Rudolf Steiner and Benedict XVI

‘Was heute zu retten ist, das ist das Mysterium von Golgotha selbst’ so spoke Rudolf Steiner in 1920. And which we can take as meaning: that what must be saved today – for the sake of the world – is awareness of the Mystery of Golgotha, the cosmos-transfiguring Mystery of Christ.

Thus the views of Rudolf Steiner, while regrettable in many cases, from the point of view of the Church, are nonetheless in **essence** entirely in agreement with the faith of the Church, as to what is most vital and important.

There is also present an accord between Rudolf Steiner and the Holy Church, as to what menaces civilisation at this time. In essence, both Steiner and the Church are warning of the **same evil**, the same destroyer of freedom. I hope to bring this out in different ways over the weeks to come.

For now, I will just indicate that the love for the world, the concern for the world and the horror for the future of the world that animated Rudolf Steiner ceaselessly – whatever miscalculations he may have made – is also what is ceaselessly animating the man who is now Benedict XVI, and who among other things, identifies ‘a pressing need for social legislation to monitor and restrain the misuse of property.’

And this is because he sees how: ‘at present, as hardly ever before, we clearly see how people … are destroyed … by making possessions their real god. Anyone, for instance, who lets himself be ruled entirely by the workings of the stockmarket will basically become **incapable** of thinking in any other way … the world of possessions takes powerful hold upon people’s lives. The more they have, the more they are dominated and **enslaved** by what they have (Emphasis mine).’

A uniform pattern arises in which ‘town centers look the same in South Africa as in South America, as in Japan … the same jeans are worn everywhere, the same hits are sung … In that sense, there is a unity of civilisation right down to McDonald’s and a single menu for mankind. While at first sight, this growth of uniformity seems [like] reconciliation [in fact] people are increasingly alienated from one another … Any deeper communication between people is being lost now, if it cannot be … imparted by these superficial [patterns] of relationship.’

Believing in the likelihood that ‘the population of an entirely planned and controlled world are going to be inexpressibly lonely’ and in ‘a future in which it is no longer possible to be truly human,’ the Holy Father has predicted that the Church, even if it grows very small, will keep working to carry out her mission …

Friends, I am not without misgivings in posting this dark entry. We must be ever on guard against becoming morbid, depressed or melodramatic. Still, I have my reasons. These include the fact that I believe that there is more accord than realised – and I think more accord than ever before – between Catholic and Hermetic Christianity.

And this accord needs to be **recognised** and developed, wherever legitimately possible. I also wish to pay tribute to the insight, the heart, the soul of the brilliant mind and ceaseless worker for humanity who now occupies the lonely post of the Holy See and is so oft vilified by lies. Such that many Christian people often have almost NO idea of that for which he stands.

Oh, Holy Father my heart and prayers go out to you, as I also pray that we who are aspiring Hermeticists may recognise your courage and selfless dedication, and work with you in heartfelt sympathy and love, and not distance ourselves in indifference, suspicion or even hostility …