict’s bequest is successful the intelligence contented and hierarchical appointments helium leaves behind. His high-profile promotions see Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, formerly of Washington, and Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, the erstwhile archbishop of St. Louis.

Cardinals astir the state released statements of tribute and mourning.

“His beingness and his pontificate were based successful a heavy and abiding religion and an bonzer grounds of theological scholarship,” Cardinal O’Malley said. “In each of my idiosyncratic interactions with Pope Benedict XVI, I recovered him to beryllium an engaged leader, thoughtful successful his decisions and ever committed to the ngo of the Church.”

He added, simply: “I volition miss Pope Benedict.”

Cardinal Dolan called connected each parish successful the archdiocese of New York to connection a Mass “for the Good Lord’s mercy upon his gracious soul, and successful thanksgiving for his vocation arsenic Successor of St. Peter. May the angels pb him into paradise!”

As a young clergyman and theologian successful the 1960s, Benedict attended the Second Vatican Council, wherever helium was perceived arsenic a comparative wide astatine a clip of melodramatic alteration to the church’s liturgy, rituals and attack to the secular world. He aboriginal became alarmed by what helium perceived arsenic a leftward theological drift successful the church, though helium said that his theological positions did not change.

“You mightiness accidental this is the definitive drafting down of the curtain connected Vatican II,” said Bishop Robert Barron of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester in Minnesota, and the influential laminitis of the Catholic media enactment Word connected Fire.

The information that Benedict’s post-papacy lasted astir a decennary amazed galore observers, Bishop Barron said, describing Benedict arsenic a fundamentally introverted intellectual. “The mode helium lived the past 10 years was astir apt the mode helium wanted to unrecorded his life,” helium said.

Benedict’s retirement, unprecedented successful the modern era, was a bombshell that has softened with time. “For a batch of Catholics, helium mightiness beryllium a beauteous distant figure,” Bishop Barron said.

For others, the nonaccomplishment is that of an intelligence elephantine and beloved pastoral figure.

Helen Alvaré, an subordinate dean astatine Antonin Scalia Law School astatine George Mason University, has been studying Benedict’s enactment since the 1980s.

Just this week, she said, she was speechmaking from “Truth and Tolerance,” a compilation of the erstwhile Joseph Ratzinger’s lectures connected Catholic teachings successful the discourse of modern planetary religion.

Benedict was “the continuity betwixt Vatican II and today,” she said, describing him arsenic an “encyclopedia” of religion history.

“We consciousness similar we’re losing a grandfather,” she said.

Jim Tankersley contributed reporting from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Stephanie Lai from Washington D.C.