VIDEO: Michael Matt on the passing of Pope Benedict XVI

Yesterday I posted a few words on the death of Pope Benedict XVI, RIP. It was all I had time for. More to the point, I have mixed feelings about the papacy of Pope Ratzinger, and needed time to sort out my feelings. Even more to the point, I could never write a clear and objective analysis of the Benedictine era so well as others, notably Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant newspaper. 

In this special edition of The Remnant Underground, Mr Matt says that, for some, Benedict was a saint, while, for others, he was a villain. What cannot be denied, Mr Matt says, is that his intervention on behalf of the Latin Mass changed history and breathed new life into the Catholic counterrevolution.

   

In an e-mail received here today, Mr Matt outlines the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI: 

* An entire generation of young Catholics were reconnected to the Mass of our fathers, thanks to Benedict. 

* As Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, he was instrumental in the founding of the Fraternity of Saint Peter. 

* He made it clear that the Latin Mass was never abrogated, and never could be. 

* He lifted the excommunications of the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X. 

But in the end (Mr Matt writes), he left the Church in the hands of the worst pope in history. So where does one stand on the pontificate of Pope Benedict, and how will history judge the man who restored the Latin Mass on the one hand, and saddled the Church with Francis on the other?

Let us pray: Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.