The Father Abbot and the Cardinal
Two books come out this fall: one by Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for the Divine Cult and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the other by the Benedictine Martin Werlen, former father abbot of Einsiedeln (Switzerland).
The former is entitled The Strength of Silence, and its author claims that “it is high time to enter into this liturgical silence”. “How can man truly be in the image of God?” asked the Guinean prelate, before answering: “He must enter into silence”, for “the garrulous man cannot help being far from God, incapable of any profound spiritual activity.”
The other book, written in German, is entitled Wo kämen wir hin? (Where would we go?). Fr. Werlen, known for his intemperate progressivism, fights for a greater integration of women in the Church, and thinks it would be “grandiose” for the Benedictines to elect a woman as primate of the Order. – The monk presented his book to journalists in a pizzeria …, as he believed it was the ideal place to make unexpected encounters.
Two books, two visions. The troubled gaze of the European Benedictine and the clear eye of the African prelate. The fearful will say there is need to clarify, that things are not so simple: black or white. Allow us to rejoice at seeing the sense of the sacred and the importance of silence recalled clearly. Black on white.
Fr. Alain Lorans
