Is Pope Benedict XVI a Hegelian & an Augustinian?

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in the Radio Spada interview said explicitly that Pope Benedict XVI is a Hegelian:

"Many acts of the government of Benedict XVI are in line with the conciliar ideology, of which the theologian Ratzinger was always a staunch and convinced supporter. His Hegelian philosophical approach led him to apply the thesis-antithesis-synthesis scheme in the Catholic context, for example, by considering the documents of Vatican II (thesis) and the excesses of the post-conciliar period (antithesis) things to be reconciled in his famous “hermeneutics of continuity” (synthesis); nor is the invention of the Emeritus Papacy an exception, where between being Pope (thesis) and no longer being Pope (antithesis), the compromise was chosen to remain Pope only in part (synthesis). The same mens [mind, mentality] lay behind the decision to liberalize the traditional liturgy, while flanking it with its conciliar counterpart in an attempt not to upset either the proponents of the liturgical revolution or the defenders of the venerable Tridentine rite." [[https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/vigano-pope-benedict-surrounded-himself-with-inadequate-unreliable-or-even-corrupt-collaborators]

Today, former intelligence officer Steven O’Reilly implied that Benedict is a Hegelian in writing that "Benedict must be considered in schism from himself because he believes himself to have resigned":

"Benedict... in a letter to Cardinal Brandmuller, undisputed, makes reference to himself as a “former pope.” Furthermore, no visitor he has received, nor any cardinal, bishop, etc., he has communicated with since his resignation have ever suggested Benedict believes himself to still be pope–certainly none that I am aware of." [https://romalocutaest.com/2021/04/10/being-wrong-the-ontology-of-the-bip-argument/]

There is little doubt that Benedict in many ways was a confused thinker unlike Francis who appears to be a pure Modernist. Many times he seemed to think in ways that were "contradictories" which appeared to have manifest itself in his resignation as in other matters.

Benedict considered himself a disciple of St. Augustine which can lead to certain problems:

Lately, the Catholic Monitor has notices that even some traditionalist Catholics are relying on St. Augustine's teachings more than on St. Thomas Aquinas, "the supreme model of Christian philosophy," as Pope Leo the XIII declared him. It might be helpful to share a correspondence I had on problems with Augustine with a mentor of mine, James Larson, last year before he pasted away:

Jim,

You wrote somewhere of the ancient forebarers of Kantian philosophy. Can you send me a link or tell where to look. Also, have you read any of Fr. Most's books. He shows why St. Augustine has caused so many problems partly because he didn't know Greek and because he argued in conflicting ways to his own positions when arguing with different heretics. I also think as you do Platonism (which Augustine held) without the Church modify it leads to many problems. What is your take on Augustine? 

This link below shows Benedict pointing to Thomism, but as you say he is a confused thinker unlike Francis who is a pure Modernist.

Thanks,

Fred

http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/06/as-pope-innocent-iv-might-have-defeated.html?m=1

 

Fred,

Four years before his death, St. Augustine wrote a book titled Retractions, in which he systematically tried to correct any errors in his previous works. At one point I had this book from the library and read some of it, and somewhere commented on it. But I cannot find those comments (they might have been in an email). Much of his retractions concerned his thinking immersed in Platonism and Neo-Platinism. I do remember being critical, because I did not think that he had truly freed his thinking from these errors. I also remember that this focused especially on the question of God's omnipresence, and that he still was infected with Neo-Platonism in this regard. This in turn means that he did not truly comprehend the Thomistic teaching in regard to creation ex nihilo, and the distinction between substantial and accidental being. And this in turn entails that his thinking in regard to God's omnipresence was still infected with a kind of pantheistic gnosticism. 

As has been said, St. Augustine did not have a philosophy (especially metaphysics and ontology) worthy of his theology. Because of the complexity of this subject, I have never had much desire to deal with St. Augustine and his role in the subsequent history of Catholic thought. One thing is clear - those who reject Thomistic metaphysics also follow a train that leads back through people like Joseph Ratzinger, de Lubac, von Balthasar, Bonaventure, and St. Augustine. All of this "softens" that absolute distinction which must be made between God and His creation, and of course leads to all sorts of false mysticism and other errors.

