Diverting the Wave of Apostasy

 Bamberg 1966

A quote from the book The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI: The Christocentric Shift by Emery de Gaal.

During the Second Vatican Council, [Ratzinger] sent brief articles to Germany detailing its progress. He then contributed to and edited a significant commentary on the documents of the Second Vatican Council. In 1968 he authored the best-selling Introduction to Christianity, which influenced quiet a number of educated men and women to remain in the Church during the tumultuous times between 1968-1980. During the Katholikentag (German Catholic Diet) of 1966 in Bamberg, Ratzinger voiced critical words of caution. He warned against a naive postconciliar triumphalism: "As long as the Church is a pilgrim on earth, she has no reason to pride herself on her own works. Such boasting could become more dangerous than a peacock feather duster and a tiara [that is, pompous items of the papal court], which anyway have caused us more to smile than to take pride in ourselves." He continues in the same speech: "A turning of the Church toward the world, which would entail turning away from the cross, cannot lead to the Church's renewal, but [only] to her demise. The purpose of the Church's turning toward the world cannot be to dispense with the scandal of the cross, but exclusively to render its nakedness accessible anew, by removing all secondary scandals [that is, sins committed by members of the Church], which have been interposed and have unfortunately oftentimes covered up the folly of the love of God with the folly of human self-love..." It is erroneous to view the council as a democratic forum or the Church as essentially subject to the hidden laws of evolution. (pp. 49-50)

It seems to me that herein lies a large part of what Pope Francis is up to: the "render[ing of the Church's] nakedness accessible anew, by removing all secondary scandals..." That's the objective of both Roman Pontiffs, to better present to the world the face of Christ! He must increase, while we (yes, even the Popes) must decrease! It's the only recipe for holiness! "Whoever wishes to be the first among you shall be the slave of all!" (Mark 10:44)

Katholikentag in Bamberg 1966  Vortrag: "Der Katholizismus nach dem Konzil" (Audio of Complete Lecture)
http://www.summorum-pontificum.de/texte/ratzinger_bamberg.shtml (First part of text [on liturgical hermeneutic of continuity])
Short News Video of Professor Ratzinger's Talk at the Conference

N.B. Young Father Ratzinger, while never a heretical liberal, wore the suit and tie on that occasion, as was customary for all German Professors at the time (something he certainly never did as a prelate).