Pope Benedict XVI and a Passionist: Father Martin Bialas. (continued)
Pope Benedict XVI greets Father Martin Bialas, C.P. Rome,
April 25, 2005
Photo used with permission of Father Bialas
Father Martin was energized and reflective. It took about fifteen minutes for him to share the above story. When he was finished, I asked if I might ask some questions for clarification. "Yes, please, please do," answered Father Martin. As is his custom, Father Martin smiled, took a portion of snuff which he carries with him, and we continued. It was during this part of the interview that Father Martin offered some more insight on his longtime friend.
Having a home in Regensburg-Pentling proved wise for Cardinal Ratzinger for several reasons. It was his professorial residence while he had taught at the University. Furthermore, Regensburg was home to Georg, his brother. He is also a priest and was the director of the famous Regensburger Domspatzen: the Regensburg Cathedral choir. They are great friends. They often travel together and go on vacation.
Father Martin graciously explained the personality of the new Pope. "First of all I would say that the Pope is a very humble personality. I suffered very much when I read in German media, the press, and it was said he was so severe, so proud... It wasn't true. It was the opposite. My experience was the opposite of this."
One of the most surprising facts I learned from Father Martin is that Cardinal Ratzinger does not possess a drivers license. As a result, it has not been unusual for Father Martin to drive his former professor to various destinations in the greater Regensburg area. At the same time, in years past, especially when the health of the former Cardinal was stronger, it was also not unusual to see him as a passenger on a public bus in Regensburg. "He was very humble," said Father Martin.
That same humility has been a long time quality in the intellectual life of Cardinal Ratzinger. Listening to Father Martin, it appears to me that he developed a kind of reverential fear before his mentor because his mind "was astonishing. Especially his memory." To make his point he recalled an incident: how in the past he had been discussing a meeting they had had five years ago. Father Martin said: "Mister Professor I said this and this and he said 'No, no you said it another way. I remember it.'" Even as he told the story Father Martin's face had a student glow, as if he had immediately lived through another oral examination and walked away with greater knowledge and rigor to pursue the intellectual life.
Because Pope Benedict is 78, Father Martin readily admits that the memory of his former teacher might not be "so sharp." That is a natural part of the age process. At the same time, Father Martin is quick to point out that the Pope still remains an active thinker. "He is an intellectual, yes he is. But as a personality he is very humble."
Overall, Father Martin believes that "students have liked Professor Ratzinger. They liked him. He was very gentle to the students. He gave them freedom but also he was concerned, right. But he was very gentle. He was famous in Germany. So many students come to Regensburg especially to hear Ratzinger as a professor."
Again, the good rapport was obvious in that past students with degrees or habilitation returned to participate in the annual Doctoranden-Colloquium: a colloquium of doctoral students. "He was a generous and gentle professor." As a teacher, Father Martin said his "main quality was that his lessons were so clear and so precise." In many cases, lectures were clear enough to be published. "And this was respected. Also," says Father Martin, "his [intellectual] enemies respected this. On this point he was famous. He was a genius. And the students were surprised by his formulation...Not only method, but the way he expounded it and formulated with the German language. It was extraordinary." Father Martin found this all the more impressive because lectures in theology could range from one hundred to two hundred people. Historically, seminars might have ten to twenty people or as many as thirty or forty.
In the course of the fifteen question and answer session I asked Father Martin "what sense of the spirit of the church did you learn from him or did it help you understand?" His answer put them back together in prayer at the Passionist chapel in Regensburg. "Ratzinger, the Pope, is a man, a priest, a bishop of a very, very deep faith. Always after the Mass he and myself make a thanksgiving for some minutes and also when we were talking during breakfast there was no question that he had a very, very deep faith and he showed it. You could, you could [see] that he was not only a professor who was sitting on his desk and writing from the brain. But he did already meditate and effect it in prayer."
As one might expect, Father Martin has every hope and prayer that his fellow German people, Passionists, and people all over the world can experience some of the same respect and reverence which he has come to know over all these years, since 1970. "I would say give him a chance! Not to make prejudices and say Ratzinger is so strict. Give him a chance as a Pope!" says Father Martin. "Because as a prefect of the Congregation of the Faith his task was to correct. And he suffered with this. Now as the Pope he must be the father. And he can and he will. We will be surprised. We will be surprised in the future to hear some things of Ratzinger."
As the interview came to an end Father Martin offered some closing thoughts. "I am very hopeful. And for myself it is a very great privilege to pray for him because it is a very hard job. He didn't want it. He didn't want it. But he accepted it. And I knew it. If the Cardinals elected him, and the moderator of the conclave he has the possibility to say please don't elect me and he made I am sure some remarks. But if the cardinals would elect him then he of course would see this as the will of God and he would accept. But it is very hard. And I will pray for him. And I said to him at the audience soon after his election [April 25, 2005], 'Sanctity, now we will not see each other in the future.' And he said 'Oh yes Father Martin we have the possibility.' And I am sure that I will see him again." In fact, Father Martin Bialas has plans to see Pope Benedict XVI at Castle Gandolfo in Rome from September 1-4, 2005.
Father Martin thinks Passionists have to remember an important point about Pope Benedict XVI. He "knows the Passionists very well. He knows Paul of the Cross very well because of my studies, and he read it and we are talking. He knows every religious from here, from Schwarzenfeld and Munich. He was there. So he's sympathetic and so on. And also to Paul of the Cross, he knows many things about our order from me." Looking back Father Martin thinks that he has had a good relationship with the former Cardinal Ratzinger and present Pope. As to the future? " I think so in the future there is a possibility that he would say also something about Paul of the Cross and the Passionists."
Father Martin offered some final thoughts on his picture with the present Pope Benedict XVI soon after he was elected. "You can see here I am very pleased because I wanted and went to Rome. I wanted to speak personally to him." "Joy" was very much present.
Of course, this was a very quick encounter. After the interview Father Martin Bialas told me that the picture makes him so grateful that he had the opportunity to know Pope Benedict XVI in such a personal way. However, as he had said earlier, "their twenty-seven years of liturgy and breakfast had come to an end."
It is the hope of this writer and Father Martin Bialas, C.P. that their shared past graces become part of the life of the Roman Catholic Church and peoples world-wide.
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