As for Joseph Ratzinger and what he said at Regensburg, he subsequently refuted the notion that he himself embraced what he quoted from the Emperor Paleologus, stating that his (the Emperor's) words in regard to Islam "do not at all express my thoughts". There is no way I can envision him standing up to Islam. He does indeed believe that Christianity is a religion in which God possesses a specific "Nature" (as opposed to the "Voluntarism" of Allah); but as explored in my writings, he also believes that from any human standpoint and approach to God, this must be expressed in terms of" contradictories" (explored in my article The Quintessential Evolutionist). Any embrace of Benedict XVI of Thomas, especially of his theology and metaphysics, is therefore an illusion. 

Hope these meager comments help.

                                                                                                       God Bless, Jim

Francis Notes:

- Doctor of the Church St. Francis de Sales totally confirmed beyond any doubt the possibility of a heretical pope and what must be done by the Church in such a situation:

"[T]he Pope... WHEN he is EXPLICITLY a heretic, he falls ipso facto from his dignity and out of the Church, and the Church MUST either deprive him, or, as some say, declare him deprived, of his Apostolic See."
(The Catholic Controversy, by St. Francis de Sales, Pages 305-306)

Saint Robert Bellarmine, also, said "the Pope heretic is not deposed ipso facto, but must be declared deposed by the Church."
[https://archive.org/stream/SilveiraImplicationsOfNewMissaeAndHereticPopes/Silveira%20Implications%20of%20New%20Missae%20and%20Heretic%20Popes_djvu.txt]

- "If Francis is a Heretic, What should Canonically happen to him?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2020/12/if-francis-is-heretic-what-should.html

- "Could Francis be a Antipope even though the Majority of Cardinals claim he is Pope?": http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2019/03/could-francis-be-antipope-even-though.html

 -  LifeSiteNews, "Confusion explodes as Pope Francis throws magisterial weight behind communion for adulterers," December 4, 2017:

The AAS guidelines explicitly allows "sexually active adulterous couples facing 'complex circumstances' to 'access the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.'"

-  On February 2018, in Rorate Caeli, Catholic theologian Dr. John Lamont:

"The AAS statement... establishes that Pope Francis in Amoris Laetitia has affirmed propositions that are heretical in the strict sense."

- On December 2, 2017, Bishop Rene Gracida:

"Francis' heterodoxy is now official. He has published his letter to the Argentina bishops in Acta Apostlica Series making those letters magisterial documents."

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church by the bishops by the grace of God.

Election Notes:  

- Intel Cryptanalyst-Mathematician on Biden Steal: "212Million Registered Voters & 66.2% Voting,140.344 M Voted...Trump got 74 M, that leaves only 66.344 M for Biden" [http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/intel-cryptanalyst-mathematician-on.html?m=1]

- Will US be Venezuela?: Ex-CIA Official told Epoch Times "Chávez started to Focus on [Smartmatic] Voting Machines to Ensure Victory as early as 2003": http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2020/12/will-us-be-venezuela-ex-cia-official.html

- Tucker Carlson's Conservatism Inc. Biden Steal Betrayal is explained by “One of the Greatest Columns ever Written" according to Rush: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/tucker-carlsons-conservatism-inc-biden.html?m=1

 

- A Hour which will Live in Infamy: 10:01pm November 3, 2020:
http://www.thecatholicmonitor.com/2021/01/a-hour-which-will-live-in-infamy-1001pm.html?m=1

 

What is needed right now to save America from those who would destroy our God given rights is to pray at home or in church and if called to even go to outdoor prayer rallies in every town and city across the United States for God to pour out His grace on our country to save us from those who would use a Reichstag Fire-like incident to destroy our civil liberties. [Is the DC Capitol Incident Comparable to the Nazi Reichstag Fire Incident where the German People Lost their Civil Liberties?: http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/is-dc-capital-incident-comparable-to.html?m=1 and Epoch Times Show Crossroads on Capitol Incident: "Anitfa 'Agent Provocateurs'":
http://catholicmonitor.blogspot.com/2021/01/epoch-times-show-crossroads-on-capital.html?m=1] 

Pray an Our Father now for the grace to know God's Will and to do it.

 

Pray an Our Father now for America.

 

Pray an Our Father now for the restoration of the Church as well as the Triumph of the Kingdom of the Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary