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Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox
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Week of 1/02-1/07/2023: Evil in Society and The Questionable Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI |
Each Sunday we offer a brief summary of the meditations from the previous week as a kind of “index” inviting you to return to a previous meditation which may call to you. |
January 2, 2023. The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI,
continued
Upon the recent death of Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Ratzinger, we focus on his not-so-shining legacy. This pope failed to adequately address the priest pedophilia horror. He insulted Jews, Muslims, Buddhists (saying Thich Nhat Hanh was 'the Antichrist'), Protestants, and wrote that Christians should not practice yoga because it puts them "too much in touch with their bodies." He took issue with the fact that Matthew hired a
Lakota teacher as part of his faculty teaching Native American spirituality and offering sweat lodges to faculty and students. Matthew says, dryly, “Deep Ecumenism was not Ratzinger’s forte.” | |
January 3, 2023. Pope Benedict XVI's Legacy, continued.
Pope John Paul II brought back the Inquisition (renamed the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith after Vatican II). He installed Cardinal Ratzinger as grand inquisitor. The two of them then proceeded to silence, suppress or expel 107 theologians from
around the world, including Matthew. Fox knew Ratzinger well and called him “a bully of the first order.”
Interestingly, there was an amazing instance of synchronicity that happened on the day of Pope Benedict XVI/Ratzinger’s death. It was the very day Matthew sent off a huge shipment of personal papers to the University of Colorado so that they could be digitized for future study. A portion of those papers dealt with communication between Rome, Matthew,
and Matthew’s provincial. The shipment also included hundreds of letters from the thousands written to Rome in support of Matthew. |
Shipment of Matthew’s documents to the University of Colorado. Photo by Matthew Fox. |
January 4, 2023. Pope Benedict's Political Legacy
Matthew tells us that “the political impact of popes Benedict XVI and his mentor John Paul II cannot be underestimated.” Their call for a “return to Christian culture” opened doors for the elections of right wing fascist leaders such as Orban in Hungary, Trump in
the U.S. and Bolsanaro in Brazil. In addition, their elevation of Opus Dei resulted, among other things, in the placement of six far right-wing judges on the Supreme Court. |
January 5, 2023. Pope Benedict vs. the Signs of Our Times: Einstein, Women
The Second Vatican Council urged Catholics to “read the signs of the times.” Among the signs of our times are scientific discoveries and liberation movements for women.
Never
having absorbed Einstein, Benedict looked at the world in an absolutist way and saw himself fighting what he called “a dictatorship of relativism.” He preferred a dictatorship of rigidity. Ratzinger abhorred change. For him, “obedience trumps creativity,” and “law trumps spirit.”
He fought against the inclusion of women as leaders–and set up an investigation of sisters communities who worked with the poor and brought “a justice spirituality alive to
American political consciousness.” "Nuns on the Bus" was one example of this commitment. Among the seven charges leveled against Matthew, the first two were: 1) “He is a feminist theologian.” and 2) “He calls God ‘Mother.’” A feminist Ratzinger was not. |
January 6, 2023. Pope Benedict vs. the Signs of Our Times: Homosexuality
Another example of Pope Benedict’s/Ratzinger’s ignoring the signs of the times was his teaching that “homosexuality is an
intrinsic moral evil” and an “objective disorder.” When Matthew first read these statements he felt “kicked in the gut.” It felt to him that Benedict wanted “to see gays locked up in concentration camps.” Then he realized that’s exactly what Hitler did when Ratzinger was a young man growing up in Germany. Pope Benedict/Ratzinger ignored science which states that 8-10% of the human population will be gay or lesbian. 464 other species have documented cases of homosexuality, as
well. |
“Killed. Hushed up. To the homosexual victims of Nazism.” Memorial, Nollendorplatz, Berlin, Germany. Photo by Manfred Brueckels on Wikimedia Commons. |
January 7, 2023. Evil in the Christmas Story Yesterday and Today
The Christmas story was not all angels and shepherds and goodwill toward men. The Roman empire's representative in Palestine was Herod who, in an effort to rid the world of Jesus, decreed that all baby boys in the region of Bethlehem be executed. Matthew warns us not to deny “the shadow side of history and humanity’s
capacity for doing evil” and to be alert when religion and empire operate in tandem. Part of our prophetic call is to stand up against evil whenever we find it. |
The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can Be Saved
The Pope’s War offers a provocative look at three decades of corruption in the Catholic Church, focusing on Josef Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. The final section in the book focuses on birthing a truly catholic
Christianity.
“This book should be read by everybody, not only for its ferocious courage, but also for its vision for what needs to be saved from the destructive forces that threaten authentic Christianity.” ~ Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope.
“In the gripping The Pope’s War, Matthew Fox takes an unwavering look at the layers of corruption in the Catholic Church, holding moral truth against power.”
— Jason Berry, author of Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II | |
Confessions: The
Making of a Post-Denominational Priest (Revised/Updated Edition)
Matthew Fox’s stirring autobiography, Confessions, reveals his personal, intellectual, and spiritual journey from altar boy, to Dominican priest, to his eventual break with the Vatican. Five new chapters in this revised and updated
edition bring added perspective in light of the author’s continued journey, and his reflections on the current changes taking place in church, society and the environment.
“The unfolding story of this irrepressible spiritual revolutionary enlivens the mind and emboldens the heart — must reading for anyone interested in courage, creativity, and the future of religion.”
—Joanna Macy, author of World as Lover, World
as Self | |
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new
theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better
vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics | |
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Upcoming Events See Matthew Fox's full calendar HERE |
Join Matthew Fox as the Center for Contemporary Mysticism hosts him in a Conversation on
“Creation Spirituality: Birthing a New World.” Sunday, January 8, 2023, 11 am PT (UTC/GMT-7). Register HERE. Join Matthew Fox at the virtual Our Lady of the Prairie retreat, offering a discussion and Q&A on “Naming the Unnameable: 89 Wonderful and Useful Names for God…Including the Unnameable God.” Thursday, January 19, 4:00pm-6:00pm PT. Register HERE. |
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