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Available from Redemptorist Publications redemp orist publications A tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI A Pope’s Tribute A Pope’s Tribute And speaking of kindness, at this moment, my thought naturally goes to dear Pope emeritus Benedict XVI who left us this morning. We are moved as we recall I him as such a noble person, so kind. And we feel such gratitude in our hearts: gratitude to God for having g given him to the Church and to the world; gratitude to him for all the good he accomplished, and above all, for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his recollected life. Only God knows the value and the power of his intercession, of the sacrifices he offered for the good of the Church. o Hope Hope Env Fam The Holy Fo Environment Family The Holy SpiritJesus Love A6 Booklet Pope Francis 31 December 2022 Pope Francis 31 December 2022 Pope Francis 31 December 2022 Pope Francis 31 December 2022 Pope Francis 31 December 2022 8 F o w Ma roo line not push me, in or sty these c the disc that was knowledglearning t There wer There wer he appoint evening. O on the grou And why? “M record the pro he was alread I was far more of Joseph, for a Preface I had the joy and privilege of I had the joy and privilege of serving for ten years on the Pontifical all his musicianship. Biblical Commission under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith before he became Pope. The joy was that he treated each one of us ashis personal friend, welcoming us at each annual session with real, unaffected warmth. He also acted as host to us in Santa Marta, going round in the coffee breaks and asking whether our om was comfortable, whether we had enough blankets, clean en and other household details. In the formal meetings he did preside, but preferred to sit listening carefully. He did not h himself forward and on at least one occasion deferred to insisting that I should speak first. If the discussion stalled ymied he could be persuaded to make an intervention, and contributions would often solve the problem by taking scussion to another level, going deeper than the problem as blocking progress. It was here that his depth of biblical dge (to us biblicists!) and his breadth of theological serving for ten years on the Pontifical threw new light on complicated issues. re also moments of re also moments of hilarity, as when, late one afternoon, nted a sub-commission to look into a matter that One of the three nominated, a Spaniard, demurred unds that he simply could not manage that evening. “Madrid is playing Bilbao.” The Cardinal offered to rogramme and the difficulty was solved. Later, when dy Pope and I led the singing at our papal Mass, e in awe of his brother Georg, a Kappelmeister, than hilarity, as when, late one afternoon, Dom Henry Wansbro Ampleforth Abbey. A Editor of the Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB is a renowned English biblical scholar and monk of Ampleforth Abbey. Among his remarkable academic experiences, he was General Editor of the New Jerusalem Bible and the Revised New Jerusalem Bible. 9 Pope Benedict XVI Behind the scenes Joseph Ratzinger’s life did not begin on 19 April 2005, when the Conclave elected him to become Pope Benedict XVI. Like all of us, his life story was a uniquely personal journey from his birth until his death on 31 December 2022. The theologian Pope, the first in 600 years to resign his papal office, encountered innumerable people and, in one way or another, touched countless lives. This book presents some aspects of the background story of Benedict XVI, as offered by individuals who, to some extent, remained behind the scenes whilst, as Pope, he necessarily stood on centre stage. Code: 1924 ISBN: 97808523158 Cod 780878085231587380 N: 978 SBN: 978 85231 4 4 IS 4 4 1924 IS IS ode: 1 C 58 924 4 191924 ISBN: 97808 1 78787878080808 Price: £9.9595 e: £ e: £ : £9.95 Price: £9 P e: £9 P : £9.95 e:e: : £ £9£9.9.9.9.9 Thoughts from the Pen of a Pope How could any booklet do justice to the words of Pope Benedict XVI? As Pope, he wrote sixty-six books, three encyclicals and four apostolic exhortations, greeted millions of people, made twenty-four Apostolic Voyages outside Italy and many inside Italy. Between becoming Pope in 2005 and his resignation in 2013, he spoke many hundreds of times – live and through the media – to a huge range of gatherings inside and outside the Vatican. Thoughts from the Pen of a Pope takes some of the many reflections of a theologian Pope and offers them as a tribute to the “humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord”. Code: 1923 ISBN: 9780852315606 Price: £4.95 Compiled by Janet Fearns FMDM Sr Janet Fearns acted as a Vatican Radio correspondent for the English Africa Service from 1999 to 2003 and was a member of staff for the English Programme from 2004 until the end of 2007. www.rpbooks.co.uk 01420 88222 customercare@rpbooks.co.uk
