On Easter Monday, the Pope died. I found it an interesting remark by Putin who said: I don’t know how it is with the Catholics, but with us it is such that when someone dies at Easter, that is a sign that it was a significant life. I then thought of Toon Hermans who died on Good Friday. That undoubtedly is also a sign. So I wanted to dedicate this video to, yes I don\u2019t want to say the Pope, but to that which is also evoked by his death. Because it is, of course, no matter how you look at it, the death of a world leader. And that gave me reason to reflect again on: how do you actually relate to it, to the existence and meaning of the Pope.<\/p>\n
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As is known, I come from the 1950s of the last century. At that time, the Catholic faith was no longer as fervently present as at the beginning of the century, but still fairly powerful. And when you are then admitted into that Catholic Church\u2014and of course you have no say in that, because you’re born into a certain family\u2014they make the decision to have you baptized Catholic. And although, at least in my life, not very much attention was paid to it after that, it is still the case that through baptism you have a connection with that Catholic Church. And truly, you feel that when the news comes: the Pope has died. That was still unexpected, because of course we experienced his illness. And I must say, on Easter Sunday I really thought as a doctor: how is it possible that the medical care of the Pope allows this, or perhaps even encourages, that he does this\u2014also a lot not\u2014but still quite a lot of what a Pope does at Easter. So in itself it’s not surprising that it didn\u2019t work out actually. And that he then died on Easter Monday. And then the question arises again, what kind of institution is that actually, the Catholic Church? And in particular, what is the meaning of the Pope? I remember from my youth that I went into households where the Catholic faith was much more taken care of than I was used to. And where the Pope was spoken of as an untouchable person at the head of the Catholic Church. And it was even said: Do you believe in the Pope? I remember that very well. And I didn’t quite understand what was meant by that.<\/p>\n
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Because I can imagine being asked: Do you believe in God? But do you believe in the Pope? I found that a strange question. As small as I was. And now, when I look back on that, the question arises: What do Catholics actually believe regarding the Pope? And they also have a certain duty to believe certain things, and that is that the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church and a successor of Peter, of whom it is said: upon this rock I will build my Church. If you lead the Church in consequence of that statement, then that is of course meaningful. Catholics believe in that. I don\u2019t know if they always know that they\u2019re supposed to believe in that. Then of course there\u2019s that difficult dogma of infallibility.<\/p>\n
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That infallibility of the Pope, a dogma from the 19th century, doesn\u2019t apply to everything. It\u2019s not the case that the Pope must be seen as already completely holy and incapable of making mistakes, but regarding the protection of the faith and morals of the flock\u2014believers\u2014he is appointed as shepherd. And we know, of course, that Thomas Aquinas is considered a Church Father and also the great teacher of the Catholic Church. And it is then interesting to see what this man said at the time about the duty of the Catholic to accept as true what the Pope says. Now of course in the 13th century, the dogma of infallibility did not yet exist, and Thomas Aquinas is very clear about the fact that Truth is the actual leader of the Church and that the human intellect is capable of recognizing that truth. And that when the believer would have to conclude that what the Pope proclaims is not true, then the believer according to Thomas Aquinas has the right\u2014the duty\u2014to reject that proclamation. That, of course, becomes difficult with the dogma of infallibility. But I think it\u2019s still quite rare that this dogma is invoked, and that most of the Pope\u2019s proclamations and actions are not to be seen in that light. But still, it is of course important that a Catholic looks up to the Pope, who in a certain sense has an infallibility.<\/p>\n
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Then of course the question is: are you allowed to criticize the Pope? Or must you as a believer actually approve of everything he does? That is, of course, actually already answered by the above. It\u2019s about truth. Now in our time, of course, the prevailing philosophy has established that humans are not capable of finding truth. So yes, then you would say, then you are glad there is a Pope who can. But you understand, you end up in a very difficult area. And if we, at least that is the case for me, are people who have a tendency towards freedom of judgment, then accepting an authority in that field becomes very difficult. Then it’s just so that you want to claim\u2014claim is not the right word, but something like\u2014you long for being left to your own judgment when determining moral duties and religious conclusions, and that there is no institution that determines for you what is good and what