“Hunger and the environment show ever more clearly that the logic of profit increases the gap between rich and poor and leads to the destructive exploitation of the planet,” the Pope said. “Capitalism should not be considered the only viable economic model. Catholic doctrine has always prioritised the fair distribution of resources,” Benedict XVI noted, adding that it is not yet too late to curb the excesses of capitalism.

LETA – Reuters, Rome, 23 September 2007

Benedict XVI has set about modernising the Vatican. In every sense – including the technical. A solar panel has been installed above the main audience hall, and the Vatican treasury is funding a reforestation programme that is intended to offset (in some higher ecological scales) the carbon dioxide produced by the Papal State. The size of this state is not exactly vast, so presumably, the programme is not particularly extensive either. And the Vatican is not as rich as it was in the days of Leo X. One could, of course, suggest that Benedict XVI ecologically compensate for the greenhouse gases produced as a result of the lives and activities of all the world’s Catholics, but that would require entirely different capabilities and budgets. The Pope does, however, have access to a much more powerful tool – faith. Ultimately, he can simply pray for the saving of nature. However, Benedict XVI’s ecological projects are not limited to technical and financial measures. He recently visited the Catholic youth festival in Loreto, where 300,000 happy souls frolicked politely on the seashore, prayed, and visited the della Santa Casa basilica, which the incomparable Donato Bramante once brought to completion with Jesuit money. Each participant at the event was given a free backpack made of recycled plastic, a hand-cranked rechargeable battery, plates, knives and forks made from material that rots in a landfill no worse than spoiled tomatoes, and special bags to collect all their rubbish on the final day. British news agencies, with mild irony, have dubbed the steps taken by the Vatican as “eco-friendly teaching” – similar to “eco-friendly production” – unless we opt for a more radical mockery: “ecologically clean teaching”. I would suggest saying “eco-Catholicism”, just as “atomic Orthodoxy” is now considered ultramodern in Russia. Benedict XVI, without a doubt, is working within the stream of the modernisation policy pursued by the Vatican in the post-war years, in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and Aggiornamento. For half a century, there has been discussion about bringing the Catholic Church closer to the daily needs of the faithful – it was for these considerations that the order of services was simplified and a new social concept was created that shifted Catholicism to the side of the oppressed. Despite many awkward moments and inconveniences, the mockery and distrust of worldly folk, and the fierce resistance of other denominations and atheistic dictatorships, the Vatican managed to achieve a great deal – Catholicism transformed from a dazzling aristocratic religion (Medici-style) into a comforter for the slum dwellers of Mexico and India. The pinnacle of this course was the papacy of Benedict’s predecessor, John Paul II – he managed to distribute spiritual food to his flock under the unceasing gaze of the media. To preserve and expand the authority of the Catholic Church, the Pope had to become a pop star. A similar attempt made by Princess Diana – to modernise the British monarchy through the media – ended in scandal and her death, but John Paul II is not the Princess of Wales and the Vatican is not Windsor Castle. John Paul understood the limits of permissibility perfectly and invited Bob Dylan to perform at the Vatican, but not Elton John. A sense of measure and taste – that is what distinguishes today’s Catholic spiritual leaders from secular leaders. Yet John Paul’s triumph hid a looming crisis; he achieved so much that the subject of modernisation had been fully developed and exhausted. The next Pope, in order not to become a ridiculous epigone, had to be conservative – even if, in private, he enthused over Shakira or Tarantino. Benedict XVI has always been conservative. But the new Pope almost fell into other traps. At the beginning of the 21st century, it is aesthetically attractive to be a conservative, sophisticated theologian, bookworm, and connoisseur of classical music, and many a Western public figure can afford this – just not a shepherd of a congregation that, when choosing between a book and a television, will definitely choose the television, provided they have a television at all. On the other hand, focusing only on the poorest and least educated can alienate those believers who live north of Sicily, and, furthermore, Benedict seems to loathe constantly playing the card of lowering the socio-cultural level in this game. So the Vatican began to search for a new, topical issue, one that was right there nearby – and now this issue rests on the roof above the hall where the Pope receives believers and diplomats. But that is not all. Following Thomas Aquinas, Benedict XVI invites the uniting of faith and reason, seeing in this union the cornerstone of Catholicism. Faith sends a Catholic on a pilgrimage – to Rome, to the Holy Land, to Santiago de Compostela, to that very Loreto. Reason suggests that the pilgrim must be provided for, supported, fed, and accommodated on the journey. And lo, this autumn, a new fruit has been born from the Vatican’s union of faith and reason: an Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi charter flight flying from Rome to Lourdes with the incomparable logo “We seek Thy face, O Lord!” These same words from the Psalms of David can be read on the back of the airline seats, while Catholic flight attendants undergo special spiritual training. In short, the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI promises to go down in history as a time of neo-Thomism, Catholic economic traditions, and Catholic ecological innovations. No obstacles could arise for the first and third, but the second is threatened by competition within the denomination. The company Ryanair from highly Christian Ireland is already transporting – and very cheaply at that – Catholics along pilgrim routes. The company’s statement regarding the first Vatican flight explicitly stated: “Ryanair is already performing miracles and that cannot even be challenged by the Pope’s boss. We take pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela at heavenly prices.”