Cardinal Timothy Dolan to Newsmax: Pope Benedict Bridged 'Faith, Reason'

Remembering the life and lessons of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Timothy Dolan on Newsmax hailed the late sage's "legacy" of being able to bridge "faith and reason."

"In the long run, Tim, we're going to learn from him the power of that magnificent blend of faith and reason," Dolan told Saturday's "America Right Now" host Tom Basile. "We live in a world that tends to think that the two are enemies.

"You've got your thinkers. You've got your scientists. You've got your rationalists. You've got your intellectuals. And then you have these people of faith that are kind of superstitious and unlearned and unlettered.

"Benedict said, "[No way], strange God, would it be,' if its most precious supernatural gift to us — our faith — and his most precious natural gift to us — our reasoning, our ability to think — 'strange God would that be' if the two are not closely allied, and he talks that: The beauty of the alliance, the sacred alliance.

"Between faith and reason," Dolan continued, "I think that's going to be his legacy."

Relativism that believes there is "no objective truth" in the world, "everything's up for grabs," was rejected by Pope Benedict XVI, Dolan said.

"Boy, a deep and profound sense of gratitude for the life and legacy of Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI," Dolan told Basile. "We're all familiar with it, Tom, whenever we lose the grandparent or a parent at an advanced stage, we knew it was coming. We knew we knew they were getting fragile, but it's still a shock when it comes.

"And even though we'll never forget him, there is a vacuum. There's a profound void in our lives."

Dolan, having met with Pope Benedict XVI "innumerous" times, marveled at the willingness to listen as opposed to being seen and heard.

"I was always impressed, Tom, with his ability to listen," Dolan said. "Everybody thinks of him right away as the teacher — speaking, writing and, boy, did he do that with gusto and efficiency; however, he knew the biblical that before you can be a teacher, you've got to be a listener. Before you can be a teacher; you've got to be a student. Before you're a teacher, you've got to be a disciple."

Dolan recalled Pope Benedict XVI "telling me a lot, but saying, 'Tell me about what are your concerns? What are your worries? What are your challenges?' And to see how intently he was listening, that always moved me."

Dolen recalled a 2008 visit to New York City, where the then-pope showed his humble nature.

"Look, Joseph Ratzinger was kind of stereotyped as just perhaps stern, distant, aloof, professorial, highly cerebral pope — and, boy, was he ever a towering intellect; no doubt about that — glad he was," Dolan said. "But when you saw him in action, as people here in the Archdiocese in New York will remember when, during an enthusiastic visit in 2008, you saw a man of warmth and humility who just wanted to embrace people.

"Was he kind of so gregarious that he would beloved to plunge into the crowd? Maybe not, but he was very attentive to people and he kind of rose to the occasion when he was with them. That moved me very much. That, you can be a thinker, you could be an intellect, you could be a theologian — that doesn't mean that you lack of warmth and then, like Jesus, a warmth to get close to people and to bring him in. He did that very well."

Dolan added, "a pastor, a shepherd, he was."

"We were amazed at the exuberance of the people and we were amazed at his radiance as he just wanted to be near the people and see them," Dolan recalled from 2008's visit. "He had a great line where he said, 'When I go on a trip, I don't want to just allow people to see me, that's for sure; I want to see them.'

"This was his view of things."

Dolan also hailed Pope Benedict XVI's awareness on when to leave the role of pope, having been the only pope in around 600 years to retire.

"One practical legacy, which I hope we don't have to go through in the near future, is he showed that it could be done: for a pope to retire," Dolan said, "and it worked smoothly and it worked very effectively.

"And that beautiful example of humility that: 'I'm just not up to the job, and I'm called to the service – that doesn't mean clinging to power; I'm called to a position that demands vigor, and I don't have it anymore, so I need to back away so someone else can do it more effectively.' So we learned that, practically."

Pope Benedict XVI was 95.

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