Father Joseph Ratzinger’s 1969 Prediction

[Denise]

What the Church Will Look Like in 2000

[KarlB]

And so it seems certain to me that the Church is facing very hard times.

The real crisis has scarcely begun. We will have to count on terrific upheavals. But I am equally certain about what will remain at the end: not the Church of the political cult, which is dead already, but the Church of faith. It may well no longer be the dominant social power to the extent that she was until recently; but it will enjoy a fresh blossoming and be seen as man’s home, where he will find life and hope beyond death.

This is a concise concentration of ideas PapaB expanded on in Salt of the Earth (1997). One might see it as pessimistic; and as far as the world in general is concerned it might be. But for the Church Benedict foresaw that it would reclaim its purity of purpose in poverty and in its rejection by the modern world. Ultimately it is a hopeful vision, but one developed in hardship, integrity and NOT in compromise. One that reclaims the essence of Christianity.