As 2023 came to an end, I couldn’t help thinking of the two mentors I lost in the previous 12 months: Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) and Salvatore E. Polizzi (Father Turiddu). The two men were very different, but each had a powerful influence on my personal and spiritual life.
Joseph Ratzinger. I first read Joseph Ratzinger (his Introduction to Christianity) in 1975 when I was a graduate student at Saint Meinrad School of Theology. His straightforward, clear teaching touched both my mind and my spirit. I believed that he spoke the truth with erudition, but, more importantly, with a personal conviction born of his deep faith. I have read many other works by Ratzinger over the years, and I continue to read Pope Benedict’s writings now nearly 50 years later because they speak to me in ways that no other theological or spiritual reflections can.
Joseph Ratzinger was more than a brilliant and inspiring writer. He was a gentle, humble and deeply spiritual man. Yes, he was a priest, bishop, cardinal and, finally, pope, but none of those titles went to his head. He tried simply to be obedient to God’s will and to serve others in imitation of Jesus Christ who came to serve not to be served (Mt 20:28). Nearly 50 years of exposure to this great man—his teaching and example—have helped me to be less self-centered and more tolerant of others. Ratzinger taught what he believed was the the truth, but he never looked down on anyone who disagreed with him. He lived a life of holiness and virtue, but he never considered himself to be “better than” anyone else. He recognized and respected the fundamental dignity and worth of every human person because he truly believed that all of us are sisters and brothers created in the image and likeness of God our Father.
I had the great privilege of attending Pope Benedict’s funeral in Rome in February of this year, and my reflections on it were published in The Criterion, the weekly newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. What a joy it was to bid a last farewell to my beloved teacher and spiritual guide in the company of Pope Francis and so many other admirers of Joseph Ratzinger! I concluded my reflections with the following words from the last words of Pope Francis’s homily:
Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!
Sal Polizzi. I first encountered Msgr. Polizzi in the early 1990s when I was working in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. A group of priests from St. Louis, led by Msgr. Polizzi, traveled to Indianapolis to learn more about our strategic pastoral planning efforts. A few months later, Msgr. Polizzi asked me to come to St. Louis to meet with his archbishop and to discuss pastoral planning with him and members of his presbyterate. What resulted was a formal planning process that I helped to facilitate, but even more important (to me) was the fact that this initial meeting was the start of a friendship between Sal Polizzi and me that lasted four decades until his death last spring.
Sal Polizzi (also known in life and in fiction as Father Turiddu) is a legend in St. Louis, especially on The Hill, the Italian neighborhood that he is credited as saving from the ravages of “White Flight” and from an interstate highway that threatened to cut off the neighborhood from essential city services. Msgr. Polizzi had a master’s degree in urban planning from St. Louis University which he used to help to help his parishioners—and people from many different urban neighborhoods in St. Louis—avoid the disastrous results of urban blight. People loved Father Turiddu because he never gave up on them. Whatever the problem might be, they could count on Father T to stand with them and help them any way that he could.
Father Turiddu was not an ordinary man or a conventional parish priest. He was a character, a larger than life figure whose personal style was unique and whose attitudes toward those who got in his way were often colorfully expressed. He was impatient with bureaucrats in city government or in the Archdiocese’s Chancery Office, and he was fond of saying that before making changes that affect people’s lives, “ya gotta know the territory.”
I spent many hours with Father T listening to his stories and trying to absorb the practical wisdom he had gained over many years as a dedicated family man, a pastor, and a civic leader. I eventually wrote a series of short novels whose plots were fictional but whose characters were based on the larger-than-life personality of Father Turiddu.
The Polizzi family invited me to give the eulogy at Msgr. Polizzi’s funeral Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. What an honor it was for me to share my reflections with the basilica filled with Father T’s archbishop, his brother priests, and his family members, parishioners and friends. So, I prayed:
Carissimo Sacro Cuore di Gesù, ti raccomandiamo don Salvatore Emmanuel Polizzi, sacerdote santo, devoto di famiglia e cittadino fedele di questa città. (Dearest Sacred Heart of Jesus, we commend to you a holy priest, devoted family man, and faithful citizen of the city of St. Louis, Salvatore Emmanuel Polizzi.)
Joseph Ratzinger and Salvatore E. Polizzi. These two men, Pope Benedict XVI and Father Turiddu, taught me how to understand and live my Catholic faith in all its richness and diversity. Both loved God and His Church (in spite of the sins and weaknesses of Church leaders). Both showed that simplicity, humility and genuine pastoral care for the people they serve are hallmarks of the way the Church’s pastors are called to lead. I believe that the common legacy of these two very different men is Love and Service, and I am deeply grateful that I was blessed to know them and learn from them for most of my adult life.
I have been privileged to know and love many women and men, beginning with my parents, whose personal witness demonstrated the absolute importance of Love and Service. May the coming year provide me with opportunities to show my gratitude to all my family members and friends whose lives proclaim the truth that God is Love and that our mission in life as God’s children is to love one another.
Vi auguro un buon anno. Happy New Year!
Dan
