The Anchoress: Benedict Saw It Coming

An interesting collection of this and that.  Excerpts:

...At the dawn of the social revolution, Ratzinger saw all of this, and now he is our Pope, leading us through these first serious labor pains. Who knows if he will be with us through the delivery — I very much doubt it — but seeing him in Peter’s chair at this time reminds us that God has his hand in all things, even in the pastoral weaknesses of the past few decades that have helped us get to this place.



By the way, if you still have not read this brief but also prophetic document, written by Pope Paul VI, the time to read it is now. More on it here...

Along those same lines, Crisis has an interesting piece on the value of Rick Santorum, not as a presidential candidate, but as Don Quixote. Excerpts:

Santorum, the candidate, can be criticized for many things. His view of government is not exactly one that is small, frugal, and local. Where foreign policy is concerned, he’s one of the higher soaring hawks.

As a candidate Santorum may not be ideal, and that’s probably just as well, because you’re not getting elected in this country running on a platform that’s equal parts traditional Catholic social teaching and the Neo-Con brand of biggish government.

But as a defender of the faith…he’s not half bad. And, frankly, he’s the best we’ve got right now. The bishops may continue to pleasantly surprise the laity when they meet in March and discuss the HHS mandate. And yes, there’s always the newspaper columnist or occasional talking head who comes to the defense of the Church. But when it comes to a sustained and focused attack on modernity in defense of Catholicism, Rick Santorum is as good as it gets.

He’s in the public eye. He is, amazingly, a legitimate presidential candidate. And he is, first and foremost, a Catholic. He wears it on his sleeve, and he doesn’t apologize for it. Santorum is the polar opposite of John F. Kennedy who famously said: “I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.” That statement helped gain Kennedy the presidency.

And it’s Santorum’s persistent refusal to make a similar statement that will help crush his chances at the White House. And I pray that he remains strong. I pray that we don’t get a rehash of 2004. It certainly appears that Santorum has learned from his suspect endorsement of Arlen Specter over the pro-life Pat Toomey for U.S. Senator...

he has the stuff of a shabby but brave knight errant. And I mean that with the highest admiration. He doesn’t sit back. He doesn’t ruminate on the issues. He doesn’t compromise. And that hurts his image. It sometimes leads to mistakes.

But I admire someone like that. Someone who rushes passionately into the fray to defend his faith and beliefs. Someone willing to take blow after blow from the unceasing monster of modernity in order to get in a few shots of his own.

Santorum is certainly not perfect. He is probably not electable. But he has the faith and the fortitude to dive headlong—again and again—into battle, bearing the standard of Christ as best he can...

More from Crisis on Santorum.  We're entering a time when we're all called to be in the forefront of the culture wars, no matter how unprepared we are, no matter our pasts.  There comes a time for all men and women of good will to stand together for fundamental truths in the face of the oncoming tide, because sometimes all it takes is the least resistance to turn it.  Like a hobbit, for instance.