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ESTABLISHED 1888 HERALDCATHOLIC A good Pope, and a good man Every pope leaves a distinctive mark on the Church, and in the case of Benedict XVI, the extent and value of his legacy will only be fully apparent in generations still to come. He made a remarkable contribution to Christian thought and Catholic theology, but we should acknowledge him first as a lovable and holy man – a saint, in the sense of a man who is now with God. His kindness and his humility made him not just a good pope, but an exemplary Christian. to it, based on intimate engagement with its workings, is a cor rective to any glib dismissal of Vatican II by reactionar y Catholic conser vatives. On the vexed question of the lit urgical changes that followed, and par ticularly the celebration of the Tridentine Rite, he took the sensible view that what was holy once cannot later be called unholy; his inclusive approach was later, to his distress, reversed by his successor. The hallmark of his life’s work was that faith and reason were reconcilable; indeed, that the one reinforced the other. He himself was extraordinarily widely read and was perhaps the last inheritor in our time of the great German academic t radition. That belief in the compatibility of faith and reason characterised his work as a theologian and later as pope. It is For all his intellect ual achievements, he was a shy person who did not take naturally to the publicity that goes with the modern papacy. He had the iron integrity that came with the conviction that the deposit of faith was worth defending, but in his manner he was unassuming and gentle. His death revealed the extent of the affection in which he was held by ordinar y Catholics and by Christians outside the Catholic community. He came f rom a family of ver y modest means; his father was a policeman whose position was problematic because of the threat f rom National Socialism, which he detested. The culture in which Joseph Ratzinger grew up was ver y Catholic, that of small villages where religion was not a matter just of the head but of the hear t and of common, everyday practice. The hallmark of his life’s work was that faith and reason were reconcilable; indeed, that the one reinforced He always felt himself to be Bavarian, and in his family and community, religion underpinned ever yday life. As a lit tle boy he would play at priests at a small altar with his brother, Georg, with his sister, Maria, acting as altar ser ver. He never lost that simple piety. But his father’s commitment to the Church did not preclude a critical approach to clergy and hierarchy; it was a valuable example. the other an essentially optimistic view of man’s nature. In his address to the University of Regensburg during his papal visit to Germany, he dwelt, among other things, upon the impossibility of advancing the cause of religion through violence, which, being unreasonable, is unGodly. The way in which his critics seized on one quote – f rom a Byzantine emperor, criticising Islam – out of context showed how dif ficult it now is to discuss serious issues in a culture with a shor t at tention span. Many of those who dealt with him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith paid t r ibute to his attentive and intelligent engagement with them. He continued as scholar even when he had other demanding roles; his three-volume work on Christ, written as pope, was a near-miraculous achievement. Perhaps his most practical work was the new Catechism of the Catholic Church which he brought about under John Paul II; it is a restatement of Catholic beliefs in a clear, accessible format and will be valuable for decades to come. He grew up in the shadow of Nazism. He was obliged to join Hitler’s militar y – on an anti-aircraft unit. That experience of a regime which was atheistic and hostile to Christianit y – though of course Christians did not suffer in any sense as Jews did – lef t its mark on him. He knew what it was to be at odds with the prevailing political culture. One of his earliest contributions to the Church was as a peritus, an exper t adviser, at the Second Vatican Council. He was committed to the Council, but he plainly never enter tained the notion that any change in lit urgy or practice could be justified by invoking the “spirit” of the Council. His nuanced approach His legacy is r ich – his encyclicals as pope in par ticular repay close reading. Moreover, he had a knack for reading the signs of the times; he appreciated the scale of the challenges the Church faces in a culture which has largely given up on God. In an address in Freiburg, he called on the Church to detach itself f rom the world and to remain resistant and uncompromising to a purely secular view of life. It is a challenge we should all consider. Benedict, now as in life, can help the Church remain orientated towards Christ. FEBRUARY 2023 ● CATHOLIC HERALD 1