is evil. On the other hand, of course, you see that it is not so easy for people to determine what is good and what is evil on their own. But then I think of Paul, the letters of Paul, who in his time, when people still of course thought and felt very differently, already said that the law is the cause of sin. If there is no law, there is also no sin. And that the moral standard man has, is actually Christ himself in us. And then you really could no longer tolerate that there is a religious leader who knows best. But it is just an institution that is led in this way, and that I just want to show. And then also with all understanding, so to speak, to show how difficult that is in our time and how you actually can\u2019t expect us people anymore to hand over control so easily. So that belief in the Pope must in our time acquire a different quality\u2014if you still want to engage with a Pope at all.<\/p>\n
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I actually don\u2019t, but again, when you are baptized Catholic and a Pope dies, then you feel something. Then of course the question is, what is actually the external power of the Pope? We have of course the peculiar situation that there is the very smallest state in the world, and that is the Vatican. And that is the little state, the state of which the Pope is the head or leader. But there is also an administration of that little state, and that carries the name Holy See. And the Holy See is in fact then the legal and diplomatic side of that state. And I looked that up again. That means among other things that there is a permanent observer at the United Nations. As representative of the Holy See. No decision-making authority, no voting right, but an observing role. And you must imagine that this Holy See is not only the political, legal, diplomatic leadership of the Vatican, but that it also is of the Catholic Church. And the Catholic Church of course has very many members. I saw a photo in the newspaper of a visit of the Pope some years ago in Korea. Unbelievable what you then see. That was an aerial photo. You really see all the streets and squares crowded with people. And then it is clear that the power of the Catholic Church is still very great. Although it is waning in the West, of course. Those are the discoveries, so to speak, you make when you think, yes, I should take a deeper look again into the phenomenon of the Pope. Because of course we will get a new Pope. And I don\u2019t think you can lightly say, oh that is a declining power and we don\u2019t need to concern ourselves with it. I think it is still a great power, and I believe we saw that also in the time of Corona. And also in the time afterwards, when there was talk of a reset that was being pursued, that the Pope who is now deceased, supported that. And that was not without significance. That made an impression on me, that it really was an important support for the policy. And in that sense it is truly not unimportant who will now be the successor, what his signature is. The recently deceased Pope Francis was a Jesuit, and we know that Jesuits are highly educated, that they carry a vast edifice of knowledge with them, and represent that. And when this Pope started and announced his name, I had some difficulty with that. Firstly, the name Francis is of course not only Francis of Assisi, but we also have Francis Xavier, who is connected with the Jesuit order. The Pope very clearly said that that was not his choice, but Francis of Assisi. And that it was the poverty ideal that led him to choose that name. And what my uncomfortable feeling was with that, is that I cannot imagine that a Francis of Assisi would ever have accepted the office of Pope. For his ideal of poverty was too\u2014yes\u2014sincere, how shall I say, complete. His poverty ideal extended also to poverty of spirit. Books were not a concern for Francis of Assisi. It was a mysticism of feeling and will that was permeated with poverty, you could say. And then a high-ranking official in the Catholic Church is elected to be Pope. And he takes that name. And I say nothing but good about the dead.<\/p>\n
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I think this Pope did a lot to live up to his name, really took that seriously, but I actually miss the understanding of the real Francis of Assisi. Now the Pope has died, and on Saturday he will be buried. That is of course an event on the world stage, and I therefore felt I wanted to devote this video to it, also in the hope that many people who watch this will also ask themselves: everyone knows what and who the Pope is. But what actually is the meaning of this shepherd of the Catholic flock?<\/p>\n
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When I was still very young, I came across in a little book, a novel, a saying in English. It was a Dutch book, and the saying was in English. For me it was a saying that gave support, just as later anthroposophy gave support. I didn\u2019t know who the saying was by, that also wasn\u2019t mentioned. Later I found with Rudolf Steiner\u2014and I can\u2019t find it back\u2014that the saying originally comes from Francis of Assisi:<\/p>\n
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\u201cLord, grant me the serenity, to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I can. And the wisdom to know the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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