More clues...& the Jackpot!

So let's review:

Clue #1. Benedict XV (BXV) was pope at a critical juncture in European history, namely the eve of the First World War, which he strenuously worked to avoid. BXVI may be indicating that history has come full circle in Europe, and he stands poised to bring about a New Springtime of Evangelization. Just as one witnessed the demise of Europe, so another will bring about its remedy?

Clue #2. BXV was an erudite scholar named for St. Benedict, the founder of scholatic monasticism. BXV may be tipping his hat or indicating his aspirations- likely, both. He is a theologian first and foremost, after all.

Then the Touchstone blog cued me in to two striking facts:
1.) BXV promulgated the 1917 Code of Canon Law; BXVI helped produce its second edition.
2.) Turkish Muslims honored BXV with a statue for his tireless work on behalf of refugees after the war; BXVI may be indicating a desire to increase religious dialogue with Islam.

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Now Fr. Shane Tharp has provided 16 resources on BXV, each of which yield further important historical clues. For example:

Clue #5. "Benedict XV faced a difficult task. As father of all Catholics he had to maintain strict neutrality. He succeeded so well that while excitable Allies called him pro-German, excitable Germans called him pro-Ally." Isn't BXVI going have to walk a similar tightrope?

Clue #6. "Possibly Benedict's most important act was to remove Msgr. Achilles Ratti from the position of prefect of the Vatican Library in 1918, and sent him as his personal representative to Poland. Without this, Msgr. Ratti would probably not have been elected pope four years later...A similar example of Benedict's perception is his selecting Eugenio Pacelli to organize the prisoner-of-war work at the Vatican, and subsequently sending him as nuncio to Munich. Two future popes owed their vital experiences in Poland and in Germany to Benedict's eye for talent." Will BXVI be as perceptive as his namesake in promoting future leaders?

Clue #7. "The least physically impressive of the twentieth century popes, Benedict is said to have referred to himself as 'an ugly gargoyle on the beauties of Rome'." Whatever else you may think of BXVI, he certainly didn't fall from the handsome tree.

Clue #8. BXV's encyclical Ad Beatissimi Apostolorum is said to have "brought an end to the panic measures resorted to by the church in face of the modernist crisis/ But the boycott of modern thought continued; Roman Catholic scholarship becoming synonymous with sterility." I'm quite certain BXVI will work to enliven Catholic scholarship.

Clue #9. BXV "condemned abuses on both sides [of the War] and offered his services as a negotiator." Mayhaps BXVI wishes to offer his services to a conflict-ridden world?

Clue #10. According to one of the websites posted by Fr. Thane, BXV "encouraged Catholics to read the Bible." I can't think of a more explicit aspiration of our current pontiff during his brilliant career in the CDF and as one of the many architects of the Second Vatican Council!

Clue #11. BXV followed in papal succession the last pontiff to be canonized a Saint, namely Saint Pius the Tenth. Dare we presume that BXVI is squaring the parallel to indicate a foretaste of things to come? Will there be another Benedict following in the Shoes of a great and holy Saint???

Finally, Clue #12., which elicits a most thrilling response:

When it became apparent that his efforts at creating peace had failed- when the Christmas Truce was roundly ignored on all sides (except by Woodrow Wilson, who would assimilate the Pope's words in his 14 Points)- BXV slavishly devoted himself to refugee assistance in the form of physical and monetary aid, dying of influenza in the process, and earning himself the appellation: "Good Samaritan of Humanity."

Let it be our most fervent prayer that this, more than any other aspect of his namesake and predecessor, defines and prefigures the papacy of Benedict XVI!!! Viva Il Papa! Lebe Lang der Papst!