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ESTABLISHED 1888 HERALDCATHOLIC

A good Pope, and a good man

Every pope leaves a distinctive mark on the Church, and in the case of Benedict XVI, the extent and value of his legacy will only be fully apparent in generations still to come. He made a remarkable contribution to Christian thought and Catholic theology, but we should acknowledge him first as a lovable and holy man – a saint, in the sense of a man who is now with God. His kindness and his humility made him not just a good pope, but an exemplary Christian.

to it, based on intimate engagement with its workings, is a cor rective to any glib dismissal of Vatican II by reactionar y Catholic conser vatives.

On the vexed question of the lit urgical changes that followed, and par ticularly the celebration of the Tridentine Rite, he took the sensible view that what was holy once cannot later be called unholy; his inclusive approach was later, to his distress, reversed by his successor.

The hallmark of his life’s work was that faith and reason were reconcilable; indeed, that the one reinforced the other. He himself was extraordinarily widely read and was perhaps the last inheritor in our time of the great German academic t radition. That belief in the compatibility of faith and reason characterised his work as a theologian and later as pope. It is

For all his intellect ual achievements, he was a shy person who did not take naturally to the publicity that goes with the modern papacy. He had the iron integrity that came with the conviction that the deposit of faith was worth defending, but in his manner he was unassuming and gentle. His death revealed the extent of the affection in which he was held by ordinar y Catholics and by Christians outside the Catholic community.

He came f rom a family of ver y modest means; his father was a policeman whose position was problematic because of the threat f rom National Socialism, which he detested. The culture in which Joseph Ratzinger grew up was ver y Catholic, that of small villages where religion was not a matter just of the head but of the hear t and of common, everyday practice.

The hallmark of his life’s work was that faith and reason were reconcilable; indeed, that the one reinforced

He always felt himself to be Bavarian, and in his family and community, religion underpinned ever yday life. As a lit tle boy he would play at priests at a small altar with his brother, Georg, with his sister, Maria, acting as altar ser ver. He never lost that simple piety. But his father’s commitment to the Church did not preclude a critical approach to clergy and hierarchy; it was a valuable example.

the other an essentially optimistic view of man’s nature. In his address to the University of Regensburg during his papal visit to Germany, he dwelt, among other things, upon the impossibility of advancing the cause of religion through violence, which, being unreasonable, is unGodly.

The way in which his critics seized on one quote – f rom a Byzantine emperor, criticising Islam – out of context showed how dif ficult it now is to discuss serious issues in a culture with a shor t at tention span. Many of those who dealt with him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith paid t r ibute to his attentive and intelligent engagement with them. He continued as scholar even when he had other demanding roles; his three-volume work on Christ, written as pope, was a near-miraculous achievement. Perhaps his most practical work was the new Catechism of the Catholic Church which he brought about under John Paul II; it is a restatement of Catholic beliefs in a clear, accessible format and will be valuable for decades to come.

He grew up in the shadow of Nazism. He was obliged to join Hitler’s militar y – on an anti-aircraft unit. That experience of a regime which was atheistic and hostile to Christianit y – though of course Christians did not suffer in any sense as Jews did – lef t its mark on him. He knew what it was to be at odds with the prevailing political culture.

One of his earliest contributions to the Church was as a peritus, an exper t adviser, at the Second Vatican Council. He was committed to the Council, but he plainly never enter tained the notion that any change in lit urgy or practice could be justified by invoking the “spirit” of the Council. His nuanced approach

His legacy is r ich – his encyclicals as pope in par ticular repay close reading. Moreover, he had a knack for reading the signs of the times; he appreciated the scale of the challenges the Church faces in a culture which has largely given up on God. In an address in Freiburg, he called on the Church to detach itself f rom the world and to remain resistant and uncompromising to a purely secular view of life. It is a challenge we should all consider. Benedict, now as in life, can help the Church remain orientated towards Christ.

FEBRUARY 2023 ● CATHOLIC HERALD 1

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